James Sell

hooked on commerce, politics, and phonics | working on a small-format retail concept

[Peter MacKay @PeterMacKay]

Direct democracy. Giving our citizens choice & a voice to who governs them. Now it’s time to cast our vote. Polls are open from 8:30AM to 8:30PM today Please get out and vote for change.

[Harley Finkelstein @harleyf]

Reminder that this is still a thing in Canada.

We’re going to look back at whoever did this with disbelief in a couple of months I bet.

[Fred DeLorey @FredDeLorey]

Two million Canadians voted on Friday.

Extrapolate that like it’s 2021 and you get 96% turnout - obviously wild and not happening.

It was Good Friday after all, and people were off.

Still, if this keeps up, we could crack 70%.

That hasn’t happened since 1984.
#ChangeElection

[tobi lutke @tobi]

I bet she thinks that cookie banners where a really good idea

[James Sell @jaysellar]

@tobi @MacWhackle Civil servants used to advise our gov’t on best policies for the country. Now it’s the gov’t pushing civil servants to create policies to get them re-elected. And when you have a gov’t in desperation mode, the policies get worse and the voices of real experts are ignored

[Alexandra Clark @Clark_al]

This is insanity.
@stevenmackinnon: <56 hrs til Black Friday & Canada Post is gridlocked in negotiations?! Gov't must intervene. Our Canadian small businesses will suffer otherwise.

Last holiday season, our merchants lit up this map with orders. The ’24 strike risks wiping it clean, devastating the economy & crushing small businesses.

Why are we creating so much uncertainty for our small businesses? This is what we’ve heard over the last week from our merchants:

"This is our busiest time of year and now we are trying to pivot to other couriers at double and triple the cost. Not to mention we have over a hundred packages sitting in limbo, most of which should be delivered to other small businesses to stock their shelves"

“As a toy business, 70% of our sales happen in Q4 and the Canada Post strike is preventing us from shipping to rural Canadians and PO Boxes. There are going to be a lot of angry parents and sad kids this holiday season if it is not resolved soon.”

"Our strictly online biz has used Canada Post for all domestic shipping for the past 5 years. To compete with the likes of Amazon, we have been giving free shipping to customers and absorbing those costs. Now we are forced to use outside couriers like UPS which is more costly" #cdnpoli

[James Sell @jaysellar]

“It makes order meaningless. It erodes the social fabric—the part of society that values integrity and accountability.” 🎯

Merchants of all sizes deserve better in 🇨🇦 &amp; 🇺🇸

[StripMallGuy @realEstateTrent]

It happened again this morning, and it’s sadly becoming a joke at this point.

I walked into Starbucks, and the shelf that just a couple of days ago was full of holiday merchandise for the new season was completely empty.

Again.

When I asked the barista, they confirmed it: someone walked in, calmly cleared the shelves, and walked out without a care.

They of course aren’t allowed to stop them - that would be nonsensical.

The barista told me that even if they call the police, it takes hours for them to arrive, and nothing happens anyway. This is just the new normal.

The folks at Target told me the same thing when I watched a guy fill two entire bags and just calmly walk out with a smile on his face as he was surrounded by security that could do nothing to stop him.

Some might say, "So what? Starbucks or Target are massive companies, and a few missing holiday items don’t matter."

But it does matter. It makes order meaningless. It erodes the social fabric—the part of society that values integrity and accountability.

What do kids think when they see this? What does it mean to the person who saves up to buy a special Starbucks mug as a gift for their uncle? It sends the message that stealing is fine, that rules don’t apply, and that no one cares.

I don’t know what to do, but shrugging this off feels like a massive failure. Starbucks will restock the shelves, and they’ll just be cleared again. There are no consequences, so the thieves will keep coming back. And where does that leave us?

A seemingly minor crime like this has far-reaching implications. It’s not just about stolen mugs—it’s about the creeping normalization of lawlessness.

