What Breaks When You Scale Your OA Business

Welcome back to Seller Snacks, your weekly buffet of ecommerce goodness.

This week, we’ve got intel on the potential growth for holiday sales this year, an urgent update on the required documentation for toys, a word of caution before you scale, the secret to mastering the most powerful tool for OA, and a tool flip we absolutely love.

Also, spots are filling up fast for our Q4 lead lists, so don’t miss your chance to sign up today.

Whether you’re flipping, sourcing, or binge-scrolling Keepa: grab a plate, we don’t judge.

On Today's Menu:

• 🥨 Holiday Sales to Grow by 4% : What You Should Know

• 🍪 Urgent Update: Required Documentation for Toys

• 🍄 What Breaks When You Scale

• 🍿 Master the Most Powerful Tool for OA

• 🥣The Great Nintendo Swindle

• 🎭 See, No One Cares

• 🔥Socket Profit - We Love This Tool Flip

Let’s eat!

🥨 Crisp Intel

Bite-sized insights to help you sell smarter.

📆 What’s Happening: U.S. Holiday Sales to Grow by 4%

According to recent projections, U.S. holiday retail sales are expected to climb about 4% this season. While ecommerce has seen a 7% slowdown due to tariffs, recession fears, and rising costs, it’s still projected to account for at least half of all holiday sales, a massive share sellers can’t ignore. Retailers and sellers who out-execute in planning, inventory allocation, marketing, and customer experience are expected to outperform the average.

📈 Why It Matters:

• More opportunity across the board → With holiday sales rising, demand for many product categories (not just the obvious ones) gets a lift. That means more flips, more niches, and better margins if you pick wisely.

• Planning is everything → Sellers who lock in inventory early, ensure stock for peak demand, and have smooth supply/prep/logistics will win. Late or messy shipments = losing to competitors.

• Fast movers win → As holiday demand spikes, the listings that already have momentum (strong rank + steady history) will see the biggest lift. Your edge as an OA seller is picking winners, staying in stock, and avoiding listings that tank under pressure.

📋What to Do:

✅ Source early & broadly - Identify not just what’s trending now, but what’s likely to shine from Black Friday through New Year.
✅ Prioritize reliable supply chains & prep partners - Avoid disruptions (in shipping, prep, labeling) that could kill your margin if demand spikes.
✅ Stay in stock on winners - If you spot a replenishable lead with Q4 demand, buy deeper or restock faster. Running out during peak season = leaving profit on the table.
✅ Watch categories that outperform - Identify adjacent or rising categories (holiday décor, gift sets, higher ticket seasonal items) where competition isn’t yet saturated.

🍪 OA Munch

Bite-sized tips to boost your flips.

🛒 September Sourcing Strategy
Online arbitrage gets easier when you realize that when you source matters more than what you source. In this thread, we break down four product categories primed for September markdowns so you can stock up now, ride seasonal demand later, and flip smarter before Q4 hits.

🛠️ How to Pack & Ship Products to Amazon
From FBA vs FBM to labeling, packaging, and avoiding shipment delays, this guide walks you through exactly how to send products to Amazon the right way. It covers compliance rules, the “Send to Amazon” workflow, and practical steps to keep your inventory moving. If you want your September and Q4 sourcing to actually convert (not get stuck at the warehouse), this is a must-read.

📦 Prepping for Life After Amazon Prep Services
Starting January 1, 2026, Amazon will no longer offer prep and labeling services. That means sellers need a new plan – fast. In this episode of the Next Top Amazon Seller podcast, 11 experienced sellers share their insights on working with third-party prep centers and their best tips for choosing the right partner.

You’ll hear hard-won lessons on when to outsource, how to avoid costly mistakes, and what to look for in a prep center so you can scale without burning out. With Q4 ahead and Amazon phasing out its own services, this episode helps you future-proof your business and protect your margins.

 If prepping eats up your sourcing time, this one’s a must-listen.

🧸 Amazon’s New Toy Documentation Rules: An Update
Starting this September, Amazon rolled out new documentation requirements for selling toys. In their weekly AMA, Chris Grant and Chris Racic explained that while the details of the new policy are still unclear – including how many listings will be affected and how the process will roll out – popular and trending toys and brands are most likely to require documentation. They do believe though that toy profits are still on the table, you just have to approach it with more caution. Make sure to check if the toy ASINs you’re sourcing do not require documentation before committing.

