Hey there!

Happy spring. Friday was officially the vernal equinox, and with Easter less than two weeks out (April 5), Q2 vibes are everywhere.

Spring is a good reset for sellers. Warm weather categories open up (looking at you Patio, Lawn & Garden), post-winter returns fizzle out, and shoppers who cried over holiday credit card statements start buying again.

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

Tell me this isn't the seller game in a nutshell? Every new seller says "I want to hit six figures". The ones who actually get there are the ones who build a daily sourcing routine, track their numbers on the regular, and follow their processes without skipping steps.

Goals don't separate winners from everyone else. Systems do.

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

What's the Matter?

📰 Cost of Coming Back

Returns have become one of the biggest cost pressures in all of ecommerce. According to a new survey of supply chain executives, 62% cite returns processing as one of their hardest operational challenges.

To offset those costs, 65% of merchants now charge return fees, averaging $9 per mail-in return.

Why it matters:

• Restocking fees, shorter windows, stricter condition requirements across the board matters. If return friction becomes the industry standard, it gives Amazon political cover to tighten its own policies without looking anti-consumer. That's fewer reversed sales and less inventory limbo for us.
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• Tighter return policies mean fewer items come back. That means less inventory flowing into liquidation and secondary channels. If you're sourcing for marketplaces like eBay, WhatNot, or Depop, that pipeline could start drying up.
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📰 Quarter Pounder

Remember that Q1 leads group I told you about a few months ago? It wraps up in a week.

It turned out even better than I expected. With 7 days left, we've shared over $88,000 of profit based on the purchase of 5 units per lead. More numbers:

• 57% average ROI across 1,430 leads
• $12.32 average net profit per lead
• 93.5% of leads still at breakeven or better based on original source price

Guess what? We're running it back. The Q2 Leads Group starts April 1st and runs through June 30th. 25 manually sourced leads per day, Monday through Friday, capped at 100 members.

Doors are open to everyone now. Alumni got early access and about 30 of the spots are already spoken for. Use code Q2SALE300 to take $300 off.

Why it matters:

• $88,000 in potential profit from one quarter. Even if you cherry-pick and only act on a fraction of the leads, the math still works. These aren't theoretical numbers. They held up weeks later despite being shared with the group.
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• Most sellers treat Q2 like a waiting room for Q4. That's backwards. This is the quarter where you build the bankroll and sharpen the sourcing reps.
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• This isn't for sellers who need convincing that lead lists work. It's for sellers who already know and want the best one.

📰 Rush Hour

Amazon rolled out new ultra-fast delivery tiers this month. 1-hour delivery is now live in hundreds of US cities, and 3-hour delivery is available in over 2,000 cities and towns.

More than 90,000 products are eligible, covering household essentials, health and beauty, electronics, and toys. This is on top of a record 2025, when Amazon delivered over 8 billion items same or next day to US Prime members, a 30% year-over-year increase.

Why it matters:

• 90,000 products is a selective list. Items that qualify for 1-hour or 3-hour delivery almost certainly get visibility advantages in search for Prime members who filter by speed. If your top ASINs are hitting those windows, that's a obvious competitive edge.
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• The 30% YOY growth in same/next-day deliveries tells us customers are increasingly shopping based on fulfillment speed, not just price. Frequency of inbound shipments and staying in-stock become more important as Amazon's fulfillment network adds additional locations to facilitate faster delivery speeds.
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• Faster delivery makes Prime membership stickier, and stickier Prime members mean more repeat buyers shopping inside Amazon's ecosystem. Every speed upgrade widens the gap between Amazon and everyone else. If you're an FBA seller, that growing dominance is your tailwind.

📰 Trust Falls

Half of consumers say they'd prefer to do business with brands that don't use generative AI in their advertising, messaging, and content, according to a Gartner survey of 1,539 U.S. consumers.

The twist: consumers are using AI themselves, but that doesn't translate into trusting brands that use it.

61% say they frequently question whether the information they use to make decisions is reliable, and 68% wonder whether the content they see is real

Why it matters:

• This is a trust problem, not a technology problem. Brands are racing to shove AI into every customer touchpoint while half the people on the other end actively don't want it there.
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• The 68% number is the one to watch. When two-thirds of consumers are questioning whether what they see is even real, authenticity becomes a competitive edge. AI earns its keep for sellers behind the curtain. We need to be careful with AI content that reaches the end customer.

🎧 Clear The Shelf with Chris & Chris

Liz Thompson's interview has been our most listened to episode in quite a while.

She busts a bunch of myths and teaches us how to create listings, clearing a path to profit with little-to-no competition.

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

Saturday and Sunday leads, delivered while your competition sleeps in.

📢 Limited spots are available.

📚 The Most Successful People I Know Are Readers

Sean Young's Stick With It breaks down the science of why most behavior change fails and what actually makes it stick. Short version: small steps, community, and process over willpower. Sound familiar?

It's on sale now.

🤣 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.

Show me the lie?

Have a great week! Talk to you soon.

Chris

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