Amazon’s 3.5 percent surcharge on merchants fulfillment is being attributed to rising fuel and logistics costs, the result of the ongoing war in Iran.
They were expected to take effect on April 17, and Amazon is joining other business, such as airlines and the post office, in implementing surcharges due to the war.
“Elevated costs in fulfillment and logistics have increased the cost of operating across the industry. We have absorbed these increased costs so far,” the company told sellers. “When costs remain elevated, we implement temporary surcharges on our fulfillment fees to recover a portion of the actual cost increases we are experiencing.”
The online giant said the surcharge will apply to Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) as well as some cross-border and Buy With Prime services. They were expected to average about $0.17 per unit in the U.S., Amazon said with the surcharge calculated on merchants’ fulfillment fees, not on the sale price of items. Most third-party sellers, who account for over 60 percent of the total goods sold on Amazon, ship and sell their products using FBA.
Amazon defended the action, saying the charges were lower than other businesses and that they were temporary depending on fuel costs. It has previously instituted surcharges, most recently in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine. But fees are a big business for Amazon with Marketplace Pulse reporting the company earned more than $172 billion in revenue from the fees it charges sellers last year, up 11 percent from the year before.