Here we go again, eCommercers — especially the ones still breaking down pallets and wrapping up returns.

I read through 30+ Amazon and eCommerce newsletters each week, not for fun — so you don’t have to. This week’s edition of Just a Seller is packed with exactly what bubbled to the top: sudden shifts in FBA policy, legislative chaos, and yet another sunset from the Amazon features graveyard.

I’m not here to sell you anything. I’m here to help you see the signal through the noise — from one operator to another.

Oh — and somehow, for the second week in a row, Professor Scott Galloway is back in the mix. Coincidence? Maybe. Worth your time? Definitely.

💸 The “Big Beautiful Bill” Is a Big, Beautiful Mess. Here’s Why.

So remember when I said last week I don't talk politics in business, well I don't. This is just business.

This week I caught the Piers Morgan Uncensored interview with Kevin O’Leary and Professor Scott Galloway. Not one of Piers’s most controversial episodes—but one of the most revealing.

Question: The bill does plenty, and O'leary says it perfectly, small business needs this to pass. But is this responsible? If you modify the bill, will we cut on areas where China will swoop in and eat the US's lunch?

What started as a conversation about Elon Musk’s dramatic departure from his White House role turned into a full-blown critique of the “big beautiful bill” that passed the House—and how it’s quietly gutting small business.

Forget the theatrics. Here’s what actually matters for you and me:

1. The IRS wants a 9-year audit window for any business that claimed the ERC.
2. The bill adds $2.4 trillion to the national debt—according to the CBO.
3. The small biz community (that’s us) is caught in the crossfire of political theater.

I don’t agree with everything Scott Galloway says, but I respect the way he frames it: this is a transfer of wealth from the young to the old, from small business to big government.

Kevin O’Leary—love him or hate him—also made a fair point. This isn’t about politics anymore, it’s about policy. And the policy coming down the pipeline is suffocating small operators.

We’re being smothered by red tape, jerked around by short-term tariff swings, and told it’s all part of the “American dream.”

So here's my advice:
Focus on what matters—like whether you’re going to be subject to a decade-long audit because you tried to keep your business alive during COVID.

That’s what I’m watching.
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Not just headlines. Power shifts. Agenda reveals. And most importantly—how it all affects the people building real businesses.

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📦 Amazon's Shipping Fee “Reality Check” Starts Now

For over a decade, I’ve been shipping into FBA without once getting dinged on measurement discrepancies. To be honest, I thought Amazon's relationship with their carriers were so one sided, Amazon didn't even entertain the possibility of implementing adjustments to FBA Inbound shipments.

So when I heard that Amazon is now auditing inbound shipment dimensions—and adjusting partnered carrier fees based on what they think the box size is—I had to ask: what changed?

Well, apparently everything.

Expect vague auto-generated adjustment fees based on AI scanners that can misread a loose piece of tape as part of the box. Fun, right?

My biggest concern isn’t the charges—it’s that there’s zero transparency or process for appealing these. The moment you try to challenge it, you’ll likely hit a wall of automation and form responses. Prepare for yet another Amazon chaos cycle with no clear rules, no accountability, and all the liability pushed to you.

If you thought “measurement tolerance” would give you a break, it doesn’t apply if you’re over, only if you're under. (They claim it goes both ways, does anything really?)

Brace yourselves. This week (June 12) marks the beginning.

👎 Amazon Posts Is Dead. And You Should’ve Seen It Coming.

Remember when Amazon Posts launched during the ASGTG 20201ish hype era? I do. I hired a VA just to crank out daily AI-generated graphics. Everyone told me it was “free real estate.” I trust you heard that that real estate is being bulldozed by July 31.

Amazon never gave us metrics, never provided attribution, and kept the entire program in beta for years. You couldn’t optimize what you couldn’t measure—and I should’ve taken that as a hint earlier.

Another reminder: if Amazon doesn’t even bother to show you the ROI, it probably doesn’t exist. - RIP to another half-baked beta.

This customer is so classic. They filed this return, saw they needed to pay return shipping, then guess what they did a minute later.

Lol.

🔧 New York’s IRA Mandate: All Bureaucracy, No Benefit

No matter where you are, this kind of legislation is widely being adopted.

This week I got an email from NY State this week asking me to “voluntarily” enroll in the Secure Choice Savings Program. Spoiler: I didn’t. Why would I?

As of now, in 10 months, it’ll be mandatory for employers to auto-enroll their W-2 employees in an IRA, unless those employees opt out. Which they will. Which means I still have to build the workflow to support a program no one asked for.

Another classic case of Albany slapping small business with more red tape while pretending it's for our benefit.

If you’re a NY employer, you’ve got 9 months to figure this out. If not, I'm sure some version of this is affecting your workforce somewhere in the supply chain.

🤝 Networking ≠ Bragging. It’s about Mutual Pain Points.

It's no secret I love networking events and conferences in the field. I'll cover much more of that as I attend them.

This week I went to a dinner hosted by the Founders Club, (shout out to Chris Meade of Crossnet) this week. Think MDS or ECF, but DTC-focused.

Good people, great food, and an even better reminder:

• Everyone at a networking event is carrying some kind of pain. That’s why they’re there.
• Mike Beckham wrote this week in the Operators Newsletter that you should always be working on something painful—or that’s a red flag. Same logic applies to networking. If you're just showing up to flex or only see how others can serve YOU, you're missing the point.

The value add was I met TWO people dying to break in to the Amazon space, bam! Value delivered.

Go to events with this mindset:

🔁 What are you struggling with?

🔁 Here’s what I’m stuck on.

That’s where the value happens.

I hope everyone does this every day.

You can't offer a refund for a customer to remove their negative review, it's illegal.

But Amazon can?

Amazon offers (for now) in the brand section a feature where they'll reach out to the customer offering to send them two templates.

If you get a gool ol' customer, they may even update their review.

Hack: once you send them a message through this template, you can message them free form afterward.

With $620B of sales last year, how many sales/minute is Amazon converting on this year? ​8,600 products per minute from US Sellers​

That’s it for this week. Forward this to someone who still thinks Amazon plays fair.

📬 If you want to talk about anything in this email—whether it’s Amazon fee chaos, ERC audit traps, or how to fight back without losing your mind—hit reply or DM me.

Until next week,

Charles Chakkalo

JustASellerNewsletter.com