Counterfeit Dilbert calendars on Amazon spark wider fakes reckoning
The creator of the Dilbert comic strip said this week that every 2025 Dilbert calendar sold on Amazon is fake, noting he sells them only through his own website. His post drew more than 240,000 views, after which many of the counterfeits were removed. He described the counterfeit problem as far worse than expected and accused the platform of hurting American small businesses while aiding Chinese sellers, adding that he has sold on Amazon for over a decade.
The episode drew support from an investment researcher who flagged the same problem six years ago and a U.S. congressman who said American inventors get ripped off on the platform. A prominent billionaire investor called knockoffs a plague on small businesses, criticized marketplaces' whack-a-mole enforcement, proposed requiring platforms to vet every foreign manufacturer selling to U.S. consumers, and said he would not hold Amazon stock until the issue is resolved. Government estimates put the cost of knockoffs to U.S. businesses above $200 billion annually, with roughly 750,000 jobs lost, and China identified as the leading source of seized counterfeits. Amazon's Project Zero, launched in 2019, lets brands remove fakes proactively but has not contained the scale of listings.
In deal news, SPS Commerce is acquiring Carbon6 Technologies for $210 million, one of the largest transactions in Amazon software and services. The deal adds revenue-recovery tools for Amazon and Walmart sellers and is expected to contribute $40 million in 2025 revenue and $5.5 million in adjusted EBITDA. Toronto-based Carbon6 has acquired nearly 20 companies and now concentrates on four: Seller Investigators, ChargeGuard, SoStocked, and PixelMe. Comparable deals include Jungle Scout's $110 million raise, Helium 10's 2019 exit to Assembly rumored at $50 to $100 million, Assembly's nine-figure PacVue purchase, and Three Colts' roll-ups of Feedback Whiz, Inventory Lab, and ScoutIQ, with more consolidation expected in 2025.
Mexico has closed a tariff loophole used by U.S. e-commerce businesses routing Chinese goods. A December 19 decree raised duties on 121 apparel products and 17 textile categories from 20 to 25 percent up to 35 percent, lifted 17 more categories from 10 to 15 percent, and excluded apparel from the IMMEX duty-free program, effective immediately with no grace period even for goods in transit. Brands are now weighing Canadian third-party logistics providers that can still use the U.S. de minimis provision, or absorbing U.S. tariffs for faster domestic shipping.
Amazon also announced it will now notify sellers of previously unannounced image compliance issues with guidance on fixes, viewable in Seller Central under Catalog and Upload Images. And betting markets currently put roughly a one-in-three chance on a U.S. TikTok ban before May.
