Amazon is taking a step to offset its rising costs by adding a 5% “fuel and inflation surcharge” to the fees it charges third-party sellers who use its fulfillment services.
The Seattle-based company said the increase, which will take effect from 28 April, were subject to change and applied to clothing and non-clothing items.
The move follows an increase in fees announced in November, which came into effect in January.
Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for further details. But in a notice sent to sellers on Wednesday, the company said its costs had gone up since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic due to increases in hourly wages, the hiring of workers and construction of more warehouses.
The e-commerce firm said it had absorbed costs whenever possible, and increased fees to address permanent costs and to be competitive with other providers. Amazon’s competitors FedEx and UPS have fuel surcharges.
“In 2022, we expected a return to normalcy as Covid-19 restrictions around the world eased, but fuel and inflation have presented further challenges,” Amazon said in the notice.
Federal data released on Tuesday showed annual US inflation jumped to 8.5% in March, its fastest pace in more than 40 years. Petrol prices have rocketed 48% in the past 12 months.
Though the company blames inflation and rising fuel costs for the surcharge, Stacy Mitchell, a co-director of the anti-monopoly group Institute for Local Self-Reliance, said Amazon was taking advantage of the moment.
“Amazon keeps increasing its fees on the sellers that have to depend on its platform,” Mitchell said, adding that the new fees were a way “to take more money out of the pockets of independent businesses and put it into Amazon’s coffers”.
Amazon’s third-party marketplace, where independent merchants list millions of their products, is a huge part of its business. It has about 2 million sellers, who are responsible for half the goods sold on Amazon.com.
Last year, sellers paid Amazon about $103bn (£78bn) in fees, which made up about 22% of the company’s revenue. The online retailer said the new fees would apply to products ordered before 28 April but shipped and delivered after that date.
Amazon is also expected to release its earnings report for the first three months of this year on 28 April.
The company has long faced accusations of undercutting merchants that sell on its platform by making knock-offs, or very similar products, and boosting their presence on the site.