all right guys drop everything we need to talk about the mess that just went down Amazon just launched their new Amazon haul feature today and man this might be the most poorly executed product launch I've seen from a major tech company in a long time you know when a company tries to copy something popular but completely misses out on what made it special in the first place well that's exactly what happened here I spent the last 6 hours diving deep into Amazon Hall so you don't have to waste your time I've recorded my entire experience trying to use the platform compared it side by side with teu and documented every single frustrating moment and let me tell you teu has absolutely nothing to worry about Amazon somehow managed to take everything fun about social shopping and turn it into a half-baked dollar store for those of you who haven't seen it yet Amazon Hall is supposed to be their answer to timo's addictive shopping experience you know those satisfying scrolling sessions where you discover amazing deals and play fun games for prizes well Amazon looked at U's winning formula and said how can we cut corners and throw something out quickly right before the holidays that sucks I'm not even exaggerating wait until you try it in this video I'm walking you through everything wrong with Amazon Hall the weird product mix the total lack of social features that make tumu actually fun and prices that make no sense plus I'll show you why Amazon completely misunderstood what makes people love shopping on platforms like teu in the first place spoiler alert it's not just about throwing random products into a feed and calling it a day but first off how did we get here in the first place if you haven't heard of timu they're an e-commerce company that specializes in selling dirt cheap products to costc conscious consumers in more than 45 countries worldwide including the United States for the past two years teu has become a major rival to Amazon and they've been on a sharp rise since their launch in September of 2022 they've got Deep Pockets too exploding in popularity after spending $14 million to run multiple ads during the Super Bowl now according to statista timu was the most downloaded e-commerce app in 2023 surpassing Amazon with over 120 million downloads in only two short years timu already has about onethird the traffic of Amazon and then there's Shen one of the largest fast- fashioned retailers in the world selling trendy and affordable clothing to customers in over 200 countries Sheen has built its reputation on replicating high fashioned looks at a fraction of the cost spot a celebrity in a stylish outfit well chances are Sheen sells a cheaper knockoff for pennies on the dollar both Shen and timu Thrive by offering super low prices thanks to their direct from China shipping model that allows them to avoid paying taxes and this strategy has taken a significant toll on Amazon in fact Amazon reps have told me that their apparel sales are down at least 30% year-over-year but instead of innovating or improving their own Marketplace Amazon decide to copy tumu with a new service called Amazon Hall and honestly I find this so ironic on my channel I often discuss how Chinese sellers rip off Western Brands now the roles are reversed Western companies are now knocking off Chinese Brands what world are we living in and the kicker we're not even good at copying Amazon Hall is a horrible replica that was rushed out the door so what even is Amazon Hall and how is it different from regular Amazon well the main difference is that everything on Amazon Hall is super cheap nothing cost more than 20 bucks and to make it feel different Amazon made a whole new section in their app with its own shopping experience and checkout separate from the usual amazon. com but here's the catch everything ships straight from China so you're looking at delivery times of 1 to two weeks if your order is over 25 bucks you get free shipping but if it's under $25 you're stuck paying $3. 99 for shipping and the stuff they sell it's mostly Dirt Cheap no-name products with terrible product descriptions all shipped from China now at least Amazon nailed that part the products are all junk but how does Amazon Hall stack up against Teemu well the first thing that hit me was how much worse the product selection is on Amazon Hall compared to Teemu after browsing for 30 minutes I literally could not find a single thing I wanted to buy on the front page they showcase their best sellers and all I see are cable ties screen protectors shoelaces and HDMI cables seriously cable ties was the number two bestseller that's pretty bad so hoping for something better I checked out the electronic section next but nope it was the same disappointing story more zip ties a phone stand some phone cases and you guessed it HDMI cables absolutely nothing exciting or cool to see now let's switch gears and check out teu within the first 5 Seconds immediately spot some pretty cool stuff like a drone for $1.
78 and a solar powered battery charger for $12 51 teemu's product selection is on a completely different level it's not even close plus they have a sneaky Advantage they can sell pirated and knockoff merchandise far more easily than Amazon can take this retro gaming console as an example it comes pre-loaded with a bunch of pirated Nintendo games and there's no way Amazon could legally sell something like this in the US but on timu they make it happen so here's the deal the biggest problem with Amazon Hall is that Amazon has to tiptoe around cannibalizing their main business which is amazon. com that's their bread and butter so they're being extra cautious for example I'm actually in the market for a jump rope right now I checked out Amazon Hall and found one for $3. 99 sounds great right but then I looked on amazon.
