The Selling From the Beach Newsletter

You and 3,703 other readers will be enjoying this newsletter or ill reply to every text you send me with “okie dokie artichokie!”

Welcome back friend!
And a big welcome to the +83 new readers this week!

I’m so cheap that when someone kicks my ass, I clench my butt cheeks to keep the shoe.
…
But you know what isn’t cheap? This newsletter. (It’s free, though, don’t panic.)
Thanks for cracking open another issue.
We genuinely hope it helps you each and every edition! Quick reminder: every person you refer earns you rewards. So go be helpful and greedy.

_{Why do we include ads in the newsletter? Just like many of you, we're Amazon Sellers juggling busy days, limited time, and big dreams. Ads help us sustain the newsletter, ensuring we can consistently deliver valuable insights and thoughtful content each week. Whether you're a seller, entrepreneur, or simply someone seeking inspiration, these ads allow us to keep sharing meaningful ideas with you.}

Sponsored by AMZ Allstars

Hire World-Class Talent

Save hours on hiring. Get 2025’s top offshore roles, salary data, and ready-to-use job descriptions — all in one free guide.

✅The Instant Value Section (IVS)✅

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

8541/8542 Errors Give Me Heartburn

A big huge giant thank you to my friend Fred McKinnon for supplying this week’s IVS. Fred is the energizer bunny of the agency world and is constantly finding new hacks, tips & tricks to make your life a little easier. If you want to know more, check out his agency, eComCatalyst.

If you’re been struggling with those infuriating 8541 or 8542 catalog errors when uploading Amazon flat files, you're not alone. These common errors left me banging my head against the wall (also Seller Support helped me bang it harder).

Here’s a video where I share a simple yet powerful workaround: switching your flat file's product ID from a UPC to an ASIN (a fix that works about 90% of the time). Watch how I skip the runaround and recover my sanity with this simple fix 😀 

Simply click the image below.

Away from the beach @ F1

I’m stealing Rob’s usual spot here to chat about what I did this past weekend (I matter too, ok?) My wife and I left the kid at home and went to the Montreal F1 Race. If you haven’t been to F1 before, let me break it down for you:

Car go fast.

While this was more my wife’s thing (and it got me a ton of husband points), I still had a really great time. This is something that’s possible because I stopped working for someone one day and started building my own thing. And guess what happened? I made money. I got my time back. I was able to do pretty much whatever the F- I wanted.
(I’m not saying it was always smooth sailing…)

But it’s what worked for me. What about you? What’s your goal?
Reply to this email and let me know.

Looking to get serious about DTC? We joined a group called Workspace6.io

Despite the strange name, W6 is a high-value group for people looking to grow DTC (Direct-To-Consumer i.e. your own website). If you’re anything like us, most of your eggs are in the Amazon basket. And as we know, Amazon can shut us down at any point. 🥹 You know what can’t get shut down? DTC & the list you build.

Workspace6 is a private community designed to complement the kind of support founders get from coaches, masterminds, and other groups. The data is clear: the more high-caliber communities you’re part of, the greater your odds of success. Founders in peer accountability groups are 95% more likely to hit their goals. Mentored startups are 5x more likely to survive. And richer peer networks drive higher sales, better decisions, and faster growth.

Workspace6 focuses on a very specific slice of that pie: 7–9 figure DTC operators solving real-time challenges inside the Shopify ecosystem. It’s not for everyone — it’s purpose-built for scale-stage brands who’ve already figured out product-market fit and are navigating the complexities of growth.

If DTC matters to you at all, I highly suggest you check out our full review, here.

Global Negation for Amazon Ads is REAL

My good friend Sebastian Eduard recently won the hack contest at Nick Penev’s 10×5 Hack series. Here’s the hack.

Negation sounds simple. Kill off the bad keywords, right? But most sellers (and software) stop at the surface (like pausing a term after it hits 10 clicks with no sales).

Let’s say you’re selling “wood tables” and one of your broad campaigns pulls in a click from the term “woodpecker.”
One click. No sales. You think, “Whatever, I’ll wait for it to hit my 10-click threshold.”

Why? That term is never going to convert. It’s totally irrelevant. But if you don’t manually catch it, it’ll keep bleeding spend… and not just in one campaign. It could show up in your phrase, auto, or another broad campaign tied to the same ASIN.

Sebastian calls this Cross-Campaign Negation. Kill the bad term once, and block it everywhere.

He also talks about pre-loading all your new campaigns with these past negations. That way you're not learning the same painful lesson multiple times.

It’s all manual, simple, and honestly kind of brilliant. If you're relying on software to “auto-negate,” you're probably leaking way more ad spend than you think.

