u/Big_Seat2545

I got hit with a design patent infringement claim on a design patent that seems to be complete BS but it is somehow registered and approved with the USPTO. The guy wants a lot of money to be able for me to sell his design and he's kinda got me by the balls because my business depends on it, though I could redesign in the future. I noticed some of my competitors are selling the exact same design...should I ask them if this guy reached out or no? Not sure what the cons are of asking? I'm curious if it's worth hiring a lawyer to fight this or just pay the guy because I have no chance of winning. My design does seem to infringe on his design patent, but his design patent is not unique at all.

A lot of buyers are flooding my listing because they are unsatisfied with the product quality. This batch of inventory isn't great but the product sells for $4.99, so expectations shouldn't be too high haha. Yes, I am going to improve quality but should I message unsatisfied customers in the mean time through buyer-seller messaging? If so, what should I say, ideally without offering a refund? Thanks!

A lot of buyers are flooding my listing because they are unsatisfied with the product quality. This batch of inventory isn't great but the product sells for $4.99, so expectations shouldn't be too high haha. Yes, I am going to improve quality but should I message unsatisfied customers in the mean time through buyer-seller messaging? If so, what should I say, ideally without offering a refund? Thanks!

I have a listing and someone filed an IP complaint against me, as he has a design patent that I am unaware of. He wants a hefty sum of money. In order for my listing to stay active, I am thinking about just paying him for this year but then redesigning my product so it's not infringing on his design. My worry is that if I redesign, Amazon may force me to make a new listing....will that be the case? Also, if I don't pay the patent owner the next year, he may get mad and file another complaint with Amazon, even if my new design is not infringing. How can I prepare for this and is it even worth the risk?

I have a listing and someone filed an IP complaint against me, as he has a design patent that I am unaware of. He wants a hefty sum of money. In order for my listing to stay active, I am thinking about just paying him for this year but then redesigning my product so it's not infringing on his design. My worry is that if I redesign, Amazon may force me to make a new listing....will that be the case? Also, if I don't pay the patent owner the next year, he may get mad and file another complaint with Amazon, even if my new design is not infringing. How can I prepare for this and is it even worth the risk?

I'm using a credit union and they flag everything. It's been a nightmare trying to connect my business debit card to Amazon and especially Amazon Mexico, Canada, and Brazil. Amazon Brazil won't even take my personal debit card and it's super frustrating. I was thinking about switching to Mercury anyways, but this is the main reason. Has anyone had problems authorizing their credit or debit card with Mercury?

I'm using a credit union and they flag everything. It's been a nightmare trying to connect my business debit card to Amazon and especially Amazon Mexico, Canada, and Brazil. Amazon Brazil won't even take my personal debit card and it's super frustrating. I was thinking about switching to Mercury anyways, but this is the main reason. Has anyone had problems authorizing their credit or debit card with Mercury?

I just made a new account, as I'm buying a small Amazon business and this is the way we're doing a handover. I'm going over the settings and seeing if there's anything I should change from the default. Here's a list:

1. CSBA (customer service by Amazon)- it's free if your CPU is under 3% but not sure if it's recommended? The account sells around 1,000+ units a month, and is pretty simple but not completely "idiot-proof."

2. The default Inventory age for automated removal is 9 months...what should I put mine at? Seems like long term storage fees start at 6 months.

3. For unsellable Amazon inventory the default is to dispose, and for aged inventory the default is return. What should I do? My cogs are $3.5 per unit, my revenue is $17 per unit, and my profit is $0.85 per unit (returns and all expenses are included in this). What should i do?

Thanks!

I like Sellerboard because of its profit analytics. I was also looking for software to request ... (can't say the name on here haha) and do reimbursements, but realize that Sellerboard does it as well, even if they don't specialize in either. Is it good enough? If so, I'd rather not pay more money for extra software.

I like Sellerboard because of its profit analytics. I was also looking for software to request reviews and do reimbursements, but realize that Sellerboard does it as well, even if they don't specialize in either. Is it good enough? If so, I'd rather not pay more money for extra software.

