You and 3,978 subscribers had better like this newsletter or i’ll take a trip to Paris, take 400 pictures of old buildings, and make you look at them with me (I won’t be in any of the photos).

Welcome back friend!

And a big welcome to the +108 new readers this edition

A product research strategy that actually works

Everyone tells you to "sell products you use in everyday life." That's easy. The harder question: how do you actually improve them so you don’t drown in a sea of “me too” products?

Here's what I've learned about researching successful products. They're not giant innovations. They're tiny improvements to things with massive existing demand.

The Salad Pod is a salad-jar container. That’s it. But it has a built-in dressing capsule so you don’t need a second container, and a front hatch that flips open into a bowl so you’re not eating from the top of a jar. Not revolutionary. Just slightly better than what everyone's already buying.

Souper Cubes are silicone freezing trays. The only difference? Fill lines that tell you how much broth is in each cube. The founder was tired of guessing when she froze her family's chicken stock recipe.

Scrub Daddy foam sat in a box labeled "SCRAP" for 3 years. Then the inventor used it to clean lawn furniture in cold weather and noticed it got firm. Warm water made it soft. He'd accidentally discovered a temperature-responsive material while using his own product.

The pattern: These aren't market research insights. They're personal frustrations with products the founders were already using.

How to actually apply this:

Read reviews. Hundreds of them. But read them differently.

Skip the 1-stars (angry venting) and 5-stars (blind love). Live in the 2-4 stars. Look for:

• "I wish it had..."

• "I started using it for X instead..."

• "I added my own..."

Those workarounds are what you need. Someone probably already solved the problem with a piece of duct tape (and you can produce a better version). That being said, the best insights won't come from reviews. They'll come from your own irritation with something you already buy… and the weird little fix you've invented without realizing it.

That fix might be worth more than any keyword.

Sponsored by My Real Profit

ATTENTION CPG brands:

If you mix repeat customers with SERP sales, your Amazon data is misleading you – just like 90% of CPG sellers.

Join the December 10 free webinar to learn how top CPG brands repair their analytics, uncover real demand, calculate true LTV/payback, and get direct answers to your toughest Amazon questions during the live Q&A.

✅The Instant Value Section (IVS)✅

(aren't you glad you opened the email now?)

Huge thanks to my friend John Apsinall for supplying this week’s IVS. John has really put his money where his mouth is with this hack! Read on…
You can find John posting multiple times per day on LinkedIn, helping brands scale creative & CTR with Aspi, and day-to-day @ Trellis. The dude is more prolific than a rash I had in 06’. Thanks, John!

A Figma & Artboard Mockups Hack (Also $499 Free to a couple people)

Most people know that I am obsessed with Canva because it is an amazing app that you can use to do so many things with creatives. But there is another app that I am equally obsessed with - but I only use it for the below use case mainly - and that is Figma.

Figma has a ton of great plugins that you can add to the tool that make designing and creating even more amazing - but the one that I use for clients on a daily basis is called Artboard Mockups. 

Here is why this is a major hack for anyone looking to work on their own creative, main hero image and more:

1. Artboard Mockups allows you to create extremely realistic packaging renders inside of Figma with thousands of mockup templates for you to use - something that Canva does not offer.

2. With the mockups that Canva offers, you can only get a 2D style mockup with very limited control and customization of the graphics that you want to put on the package.

3. Inside Artboard Mockups in Figma, you have complete control of almost all sides of the packaging. This allows you to generate a realistic package rendering to add behind your product in your main hero image for a better CTR.

Take a look at the video below where I walk you through an example of how you can create packaging renders inside of Figma using Artboard Mockups. This will change the game for you if you have been struggling to get realistic packaging into your main hero image.

And if you loved this tip - you are going to love this even more.

As a loyal Selling from the Beach Reader,

I am offering a 30 minute Creative & Merchandising Coaching Session directly with me for $0 - normally valued at $499. Please use the link below to book your time with me. Chat soon!

Book a (free) time with me here.

This Actually Scared Me

Is this the future of returns?
Amy Wees shared this disturbing image on LinkedIn. A customer used AI to make a product they bought look damaged. They doctored the photo to blame shipping… oof.

I’m sure you can see the problem.

New fear unlocked.

The Death of Keepa?

Amazon has quietly added a price history button right on the product detail page so customers can see more accurately how an item has been priced using Rufus. Anytime you see a new Amazon feature remember one thing: they want to be the most customer-centric company in the world.

…So would knowing the price history of an item be useful and helpful to customers? You bet your ass it would.

This probably doesn't kill Keepa since it has a lot of other features beyond just the price history. But it certainly is going to give some percentage of customers pause if they see that your price is the highest it's been in the last 30 (or 90) days. Or conversely, accelerate sales for those that have the lowest price in recent history.

Good luck seeing this kind of feature on a DTC/Other Marketplace site.

Client Lunches are Better at the Beach

Hopefully everyone has been fired up the last couple of weeks with Q4 kicking off!  Things here have been packed, which is always the way as we get closer to the end of the year.  We were lucky to meet up with one of our clients Nicole and show her one of our favorite spots in the area while she was visiting which was Casa Chameleon at Las Catalinas.  It's great meeting with friends and clients when they visit and we get the chance to show them some of the great spots here. 

