This Issue's TLDR...

• I changed mind my about one of the big players in the eCommerce lending space
• My private database of eCommerce lenders
• Important details about bonded warehouses

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One of the "perks" of writing this newsletter is that I get access to, and build relationships with, many thought leaders and "insiders" in this Amazon/eCommerce industry.

Many conversations that I have with these folks are Chatham House Rules (look it up)...but still, the subject matter often finds its way this newsletter.

But, sometimes, these insiders are willing to go "on the record" and share hidden truths and/or dirty secrets.

I've been having so many of these conversations lately that I decided to create what I'll call The Insider Series.

Basically, it will be a 4-part mini-series in which I deep dive into different corners of the Amazon/eCommerce universe.

For my first installment of The Insider Series, I'm sitting down with Harry Kerr, Senior Funding Manager over at Wayflyer.

Wayflyer is one of the leaders in the eCommerce financing space, and offers purpose-built financing designed specifically for Amazon sellers.

There are A LOT of bad eCommerce lenders out there. Wayflyer isn't one of them.

I'm genuinely impressed with, and appreciative of, the way that they continue to make better debt products for Amazon sellers.

So, without further ado, here's my chat with Harry!

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So, Harry, I’ve been rather critical of eCommerce lenders in various forums in the past, including this newsletter. But, I’ve brought you into Best@Amazon today because I’ve seen Wayflyer emerge as a truly "customer obsessed" lender. Tell me a bit about your organizational obsession with creating debt products that actually work for Amazon sellers.

Thanks for having me, Jon. I totally see where you're coming from. E-commerce lending is a complicated place. We've lived and breathed it for the five years since we started and had to adapt and evolve constantly.

One of our big mantras is "Being a co-founder to our customers." Adjusting products that fit the best way to our customers' businesses helps us both because we want customers to take funding multiple times throughout the year, and we don't do that without building a product that has customers wanting to come back.

When you look at Amazon in particular, everyone knows how unpredictable it can be. But we want to be a very predictable element of your stack. So what we've done is we've built an Amazon-specific product that is basically a term loan over a period of six to nine months (typically for most customers). This gives you predictability over the amount of funds that you have, the amount of repayments you're going to make, the cost of funding that's going to incur, and also how much funding might be available to you in the future.

We're hoping to continue to evolve our offering as we get more learnings and as we continue to work with top-of-order customers.

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So, you guys are working backwards from your customers to create the "right" debt products, but you're also very big advocates for responsible lending. What does it mean to you, and how does Wayflyer walk that talk?

I think being responsible comes back to our really strong underwriting process compared to a lot of lenders out there. We have the strictest underwriting in the market, which can be frustrating sometimes but it really does ensure we are putting the customer first. If we believe a customer can't handle the repayments or we believe the customer will be put under strain by taking on this much debt (often on top of other debt), we will often work with the solution that may be a bit more responsible for the customer to take and do a lot of education in that piece instead of just taking the revenue that comes from a high loan and a long repayment period. We really live and breathe having tough conversations with customers to make sure that they act responsibly and ensure that the cash does not hurt their business.

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You can't talk about responsible lending without talking about underwriting. Underwriting in eCommerce is hard. What makes your underwriting different from the rest of the market?

Yeah, it's something we're really proud of as you might guess from the above question. We take pride in our data analytics, which allows us to underwrite businesses by evaluating aspects of revenue and product performance, as well as potential past issues. This gives us an accurate picture of a strong business. Our underwriting allows us to lend responsibly, maintaining a low default rate. This has enabled us to raise warehouse debt, partnering with J.P. Morgan. As a result, we can offer the best pricing to strong customers due to our access to the best debt and our underwriting model, ensuring we can support high-quality customers.

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Part and parcel to this customer obsession is innovation. You guys aren’t just a Merchant Cash Advance shop like many of the other eCommerce lenders. In fact, you recently introduced a fixed term loan product. Why did you decide to go down this path?

Our story began as an MCA provider 5 years ago. By listening to our customers, we've grown to offer a range of products tailored to different needs. For example, Emerging Cash Advance is great for fast-growing Shopify or D2C sellers, but not for Amazon sellers, so we created a product specifically for them. We also have a wholesale product with different structures to match the cash flow of businesses selling into Target and Walmart.

Our goal is to expand our customer base by offering tailored loan products to a wider range of businesses.

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In plain terms, how does this new fixed-term product work, and what makes it different from a traditional revenue-based loan?

The structure of this term loan product is straightforward: we deposit an unsecured amount directly into your account, with a small fixed fee. Repayments are made in equal bi-weekly installments. This structure differs from traditional revenue-based loans, where repayments are a percentage of your revenue, or capped revenue loans, where we take a percentage of your revenue up to a certain limit. Our term loan provides certainty in repayment amounts and cost of capital, while eliminating the need for extensive paperwork or securities.

