Hey there!

February is wrapping up, and I don't know about you, but I'm ready for it.

Between the tariff drama, a bomb cyclone burying the Northeast, and the Winter Olympics reminding us that some people are just unfairly talented, it's been a month.

But with Returnuary in the rearview, post-Valentine's Day markdowns, and retailers looking to clear winter inventory, there's reason to be optimistic.

In the meantime, here's another round of non-breaking news, memes, quotes, and updates for you in the most inconsistent weekly newsletter around.

💬 Quote of the Week

I confuse motion with progress more than I'd like to admit. Hours of looking at products across dozens of open tabs can make a convincing argument that we've been productive.

The difference can be easy to ignore. Cunningham offers a great reminder.

Now let's see what we missed on the back pages of e-commerce news. ⬇️

What's the Matter?

📰 The $1.8T Runway

A new Forrester report projects U.S. e-commerce sales will hit $1.8 trillion by 2030, representing 29% of all retail.

Forrester attributes the online growth to more Gen Z workers entering the economy, logistics improvements, and the rise of agentic commerce.

Why it matters:

E-commerce growing to $1.8 trillion by 2030 means the Amazon marketplace pie keeps getting bigger. More dollars flowing through online channels means more demand for the products we source and sell on the dominant platform.

The other exciting number: $4.4 trillion still happening in stores. Our sourcing playground. Brick and mortar houses the clearance racks, the mispriced inventory, and the retail arbitrage deals. Both sides of this equation work in our favor.

📰 Smell You on Prime

Bath & Body Works has officially launched its first storefront on Amazon's U.S. platform, offering a curated selection of top-selling items.

The brand will retain ownership of inventory and control pricing. Amazon will handle fulfillment using Prime shipping.

CEO Daniel Heaf estimated that $60 to $80 million in BBW products were already being sold on Amazon by third party sellers, calling those gray market sales both brand and profit dilutive.

Why it matters:

The brand becomes less arbitrage-friendly as they aim to take a cut of that $60-$80 million in sales.

The silver lining? BBW is launching with a limited assortment of evergreen hero products. That leaves a huge catalog of seasonal, limited edition, and niche SKUs still wide open for resellers.

BBW's CEO openly admitted they can't compete with Prime's shipping speed on their own site. That's a signal. When even the brands themselves acknowledge Amazon's logistics moat, it reinforces why our customers keep buying there, and why sourcing for the platform still makes sense long term.

📰 Gold Standard Training

A seller projecting $7 million in annual revenue just revealed he trains his entire staff with The OA Challenge. He's not the only one. Kim & Perry run a massive retail arbitrage operation and use OA Challenge content to train their shoppers too.

The 15th cohort goes live March 2nd at a lower price point with a new "Make it back" mini-challenge at the end to ensure every student walks away with enough leads to cover the cost of enrollment.

Why it matters:

It's a course built for the person at the kitchen table with two hours after the kids go to bed that is being used as the training standard for seven-figure operations. That's how effective and actionable it is.

But don't take the big sellers' word for it. Here's what the spectrum actually looks like. Brand new sellers: Elenny got her money's worth by Day 2. Rachel started the same month she enrolled and already saw the skills paying off.

Sellers who thought they knew enough: Thomas called it "criminally underpriced." Fox said it's the most vital class he's taken as an Amazon seller, and he's spent close to $4K on courses.

Sellers who got burned before: Amber tried multiple courses and said this one "puts them all to shame." Jou said for the first time, he didn't feel like the instructor was withholding information. Then there's Jerry, who did $1.3M in 2022 and came back for another round. Cecilia is on her third.

For 2026, the price dropped to reduce the barrier to entry. And the most exciting update for this edition: there's a new "Make It Back" mini-challenge at the end. Small batches of students will have access to sourcing sessions and walk away with enough sourced leads to make their money back.

14 days of live training starts March 2nd. 7 days are covered by a money-back guarantee. Join here.

📰 eBay's $1.2B Thrift Flip

eBay is acquiring Depop from Etsy for approximately $1.2 billion in cash.

Depop generated roughly $1 billion in gross sales in 2025 with nearly 60% year-over-year growth in the U.S. They boast 7 million active buyers (nearly 90% under age 34) and over 3 million active sellers.

Why it matters:

This is eBay making a serious play for the Gen Z resale market. Fashion already represents over $10 billion in annual GMV for eBay and grew 10% year-over-year in the U.S. in 2025.

The integration details matter for resellers. eBay specifically mentioned cross-listing opportunities between platforms, which could mean Depop inventory showing up in eBay search results and vice versa.

🎧 What's the Latest on the Clear The Shelf with Chris & Chris Podcast?

Kim & Perry Coghlan came back on the pod. If you remember, they run a nearly $10 million RA operation. Not only do they use the OA Challenge to train their team, but they gave us a detailed look under the hood of their business.

It's a level of detail that had me feeling inadequate very early into the interview.

Check it out below.

🎥 Remember, we're live on YouTube, Facebook, & Twitter twice a week answering your questions and talking breaking news.

• Wednesday at 7:00 pm et
• Sunday at 7:00 pm et

Be sure to stop by with any questions or just hang out and talk shop with us.

Listen to Clear the Shelf with Chris & Chris on your favorite podcast player: ​YouTube​ ​Apple​ ​Spotify​

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💰 Weekend Lead Lists

OA Leads 24/7 delivers curated arbitrage opportunities every Saturday and Sunday, when your competition isn't even looking.

📢 Limited spots are available on each list.

📚 The Most Successful People I Know Are Readers

We've heard Chris Grant recommend this as an important read numerous times over the years.

You could argue that the concept The Long Tail teaches is at the heart of the reason why arbitrage will never die.

It bounces up to $10 most of the time, but it's on sale for just a few dollars currently.

🤣 Sometimes I Think I'm Funny

Find me on social media and share this week's meme below and I might shout you out in the next newsletter.

It's always been true, but this seems as important a message as ever.

Have a great week! Talk to you soon.

Chris

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