With the conflict in the Middle East pressuring the energy sector, Amazon announced on its Seller Central platform that elevated fuel and logistics costs have compelled it to initiate a 3.5% fulfillment fee surcharge starting April 17.
Amazon reported it has been absorbing the increased fuel and related costs so far, but the company is instituting temporary surcharges on fulfillment fees to recover a portion of the additional payout consistent with other major logistics organizations.
The surcharges will cover Fulfillment by Amazon in the United States and Canada, as well as remote FBA fulfillment from the U.S. into Canada, Mexico, and Brazil. Beginning May 2, Amazon will apply the surcharge to Buy with Prime operations in the U.S. and multi-channel fulfillment in the U.S. and Canada, the company noted.
Amazon asserted that, due to the work it has done to lower costs, the planned surcharges are meaningfully lower than those implemented by other major carriers.
Amazon said it will calculate the surcharges based on fulfillment fees rather than the price of items sold. On average, the surcharge will equate to 17 cents per unit for U.S. FBA, although the amount will vary based on item size and dimensions. The company has updated its Revenue Calculator, Profit Analytics and Fee and Economics Preview reports to reflect the surcharges and provide FBA per-unit and full business impact reviews that can help affected companies plan for surcharge impacts. Amazon added that it would continue to evaluate the surcharge as conditions change.