Years ago, New York City adopted a policy to address graffiti immediately. Graffiti may seem like a small crime, but tackling it sent a big message: small acts of disorder would not be tolerated. Crime rates dropped because the city prioritized order.

Now, I find myself dreading the day I have to explain to my son why some people can just walk in and take what they want, or why we pay for the subway while others effortlessly jump the turnstile. These small acts of defiance aren’t harmless—they chip away at our society, slowly at first and then all at once.

We need to bring back the lessons learned from the graffiti-removal days. This can’t go unchecked—it needs to stop, no matter if the resources it would take are great. The short-term expense is worth it.

The costs of not doing something now is too high.

It's not too late.

[Eric Bandholz @bandholz]

Fuck ya!

We’re winning.

[Rune Madsen @runmad]

I'm excited for us to introduce even more ways for merchants to customize Shopify POS to fit their needs. Can't wait to see what partners and merchants build with POS UI Extensions 👀

[James Sell @jaysellar]

No issue with brands that add shipping protection in checkout or subscribe &amp; save on product pages, but choosing to pre-select it is deceitful. These types of practices lower consumer trust and impact all merchants by extension

[Rob Freund @RobertFreundLaw]

Interesting lawsuit filed today: a consumer brand advertised "free shipping," but it also automatically added paid "shipping protection" to the customer's order, using a pre-selected toggle similar to the one shown below.

The class action alleges that the shipping protection add-on renders the "free shipping" claim false, because "many consumers do not notice" the fee being added or "believe that they have no choice but to pay" it.

We'll see how those claims fare, if the case gets to the point where a court rules on them.

[Joseph Mancinelli @joemancinelli]

A complete and utter disgrace on our streets of Toronto, glorifying and celebrating terror as our western values erode to calls for death and destruction.

I do not recognize this hate filled Canada, where Jew hatred and terrorist sympathizers go unchecked. Shameful.

[Miles Lunn 🇨🇦🇺🇦🇮🇱🇬🇱 @mileslunn]

@kinsellawarren And I suspect few chosen will actually succeed. Most businesses with good ideas can raise privately and governments generally not good at picking winners and losers. Market for all its imperfection is much better.

[James Sell @jaysellar]

@kimurathomas Congrats Thomas! 🙌

[James Sell @jaysellar]

@rigelstpierre @seempaq 👀

[James Sell @jaysellar]

The dropship marketplaces of large retailers are the easiest way for brands to get their foot in the door, so acquiring Codisto last year to support these integrations on the platform level was the right move

[Harley Finkelstein @harleyf]

If you’re selling today, you need to be everywhere potential customers are, period. We’re constantly unlocking opportunities for our merchants to reach new customers wherever they shop.

So today, I’m proud to announce our partnership with @Target.

Now, our US @Shopify merchants can apply through Marketplace Connect to sell on https://t.co/FwzAGKCQMk, giving high-growth brands like @caden_lane_baby and @trueclassictees access to millions of loyal buyers.

https://t.co/xZIIHJpMA9

[James Sell @jaysellar]

@brendamarienyc Thanks Brenda I miss you all too 😢
Hopefully I’ll see you at the Toronto Partner Meetup after Editions. I’ll be working door for the first part of the night but I’ll be around after to catch up!

[James Sell @jaysellar]

Glad to see Shopify investing in the Theme Partner Program. Fair % to adjust the rev share to granted some of those proceeds will be reinvested into improving the experience. Hoping the biz model can allow for subs the future, something I advocated for during my time there

[Thomas @kimurathomas]

Shopify announced some big updates for theme partners

very cool!

- Anti-piracy support
- Theme store algorithm changes
- New rev share for theme sales

https://t.co/AtZXgbYG3m

[James Sell @jaysellar]

@dennishegstad White fox is the 🐐

[Partner Meetup @partner_meetup]

SAVE THE DATE! The next ~ edition ~ of Toronto Partner Meetup is June 25th starting at 8pm. Tickets and additional details to come next week!

[James Sell @jaysellar]

@l8r_graham BIG THINGS 🙌