Chris G. and Chris R. discuss this at the 1:02:20 mark.

Amazon also held a webinar recently about this policy update. Watch the replay here.

🚫 Q4 Mistake to Avoid: Going All-In on Toys
The bigger opportunity this Q4 isn’t just toys – it’s doubling down on what already works, scaling your current categories, and branching into adjacent niches where demand also spikes. Our daily lead lists help you do exactly that, with 10+ high-profit flips across multiple categories delivered straight to your inbox.

Our subscribers are already acting on the latest marketplace trends. Secure your spot today and start sourcing smarter.

👉 Subscribe to a Lead List

🍄Mental Snacks

Quick Bites. Better Mindset.

We talk a lot about scaling – bigger buys, more leads, higher sales. And yes, the end of Q3 is the best time to focus on growth. Q4 is coming fast, and the sellers who prepare now will reap the biggest wins.

But here’s the truth: when you scale, things start to break. And if you know what’s likely to break beforehand, you can patch the leaks before they sink your ship.

1. Time & Capacity
At first, you can handle everything yourself – sourcing, prepping, shipping, customer service. But as volume grows, so does the grind. Suddenly, every box feels like it’s eating your entire week.
👉 Fix it: Start outsourcing prep, use a prep center, or streamline your workflow with bulk tools.

2. Cash Flow
Scaling means bigger inventory buys, and Q4 eats cash fast. Even if your sales explode, payouts lag behind expenses.
👉 Fix it: Plan for capital needs now – whether that’s setting aside reserves, opening a line of credit, or leveraging tools like Amazon’s working capital advances responsibly.

3. Systems & Organization
The spreadsheets that worked when you were doing $5K/month will collapse under $50K/month. Lost receipts, messy inventory tracking, or sloppy sourcing notes can spiral into tax season nightmares.
👉 Fix it: Invest in solid tools (inventory management, accounting software) and get disciplined about systems before volume spikes.

4. Mindset & Decision-Making
As your business scales, every decision carries more weight. Misreading Keepa or chasing a tanking product isn’t just a $100 mistake – it could turn into a $1,000+ loss. The mental toll of operating at that level is real: pressure builds, mistakes sting harder, and stress compounds.
👉 Fix it: Slow down, sharpen your data skills, and accept that not every lead is worth chasing. Anticipating these pitfalls not only protects your profits but also helps ease the stress that comes with playing at scale.

🚀 Why This Matters Now
We’re in late Q3, the last calm stretch before Q4. Scaling is the right move, but the sellers who win big this season are the ones who identify what’s going to break before it does.

If you prepare your time, cash flow, systems, and decision-making now, you’ll be able to ride the Q4 wave instead of getting crushed by it.

🍿 Snacktacular Spotlight

Each week, we shine a light on something (or someone) that’s helping Amazon sellers snack smarter.

This week’s spotlight is on….

🎓Chris Grant’s Keepa Academy: Master the most powerful tool for online arbitrage

Q4 isn’t forgiving. The wrong buy can tie up capital for months, while the right buy can sell out overnight. That’s why mastering Keepa is one of the smartest moves you can make before the holiday rush – and Chris Grant’s Keepa Academy is built to get you there.

Keepa Academy takes you from confused by charts to confident in sourcing decisions. Inside, you’ll learn how to:

📈 Read price history to spot true trends (not short-term spikes).
🏷️ Analyze sales rank so you can predict velocity before you buy.
🔍 Identify competition patterns and avoid listings where the race to the bottom is inevitable.
🎯 Source smarter in Q4 by timing inventory buys for maximum ROI.

And here’s the real benefit: if you sharpen these skills now, you’ll head into Q4 with an edge. While others are second-guessing whether a lead will actually sell, you’ll know how to read the data, move fast, and capitalize on the hottest deals of the season without the fear of sinking money into losers.

👉 Get Q4-ready with Keepa Academy

🥣The Dip Bowl

Click-Worthy Finds Served Fresh

• The first ever AI-powered repricer for Walmart: Feedvisor just launched the first ever AI-powered dynamic pricing engine for Walmart.

• Amazon sues refund fraud operation: Amazon has sued Plugged and seven of its users. The service advertised that, for a fee, it could obtain Amazon refunds while letting buyers keep their items.

• $2 million Nintendo counterfeit ring busted: An Amazon seller was caught selling fake Nintendo gear through different Amazon storefronts.

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🎭 Meme of the Week

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