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Like everyone else, Amazon is suffering from increased costs due to inflation and other financial adjustments such as rising fuel prices. Therefore, has announced what it calls a “fuel and inflation surcharge” to the rate charged by third-party sellers
that are advertised on this e-commerce platform.
According to information provided by the company itself, the new prices will take effect next 28 of April and will be applied to different products. It was also learned that the rate increase is subject to change, since inflation may continue to rise or stop.
It seems that everything is in response to this week Inflation data in the United States was announced. Year-on-year inflation rose to 8.5%. Which marks a new record that has not been seen since 1981.
“In 2022, we expected a return to normal as the were easing Covid- restrictions worldwide, but the fuel and inflation have presented new challenges,” Amazon told CNN.
The increase of this 5% will specifically affect those who use the product storage, packaging and shipping service.
These external vendors that are affected will probably pass on this increase to the products; so users will pay the increase too. It should be noted that not all third-party sellers use Amazon’s storage, packaging and shipping service.
The price hike is almost never, in this sense, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance antitrust group came forward to criticize the decision because they consider that “Amazon is taking advantage of the moment”. This was announced by Stacy Mitchel, co-director of the group.
“Get more money out of the pockets of independent companies and put it in the coffers of Amazon.”
Stacy Mitchell
Amazon’s third-party marketplace makes up a large part of this online trading platform. It is estimated that of the more than two million sellers in the platform, half or more are “external sellers”.
Particularly the 2022, it’s been a busy year for Amazon, in March 2022, announced the closure of several of its stores and bookstores, due to poor sales performance.
Likewise, a few weeks ago the confirmation of the first Amazon union in the United States, in Alabama, was announced.
They are also cool ing a problem that has turned out to be “multi-million dollar” for the company, it is the return of merchandise. There is talk of returns valued at more than $700 thousand dollars.