🤬 “Annoyance Economy” — Why Surcharges surge. Amazon’s car biz. Sotheby’s starving artists. +Tomato Blockade

Summary

The Best One Yet (TBOY) - Episode Summary

Episode Title: 🤬 “Annoyance Economy” — Why Surcharges surge. Amazon’s car biz. Sotheby’s starving artists. +Tomato Blockade
Hosts: Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell
Date: April 14, 2026
Podcast: The Best One Yet (TBOY)
Description: A fast-paced 20-minute pop-biz news podcast, tackling the three essential business stories of the day with wit, fresh takes, and lively banter—perfect with your morning oatmeal.

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Brief Overview

This TBOY episode unpacks the impact of today’s “annoyance economy”—a term for the surging fees and hurdles in consumer life—and covers three major business stories:

1. Amazon’s bold entry into the new car market.
2. The financial unraveling of legendary auction house Sotheby’s.
3. The rise of surcharges and the massive, time-wasting “annoyance economy.”

The hosts, Nick and Jack, combine news breakdowns with cultural context and punchy commentary, revealing how big business trends shape your daily experience.

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Episode Breakdown

1. Tomato Blockade: The Real (Red) Victim of Geopolitics

Timestamps: 00:16–02:28

• Context: The Strait of Hormuz blockade and trade wars disrupt global oil and food supply chains, but the humble tomato feels the squeeze most of all.
• Key Points:
  • Tomato prices have jumped 15% in a month due to macroeconomic pressures.
  • The U.S. gets 2/3 of its tomatoes from Mexico. A trade war slapped a 17% tax on imports.
  • War in Iran has doubled diesel prices since February, making transport costlier.
  • A third of the world’s fertilizer passes through Hormuz, impacting yields.
  • U.S. demand for tomatoes is at an all-time high—pizza, pasta, ketchup, salsa: “the quarterback of every entree” (Jack, 02:13).
• Notable Moment:
  • “The tomato, it’s making the avocado jealous these days.” —Jack (02:18)
  • “Now it’s the main character of the inflationary economy.” —Nick (02:26)
• Tone: Playful, with food metaphors and witty banter.

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2. Amazon: Becoming America’s Big Car Dealer

Timestamps: 05:25–09:46

Amazon’s Automotive Ambitions

• Amazon’s Evolution:
  • Seven car brands (including Ford, Kia, Mazda, Subaru, Chevrolet, Jeep, and Hyundai) are available via Amazon Autos.
  • “By the holidays, you’ll be able to order a monthly Lamborghini subscription with two day shipping.” —Jack (06:48)
• Industry Disruption:
  • Amazon is digitizing the traditionally in-person, fragmented car buying process—a move likened to what Carvana did for used cars.
  • Carvana’s stock soared 8,000% in three years by moving used car sales online.
  • U.S. consumers spend $1.4 trillion/year on new cars (Jack, 08:02).
• The Real Play:
  • Amazon’s goal isn’t car sales—it’s data and advertising.
  • “Amazon doesn’t sell things to people. They sell access to people.” —Jack (08:46)
  • “Amazon’s ad sales is now bigger than all of Tesla, all of Disney and all of PepsiCo.” —Nick (09:09)
  • Context: Amazon knows both what and where customers buy, making their advertising data unrivaled.
• Notable Moments:
  • “You can now buy a Corvette on Amazon in the same shopping cart that you’re buying your toilet paper.” —Nick (05:25)
  • Joke about car delivery: “Does the car come in a big cardboard box which is then within another big cardboard box?” —Nick (08:23)
• Takeaway:
  • Amazon leverages its marketplace not to sell stuff, but to sell targeted access—a shift that redefines retail power.

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3. Sotheby’s: “Starving Artists” at the Glitziest Auction House

Timestamps: 09:46–14:44

Sotheby’s Financial Drama

• Historical Prestige, Modern Trouble:
  • Founded in 1744, Sotheby’s evolved from rare books to global luxury, famously charging up to 40% in transaction fees.
  • “They [Sotheby’s] are basically trust as a service.” —Jack (10:28)
• Business Moves:
  • Licensed their brand to franchises (including real estate).
  • Issued art-backed loans (“mortgaged the Monet”).
• Crisis:
  • S&P recently downgraded Sotheby’s credit rating to B- (“junk”). —Nick (12:05)
  • “That is as credit worthy as Jack Sparrow.” —Nick (12:20)
  • Sellers are asked to wait up to six months for payment, but receive 7% interest if they do.
  • “It’s the first sell now, get paid later scheme that we’ve ever seen.” —Jack (12:44)
• Root Cause:
  • Private equity acquisition by Patrick Drahi in 2019, loaded with $1B in debt to fuel an aggressive expansion into a ‘luxury house’ with real estate and restaurants.
  • Art market fell 16% (2022–24). With huge debt, less revenue meant big losses, not just less profit.
• Hosts’ Take:
  • “We have to call out crapitalism when we see it.” —Jack (13:19)
  • “Sometimes private equity just saddles a good business with too much debt.” —Nick (14:37)
• Tone: Sarcastic, critical of financial engineering gone wrong.

