On Wednesday, local time, Amazon issued a notice on its official website saying that it would implement an average fuel and inflation surcharge of 5% for merchants in the United States to cope with rising costs. This is the first time in Amazon's history that such a surcharge will be introduced on April 28.
(Image from amazom selleer central)
Amazon spokesman Patrick Graham said, "With the easing of global Covid-19 restrictions, normal is expected by the end of 2022, but fuel and inflation will pose further challenges." It is unclear whether these inflationary costs are rising or falling, or how long they will last, so for the first time, methods such as fuel and inflation surcharges have been used, rather than permanent fee changes, which is a widely used mechanism. ”
It is reported that this surcharge only applies to the fees paid by sellers who choose to use Amazon fulfillment services, including storage, packaging and shipping of products, and other sellers who do not use FBA will not be affected.
According to a report by Jungle Scout, which creates product research software for Amazon sellers, about 89% of Amazon's more than 2 million sellers in 2021 use FBA.
Amazon said its fuel and inflation surcharges were 24 cents per unit as of March 21, lower than UPS's 42 cents and FedEx's 49 cent fuel surcharges.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said Wednesday that suppliers raised prices by 11.2 percent in March, the highest since 2010. Consumer prices soared 8.5% year-over-year in March, the fastest in more than 40 years.
Gasoline prices have soared since Russia invaded Ukraine. Gasoline prices have soared 48 percent over the past year, with the highest being California, with an average gasoline price of $5.73.
(Image source: gasprices.aaa.com)
As inflation soars, Amazon is trying to offset some of its own costs by passing them on to sellers, possibly eventually paid for by consumers.
Last year, sellers paid Amazon about $103 billion in fees, which are made up of commissions, advertising fees, and warehousing logistics fees, which account for about 22% of Amazon's revenue. Amazon said the additional fees will apply to products ordered before April 28 but shipped and delivered after that date. Amazon is also expected to release earnings for the first three months of the year on April 28.
In the face of this new surcharge, the seller's profit space may be compressed again, but it also shows that cross-border e-commerce is more normalized, from an "event" to a daily life, to a certain extent, erasing the peak of the cycle, last Christmas is the best example.
Overall, this US inflation is still beneficial to cross-border sellers, because the US inflation is serious, prices are rising, consumer purchasing power is reduced, and many US consumers are more inclined to "low price" products. Sellers can make full use of their low-price advantages, actively look for shortage categories that are suitable for consumer habits, and seize greater opportunities in the future US e-commerce market.
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Public number: Cross-border e-commerce logistics Bai Xiaosheng