Pretty darn good tip.

F-in’ Woodpeckers.

The Deep Dive (Premium Content)

Aw darn, the content is gated. You’re so mean!

Hey man, it took me 2 ½ hours to write this thing, instead of giving it away for free, I’m hoping that you’ll refer two (2) people to the newsletter (I know you like the newsletter, you’re reading it!) I promise if you refer two people, the deep dive will be ungated for you, every edition.

Thanks again for your help.
P.S. Your referral link is above. 👆️ thattaway.

Newsletter Recommendation

Stay ahead in eCommerce! Get top news, expert insights & marketing tips—curated & delivered twice a week. No fluff, just what matters.

Sign up here: http://newsletter.ecommercecoffeebreak.com/

Unpopular Opinion: Don’t Launch on Walmart. At All.

Don’t launch on Walmart. At all.

Not now. Not next quarter. Not “as a test.” Walmart is a distraction.

Here’s what happens: You split inventory. You overcomplicate logistics. You get worse at Amazon. And for what? A trickle of sales and a fake sense of progress? “Omnichannel” is a lie most sellers tell themselves when they’re bored or scared.

Here’s the reality:

• MCF is live

• WFS is inventory splitting

• Complexity tax is real

• Remember the pareto principle

• don't invest time in the 80%

If you’re not crushing Amazon, what makes you think Walmart is going to save you?

Got FOMO? Ask yourself this:

If you believe Amazon is still launchable today, then Walmart can wait. Walmart ecom is 5–10 years behind Amazon. Less traffic, fewer tools, more to do.

So why rush? If you can win in the big leagues now, why focus on being great in the juniors?

And if you can't win on Amazon… what makes you think Walmart will save you? Master Amazon first. Walmart will still be there.

You don’t need more channels. You need more discipline. Walmart won’t make you rich. Amazon already has. Stick with the one that feeds you.

Google Flights is Simply Awesome

If you’re planning a trip and haven’t used Google Flights, you’re missing one of the most powerful travel tools out there. It’s fast, clean, and lets you scan prices across airlines without the mess of pop-ups or spammy booking sites (I’m looking at you KAYAK & Expedia). You can easily filter by stops, airlines, bags, times, and more (and it shows you price trends so you know if you’re booking at a good time or not).

One of the best features is how flexible it is. Let’s say you're open to flying out of either Edmonton or Calgary, and you’re okay landing in London or Paris. Google Flights lets you enter multiple departure and arrival cities at once. It’ll scan every combination and show you the cheapest options, helping you find the best deal without checking a hundred routes manually.

Boom.

Is This The Best Souvenir From Costa Rica?

Yes we all know Costa Rica is known for coffee and while it’s a great souvenir to take, I’m going to top it. 

Lizano Salsa sauce!  Most restaurants have it here and it’s really good. I remember one of my friends falling in love with it and taking home a gallon jug with him. Great on any meat!

If you want a taste of CR delivered to your door link to get it on Amazon.

• Prime Day officially announced: June 8-11

• Guess where Max is flying to
  (if you read the top blurb you probably guessed)

$140K in Inventory goes bye bye with 0 explanation

You’re going to love this one 😡 - a seller fought with Amazon, shipping companies, lawyers, everyone to find lost inventory for over a YEAR.

Atahan Demir a massive load of pool chemicals to Amazon in July 2024. All the paperwork was in order. Signed delivery manifest. Appointment confirmation. Everything stamped by Amazon.

Then it vanished.

For nearly a year, Amazon claimed the inventory never arrived. Freight carriers pointed fingers. Insurance didn’t apply. Seller Support was useless. The seller was out $140K in retail value.

They escalated hard. They even went to Amazon Accelerate to speak with leadership in person. Still nothing. No responses. No resolution.

It wasn’t until they filed for arbitration in January 2025 that things started to move. Two days after Amazon’s legal team officially denied the claim, units started quietly being marked “received” in the system.

Most of the shipment is now accounted for (thank goodness!) but the damage was already done. Capital was tied up for a year. Storage fees hit during Q4. And this wasn’t even the first time it happened.

Their advice to you?

• GPS tracking on every pallet

• Oversized shipment ID and FNSKU labels

• Trusted carriers only

• Document everything

• And don’t count on Seller Support for serious cases

It’s happening more than people think. And it’s costing sellers big. Amazon doesn’t care about you and they certainly aren’t coming to save you.

How was today's newsletter? Love it? Hate it? Hoping to find a message in a bottle somewhere? 🏺

• I loved it! ☺️ ☺️ ☺️ 

• It was okay ☺️ ☺️ 

• Not good. ☺️ 

To your unending success,

Rob & Max