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4. The Annoyance Economy & Surcharge Surge: The $165 Billion Problem

Timestamps: 15:53–22:09

Annoyance Economy Defined

• What Is It?
  • A landscape where companies intentionally create obstacles (customer service waits, hidden fees, cancellation friction) to extract more from consumers.
  • “Companies are intentionally making it hard to cancel, change your order, and just simply get reimbursed.” —Nick (17:44)
• The Cost:
  • Americans spend $165 billion/year in wasted time navigating these obstacles (Stanford study; Jack, 18:33).
• How It Works:
  • Delay and friction tactics boost revenues 14–200%.
  • “It’s the corporate equivalent of Luigi throwing bananas on the road in Mario Kart.” —Nick (19:00)
• Surcharge Trend:
  • Fees disguised as “surcharges” now proliferate—airline bag fees, credit card surcharges, “employee wellness” fees at restaurants.
  • 34% of small businesses and 20% of restaurants now tack on surcharges (Nick & Jack, 20:03, 20:15).
  • Surcharges blamed on externalities (fuel prices, healthcare costs, etc.) let businesses escape direct consumer anger about price hikes.
• Emotional Impact:
  • Consumer sentiment hit an all-time low, lower than during the Great Recession (Jack, 20:51).
• The Silver Lining (AI to the Rescue?):
  • “Maybe, just maybe, artificial intelligence can be your junk fee Jedi.” —Jack (21:08)
  • AI, currently used to create annoyance, could be repurposed to help consumers—skipping holds, finding and fighting hidden fees.
  • “The next great use case of AI isn’t cybersecurity, it’s cyber courtesy.” —Jack (22:04)
• Notable Quotes:
  • “Help us AI, you’re our only hope.” —Nick (22:07)
  • “There is huge demand for an AI that fights the good fight for consumers.” —Jack (21:43)
• Tone: Relatable, venting but optimistic about tech-fueled solutions.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Tomato Prices:
  “The tomato, it’s making the avocado jealous these days.” —Jack (02:18)

• On Amazon’s Strategy:
  “Amazon doesn’t sell things to people. They sell access to people.” —Jack (08:46)
  “Amazon’s ad sales is now bigger than all of Tesla, all of Disney, and all of PepsiCo.” —Nick (09:09)

• On Sotheby's Woes:
  “That is as credit worthy as Jack Sparrow.” —Nick (12:20)
  “We have to call out crapitalism when we see it.” —Jack (13:19)

• On Surcharges:
  “The baggage fee is a sneaky fee because you don’t see it until the end of your transaction.” —Jack (19:29)
  “The next great use case of AI isn’t cybersecurity, it’s cyber courtesy.” —Jack (22:04)
  “Help us AI, you’re our only hope.” —Nick (22:07)

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Important Segment Timestamps

• Tomato Blockade (Inflation’s unlikely star): 00:16–02:28
• Amazon enters car market: 05:25–09:46
• Sotheby’s spirals (crapitalism): 09:46–14:44
• Annoyance economy & surcharge surge: 15:53–22:09

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Episode Takeaways & Conclusions

• Amazon:
  Now sells 7 car brands online—47% of new car market. The aim: dominate data and ads, not just products. “Amazon doesn’t sell things to people, they sell access to people.” (22:18)
• Sotheby’s:
  Once a pillar of luxury, now a cautionary tale of “crapitalism.” Private equity’s debt left it operationally fragile.
• Annoyance Economy:
  Wasted time and surcharges cost Americans billions. But hope glimmers: AI could soon become a “junk fee Jedi” for consumers, battling hidden fees and saving time.

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Closing Thoughts

The hosts reinforce that while innovation can benefit consumers, unchecked “crapitalism” and annoyance-based revenue models undermine trust, adding unnecessary friction to daily life. The real disruptor on the horizon? Not another fee—but an AI that helps you fight them.

