Amazon is increasing fees for sellers who use its fulfillment services to store inventory and deliver orders to shoppers. The new “Fuel and Inflation Surcharge” will be an additional 5% on top of its current Amazon Fulfillment Fee (FBA) per unit rates.
“Since 2020, and with this change, Amazon has increased fulfillment rates less than other carriers and continues to cost significantly less than alternatives,” he told sellers in today’s announcement. today.
The new surcharge will come into effect in two weeks, on April 28. A salesperson challenged the timing – “They give us 15 days notice. It’s not enough time. But the seller seemed resigned to the charges themselves. “I’m pretty sure we’re stuck in an inflationary spiral until we hit a major recession. I’ll just pass the increased cost on to the customer and wait for better times.
Amazon said it expected a return to normal this year as COVID-19 restrictions eased around the world, but fuel prices and inflation presented other challenges.
Rather than changing the fees permanently, Amazon opted to implement the surcharge, which he noted is a mechanism widely used by supply chain vendors.
UPS and FedEx have had fuel surcharges for many years, but have never eliminated them entirely.
One seller pointed out the irony of Amazon raising fees while forcing sellers to lower their prices – “I can’t agree more (with Amazon). I’m selling an outfit for $29.99 and Amazon is disabling most of my listings for the reason: violate fair pricing policy They suggest selling below $10 lol.
Another seller replied, “Yeah, and most of their issues are also from third-party sellers (hopefully not like us). I don’t see Amazon as some evil empire out to get us. I see them as trying to weed out sellers who don’t have a business model to be successful here. We all have the choice to sell here or not. If that doesn’t fit your business model, you’re free to find another way.
Amazon has provided some sample products to help illustrate the new FBA fee structure:
Mobile Device Case – Standard Small (6 oz or less)
Dimensions: 13.8 x 9 x 0.7 inches
Unit weight: 2.88 oz
Rounded Shipping Weight: 3 oz
Execution fee (per unit) before April 28, 2022: $2.92
Execution fee (per unit) April 28, 2022 and after: $3.07
T-Shirt – Standard Plus Size (Clothing, 12+ to 16 oz)
Dimensions: 14 x 10 x 0.76 inches
Volumetric weight: 12.24 oz.
Unit weight: 12.32 oz.
Rounded Shipping Weight: 13 oz
Execution fee (per unit) before April 28, 2022: $5.07
Execution fee (per unit) April 28, 2022 and after: $5.32
You can find the full listing with seller’s comments at Amazon Seller Central.
Ina Steiner