com and the exact same jump rope is selling for $6. 99 so which one do you think I'm going to buy obviously a cheaper one on haul by the way if you're enjoying this video so far make sure you sign up for my free 6-day e-commerce mini course below that will teach you how to sell profitably online it's 100% free and I guarantee you'll learn a lot now here's the problem when I buy the 399 jump rope on Hall Amazon makes 43% Less in fees and doesn't earn a dime from their Amazon FBA service if Amazon Hall takes off they'll end up utter cutting themselves think about it half the top sellers on Amazon are already Chinese Sellers and with Hall they're just giving those same sellers a platform to sell even cheaper products that's why Amazon is playing it safe with Hall and let's be honest that's exactly why the product selection sucks and don't even get me started on the user interface one of the best things about shopping on Teemu is the gamification and it's honestly genius teu doesn't just keep you on the platform with endless scrolling they hook you with casual games but these aren't just time wasters play them and you can actually earn rewards and Free Stuff three times a day 39-year-old Ashley nordquist an optician and Fargo North Dakota logs into Teemu to feed her Virtual Fish if she feeds enough fish by tapping on a floating bag of fish food on her phone screen timu will send her a free product of her choice and this is where teu is brilliant Ashley keeps running out of fish food and to get more she needs to refer a new user to the app so she's constantly introducing Teemu to her close friends and co-workers now in addition to games Teemu keeps users hooked with clever rewards like spinning wheels daily bonuses and surprise discounts every interaction provides a little dopamine hit creating a feedback loop that makes users want to keep coming back and teamu doesn't stop there they also incentivize users to share deals with friends in exchange for free stuff a progress bar adds to the thrill showing exactly how many more shares you need to unlock your reward so the bottom line teu has absolutely nailed the art of gamification and viral social sharing just hop on YouTube and search for Teemu Hall and you'll find tons of people showing off the cool practically free stuff they've scored on Teemu often for pennies on the dollar it is a winning formula that keeps users coming back for more Amazon Hall has none of that no gamification no rewards no spinning wheels nothing and honestly even if you got an influencer to Hype up Amazon Hall what would they even talk about oh check out this amazing deal I got on cable ties yeah real thrilling the product selection is just plain boring and to make it worse the product descriptions are absolutely terrible take the jump rope I was looking at for example on Amazon Hall there is literally no product description at all meanwhile on teu the same jump rope is only $2 39 and it comes with real reviews a proper product description and even gamification elements right on the listing so not only is teu way more fun to shop on but it also offers lower prices better reviews and actual details about the product it's not even a contest so why the hell would anyone shop on Amazon Hall the main reason people use Amazon is for the convenience huge product selection and fast shipping but Amazon Hall has neither one of those things if Amazon really wanted to compete with timu the least they could have done is offer for lower prices but guess what every single product I checked was cheaper on teu literally every single one and at this point it's hard to see why Amazon Hall even exists the final nail in the coffin for Amazon Hall has to do with the new di Minimus changes that were just made last month and these changes pretty much make Amazon Hall Dead on Arrival here's how it works the dominous rule in the US allows goods worth $800 or less to come into the country without paying import taxes no taxes means cheaper prices for products shipped from China to the US and for years timu and Shen have been milking this loophole to offer dirt cheap prices and it's pretty obvious that Amazon wanted in on the action with Hall but with these new changes that I'm about to describe that Advantage is getting wiped out and so is Hall's reason for existing back in September the US government introduced some big changes to the DI minimist rules to crack down on platforms like timu and Shen that have been taking full advantage of this loophole there are three major changes and I'll break them down for you real quick quick the first change is pretty straightforward any products that are subject to tariffs no longer qualify for the Dom Minimus exemption before Chinese sellers on platforms like timu could easily avoid these tariffs by keeping their shipments under 800 bucks but now they've got to pay customs duties and tariffs on every single shipment no matter how small and let's not forget with Trump in office these tariffs are only going to increase and cover even more products so what this means is that platforms like teu Shen and Amazon Hall are all going to have to pay taxes and tariffs on most of their goods which is going to drive up prices right now about 40% of the imports from China are under these tariffs and roughly 70% of what's sold on timu and shien falls into that category and that number is definitely going to go up the second change is even worse for platforms like teu Shen and Amazon hall now sellers have to provide a 10-digit tariff classification number for every low value shipment this gives us Customs a way to flag items that should be taxed making it harder for sellers to sneak things through and on top of that sellers also have to reveal the buyer who is claiming the Dom Minimus exemption this rule forces sellers to take more responsibility for the junk they're sending into the US it's also going to make it tougher for platforms like Teemu to sell fakes or knockoffs which let's be honest is a big part of why people shop there in the first place but here's a kicker if you're a customer buying something for personal use and your shipment is over a certain value you might have to give your social security number I mean who's going to actually do that sure people might trust Amazon a little bit more than teu with their social but this is a massive deteran I just don't see people going through the hassle the third and final change focuses on making sure products imported under the dominum exemption meets US Safety standards now all importers of consumer goods will be required to file certificates of compliance electronically when the products arrive in the US even for small low value shipments now part of the reason stuff from places like tumu and Shen are so cheap cheap is because they've been skipping safety testing altogether for example teu has been shipping children's toys with unsafe levels of lead delates and other harmful chemicals they've also been selling counterfeit Chargers and electronics like phone chargers and power banks that don't have UL certification which is designed to prevent fires and electric shock Shen isn't any better they've been accused of selling clothes and textiles with hazardous chemicals like pralid and Azo D that can cause skin irritation or allergic reactions some of their Cosmetics have been found to contain harmful chemicals like Mercury and hydroquinone which can lead to serious health risks including long-term toxicity now with this new rule the consumer product safety commission will be able to enforce stricter safety testing for products imported from China and here's a Twist if you're a customer buying these items you might even have to file a certificate of compliance yourself and let's be real who's going to go through all that hassle just to save a couple of bucks these changes could completely shift how plow forms like timu and Shen operate if Amazon Hall sticks to safety certified products it's going to drive up prices and at that point you may as well just buy from regular amazon.