---

Transcript

[Jack]

This is Nick, this is Jack.

[Nick]

It's Tuesday, t boy. Tuesday, April 14th. And today's pod is the best one yet. This is a T boy.

[Jack]

The top three pop business news stories you need to know today.

[Nick]

Yeties, happy earnings week to all those who celebrate.

[Jack]

The Strait of Hormuz remains closed, blockaded or both. Yep, oil is not passing through, but

[Nick]

stock markets don't care. They're holding on to the gains from that ceasefire announced last week.

[Jack]

Nick and I are back in our home studios and we whipped up the best mix in business news.

[Nick]

It's just the best pod we've ever done. What? Jack, three fantastic stories for today's show. What do we got on the T boy?

[Jack]

For our first story, Amazon is now America's biggest car dealer. Seven car brands are now in the

[Nick]

everything store because Amazon doesn't sell stuff. Amazon sells access.

[Jack]

For our second story, something strange is going on in the art market right now. Sotheby's is spiraling.

[Nick]

Besties, why is the auction house Sotheby's not paying its painters? Jack and I jump in T boy style.

[Jack]

And our third and final story. We we found an articulation that captures everything we hate about this economy as consumers.

[Nick]

This is the annoying economy. And everywhere surcharges for everything.

[Jack]

But yetis, before we hit that wonderful

[Nick]

mix of stories, I mean, like we said, best mix out there, Jack. Love the mix today, Nick.

[Jack]

Nine of the 10 biggest stock moving days of the last year were caused by either tariffs or the war in Iran.

[Nick]

But besties, nothing in our economy has been more affected than the tomato.

[Jack]

The ripe, red vegetable ish fruit is at the center of the geopolitical stage

[Nick]

right now because yetis, the price of the humble tomato has jumped by 15% in the last month because multiple macro

[Jack]

forces are crushing our tomatoes.

[Nick]

First, Jack, we buy two thirds of our tomatoes from down in Mexico.

[Jack]

But the trade war put a 17% tax on those imported tomatoes.

[Nick]

Okay, but then, Jack, you got a real war going on in Iran.

[Jack]

The strait is still closed. Prices are still at 100 bucks a barrel for oil, diesel fuel.

[Nick]

That's what's needed to transport all those tomatoes across the border.

[Jack]

And diesel prices have doubled since February.

[Nick]

Plus, Jack, since a third of the world's fertilizer passes through the Strait of

[Jack]

Hormuz, your tomato plans just got juliened.

[Nick]

And finally, American demand for the tomato has never been higher.

[Jack]

Pasta sauce, pizza sauce, ketchup, salsa. It's the quarterback of every entree.

[Nick]

Bingo. Besties. The tomato, it is making the avocado jealous. These days.

[Jack]

Tomato it. Already had main character energy in your shakshuka.

[Nick]

Yeah. Now it's the main character of the inflationary economy.

[Jack]

Tomato the new eggs.

[Nick]

I don't buy her an engagement ring. Stick a tomato on that finger, Jack. Let's see that through the story. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is the norm. Jack. Nick. That's it. I don't even think they need to practice. 50%. That's a fat tip. T Boy City on your atlas if you low, you know. Cause we read to go we can't wait no more so just start the show Start the. Start the show. Start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor,

[Jack]

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[Nick]

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[Jack]

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[Nick]

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[Nick]

after the checkout Lisa.com, promo code T Boy for our first story, you can now buy a Corvette on Amazon in the same shopping cart that you're buying your toilet paper.

[Jack]

Seven car brands are now in the everything store. But Amazon's master plan isn't cars. It's commercials.

[Nick]

All right, Eddies first. Before we start this story, we just got to share this fascinating fact that has nothing to do with the story, but we just wanted to tell you.

[Jack]

Well, you know how everyone wants to get in early on like the next big AI company that's going to IPO. Amazon did it twice. Amazon owns $50 billion of OpenAI stock and 70 billion of Anthropic stock.

[Nick]

But yeti's back to our Amazon car story because when Jack was in business school, he actually bought his first few shares of Amazon stock.

[Jack]

The reason a Michigan alum came to my classroom to talk about the new Amazon division he was leading automotive.

[Nick]

I'm sorry, Jack, pump the brakes. Amazon getting into cars.

[Jack]

I could not believe that this online e commerce store was starting a car division.

[Nick]

Yeah, so Jack was obviously sold and he bought the stock. And Amazon has made huge progress on this final frontier of e commerce disruption, the car dealership.