I'm interested in buying an ecommerce business that sells on Amazon. The current owner was selling a cheap $5-$10 item, and then a design patent holder from China filed a patent infringement claim against him with Amazon. As a result, they came to an off-Amazon agreement that the business owner would pay the design patent holder around $15k a year, which is about 15% of profit! The patent agreement is supposedly governed by Chinese law but I think the more concerning thing is that, even if the business owner redesigns around the simple design patent (the guy has a few design patents for this product...), the disgruntled patent holder can easily file another infringement claim against him on Amazon and Amazon will suspend his listing, in which case he will lose rank and sales. So my question is...what do you think a design parent license is worth? Does Amazon generally suspend your listing when there's something like a patent infringement claim against you? Would you buy a business with patent licensing agreement?

I'm interested in buying an ecommerce business that sells on Amazon. The current owner was selling a cheap $5-$10 item, and then a design patent holder from China filed a patent infringement claim against him with Amazon. As a result, they came to an off-Amazon agreement that the business owner would pay the design patent holder around $15k a year, which is about 15% of profit! The patent agreement is supposedly governed by Chinese law but I think the more concerning thing is that, even if the business owner redesigns around the simple design patent (the guy has a few design patents for this product...), the disgruntled patent holder can easily file another infringement claim against him on Amazon and Amazon will suspend his listing, in which case he will lose rank and sales. So my question is...what do you think a design parent license is worth? Does Amazon generally suspend your listing when there's something like a patent infringement claim against you? Would you buy a business with patent licensing agreement?

I know this is a general question but I will give you some background. I'm interested in buying an ecommerce business that sells on Amazon. The current owner was selling a cheap $5-$10 item, and then a design patent holder from China filed a patent infringement against him with Amazon. As a result, they came to an agreement that the business owner would pay the design patent holder around $15k a year, which is about 15% of profit! Profit is volatile, as it's an online business, and the licensing fee could very well eat even more into profit in the future. The design patent holder somewhat has power over the business owner because even if the business owner redesigns around the simple design patent, he can easily file another infringement claim against him on Amazon and Amazon will suspend his listing, in which he will lose rank and sales. So my question is...what do you think a design parent license is worth? Google says 5% to 7% of profit but, assuming that is even right, it's not difficult to game profit.

I know this is a general question but I will give you some background. I'm interested in buying an ecommerce business that sells on Amazon. The current owner was selling a cheap $5-$10 item, and then a design patent holder from China filed a patent infringement against him with Amazon. As a result, they came to an agreement that the business owner would pay the design patent holder around $15k a year, which is about 15% of profit! Profit is volatile, as it's an online business, and the licensing fee could very well eat even more into profit in the future. The design patent holder somewhat has power over the business owner because even if the business owner redesigns around the simple design patent, he can easily file another infringement claim against him on Amazon and Amazon will suspend his listing, in which he will lose rank and sales. So my question is...what do you think a design parent license is worth? Google says 5% to 7% of profit but, assuming that is even right, it's not difficult to game profit.

I'm evaluating a 100% Amazon FBA business and would appreciate some opinions on valuation.

• About 4 years old
• Just over $100k SDE and stable
• One listing with 12 variations
• A little over 5,000 feedback with a strong organic position in its niche
• Stable but relatively small category
• AOV around $7
• Net margins around 20%
• Revenue and traffic have declined YoY but the seller stopped running ads (SDE is stable)

Room for a little upside:

• Some room to improve the listing
• Add more variations
• Increase AOV slightly

Main concerns:

• The product uses a licensed design patent. Instead of owning the patent, the business pays the patent owner in China about $15k/year (already included as an expense in SDE). The license is transferable.
• The Amazon account is based in Azerbaijan and is registered under the seller's father's name, so the transfer is a little more complicated than usual.
• The seller has recently received more quality-related complaints, although the overall return rate is only around 2%.
• The seller has historically used an intermediary to make patent payments to the patent owner because of banking/payment issues.

