Two stories this morning about how Amazin is changing the ways in which it charges business using its services – changes that are happening as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sues the company for violating antitrust laws.
• From GeekWire:
“Amazon says it will change the way it charges sellers who use its fulfillment services, introducing a new fee designed to give sellers a financial incentive to ship products to multiple locations in its fulfillment network.
“The idea, Amazon says, is to get products closer to customers more efficiently and cost-effectively, in line with its latest strategy of putting comprehensive sets of inventory at each of its regional fulfillment hubs.
“Under the new fee structure, announced Tuesday morning, sellers will be able to reduce or avoid the new ‘inbound placement fees,’ the company says, if they opt to send their products to multiple locations, rather than a single Amazon destination, after the new fees begin in March 2024.
“At the same time, Amazon plans to reduce its existing outbound fulfillment fees, in addition to offering sellers discounts when their products can be shipped in existing packaging, improving efficiency and reducing waste.”
• From The Information:
“Amazon said Tuesday that it plans to slash the commissions it takes on sales of apparel items under $20. The move coincides with mounting competition from discount online clothing retailers like Shein and Temu.
“Amazon currently takes a 17% cut of all apparel sales that outside sellers make through its website, but will reduce that commission to 5% on items priced lower than $15 and 10% for items between $15 and $20 beginning on January 15.
“Amazon isn’t changing the commissions it charges for other kinds of items.”
KC’s View:
Too little, too late if Amazon wants to derail the FTC’s efforts.
Besides, there’s another component to this. The Information also reports that “Amazon is adding a new returns processing fee for most items with high return rates, part of a broader effort at the company to cut down on costs associated with returns.”
So not all charges are going down.
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