[Jack]

Because in fall of 2024, Amazon launched Amazon Autos with Hyundai as the first carmaker.

[Nick]

Today, Amazon's got Ford, Kia, Mazda, Subaru, Chevrolet and Jeep. All can be bought on Amazon.com at this place.

[Jack]

By the holidays, you'll be able to order a monthly Lamborghini subscription with two day shipping.

[Nick]

Plus, Hertz now sells their Rental cars on Amazon once they no longer have that new car smell.

[Jack]

Yeah, instead it's terminal D smell.

[Nick]

So besties, right now, 130 cities have dealerships dealing their cars on Amazon. That Prius is on prime Amazon takes.

[Jack]

And that fee they make for each car sale is pure profit.

[Nick]

Oh, it's pure profit, puppy.

[Jack]

Jack, you can find Amazon cars if you live in la, Dallas or New York.

[Nick]

Bezos, what do we gotta do to get you into this Mazda Miata? But yet what Jack and I find fascinating here is there is some precedent on the road. Right, man?

[Jack]

Well, yeah. Amazon is trying to do for new cars what Carvana did for used cars.

[Nick]

That's right. Take an extremely in person experience that's fragmented and that people hate.

[Jack]

And put it online.

[Nick]

Exactly. And Carvana stock, it's got some serious horsepower power these days.

[Jack]

Carvana Stock is up 8,000% in the last three years on the mission to take used car sales and move it online.

[Nick]

8,000%. Besties autos are right now a tiny part of Amazon. But they have more potential than the cargo space of a Suburban because get

[Jack]

this, Americans spend $1.4 trillion on new cars every year.

[Nick]

I'm sorry, Jack, could you sprinkle on some context that chassis?

[Jack]

That is more than half of Canada's entire gdp.

[Nick]

Transportation. That's the number two spending category of Americans right after.

[Jack]

So if Amazon can get just 1% of this enormous $1.4 trillion a year new car industry, that's $10 billion of pure profit.

[Nick]

Now the only question is, does the car come in a big cardboard box which is then within another big cardboard box?

[Jack]

It is the side hustle, the unpaid side hustle of every American breaking down Amazon boxes.

[Nick]

I don't need a box cutter, honey. I need a chainsaw for this thing.

[Jack]

No, you need gloves too, so you don't get paper cuts.

[Nick]

You're gonna sell the stock now. Jack, what's going on? So what's the take our buddies over at Amazon Car.

[Jack]

Amazon doesn't sell things to people. They sell access to people.

[Nick]

Like a club promoter. You see, Eddies, Jack and I always thought Facebook and Google were the ultimate advertising platforms.

[Jack]

Knowing who you are and what you're searching for, that is marketing gold.

[Nick]

But now we think that Amazon, well, they know what you buy. And that's the superpower of Amazon's ad

[Jack]

sales, which with $21 billion of revenue last quarter.

[Nick]

Wow.

[Jack]

Amazon's ad sales is now bigger than all of Tesla, all of Disney and all of PepsiCo.

[Nick]

Sit down, stand up and Holy Ferrari besties. Now that Amazon is selling cars, it knows what car you buy.

[Jack]

Amazon knows that you searched for Silverado, financed it through Amazon and bought it on Amazon.

[Nick]

Oh, yeah.

[Jack]

That is targeting data that Google and Meta cannot match.

[Nick]

Which is why the end goal for Amazon Autos, it's the same goal as the rest of Amazon.

[Jack]

Online become the essential place where people buy stuff. So sellers have no choice but to

[Nick]

be there and then make that moolah through advertising.

[Jack]

The online store basically breaks even. It's the advertising that makes all the money.

[Nick]

Besties. Amazon doesn't sell things to people. It sells access to people. For our second story, Sotheby's, a worldwide luxury brand, is doing the least luxurious thing possible. Begging for money.

[Jack]

We'll explain how this famous auction house committed financial sins and end up with a B minus credit rating by Yeti's Sotheby's.

[Nick]

If you've ever used them to buy something, congrats. Next round's on you.

[Jack]

Founded in 1744, they originally sold rare books.

[Nick]

That first edition of Tolstoy's War and

[Jack]

Peace, you didn't buy it at Barnes and Noble.

[Nick]

Nope.

[Jack]

You bought it at Sotheby's. Yes.

[Nick]

You picked it up at Sotheby's.

[Jack]

And they're auctioneers. They talk faster than a woodpecker.

