Amazon, the world’s largest e-commerce company, will charge a 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge from the middle of this month to sellers who enter its platform in the aftermath of high oil prices, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and CNBC reported.
Amazon sent a notice to sellers in the U.S. and Canada using its logistics agency service “Fulfillment by Amazon” (FBA) on the 2nd local time to apply the surcharge.
“Overall logistics costs have risen, so we have absorbed the cost increase internally,” Amazon said in a notice. “As high oil prices continue, we have introduced temporary surcharges to compensate for some of the actual cost increase.”
Sellers who use Amazon’s other logistics agency services, “Buy With Prime” and “Multichannel Fulfillment” (a service that delivers orders for platforms other than Amazon) will be subject to this premium from the 2nd of next month.
The Wall Street Journal pointed out that the surcharge could lead to an increase in final consumer prices. It was up to each seller to determine how much the cost increase burden would be reflected in the selling price.
The surcharge is based on logistics service fees, not sales prices. Amazon explained that on the basis of FBA shipments, an average of 17 cents will be charged per unit, although it depends on the size and weight of the product.
Earlier, UPS and FedEx raised fuel surcharges to reflect soaring oil prices. The U.S. Post Office (USPS), a public service, also introduced surcharges last week for the first time in the agency’s history and decided to charge an additional 8% for each package from January 26 to January 17 next year.
SAM KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
