Sent Items #180: Sunday, March 9, 2025

Last Tuesday’s issue of Sent Items #179 had a record open rate of 60.66%. Should I be sending on Tuesdays, not Sundays, as I usually do? FWIW, my open rates tend to hover around 55%, so not materially different.

I’m now 9 days into Dry March. Will be posting some of my favorite NA bevs when I’m through (spoiler: the list won’t be long). Thank you to everyone who replied with comments of encouragement, drink recommendations, and sharing journeys of their own. Pretty cool to see.

My wonderful marketing team at Third Person started an unboxing series where it feels like they are more poking fun at me and my love of unboxing shipments and focusing on the packaging and shipping labels, but alas, they have been fun. We released the first two and will be releasing more on a regular basis.

Here’s the inaugural video where I featured an unboxing of an order from TEMU (don’t @ me!):

Here’s the most recent one where I featured an unboxing of an order from POPFLEX:

Many more to come. Follow Third Person on LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube to stay up to date.

I’m also finally learning how to use Reddit. Karma has a whole new meaning!

Amazing what I can do when I trade old social hobbies for new ones.

Not much news to report outside of what continues to be the hottest and most important topic in e-commerce logistics - TARIFFS.

In last week’s Sent Items (link) I wrote the following:

Even I was surprised with how quickly my prediction came to fruition. These tariffs lasted less than 24 hours. Which is wonderful, but also complete lunacy. Though the President refers to it as only “A little disturbance.” 😑

I wish Trump would explain how this little disturbance will be good for the economy and business community and the American worker. He hasn’t.

I’ve spoken to a dozen brands in the last week who have paid excessive amount in duties as a result of product hitting U.S. soil on or after March 4. Despite those POs being cut in 2024 and sailing from China in January. It can take 6 weeks to land in the U.S. - longer if going through the Panama Canal en route to the East Coast or Houston.

My friend Molson Hart tweeted one of the most striking “real world” examples of not only how dumb and senseless these tariffs are, but the chaos that Trump is creating for American business and entrepreneurs:

Here’s the gist of his complaint:

Molson sells stuffed animals on Amazon.

He explains that this tariff is not protecting a toy industry in the U.S. Even with a 200% tariff, he argues, he isn’t sure if you could make these products in the U.S. (a topic I discussed in last week’s issue)

And because we've had 25% tariffs put on Mexico twice, and then taken off twice, they won't be making their products in Mexico, which has nowhere near the supply chain China does.

And because on April 1st, there is a plan to have reciprocal tariffs on all countries, Vietnam and Indonesia should have duties that are as high as China.

Molson suggests that for now, the plan is to just make toys more expensive, no matter where they are made as they cannot eat these cost increases, nor will their manufacturers. Toys, along with many other imports, will get more expensive and will be purchased less.

But since these tariffs won't start a manufacturing renaissance in the United States because our supply chain is worse than other countries and because our labor is way more expensive, they are a tax.

Stuffed animals will never be made in the United States. The labor costs are just too high. They can't be made with robots; we're far from that. Bananas don't grow in the U.S.

What we need is a plan, and not one on arbitrary timelines with ambiguous volatility.

I suspect a lot of this vaccilating on tariffs will come to an end when we hear of Apple and Toyota opening new plants in the rust belt or here in Tennessee. But that’s going to take time and no one is going to build a factory in America when tariffs every other week are on and off.

Have a great week!

- Matt

Share this newsletter with friends and colleagues (link). Hit reply with any feedback and add me on LinkedIn and Twitter.