If you're a third-party vendor who uses Amazon fulfillment to get your product to your customers, it looks like you either have two choices: Your customers are going to start paying more, or you're going to start taking one heckuva hit on your bottom line:
Amazon said Wednesday it plans to add a fuel and inflation surcharge of roughly 5% to existing fees it collects from U.S. third-party sellers who use the company's fulfillment services.
The fee will go into effect in about two weeks, and is "subject to change," the company said in a notice to sellers that was viewed by CNBC.
"The surcharge will apply to all product types, such as non-apparel, apparel, dangerous goods, and Small and Light items," the notice stated. "The surcharge will apply to all units shipped from fulfillment centers starting April 28."
Those numbers can add up quick, particularly if you're a small business that's become dependent upon Amazon's considerable resources:
Amazon said its fuel and inflation surcharge is 24 cents per unit, which is below the UPS fuel surcharge of 42 cents and FedEx's fee of 49 cents, as of March 21.
Amazon, of course, can afford to charge low surcharges relative to those of its shipping competitors. What that will mean in practice is that Amazon will be counting like this:
...while vendors will probably feel more like this:
Joe Biden's economy just keeps getting better and better!
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