Last weekend, we went on a trip to San Jose for a chess tournament for the boys and a little bit of black friday shopping (I was surprised how crazy the mall was in the city!)  We were all a little shocked that the temperatures were down to about 18C (lol, sorry Max).  I didn’t wear one of the 2 pairs of jeans I own and was freezing 🥶.  We actually turned on the heat in the car since the tournament was in an open air gym.  Now I know why I was one of 2 idiots wearing shorts still and others had hoodies on.  It was good to get back to the beach where the temp is a cold 28C in the morning which usually gets to about 32C in the afternoon 🙂

The Deep Dive (Premium Content)

Shoppers are adding to cart for the holidays

Peak streaming time continues after Black Friday on Roku, with the weekend after Thanksgiving and the weeks leading up to Christmas seeing record hours of viewing. Roku Ads Manager makes it simple to launch last-minute campaigns targeting viewers who are ready to shop during the holidays. Use first-party audience insights, segment by demographics, and advertise next to the premium ad-supported content your customers are streaming this holiday season.

Read the guide to get your CTV campaign live in time for the holiday rush.

Learn more.

Here’s how to make a SPV (Sponsored Product Video) ad

A lot of misinformation about this and hype as usual as Amazon releases this new feature.
I have no idea how it will perform but here's how to actually make a campaign for SPV.

Enjoy!

Your Business Expenses Should Be Paying for Business Class

Most Amazon sellers spend a ton on ads, inventory, software, and contractors. The question is simple: are you earning real points on that spend, or wasting it?

Most people grab random cards and spread points everywhere. That kills the value. You need one small, focused setup.

Build a core stack of a few cards. Stick to banks with transferable points. Chase and Amex are the two that matter. Look at where your money actually goes every month. Then pick cards that pay the highest multipliers on those categories.

Example: Chase Sapphire Reserve gives 3x points on ad spend (no cap). We’re stacking points in one or two programs that send points to tons of airlines and hotels.

Keep your credit score above 700. Keep your utilization under 30% (10% is better). Know each bank’s rules. You can apply as a sole prop if you don’t have an Corp in most cases.

Once you have around 500k transferable points, then you can add airline or hotel cards for perks.

Stop treating credit cards like random freebies. Treat them like a profit lever. When you build the right setup, the money you already spend ends up paying for your travel. For free.

What’s your credit card setup?

Is Territorial Taxation for you? What the Nerd is That?

I'm going to get a little accountant nerdy for this one but I realize a lot of people don’t necessarily know how taxes can work other than usually in their home country.  The common tax systems we see are: residency based, citizenship based or territorial based.

Residency based means if you live in that country, you pay the taxes in that location.  Canada is an example of this, if you are a Canadian resident you pay taxes on your worldwide income.  

Citizenship based is when you are a passport carrying citizen you still pay taxes in your home country, such as the United States.

Then we get into another idea which is territorial tax systems, where you pay based on the source of the income.  Costa Rica, Belize, Nicaragua, Hong Kong, Singapore and Panama are some examples of this system, where if you earn income outside of their borders then you don’t pay taxes on that.  Only on income earned in that country.  So if you earn money operating a jet ski rental business in Costa Rica, then you pay taxes.  Earn it on dividends outside of the country, then no tax on that income. 

If you are thinking about making a move to a new country, make sure you understand the taxation system and how you can leverage different options for you and your family and can open a whole world of possibilities!

Contact us if you have any questions or are thinking about making a move.

• Canadian Govt threatens $500 fines if a form isn’t filled out…

• Emmanuel asks about time tracking VAs

All of the Ways People F— with your S— before BFCM

That’s my secret, Cap. I’m always angry.

Well… BFCM is over and by all accounts it seemed to be a record year for most sellers. That being said, there were a few people (myself included) who received black hat attacks that occurred with extremely good timing right before BFCM. So awesome!

Here are a couple I saw last week:

1. Filed a faulty IP claim that the seller had 3 days to deal with or the listing would get taken down about something totally bogus

2. Offer 5-star reviews for a price, then whether or not you pay, they extort you and say they’ll bomb your product with negatives if you don’t keep paying

3. Bad actor copies bullets, title & images and makes a fake website, then files a claim saying your legit listing copied THEM.

4. Have people buy a bunch of your products and then return them with fake reasons prompting an internal review.

Don’t sit on your hands if this stuff happens to you. My favorite “fixer” is Chris McCabe at ecommerceChris. Also i’ve had success with Brett Bercaw’s Category Listing Report Uploader. It uploads your CLR every hour on the hour so if someone changes anything in your listing (using a vendor account or whatever), it gets rewritten quickly.

Stay safe out there, Q4 is going to reach record numbers.

How was today's newsletter? Love it? Hate it? Thinking about the smell of ocean air every morning? 🌬️

• I loved it! 🌬️🌬️🌬️

• It was okay 🌬️🌬️

• Not good. 🌬️

To your success,

Rob & Max