Black Label Advisor

04/16/2026

In a stunning turn of events, Amazon just sent out a notice to most sellers telling them that they can still use credit cards for ads.

For now…

It’s clear by this point that this policy will most likely only affect a select group of sellers. My bet is that it will be the small time players.

So, enjoy the free flights and trips to Fiji while you still can!

This has happened before where a rogue employee sends out a notice to every seller by accident and then Amazon retracts it. Then weeks later it goes live. I think that’s what will happen here. But maybe it will include ad spend brackets or something similar.

Some sellers did get a custom notice that Amazon is rolling this out on August 1, 2026 so there’s that to look forward to.

Stay tuned! The drama will continue tomorrow I’m sure. 😂

04/11/2026

🚨 Don't Fall for the Amazon “Boycott” 🚨

This might surprise you, but I'm actually one of the first 25 founding members of the infamous MDS group. I had to stop supporting them many years ago for a variety of reasons, but now they are up to this nonsense, and I have to comment.

Yes, you read that right. An advertising boycott. Over 100 naive rand owners have committed to turning off ads for 24 hours on April 15.

MDS is even gloating about Chinese sellers joining the boycott. They mean one Chinese seller...

If it were a math class, Amazon would call this "boycott" statistically insignificant. That's how stupid a 24-hour boycott is.

I feel bad for any brand taking part in this nonsense.

Here's what is going to happen.

Amazon will ding your rankings, and you will have to scrape them back in the coming months. Your competitors will lock in the cheaper bids, and you will regret ever "going against the man."

Secondly, Amazon is going to know who participated in this boycott. Not only can they see you turning off your ad spend, but they will know because they are in the MDS group, spying on brands. Punishment will come.

Suing Amazon never works out. Unionized sellers failed years ago. Seller guilds have failed. Do you honestly think that a few sellers among millions are going to make an impact? Dream on.

Here's what to do instead. Expand off-Amazon aggressively. This means you should be targeting Walmart, TikTok, and Shopify. If anyone tells you otherwise, they are lying to you.

Stay focused and don't become a victim.

You have been warned.

02/24/2026

🚨 Tariffs Were NOT Overturned! 🚨

At least, not in the way you think. Whenever we have a historic SCOTUS ruling like this, everyone on LinkedIn becomes a "legal expert."

99% of what you have read online is WRONG. I'm going to help clarify a few things so you can stay up to date and not fall prey to misinformation.

✅ Fact #1: The SCOTUS ruling was an extremely narrow ruling that ONLY affects Trump's IEPPA tariff authority. Guess how many other tariff authority tools he has left? 6.

✅ Fact #2: Trump signed an executive order yesterday to impose a global 10% tariff on every country that does trade with us. This one is legal because it falls under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. This one will last 150 days or until the Commerce Department conducts unfair trade investigations to replace his IEEPA tariffs with similar rates under Section 301 and 232. This serves as a "stopgap." Congress can intervene on this one if they want to.

✅ Fact #3: The SCOTUS ruling does NOT decide whether similar ones can be reimposed under other statutes. This is where the media is silent right now because they know what's coming. This is why it was very unwise to pop the champagne yesterday. The ruling is not what you think.

✅ Fact #4: The White House has already confirmed that this was Plan B al along, and the US Treasury will see virtually unchanged tariff revenue in 2026. In other words, tariffs went from one bucket to another bucket. They never went anywhere.

✅ Fact #5: You are not getting any refunds on past tariff payments. The court's ruling does not mention refunds at all. To capture these, you will need to sue the Feds and become a plaintiff. 99% of brands obviously do not have the budget for this legal fight that will take up to 5 years.

✅ Fact #6: I saw premature celebrating yesterday about the supposed De Minimis suspension going away. I'm not sure why they posted this because it's still in full effect. The court did not mention this in their ruling, and the White House has issued a full statement online confirming that all duty-free De Minimis for all nations is still suspended.

💡 Justice Kavanaugh's dissent should clue you in: “although I firmly disagree with the Court’s holding today, the decision might not substantially constrain a President’s ability to order tariffs going forward … because numerous other federal statutes authorize the President to impose tariffs and might justify most (if not all) of the tariffs at issue in this case.”

