NOTE : ( I share a personal experience of falling for an Amazon-related scam disguised as a success seminar, losing $10,000. Later, while selling on Amazon, initial excitement turned into frustration due to hidden fees, hijackers, poor seller support, and misleading advertising tactics. The platform’s “honeymoon period” hooks new sellers before overwhelming them with costs and pressure. The article aims to warn aspiring sellers about the harsh realities of doing business on Amazon and the risks behind “get-rich-quick” promises )
As a new immigrant in the USA, I’ve had firsthand experience with what I call the ‘Amazon Trap.’ This article shares my personal observations and encounters with scams and exploitations related to Amazon.”
Many people believe scams only happen in poor or underdeveloped countries, but that isn’t true. As a new immigrant, I experienced something that felt like a scam, and I lost a significant amount of money. Some might not label it as a scam, but I certainly would.
How did it happen to me? And more importantly, how can you avoid it? Stick with me, and I’ll share everything you need to know.
My First Encounter with a Scam in America
.In America, I became a victim of my first scam. This experience proved that scams can happen anywhere—whether it’s Pakistan, India, or even the USA. Now, let me share my story about Amazon and what happened to me. There are good and bad people everywhere in the world. It’s not like everything in America is perfect or that everyone follows the rules all the time. Now, let me share my story about how this Amazon scam happened to me. At the time, I had some savings from my job at a tech company. Otherwise, many people here live paycheck to paycheck.
Falling for a Two-Day Seminar
One day, I came across an advertisement claiming that Amazon was paying customers to distribute money through an app. They were hosting a two-day seminar at a hotel to explain the process, and the fee to attend was $1,000. Since I didn’t think scams happened in America, I decided to give it a try.
At the seminar, there were about 8–10 people in my group, led by a woman in her 50s. She explained how Amazon works. The idea was simple: you’d buy products from China for $5 and sell them in America for $50. Amazon would handle everything—selling, shipping, and transferring the profits to your bank account after deducting a small fee. Hearing about such easy money was exciting!
The $10,000 Lesson
The next day, the woman brought in some guests who shared their success stories. They claimed to have made millions within a year. Since my job involved late-night internet monitoring, and I was already frustrated with it, I thought this opportunity could be a way out. I decided to invest in their $10,000 course.
As part of the course, they promised to set up an LLC for me, source products from China, store them in their warehouse, and handle all shipping to customers. Their company was based in Nevada, while I lived in Chicago. They even gave me a phone number for contact.
Within a week, I received my LLC certificate. My next step was to open an Amazon seller account, which I did in just a day. I shared my account details with them, and they said they would guide me. For about a month, they kept answering my calls and claimed my product research was complete and sourcing had started.
But then, they stopped answering my calls and emails. After two or three months of silence, I discovered they had been running scams all over America. There had been a raid, and the woman and her company were arrested. The news suggested reporting any losses to the BBB (Better Business Bureau).
My Journey as an Amazon Seller
In America, I became a victim of my first scam. This experience proved that scams can happen anywhere—whether it’s Pakistan, India, or even the USA. Now, let me share my story about Amazon and what happened to me.
Early Success and Excitement
I had already lost quite a bit of money in scams, so I thought, why not try Amazon? I watched some product-hunting videos on YouTube, picked a product from China, and sent it to Amazon’s warehouse. The journey from Alibaba to Amazon was pretty smooth. As soon as the product reached Amazon, it was listed on their site.
To my surprise, a couple of units sold right away. I was thrilled—it seemed like a great opportunity! Then Amazon sent me an email suggesting I run ads to boost sales. I started with just $10 for advertising, and within a month, all 200 units were sold. I was happy to see money coming into my bank account, but I noticed Amazon was keeping a big chunk of the earnings.
The Start of Problems: Hijackers and Customer Service Nightmares
That’s when the real Amazon story began. For my next order, I decided to go bigger and placed an order for 1,000 units from China. I wanted to order even more but didn’t have enough money. As soon as I placed the second order, my supplier in China increased the prices, and shipping costs went up instead of down.
When the new batch finally arrived at Amazon’s warehouse, hijackers jumped on my listing, and my sales completely stopped. At first, I had no idea what was going on. Then I got an email from Amazon saying my product was getting negative reviews, and my account was at risk. I was confused—there hadn’t been a single sale, so where were these negative comments coming from?
When I looked into it, I saw that some hijackers were selling fake versions of my product under my listing. I reported it to Amazon, asking them to remove the hijackers. Their response? “Any seller can sell this product.” When I emailed back explaining that they should create their own listing and stop using mine, Amazon said, “This is a generic product. Anyone can sell it.”
What followed was a never-ending exchange of emails with Amazon’s customer service. Honestly, their seller support is a nightmare. They always blame the seller and penalize them for every issue.
The Cost of Doing Business on Amazon
The Hidden Fees No One Mentions
If you’re a professional seller on Amazon, the platform charges you a monthly subscription fee of $40, regardless of your sales. .Amazon charges its sellers a lot of fees, which it calls “Amazon costs.” These include referral fees, handling fees, return fees, storage fees, advertising fees, and more. On top of that, Amazon keeps a large portion of your earnings as an advance to cover potential customer returns. By the time all these fees are deducted, you’re left with very little—if anything at all.
The Advertising Trap
Now my main issue is sales, which only happen if I run ads. In the beginning, sales came even without advertising, but now it’s impossible without ads. When I did some research, I discovered something interesting: Amazon actually supports new sellers at first to help their products sell. This is called the “honeymoon period.”
During this time, sellers get excited because sales are good, so they place bigger orders. That’s when the real trap begins. After that, Amazon pushes sellers to start advertising. If you spend $10 on ads, Amazon will suggest increasing it to $100. The problem is, even with higher ad spending, sales don’t always increase, and sometimes you don’t even break even.
Storage Fees and Ranking Pressure
Things get worse when your product ranking drops to later pages if you don’t advertise. And if your ranking drops, no one buys your product. On top of that, Amazon pressures you to run more ads by threatening higher storage fees if your inventory doesn’t move.
The Harsh Reality Behind Amazon’s Big Sales Events
Discounts That Hurt Sellers
Then there are sales events like Black Friday or Prime Day. Amazon encourages sellers to boost their sales by offering huge discounts, sometimes 70–80% off. But that’s not all—they also push you to run ads during these events. The problem? Ads run out quickly on those days, and you get an email telling you to increase your ad budget.
Profits for Amazon, Losses for Sellers
Meanwhile, Amazon doesn’t reduce its fees. They still charge the full handling, referral, and other fees, so you end up with losses while Amazon continues to profit.
Lessons Learned: Is Selling on Amazon Worth It?
Why Preparation is Key
This was my real experience with Amazon, and in my opinion, it feels like a scam. I’ve watched a lot of YouTube videos about Amazon, but no one talks about the hidden costs—like advertising fees, hijackers, poor customer service, or the fact that Amazon can delist your account anytime they want.
Final Thoughts for Aspiring Sellers
Because of all this, I believe anyone thinking about working on Amazon should be fully aware of these issues and prepared to handle them. Otherwise, it can turn into a nightmare. Sure, you can buy cheap products from China and sell them on Amazon for a higher price, but it’s not as simple as it looks.
The purpose of this article is to share my real story. I want to warn you about the challenges Amazon sellers face and the reality behind the courses that promise easy success. If you’re planning to start selling on Amazon, you need to know what you’re getting into. Otherwise, you could end up with huge losses.
very informative article
Thank you! I’m glad you found it informative.