Amazon add 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge for sellers amid Iran war
An Amazon employee works to fulfill same-day orders at an Amazon fulfillment center in Orlando, Florida, on December 2, 2024, during Cyber Monday, one of the company’s busiest days.
Miguel J. Rodríguez Carrillo | Getty Images
Amazon As the war in Iran enters its fifth week and oil prices rise, it is adding a 3.5% “fuel and logistics surcharge” to the fees it collects from third-party sellers who use its fulfillment services.
The surcharge will go into effect on April 17 for sellers in the US and Canada, the company wrote in a note to sellers on Thursday, seen by CNBC.
“Rising costs in ordering and logistics have increased the cost of operating across the industry,” Amazon wrote. “So far, we have absorbed these increased costs. However, similar to other major carriers, when costs remain high, we impose temporary surcharges on our fulfillment fees to offset some of the actual cost increases we are experiencing.”
Amazon spokeswoman Ashley Vanicek said in a statement that the surcharge is “meaningfully lower” than taxes imposed by other major carriers.
“We are committed to the success of our sales partners and to maintaining a broad product selection and low prices for customers,” Vanicek said in a statement. he said.
Oil prices rose on Thursday as investors weighed how long conflicts in the Middle East will disrupt crude oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. June futures contracts for international benchmark Brent crude oil rose more than 6% to $107.35 per barrel.
Amazon, which hosts approximately 2 million sellers on its marketplace, is not the only company struggling with rising oil prices. Last month the US Postal Service in question It plans to impose a fuel surcharge on packages on April 26 “to better align shipping costs with the market.”
Major shipping companies POWER SUPPLY And Fedex Iran has also imposed higher fuel surcharges since the beginning of the war.
Amazon’s surcharge will be calculated based on sellers’ order fulfillment fees, not the selling price of their products, the company said. Vanicek said the tax is “meaningfully lower” than surcharges imposed by other major carriers.
On average, the surcharge equals an additional 17 cents per unit for Amazon Fulfillment or FBA shipments, but the amount varies based on product size and dimensions, the company said.
FBA is Amazon’s widely used service that handles the process of picking, packing and shipping items. majority of third party vendors Use Fulfillment by Amazon as your fulfillment method for products sold on Amazon.
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