Amazon to Increase Seller Fees for Holidays Amid Inflation
Amazon is going to increase third-party seller fees for the holiday peak season. While increases during this time are a common practice for most carriers, this is a first for the e-commerce giant.
How Much Are Amazon Fulfillment Fees Increasing?
Amazon will charge an average of $0.35 per item sold from October 15, 2022, to January 14, 2023. This increase applies to items sold in the United States and Canada.
For example, in the US, small standard items weighing 6 oz or less will increase from $3.07 to $3.28. This is inclusive of the recently added fuel and inflation surcharge.
According to Amazon, it absorbed these costs for its selling partners before. However, this time, “seasonal expenses are reaching new heights.” As a result, Amazon will add a holiday peak fulfillment fee for a limited period every year. This is another thing to consider when you reprice your Amazon products from October to January in the following years.
Amazon Fulfillment Fee vs. 3PL Fees
In its announcement, Amazon assured that although it is increasing fulfillment costs, the overall fee would still be 30% cheaper than other 3PLs for standard shipping and 70% lower for two-day shipping.
To compare, FedEx will add a peak surcharge starting as early as September 5 to selected services. The increase ranges from $1.50 to $385 for its US Ground Service and International Ground Service. This surcharge will be applied until January 15, 2023, a day after Amazon will stop collecting the holiday peak fee.
On the other hand, UPS will also apply a per-pound increase to its services.
Related Reading: A Comparison of the Best 3PLs for Ecommerce Businesses in the United States
In addition to the shipping costs, there are also pick and pack fees which are higher than Amazon’s rates. So overall, for most sellers, Amazon FBA is still the cheaper and more efficient way to get their products to customers.
Consistently Increasing Amazon Fees
According to Amazon, this fee increase is not a decision that they made lightly. However, sellers already have to contend with the yearly FBA fee increase. And recently, they were slapped with the 5% fuel and inflation surcharge.
Even assuming that Amazon’s holiday peak fulfillment fee is justified by the inflation and the upcoming increase in demand for orders, third-party sellers are still concerned about the overall trend. It seems like Amazon has been offloading more of its costs to sellers lately, with the usual reason that they have absorbed these costs in the past.
You can read Amazon's full announcement here.
