Amazon has officially discontinued its intention to charge Prime sellers who don’t use its in-house fulfilment a two percent fee. In addition to the 8–15% commission it presently receives from retailers, the business reportedly plans to begin collecting the fee on October 1st.
Amazon PR manager Jonathan Hillson noted that “the 2% Seller Fulfilled Prime fee was intended to cover our costs,” but added that the company opted against pressing forward out of worry that “seller sentiment related to the fee” may have an influence on participation in the programme. This was expressed by Mr. Hillson in a statement.
Amazon, according to Hillson, is “committed to supporting sellers’ success, which includes listening to their feedback.” Bloomberg claims that when Amazon informed merchants of the price in August, it did not provide an explanation.
The fee would only have applied to participants in the Seller Fulfilled Prime programme, which allows sellers to continue shipping their own goods without forfeiting the coveted “Prime” branding and the one- or two-day delivery guarantee. This may be appealing to businesses that desire more control over how their items are handled as opposed to handing them off to the dissatisfied staff of another company.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, Amazon is pressuring its merchants into agreements they’d rather not be a part of.
It is anticipated that the FTC will file a case alleging antitrust violations on the basis of this specific premise. The government agency has in the past initiated legal action against the company, alleging that it uses deceptive marketing tactics to convince consumers to sign up for its Prime service.
