Amazon creates more growth 📈 and more overhead 📉 [MDSR #66]

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Million Dollar Sellers
April 09, 2026

Brought to you by a vetted community of 700+ eCommerce founders representing nearly $12B in annual revenue.

📰 Hot Off The Presses

In our last poll, most MDS readers said the biggest opportunity for growth right now lies in doubling down on Amazon, with TikTok Shop and creator-led commerce close behind. 

Over the past few weeks, that instinct has started to look a lot less like optimism and a lot more like a stress test.

Start with costs. Amazon told sellers it will impose a 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge starting April 17, extending the fee to Buy with Prime and multi-channel fulfillment in May. 

Modern Retail’s reporting makes the subtext even clearer: Amazon is no longer content to absorb fuel and logistics inflation on sellers’ behalf. 

The company says the fee is temporary. Sellers have heard that one before. 

That surcharge also didn’t appear out of nowhere. The Iran conflict has been disrupting ocean and air cargo networks, with additional reporting showing the turmoil has snarled global shipping flows and even tested the 2026 air cargo outlook. 

In other words, geopolitical risk has officially made the leap from headline to line item. 

Elsewhere, Amazon is quietly reshaping the calendar. This year’s Big Spring Sale ran March 25–31, adding yet another non-Prime promotional window to a year that was already getting crowded. 

And if Reuters’ report is right that Amazon may move Prime Day up to late June, sellers will have even less breathing room between spring discounts and summer deal pressure. 

Q2 is starting to look suspiciously like Q4 with better weather. The broader competitive picture isn’t exactly getting simpler either. 

Let the fact that Amazon Haul now has more than 3,000 sellers serve as a reminder that Amazon is still building new low-cost surfaces while asking existing sellers to carry more of the operational burden. 

Growth may still be on Amazon. But so, increasingly, is the bill.  

🗳️ This edition’s poll

📡 April signals to watch

A few more eCom developments worth keeping on your radar this month — from AI-powered discovery shifts to operational changes inside the Amazon ecosystem:

Amazon + AI tools ⤵️

Marketplace + platform dynamics ⤵️

The fulfillment + logistics race ⤵️

Creator + channel convergence ⤵️

💸 Million Dollar Advice

Most KPI dashboards get more crowded as a business grows. That doesn’t mean they get more useful.

What actually moves the needle is focusing on the metrics that match your current stage — whether that’s conversion and feedback loops early on, or acquisition efficiency, retention, and contribution margin as you scale.

Clarity comes from knowing which numbers deserve your attention right now.

Add our new expert breakdown to your reading list 👉 Key eCommerce KPIs to track in 2026

🗝 Operator Room London: If you know, you know

MDS is bringing its Operator Room series to London — a private, invite-only gathering for founders already operating at scale.

This isn’t a panel. It’s a room.

No decks. No pitches. No surface-level tactics. Just candid, peer-to-peer conversations with operators who understand what actually changes as brands move past $30M–$50M.

The discussion will be anchored by a small group of experienced founders, including:

  • Michael Corrigan (TRTL) — scaled a dorm-room idea into a global travel brand across 100+ countries

  • Luke Shelley (Lucky Egg) — built a TikTok-driven brand from 40 to 400 orders/day overnight, now expanding into retail

  • Saurabh Srivastava (Grace & Stella) — operator across a global portfolio of consumer brands in beauty and wellness

  • Eddie Latham (Majority Audio) — scaled to 4M+ units sold and led a Guinness World Record campaign

And more to come.

The focus is on the conversations that don’t usually happen in public:

  • What actually breaks at scale

  • How decision-making evolves

  • Where operators are doubling down — and what they’re cutting

The setting is just as intentional: a private venue in Mayfair, with a structured meet-and-speed session followed by an intimate, closed-door discussion.

Attendance is limited and vetted. Founders and operators only. If you belong in that room, you’ll know.

🚫 Audit your strikethrough pricing before Amazon does

Amazon is tightening its rules around reference pricing starting April 23rd — and for many sellers, strikethrough discounts could disappear overnight.

This isn’t just a cleanup. It’s a reset on what qualifies as a “real” deal.

Here’s what matters:

  • April 23: List price enforcement begins
    If your “was” price can’t be validated — either through recent Amazon sales or matching external retail pricing — your strikethrough will be removed.

  • May 18: “Typical price” recalculation kicks in
    Listings that have relied on extended promotions (45+ days of coupons or deals) may see their reference price reset based on actual selling behavior.

  • Historical pricing now defines eligibility
    Short-term price hikes to manufacture discounts won’t hold. Amazon is looking for sustained, credible pricing history.

What to do now:

☑️ Audit your list prices ASAP
If you can’t justify the higher price, assume the discount is at risk.

☑️ Pause long-running promotions
Continuous deals may be lowering your “typical price” and wiping out future strikethrough eligibility.

☑️ Track conversion at the ASIN level
You’ll want to quickly identify which listings lose their discount — and how performance shifts.

☑️ Adjust PPC before it gets expensive
If conversion drops, your current bids won’t hold. Plan for it.

☑️ Rebuild pricing intentionally
In some cases, that may mean establishing a real baseline price before discounting

The bigger shift: Amazon is moving from perceived discounts to provable ones — and removing one of the easiest conversion levers in the process.

Think this is helpful? Feel free to pass it along 🙂 

📲 Did you see that post

This is what a coordinated pushback looks like 👏

📝 Where sellers are comparing notes next

Q2 is already underway, and the pace isn’t slowing down.

The edge right now isn’t more information — it’s being in the right rooms with founders who are actively navigating the same decisions.

Here’s where those conversations are happening next:

🤝 MDS Connects 

Curated founder meetups aligned with the industry’s biggest moments so conversations happen when context matters most.

🤝 Ecompreneur Socials

Low-pressure settings with a clear purpose: reconnect with fellow founders and recalibrate before Q2 sneaks up.

⏳ Seats are limited and many of these fill well in advance.

Lock them into your 2026 calendar now → All Event Links

📊 eCom Stock Watch

Click on the table below or view the full size data here. 

✌️ Until Next Time

As always, thanks for sticking with us until the end. 

If you’d care to share your thoughts on this newsletter, we’re all ears. Just hit reply to sound off. 

See you next time with more of the latest and greatest content you need to succeed this year 🔥

Sincerely, 

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Million Dollar Sellers (MDS) is an exclusive community of 700+ like-minded Amazon and DTC sellers from all over the world. Collectively, our members generate more than 8 billion in annual sales and dominate some of the biggest categories on Amazon. MDS offers world-class events, chapters, industry discounts, resource libraries full of SOPs, templates, and video recordings of private trainings, workshops, events and so much more.

If you are looking for a business professional community made for ecom entrepreneurs, then consider applying today. 

*To qualify, you must be a full-time seller or brand owner and do at least 1 million in verified annual revenue. Will Amazon’s Returnless Resolutions solve the returns debacle? [MDSR #30]