[Nick]

If you know, you know. But Sotheby's real business, as Jack and I have analyzed it, is task trust as a service.

[Jack]

Because when you're spending big money on a Picasso, you want to make sure that thing is legit.

[Nick]

Yeah. You want to make sure that Picasso is not a fucking.

[Jack]

Is this Botticelli or is this Botta Deli?

[Nick]

Well, Sotheby's takes a huge cut of that deal, up to a 40% transaction fee to make sure it is really a botticelli.

[Jack]

So a $1 million painting that's sold at a Sotheby's auction, the buyer actually pays $1.2 million after fees, but the seller only gets $800,000. The $400,000 in between is Sotheby's 40% fee.

[Nick]

And the reasons can take that big old profit puppy, is cause they found and controlled a very illiquid market. Think about it.

[Jack]

Without an auction house, Monet sellers might only find Monet buyers.

[Nick]

But besties. Here's what Jack and I find fascinating. 40% fee on very high ticket items. Just to be a middleman, put that

[Jack]

business model on auction. That's incredible.

[Nick]

And Sotheby's is sitting so sweet. Yetis, they began licensing out their brand back in 2004.

[Jack]

Sotheby's International Real Estate. There might be one in your town that's not Sotheby's. Those are franchises.

[Nick]

And yet Sotheby's collects a licensing check from those franchisees to inherit the luxury status of its name.

[Jack]

Sotheby's is the even doing art backed loans.

[Nick]

Yeah, an art backed loan. How does that work, Jack?

[Jack]

They'll give cash to a collector who's short on cash, but they'll take a lien on their artwork. They'll mortgage that Monet.

[Nick]

Yeah. Yeah, they mortgaged the Monet. Which makes the latest news out of Sotheby's shocking.

[Jack]

Sotheby's just got downgraded by S and P, the ratings agency.

[Nick]

I'm sorry, Jack. I'm looking at the card here. In Sotheby's credit rating, it's down to B minus.

[Jack]

That is referred to on Wall street as a junk credit rating.

[Nick]

Yeah, that's the technical term from our banking days.

[Jack]

B minus. That's on par with like, a 500 to 600 credit score. In consumer terms, you're talking as credit

[Nick]

worthy as Jack Sparrow.

[Jack]

You don't want to give money to Sotheby's right now. You're probably not gonna get paid back.

[Nick]

And according to the Financial Times, Sotheby's is so tight on cash, they're asking art sellers to wait to get paid.

[Jack]

Sotheby's is like, yes, we sold your Rembrandt at that auction last week.

[Nick]

Congratulations.

[Jack]

But can we give you the money? You're due in six months.

[Nick]

In fact, Sotheby's is offering 7% interest to those willing to wait after Sotheby's sells their art.

[Jack]

It's the first sell now, get paid later scheme that we've ever seen.

[Nick]

I mean, Jack, now that we're thinking about this, it's kind of like Sotheby's is like one of those Bravo reality stars, right?

[Jack]

Man, they look rich, but behind the scenes, they actually have huge credit card debt.

[Nick]

Real Housewives of Sotheby's is what we're thinking.

[Jack]

Imagine if you sold a house and your realtor was like, I'll give you the money in six months.

[Nick]

Ah, not gonna work. So, Jack, how did Sotheby's ruin the perfect luxurious business model?

[Jack]

In a word, crapitalism.

[Nick]

Going once, going twice, going three times. Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Sotheby's?

[Jack]

We have to call out crapitalism when we see it.

[Nick]

Yetis Sotheby's Actually used to be a publicly traded stock up until 2019. That's when it got bought up by Patrick Drahi for 3.9 billion bucks.

[Jack]

Patrick Drahi, the Franco Israeli billionaire, borrowed about a billion dollars to acquire Sotheby's back in 2019.

[Nick]

And his pitch? Let's blow up Sotheby's from an auction house into a luxury house. Not just art. We're talking a whole Sotheby's lifestyle.

[Jack]

He bought the former home of the Whitney Art Museum in New York City for $100 million to make it the new Sotheby's Madison Avenue headquarters.

[Nick]

Then for the last two years, Sotheby's has opened restaurants in New York, London, Paris.

[Jack]

Very expensive endeavors that he hoped boosted the value of the company.

[Nick]

And the plan.

[Jack]

Jack, in five years, sells Sotheby's for a huge profit.

[Nick]

Jack, recognize that playbook we're talking about right here?

[Jack]

I do, Nick. This is the playbook of private equity.