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Some sellers I talk to feel burned by RBF-style loans that spike when sales do. Was that part of what drove this new approach?

Especially on Amazon. Your daily work doesn't translate into your bank account until two weeks later, and even then, sales figures may not be accurate due to refunds and discounts.

To address this, we've aligned our cash flow repayments with Amazon's schedule (bi-weekly repayments for Amazon sellers). For Shopify sellers, it's often daily or weekly, mirroring their daily payouts.

We've always been proactive in setting caps for many of our revenue-based providers to protect them from large repayment hits during high-sales weeks. This loan approach offers even more security.

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What kind of brands is this product best suited for? Any early success stories?

Wayflyer offers growth capital to a wide range of customers. The best use of this debt is for working capital, such as financing inventory or marketing. Due to the nature of this service, our ideal customer is one that sells white-label products, has been operating profitably for at least a year, and is looking to take advantage of opportunities to grow. This includes buying more inventory to increase sales and generate higher profits.

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You guys haven't stopped with just these fixed term loans though. You just introduced your "Multi-fund" product (program?) which, as I understand it, is really about supporting brands with debt products that suit their lifestyle. Can you tell me more about that?

Yeah, Multi Fund is not a product itself; it's a program. Over the next two to three years, we want to continue building out the offering that we have for Sellers as part of Multi Fund. Like you said, we're trying to build out a suite of offerings that support brands at every lifecycle stage, from startup to mature.

For example, for any brand doing $20M+ per year, we're currently rolling out a rolling finance product which operates like a traditional working capital facility at a very reasonable rate.

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I think the dream for many Amazon brands is a working capital facility, at a reasonable rate. What would you say to brands that are looking for debt like that?

I think this goes back to really understanding your own financials as a business and understanding what you really need and what could be available to you from a variety of sources. The biggest hack I see for Amazon sellers is those who have really strong financials in place are able to predict accurately when they need capital or when they don't need capital. At a working capital facility might not be what they need; what they rather need is a $200,000 short-term loan to cover a 4-6 month gap at a low rate.

Once you get to $20M+ in annual revenue, you're a completely different business with different requirements. You also have much more detailed financials to open up that range of funding that might be available to you.

So I think focus on your own financials, understand your own numbers, continue to learn and talk to different providers, and then somebody will build a product for you if you have the good baselines.

Last question...Fast-forward 3 years—what's the future of eCommerce funding look like? And where does Wayflyer want to be in that picture?

Oh God, that's a tough question considering what's happening in the US right now. I feel like any prediction is a bit silly. But e-commerce funding is obviously very adaptive and games have changed a lot. It depends on interest rates. It depends on customer sentiment. But I think Wayflyer is always going to be in a strong place because of that underwriting model that we have that we put a lot of pride in.

What we want to do is continue to work with sellers as their environment changes and as the whole e-commerce world shifts we need to be able to rock quickly but we have the data to see those trends and we also have the ability to move agilely to adjust products if needed.

And I think where does Wayflyer want to be in that picture? I think Wayflyer wants to continue to work with more customers. I think we want to be in a strong place, we want to signify ourselves as the leading go-to lending partner in the not just the DTC or Amazon world but in the CPG world and FinTech world. Who knows!

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Thanks, Harry, for being part of the Insider Series.

Best@Amazon readers...reach out to Harry if you want to talk funding. I promise you...he's one of the good guys.

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BEST from LinkedIn

OK, I promised a bunch of you access to my private eCommerce lender database.

It is available here, in the Amazon Private Label Pathway.

BEST from X

Based on the replies I received from my last newsletter, in which I talked about duty drawbacks and bonded warehouses, you all want more information on both.

Well, here's a great thread on bonded warehouses.

And, if you're looking for a bonded warehouse, reply to this newsletter and I'll make an introduction.
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Chad Carleton @ChadCarleton 🚨Minimizing Tariff Impact Answering your questions about Bonded Facilities and how to use them. First: You pay tariffs at normal wholesale value, like usual. Tariffs are applied at the rate they are *at the time of withdrawal from bonded status.* Example... ⬇️ 10:36 AM • Apr 21, 2025 3 Retweets 56 Likes Read 6 replies

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This is a MUST READ if you plan to finance your next deal through SBA funding.

SMB Attorney @SMB_Attorney 🚨 Doge Declares War on SBA: Trump’s New Rules Shake Up Business Buying ! If you're planning to buy a small business with SBA financing, major changes are coming. Effective June 1, 2025, SOP 50 10 8 introduces new rules that could impact your deal. Here's what you need to know 6:23 PM • Apr 22, 2025 47 Retweets 444 Likes Read 33 replies

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