Shopping on Amazon starting May 31 is likely to get costlier, here is the reason why

By Ankita GargIt seems that shopping on Amazon will get much costlier for customers and this will likely happen by the end of this month. The company’s spokesperson has told Economic Times that Amazon has revised the commission and fee charges that are levied on the sellers of its platform. This will result in increase of product prices for consumers. Here is everything you need to know about the latest changes on Amazon and how these would impact consumers.

Why shopping on Amazon could get expensive?

Amazon has announced a revision of charges for sellers on its platform. It has increased the charges for some categories and one of the sellers who is a partner of the company has asserted that the change will impact consumers. In simpler terms, customers will have to bear the extra cost because sellers will be charged more for their products on Amazon.

“Marketplaces know that there will be a straight impact on pricing,” an anonymous seller said. “Whatever is the change in commission, it is done more to change the behaviour of the seller. Marketplaces keep changing these rates based on what they want the consumers to see. So, if the commission goes up by two percent, naturally the prices also go up by two percent.”

The cited source reported that the sellers will be required to pay for each item they sell in the marketplace and they will be charged for inventory storage, shipping, and returns. In addition to this, some modifications in referral fees, long-term storage fees, reimbursements for returns, and Fulfilled-by-Amazon (FBA) pickup fees for sellers have also been made.

List of categories that could get expensive on Amazon

The cited source claims that the latest change will be reflected in multiple categories, including electronics, beauty, apparel, eyewear, pharmaceuticals, home, and pets.

Why sellers are being charged more for the products that they sell through Amazon?

The company’s spokesperson has explained that the revision in charges is due to several factors and is not based on one thing. It has also revealed that the tech giant has also reduced fees in certain categories, but the details for the same are unknown.

For people who are unaware, e-commerce platforms like Amazon generate income by charging commissions and other fees to sellers on their marketplace. The company says that modifications to the charges keep happening from time-to-time based on market demands.

“As part of our annual process, we have recently announced fee revisions that will be effective from May 31, 2023. Seller fee revisions are based on various factors including changes in market dynamics and various macroeconomic factors. As a part of our recent fee revision, we have made certain changes to our fee rate card, including introduction of new fee categories and also reduction of fees in certain categories,” Amazon said.

What could be the other reason to increase prices for Amazon sellers?

Amazon has conducted layoffs on a global scale to save costs and taken several other measures. It is now being said that the increase in prices for sellers is yet another cost-cutting initiative of the company. This is something that the company has suggested too as the quote provided by Amazon says the changes are also due to various macroeconomic factors.