[Nick]

It is classic pe. And do you know what happened, Yetis? Well, it didn't happen. The art market shrank 16% between 2022 and 2024.

[Jack]

That shouldn't be a huge problem. Sotheby's should have made just less revenue, but still been a profitable firm.

[Nick]

But nope, less revenues meant losses. Because Sotheby's has so much debt, they must make those big interest payments.

[Jack]

We love capitalism. We think it leads to innovation. And competition is great. But this is a classic case of a time that Penny did a business wrong.

[Nick]

Sometimes private equity just saddles a good business with too much debt.

[Jack]

In these instances, it's called crapitalism.

[Nick]

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[Jack]

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[Nick]

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[Jack]

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tboi Drive with Jim Farley all right,

[Nick]

Jack, let's open up the hood. Going to the chassis about the word drive. Let's talk vocab.

[Jack]

It reminds us of our brand word brighter. Because drive has two meanings.

[Nick]

That's right. And for the podcast Drive, hosted by Ford CEO Jim Farley, those two meanings are very on brand.

[Jack]

Jim Farley, cousin of Chris Farley.

[Nick]

By the way.

[Jack]

He talks to celebrities about what they drive and what drives them.

[Nick]

You see, if you like cars or competition, you're gonna love every episode of this podcast show.

[Jack]

I just listened to the interview with Chris Hoy. Sorry, sir. Chris Hoy.

[Nick]

That's right. Because Chris Hoy is an Olympic cyclist, a BMX biker, and a race car

[Jack]

driver and a knight of the British Empire.

[Nick]

Yeah, this man knows how to drive things. Oh, and he keeps driving. Even with a terminal cancer diagnosis.

[Jack]

Learning how Chris gets better every day was inspiring, even as his body gets worse every day with cancer.

[Nick]

I mean, honestly, we love the guy. You gotta hear this episode, Nick.

[Jack]

You know, I've owned Ford stock forever

[Nick]

since the day I met you.

[Jack]

I like seeing that their CEO is getting diverse experiences by talking to people like a night cyclist cancer survivor named Chris Hoy.

[Nick]

So to listen to Drive with Jim Farley, just search for Drive with Jim Farley in your podcast app. That's Drive with Jim Farley. Vroom, vroom. For our third and final story, trend alert, the annoyance economy is here, which costs US consumers 165 billion bucks a year in wasted time.

[Jack]

Another trend surcharges for everything. Now, Yetis, we're not just gonna vent in this story. We are coming to you with hope.

[Nick]

But first, besties, A new necessity in modern life. Your once weekly personal admin power hour. We all do it.

[Jack]

You set aside an hour on Sunday. It's gonna be a terrible hour because you have to contact three different customer service hotlines that you've been putting off.

[Nick]

Oh, wait.

[Jack]

Actually, on Sunday, the customer service lines aren't open. Call back Monday between 9 and 5 Central Time.

[Nick]

Well, Yetis, according to the New York Times, companies are intentionally making it hard to cancel. Change your order and Just simply get reimbursed.

[Jack]

They're hitting us with robocalls. Impossible cancellation flows. You can't keep track of chatbots impersonating humans that ask you the same question eight times.

[Nick]

Representative.

[Jack]

I told the previous guy my social. Why do you need my social? It's already in your system.

[Nick]

I'm sorry, Jack, you just got auto subscribed to a newsletter you don't want, and you're gonna have to fight a crocodile in order to unsubscribe.

[Jack]

Now, this is famously done, infamously done in the healthcare industry.

[Nick]

That's right. Insurance companies love to make it hard for you to get coverage.

[Jack]

It's famous in the airline industry too. Delta's like, if we make them wait for two hours on customer service, they'll probably give up and just hang up the floor.

[Nick]

But now it's permeated beyond healthcare, beyond the airlines, into every nook of the economy.

[Jack]

A study was just done by a Stanford professor who calculated that the total cost to us Americans of the wasted time we're talking about is $165 billion a year.

[Nick]

165 billion. That is the annoyance economy. And it works.

[Jack]

Unfortunately, yeah, because get this, companies that add these layers of cancellation friction and make it hard to get the thing you want on customer service, they actually see their revenues rise 14 and 200%.

[Nick]

Jack is like the corporate equivalent of Luigi throwing bananas on the road in Mario Kart.

[Jack]

Luigi's probably gonna win the race, and so is the company throwing that friction at your customers.

[Nick]

Besties. Jack and I are fans of innovation, but we hate this annoyance innovation as much as you do.