Would you buy a business like this?

What multiple do you think it's worth?

If the business were operated by a U.S. owner after closing (with the same patent license still in place), would you expect the valuation multiple to increase?

I'm in the process of buying a business. Due diligence was just completed and came back okay and without any major surprises, though there were a few yellow flags I was unaware of. Still, I have not decided to renegotiate the purchase price, though this is my first business I'm buying and I'm not even sure if renegotiating would have even been justified.

As part of the business, the buyer has to pay a patent holder in China, which I was aware of from the beginning. I feel like I've been pretty accommodating about that, as I have agreed to the keep paying the hefty patent payment to keep the deal moving forward so that the patent agreement can transfer to me, and also to pay him in an unconventional way... the patent holder wants to be paid through someone in China (probably the sellers freight forwarder) instead of me paying him directly, which I don't like. I have no idea if future buyers will be able to accept what I am accepting, which is another risk. Anyways, he told me that he paid the patent for the year, but now that it's time to sign the APA, he wants to be reimbursed for the unused portion of the patent. I see where he's coming from but I've also put up with a lot of weirdness in this deal and feel like I gave him a good offer with great terms. What would you do? He's justified in asking but I also feel like I've given a lot as well.

As

For a business I'm buying, I have to now pay the design patent holder for a product I'm selling on Amazon in RMB, after he filed a patent infringement complaint against the previous owner. He said, "关于收款方式，之前一直是直接收取人民币，因为收取外币我方大概率需要多缴纳20%税费，甚至有可能被冻结银行账户。所以最早合作的时候，提到过仅收取人民币。建议你尝试按之前的付款方式进行支付。" Google translate says that he's saying he needs payment in RMB to avoid fees and his bank account being frozen. Why is that? Can I pay him using something like Wise in RMB? Not sure what's going on but my guess is that he doesn't want to pay taxes on the sum of money I give him, which is why he wants the money in RMB? Could be wrong though.

For a business I'm buying, I have to now pay the design patent holder for a product I'm selling on Amazon in RMB, after he filed a patent infringement complaint against the previous owner. He said, "关于收款方式，之前一直是直接收取人民币，因为收取外币我方大概率需要多缴纳20%税费，甚至有可能被冻结银行账户。所以最早合作的时候，提到过仅收取人民币。建议你尝试按之前的付款方式进行支付。" Google translate says that he's saying he needs payment in RMB to avoid fees and his bank account being frozen. Why is that? Can I pay him using something like Wise in RMB? Not sure how I am going to go about this... Also, I believe this person is an individual and not a company.

I used to hear all the time about black hat, unethical tactics from Amazon sellers, particularly from a certain country. These days, I don't hear too much about that anymore though.. has Amazon cracked down? Amazon easily can suspend you or your listings, and many of the times its erroneous and the seller has done nothing wrong. Amazon is also good about making sure that a suspended seller can't open a new account and people can lose their six or even seven figure businesses. Just wondering if my assumptions are true? What kind of black hat tactics are still common now adays?

Amazon keeps increasing its fees every year, adding new fees, more penalties etc. and has definitely become more 'pay to play', where it's necessary to run expensive ads. I realize that Amazon is now in extraction mode, mostly from sellers, which is common for all major platforms, but Amazon seems to be particularly brutal. Small sellers are leaving and Amazon is now full of aggregators, chinese factories, and big brands. I'm wondering...how much more pain can Amazon sellers take when Amazon is already taking 50-60% of revenue? Do you expect new fee increases every year? I know everyone on here likes to say to increase prices, but customers on Amazon can easily price shop and there's so many copy cats, so raising your prices reduces sales velocity, which reduces your organic rank. Please correct me if my assumptions are wrong, but as someone on the fence about continuing with Amazon, do you see Amazon fees to be higher, lower, stagnant ging forward? Maybe Amazon has a plan that doesn't include most third party sellers?