"The current ads are really unaffordable."

This sentence has become a mantra among cross-border sellers this year. As more and more players enter the game, the CPC of core keywords has skyrocketed, and keeping the ACOS within 15% seems to be an unattainable legend.

Many sellers have fallen into such a vicious cycle: they lose money on ads, so they lower their bids; once the bids are low, there is no exposure; without exposure, there are no orders; and to get orders, they have to raise their bids again. It's simply like working for the platform and the "brother-in-law".

However, in 2026, there are still a group of sellers doing well. Their secret is not "throwing money", but "picking up leaks".

What is "picking up leaks" thinking?

The traditional way of advertising is to focus on a few big words and confront the top sellers head-on, which is called "hard collision". The "picking up leaks" thinking is to avoid the front-line battlefield and go to those corner areas ignored by competitors, intercepting precise traffic at extremely low costs.

This is thanks to Amazon's adjustment of the underlying logic of the advertising system this year.

First, the "product page" dividend of SP advertising returns.

As AI's understanding of user intentions deepens, Amazon has found that many consumers have a higher willingness to buy when browsing specific product detail pages than when searching for keywords. Therefore, the traffic of this year's SP advertising (product promotion) at the bottom of the product page has increased significantly.

What is the bidding logic here? It's "strolling traffic". When consumers are looking at competitors' Listings, your ad suddenly appears below. At this time, as long as your product picture is better, the price is cheaper, and the rating is higher than the competitors, the probability of hijacking is extremely high. The most important thing is that the bid for this position is usually only one-third or even lower than that of the top search position. This is a typical "picking up leaks" - pulling people away from others' doorsteps.

"Low-price" traffic pool under the new policy

Second, combined with the "low-priced goods Amazon logistics" rate policy, reshape the cost structure.

Amazon's vigorously implemented low-priced goods logistics rate this year has given great logistics discounts to products sold for less than $15. This is not just about saving shipping costs; it directly changes our advertising model.

Before, selling a $10 product, after deducting commissions and logistics fees, the gross profit was only $3, and I didn't dare to advertise. But now that the logistics cost has decreased, the gross profit margin has increased to $4.5.

At this time, combined with the test of the new feature of "pay-per-impression", we can do this: for those low unit price but high repurchase rate consumables (such as phone films, kitchen gadgets), instead of paying per click, set an extremely low bid for exposure.

The logic is simple: low-priced products rely on conversion rate. Since CPC is too expensive, I'll just buy exposure directly. As long as my Listing is optimized and the price is competitive, even if only 10 out of 1,000 people click in, as long as 2 of them place orders, since my logistics cost is low, I can still make a profit. This is using the "wide net" method to pick up potential users who are lost because they don't want to click on high-priced ads.

Two legs walking in advertising placement in 2026

For the advertising strategy in 2026, my advice to all sellers is that you must learn to "walk on two legs".

The first leg: hard push for precise words. Choose 3-5 core and highest conversion rate long-tail words, maintain reasonable bids, and hold the basic plate.

The second leg: widely pick up leaks. Enable the "dynamic bidding - only lower" mode of advertising, and widely place it on product pages, similar products, and virtual bundled products. Set an extremely low budget (such as $10 a day) and let it run automatically.

Don't underestimate this $10. Often, the orders brought by mainstream advertising positions are loss-making, while the orders brought by these corner positions become your entire source of profit because of less competition and lower bids.

Written at the end

It is a fact that traffic is getting more and more expensive, but it is also a fact that traffic distribution is uneven. When everyone is staring at the first few advertising positions on the search results page and fighting hard, that is no longer a traffic entrance, but a "money shredder".

The real opportunities are often hidden in those inconspicuous corners. In 2026, I hope everyone can let go of anxiety and re-examine your advertising backend with a "picking up leaks" mentality. You will find that as long as you change your thinking, Amazon still has a lot of low-cost customer acquisition opportunities waiting for you to harvest.