[Jack]

And get this. On the same day that the New York Times covered the quote, unquote, annoyance economy, the Wall Street Journal covered the surge in surcharges.

[Nick]

That's right. Last week, every major US Airline increased their baggage fees to cover the higher fuel.

[Jack]

And the baggage fee is a sneaky fee because you don't see it until the end of your transaction.

[Nick]

So the airlines ain't using the term fee anymore because it's got some ironic baggage. Instead, they use surcharge. And why is that, Jack?

[Jack]

Well, surcharge, like surname, is the fee that comes at the very end.

[Nick]

Besties. This all started as a temporary Covid economy trend, and it just happened to stay with us and get worse.

[Jack]

Businesses like surcharges because they seem to blame someone else. A surcharge is like, this isn't my fault that I have to charge you this money, Jack.

[Nick]

A 3% credit card surcharge?

[Jack]

Well, you can blame him.

[Nick]

34% of small businesses, they now got fees and surcharges like that.

[Jack]

How about the 5% employee wellness surcharge you see on your restaurant bill in San Francisco?

[Nick]

Don't blame our cafe, Jack. Blame the healthcare industry, not us.

[Jack]

20% of restaurants now have some kind of surcharge mixed in there between the tip and the tax.

[Nick]

And it's the same with this week's fuel surcharges. Blame the warning Ron. Don't blame our Delta CEO.

[Jack]

Companies know that you hate inflation with a fiery passion, so they're strategically trying to shift the guilt of inflation.

[Nick]

And honestly, we kind of see this as false advertising, don't we Jack?

[Jack]

Totally false advertising. Unfortunately though, marketers move faster than regulators

[Nick]

and yet we all still pay this surcharge surge because of the lock in effect.

[Jack]

By the time we see it at the end of the transaction, you're already

[Nick]

emotionally committed to the purchase. That deal is 99% done.

[Jack]

Nick, add it all up. This explains why consumer sentiment hit an all time low last March. Consumer sentiment right now is worse than the Great Recession of 08 and 09.

[Nick]

But there is hope. Yetis. There is Obi Wan level hope. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in the annoyance economy?

[Jack]

Maybe, just maybe, artificial intelligence can be your junk fee.

[Nick]

Jedi Yetis Right now companies are using AI to accelerate the annoyance economy because

[Jack]

as the data shows, these annoying tactics work. Companies have a financial incentive to add that friction and annoyance.

[Nick]

Now here's what Jack and I are thinking. If marketers can use the dark side of the force, is there a good side? We think so.

[Jack]

Best use case of AI is to do the stuff you don't want to do. Like customer service interactions.

[Nick]

Yeah, your iPhone already has hold assist and it will let you know when you're off hold.

[Jack]

That's an AI feature.

[Nick]

And as AI supported shopping proliferates, you can tell your AI to just avoid sneaky fees, find the better deals out there.

[Jack]

There is huge demand for an AI that fights the good fight for consumers.

[Nick]

You can even drop your CVS length receipt from a hotel into Claude and have look for the stuff you should

[Jack]

fight back on and give you an argumentation on how to get it removed from the bill or just do it itself.

[Nick]

Look, Mazzy's we're fans of markets. We think there is a market for solving this annoyance economy.

[Jack]

The next great use case of AI isn't cybersecurity, it's cyber courtesy.

[Nick]

Help us AI.

[Jack]

You're our only hope. That was Not a good Princess Leia impression.

[Nick]

Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for T boy Tuesday.

[Jack]

Amazon now has seven car brands on the platform, representing 47% of the new car market goal.

[Nick]

It's ads because Amazon doesn't sell things to people, they sell access to people.

[Jack]

For our second story. Sotheby's is a brand associated with historic prestige, but its credit rating is now the opposite.

[Nick]

It's crapitalism because sometimes private equity saddles a company with too much debt and breaks the business.

[Jack]

And our third and final story is two trends. The annoyance economy and the surge in surcharges.

[Nick]

But there is a hope for consumers. An AI that fights the good fight for you. A fee fighting AI Jedi.

[Jack]

But besties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today.

[Nick]

First, Goldman Sachs kicked off the earnings season on Monday with an all time high revenue in stock trading.

[Jack]

The whiplashing of the stock market with

[Nick]

the Warner on that panic buying and selling, it is translated into profits for

[Jack]

Goldman Sachs because Goldman takes a fee on each buy and sell order. Next up, earnings. By the way, Netflix after hours today.

