Welcome to the May 2nd edition of Sent Items.
Katie and I had a fantastic time out at Southall last weekend. It was the exact recharge we needed before the madness of the May and June travel and conference season kicks off.
Speaking of which, we are full steam ahead for SubSummit in Kansas City in a couple of weeks, followed by Home Delivery World right here in Nashville in June. Third Person will have a major presence at both, and I’ve included the RSVP links below for the VIP dinners and happy hours we are hosting.
While we prep the travel itineraries, the Q1 earnings season is dropping massive clues about where the carriers are heading. UPS is aggressively slimming down its network and pivoting to high-margin healthcare, social commerce platforms are heavily integrating with Shopify (who itself reports earnings on Tuesday), and new data reveals why owning your own warehouse might be killing your growth.
Oh, and GameStop is apparently trying to buy eBay. Yes, really.
Here’s the latest unboxing featuring one of my favorite brands, Canopy:
Let’s get into it.
- Matt
The Wildcard: GameStop Making a Play for eBay? In what might be the most unexpected M&A rumor of the decade, the WSJ broke the news last night that GameStop is preparing to make an offer to acquire eBay. GameStop—which has a market cap of roughly $12 billion—is reportedly quietly building a stake in the $46 billion e-commerce giant and plans to leverage its $9 billion cash pile to make a formal bid later this month. CEO Ryan Cohen is aggressively hunting for a massive, transformational acquisition to pivot the struggling retailer into a consumer juggernaut. If eBay's board rejects the approach, Cohen is reportedly prepared to take the offer directly to shareholders. If this goes through, it would completely upend the resale market and platform dynamics for independent sellers. BTW, remarkably, eBay stock is up over 50% in the last year and 85% over the last 5 years (even before this news). Source: Techstock
The UPS Makeover: Shrinking to Grow UPS reported its Q1 earnings this week, and while profit and revenue fell, CEO Carol Tomé is aggressively positioning the carrier for a return to growth. The overarching theme? Cutting the fat and chasing high-margin volume. Here is the breakdown:
The Amazon Glidedown: UPS successfully cut another 500K in average daily volume from Amazon in Q1. Amazon now represents just 8.8% of total UPS revenue, and the planned 50% overall volume cut is on track to wrap up in June.
Network Consolidation: The carrier closed 23 buildings and reduced operations positions by nearly 25,000 year-over-year. The bulk of the 7,500 drivers taking buyouts are officially departing this month.
Leaning on the USPS: To manage costs on lightweight packages, UPS is heavily ramping up its "Ground Saver" handoffs to the Postal Service. They pushed nearly 1 million packages a day to the USPS in Q1, and expect that to hit 1.5 million in Q2.
The Pivot to GLP-1: As they shed low-margin e-commerce volume, UPS is actively pursuing the booming direct-to-consumer healthcare market—specifically highlighting GLP-1 weight loss drugs as a massive margin opportunity where they lead the market. Source: WSJ
eComFuel Report: Rent Everything Except the Customer The 2026 eComFuel Trends Report just dropped, and it completely shatters the old scaling playbook of buying a warehouse to control the operation.
The Growth Penalty: Warehouse ownership is correlated with significantly slower growth. Stores with owned warehouses grew revenue at just 3.9%, compared to an impressive 33% for leasers and 30% for those outsourcing fulfillment.
The Margin Winners: Brands utilizing a combination of a 3PL and FBA actually posted the highest margins and the fastest net income growth in the study.
Inventory & Overhead: Warehouse owners carry twice the inventory burden. The report warns operators to treat a 20% fixed cost level as a hard ceiling; above that, growth stalls and net margins fall off a cliff.
View the complete report here.
Social Commerce Grows Up If you still view social commerce as an experimental marketing budget, it's time to wake up. Two massive developments hit the tape this week:
Whatnot Taps Shopify: The live-shopping juggernaut Whatnot has officially integrated with Shopify, allowing millions of merchants to seamlessly sync inventory and sell directly through live streams.
Retailers Flock to TikTok Shop: The WSJ reports that mainstream retailers are aggressively piling into TikTok Shop. It is no longer just for viral influencers; established brands are using the platform's heavy subsidization to capture new demographics and drive raw sales growth. Source: Modern Retail
Amazon is Regaining 1P Unit Share After years of steadily losing unit share to third-party (3P) marketplace sellers, Amazon’s own first-party (1P) retail engine is making a comeback. Marketplace Pulse notes that Amazon has begun regaining 1P unit share, signaling a strategic shift as the Everything Store selectively leans back into direct inventory ownership for key, high-velocity categories. Source: Marketplace Pulse
Third Person Updates & Content
SubSummit (Kansas City | May 13-15) I am getting ready to head to KC for SubSummit, the premier event for subscription brands. I will be hosting an exclusive VIP dinner for brands and operators in attendance. We have 2 spots left.
👉 RSVP for the SubSummit Dinner Here (Wednesday, May 13 @ The Stilwell)
Home Delivery World VIP Dinner (Nashville) HDW is coming to our backyard this May, and Third Person will be front and center with our own booth on the floor. We are also hosting a Happy Hour and private dinner throughout the week. Both invites are below.
👉 RSVP for the HDW Dinner Here (Wednesday, May 20 @ Bourbon Steak)
👉 RSVP for the HDW Happy Hour Here (Thursday, May 21 @ Bricktop’s)
Where I'll Be
🏙️ SubSummit (Kansas City | May 13-15) I’m heading to KC in May for SubSummit, the biggest and most valuable event for subscription brands. I have an exclusive promo code coming for brands who want to attend.
🚚 Home Delivery World (Nashville | May 20-21) HDW is coming to our backyard! Third Person will once again have a booth in the Startup Zone on the floor. We are also hosting a dinner and happy hour throughout the week. If you are coming to Nashville for the show, let me know so we can get you on the list.
Have a great week!
- Matt
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