Cutting the Fat: Why Half Your Catalogue is Stealing Profit From Your Winners
Every Amazon seller has “that” product. You know the one. The slow mover. The dead weight. The ASIN that’s been sat there for months, sucking up cash, tying up inventory space, and quietly dragging down your margins.
It’s the business equivalent of stubborn belly fat — it won’t shift, and no matter how much you want to believe it belongs, it’s hurting your results.
The Problem With Catalogue Fat
When we run audits, we often find that 20–30% of the catalogue drives 80% of the profit. The rest? It’s stealing from your winners.
Low-volume SKUs eat up cash flow that could fund restocks of your best sellers.
Dead stock tanks your IPI score and hurts FBA storage fees.
Too many child variations dilute reviews instead of compounding them.
Holding onto underperformers because they “might turn around one day” is like doing 50-rep band curls hoping for boulder shoulders. Newsflash: it’s not going to happen.
Winners vs Losers
Winners:
Consistently convert traffic.
Generate strong reviews.
Scale profitably with PPC.
Losers:
Burn ad spend without rank gains.
Struggle with conversions due to poor positioning or pricing.
Tie up cash in stock that doesn’t move.
Why Cutting the Fat Works
When you trim your catalogue down to the lean, profitable SKUs, three things happen:
Cash flow frees up → you can double down on products that actually sell.
Reviews consolidate → fewer child listings, stronger social proof.
Operational focus → less energy wasted managing underperformers.
It’s not just about sales. It’s about body recomposition for your business: cutting the fat while building stronger muscle where it matters.
The Takeaway
Stop clinging to under performers like they’re about to magically transform into best sellers. They’re not. Cut the fat, feed the winners, and watch your business get leaner, stronger, and far more profitable.
