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    Amazon sellers say they made a good living — until Amazon figured it out

    The federal government has sued Amazon for allegedly using its monopoly power to stamp out rivals. Now, some small businesses that sell on the marketplace reveal what it's like to depend on Amazon.
    by Dara Kerr Oct 11, 2023 4 minutes
    Amazon faces a landmark federal lawsuit that accuses it of squeezing independent sellers like this Michigan company, Top Shelf Brands, which used to sell hair and beauty products on the platform. In 2022, the company stopped operating and filed for bankruptcy.

    Suavecito was the first product that Douglas Mrdeza listed to sell on Amazon back in 2014. He had ordered a bit too much of the specialty hair pomade for his barbershop in East Lansing, Michigan. He wanted to see whether he could offload some online.

    It sold out. So, he ordered more. This time he paid Amazon some extra money to use its warehouse storage and shipping service.

    "I did the calculation, bought what would have sold in a month and sent it in," Mrdeza says. "And it sold out in like a day."

    He was hooked. He started selling more hair and beauty products on Amazon. Soon that part-time hustle became his full-time business, Top Shelf

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