Goldman Sachs said much the same thing shortly after the Trade Court ruling that started all this: “This ruling represents a setback for the administration’s tariff plans and increases uncertainty, but might not change the final outcome for most major U.S. trading partners. For now, we expect the Trump administration will find other ways to impose tariffs.”

Welcome to a Constitutional Republic. It's messy, but it's still the best government structure known to man!

02/21/2026

You're doing your Amazon pictures all wrong.

This just might be the best hero image I've ever seen.

Perfect color saturation, 3D flavor objects, perfect callouts, perfect packaging showcase!

Yes, Gruns is breaking the rules, but they don't care because Amazon doesn't care!

05/01/2024

🚨PSA🚨

Join 18,000+ Amazon sellers who read Amazon Insiders and now have the edge over their competition.

Each week I send out one actionable growth hack to help you scale faster on Amazon.

Oh, did I mention that it's FREE?

Join the #1 newsletter for Amazon sellers. Each week you'll get 1 actionable hack straight to your inbox!

01/23/2024

Did you know that the #1 best seller in garlic presses on Amazon is NOT a Chinese seller?

That's right, it's none other than Aaron Cordovez! Many of you know him from his interviews but few have had the chance to interview this legendary Amazon seller and get into the weeds.
That is exactly what you'll read about in today's weekly Amazon Insiders newsletter issue.

You won't want to miss this interview! In it, you'll learn about Aaron almost going bankrupt 3 times 😵 and how he deals with black hat sellers 😡.

Sign up here to read the interview: https://blacklabeladvisor.ck.page/amazon-insiders

08/18/2023

If there was ever an image that showcased the grit of a bootstrapped Amazon seller, it's this one.

He's a client of mine and you are looking at 3 pallets of inventory that arrived at his condo. Then up a flight of stairs to hand inspect!

Year 1 on Amazon is never glamorous.

Grit builds empires.

03/29/2023

Quartile Just Got A Major Upgrade!

You know that feeling when you get your car detailed and it just feels "different"? The seats feel more luxurious, the car feels faster, and the smell? Freaking bottle it!

That's the feeling Amazon sellers are experiencing with the launch of Quartile Versa. I've posted about Quartile in the past but in a nutshell, it's an AI driven PPC management tool to rule them all. They manage over $2 billion in ad spend. Not a typo.

Quartile is truly at the forefront of embracing AI so this announcement did not surprise me.

Versa was created in response to brand owners desperately looking for a solution to simplify as well as better customize their Amazon PPC campaigns. Well, they delivered.

I'll spare you all the technical details. It's boiled down to this:
-New rules-based optimizations that match product needs.
-Ad spend adjustments at account level, ASIN, and even branded terms!

More control is the name of the game. Brand owners are giddy over this update to Quartile and so am I.

Sign Up BELOW (affiliate link) to grab 55% off your 1st two months with them. Make sure you use code BLACKLABELADVISOR

https://www.quartile.com/?ref=jonathanelder

03/28/2023

2,331 subscribers are going to receive this week's newsletter and learn how to nail their insert card for explosive review rates on their Amazon listings. You won't want to miss this one.

Join the #1 newsletter for Amazon private label sellers. You'll get actionable advice for dominating your competition, strategies that boost sales, and all of my insider knowledge!

03/14/2023

At 2pm CST today, over 2,100 Amazon sellers will be receiving my latest hack utilizing social media influencers to skyrocket reviews.

You won't want to miss this issue.

Join the #1 newsletter for Amazon private label sellers. You'll get actionable advice for dominating your competition, strategies that boost sales, and all of my insider knowledge!

03/07/2023

2,038 Amazon sellers will be getting my top 7 hacks for boosting reviews on their products.

The best part? Zero black hat tactics!

You won't want to miss this issue. Goes out at 2pm CST today.

Join the #1 newsletter for Amazon private label sellers. You'll get actionable advice for dominating your competition, strategies that boost sales, and all of my insider knowledge!

12/12/2022

Check out my comments in Practical Commerce regarding a no-brainer marketing opportunity for sellers to utilize Alexa to boost sales and exposure on Amazon!

Amazon's new "Customers ask Alexa" could be a marketing opportunity for brands and retailers. Here's how to get started.