[Nick]

And second, McDonald's has taken on Starbucks and Dutch Bros. By launching MC Energy Drinks.

[Jack]

Remember Cosmc? Yeah, that space themed pop up cafe that McDonald's was testing.

[Nick]

McDonald's closed last year, but they are adding their most popular items from that concept into the McDonald's menu.

[Jack]

Starting in August, Red Bull Dragonberry Energizer will be at McDonald's according to the Wall Street Journal.

[Nick]

And finally, we still don't know who stole the 400,000 Kit Kat bars that were taken last week. Those people still at large.

[Jack]

But we do know who stole the Legos.

[Nick]

Three California men were spotted by police fleeing from two stolen tractor trailer trucks with a million bucks in Legos.

[Jack]

That was in California. The men who have been charged with crimes range in age from 25 to 37, which is peak adulting age.

[Nick]

It's not clear whether they intentionally were targeting Lego toys when they stole a million dollars of them.

[Jack]

It was actually an Amazon truck.

[Nick]

Or maybe they just got really, really, really lucky. Now time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by a legendary yeti, Kelsey Black from Lovely Pflugerville, Texas.

[Jack]

October 31, 2000 was the last time that all living human beings were together on planet Earth. Pause the pod.

[Nick]

We're gonna let that one sink in for a sec. Jack, could you sprinkle in more context?

[Jack]

Well, on the next day, November 1st, the year 2000 somebody went up into space. Into the International Space Station.

[Nick]

That's right. And since then, over the last 26 years, there's always been at least one person up in space.

[Jack]

And that streak continues today, despite the four Artemis astronauts returning home safely.

[Nick]

Besties, you look fantastic today. Jack, you are still glowing from that New York live show. What a week. I mean, feels fantastic to be back.

[Jack]

It's funny we don't have any more CTAs to buy tickets. Yeah, yeah, because we only have one more announced show in LA and that's sold out. Although we do have three new shows in the second half of the year. We're gonna announce them soon.

[Nick]

Yes, more shows coming soon. But in the meantime, besties, if you want to grow the pod, the best way you can do it is tell a buddy. H y H T B O Y.

[Jack]

Send them your first favorite story from today's episode. Drop it in the DMs.

[Nick]

In the meantime, Jack, Molly's birthday's coming up. I gotta buy her some marinara sauce. And before we go, happy birthday to legendary Eddie, Jackie Ballera and her dog Waffle down in Asheville, North Carolina, celebrating a birthday and a brand new engagement.

[Jack]

And Happy birthday to Dr. Samantha Brothers, who saves lives by day and stitches them back together by night in Asheville, North Carolina.

[Nick]

Oh, and Baz Flageolet, Happy birthday over in the Presidio of San Francisco.

[Jack]

Happy birthday to Atticus Riley celebrating his birthday with a hike, a bonfire and a Brazilian steak.

[Nick]

And Lilly Coop, we see that birthday, keep celebrating down in dc.

[Jack]

Happy birthday to Zach Thornburg in Wichita, Kansas.

[Nick]

And Mary Grace had the best birthday yet over in New York City.

[Jack]

Happy belated birthday to Aidan Packsoi in San Francisco.

[Nick]

And Henry and Arthur, the San Francisco born, New York raised twins of the Upper east side. Happy, happy birthday birthday to both of you.

[Jack]

Happy birthday to Ruby Brink, born in Louisville.

[Nick]

And Jack, a shout out to the yeti I saw in a Barber jacket on 87th street in Lex who just said, hey, hey. Love the pod. Thanks for being with us, man.

[Jack]

And a big shout out to Lance, Tony and the whole ATM team who hooked us up at their store in soho. The best quality materials, fabrics, designs, the best T shirt. It was designed by atm.

[Nick]

I mean, we basically had a whole fashion show in atm. Jack, you were glowing in that mirror. That was an absolute shirt.

[Jack]

I was wearing the shirt under my bomber jacket at the New York live show.

[Nick]

I know, I know. It was so good. So thank you to the ATM team.

[Jack]

This is Jack Ion Stock of Amazon Disney and Ford Shipping, billing, admin, payroll, marketing. You're managing all the things, so why waste time sending important documents the old fashioned way? Mail and ship when you want, how you want with stamps.com print postage on demand 247 and schedule pickups from your office or home. Save up to 90% with automated rate shopping. That's why over 1 million small businesses trust stamps.com go to stamps.com and use code podcast to try stamps.com risk free for 60 days.