Bidenflation: Amazon Smacks Third-Party Sellers with 'Fuel and Inflation Surcharge'

The price of products on Amazon is likely to increase following the company’s introduction of a five percent “fuel and inflation surcharge” for sellers using Amazon’s fulfillment services.

The Verge reports that Amazon plans to offset rising fuel and inflation costs by shifting them to third-party sellers in the United States in the next month. Amazon will reportedly be charging sellers that use Amazon’s fulfillment services a five percent “fuel and inflation surcharge” that will go into effect on April 28.

KEARNY, NEW JERSEY - OCTOBER 25: U.S. President Joe Biden gives a speech on his Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal and Build Back Better Agenda at the NJ Transit Meadowlands Maintenance Complex on October 25, 2021 in Kearny, New Jersey. On Thursday during a CNN Town Hall, U.S. President Joe Biden announced that a deal to pass major infrastructure and social spending measures was close to being done. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also announced on Sunday that she expects Democrats to have an "agreement" on a framework for the social safety net plan and a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill in the next week. The reconciliation package, which was slated at first to cost $3.5 trillion, would still be the biggest support to expanding education, health care and child care support, and also help to fight the climate crisis as well as make further investments in infrastructure. Congress still needs to pass a bipartisan infrastructure bill by October 31 before the extension of funding for surface transportation expires. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

(Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Amazon delivery trucks (Todd Van Hoosear/Flickr)

Amazon currently has two million third-party sellers on its platform; Jungle Scout reports that 89 percent of third-party sellers use Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) to gain access to the company’s supply chain, warehouses, and shipping services.

An Amazon spokesperson told CNBC in a statement: “In 2022, we expected a return to normalcy as Covid-19 restrictions around the world eased, but fuel and inflation have presented further challenges. It is still unclear if these inflationary costs will go up or down, or for how long they will persist, so rather than a permanent fee change, we will be employing a fuel and inflation surcharge for the first time — a mechanism broadly used across supply chain providers.”

Amazon is not the only company to charge a fuel surcharge on its services, FedEx changes a surcharge of 49 cents per unit while UP charges 42 cents. In comparison, Amazon’s surcharge will work out at around 24 cents.

U.S. inflation reached 8.5 percent in March while gas prices are up 48 percent since last year according to recent reports. The end result of this is that Amazon shoppers will likely be paying more for the same items as third-party sellers increase their prices to keep up with Amazon’s fees.

Bidenflation: Amazon Smacks Third-Party Sellers with ‘Fuel and Inflation Surcharge’

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