On Wednesday, local time, Amazon announced on its official website that it will implement an average 5% fuel and inflation surcharge for merchants in the United States to deal with rising costs. This is the first such surcharge in Amazon's history, and it will go into effect on April 28 .

(The picture comes from amazom selleer central)

Amazon spokesman Patrick Graham said, “As Covid-19 restrictions are eased around the world, a return to normal is expected by the end of 2022, but fuel and inflation present further challenges. It is unclear whether these inflation costs are rising. Either down, or how long they will last, so for the first time things like fuel and inflation surcharges, rather than permanent fee changes, are a widely used mechanism ."

It is reported that the surcharge applies only to the fees paid by sellers who choose to use Amazon's fulfillment service, which includes storage, packaging and shipping of products. Other sellers who do not use FBA will not be affected.

According to a report by Jungle Scout, which creates product research software for Amazon sellers, about 89% of Amazon's more than 2 million sellers will use FBA in 2021 .

Amazon said its fuel and inflation surcharge was 24 cents per unit as of March 21, lower than UPS's 42 cents and FedEx's 49 cents .

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Wednesday that suppliers sharply raised prices by 11.2 percent in March, the most since 2010. Consumer prices surged 8.5% in March from a year earlier, the fastest pace in more than 40 years.

Gasoline prices have also soared since Russia invaded Ukraine. Gasoline prices have soared 48% over the past year, with the highest in California, where the average gas price is $5.73 .

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With inflation soaring, Amazon is trying to offset some of its own costs by passing the costs on to sellers, who may end up paying for it.

Last year, sellers paid Amazon about $103 billion in fees, which consisted of commissions, advertising and warehousing and logistics, and accounted for about 22% of Amazon’s revenue. Amazon said the new fee will apply to products ordered before April 28 but shipped and delivered after that date . Amazon is also expected to report earnings for the first three months of the year on April 28.

People cannot help themselves in the rivers and lakes. In the face of this new surcharge, the profit margin of sellers may be compressed again, but it also shows that cross-border e-commerce is more normalized, from an "event" to a daily life, to a certain extent Flattening cycle peaks , last Christmas was a prime example.

In general, the current US inflation is still beneficial to cross-border sellers, because the US inflation is severe, prices are rising, and consumers' purchasing power is reduced, and many US consumers are more inclined to "low-priced" products. Sellers can make full use of their low price advantage, actively look for shortage categories suitable for consumers' habits, and seize greater opportunities in the future US e-commerce market.

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Official account: Bai Xiaosheng, cross-border e-commerce logistics