Amazon sellers are worried about the increase in 5 fees

Half a month ago, Amazon notified the US site of the adjustment of logistics costs and commissions in 2024. After studying the policy, sellers lamented that costs were rising. Now it is the turn of the European site.

Last night, Amazon announced the fee changes for the European site. Compared with the US site, this adjustment is very unfavorable to sellers on the European site . There is no reduction in the commission for clothing categories on the US site; FBA delivery fees have not been reduced, but have increased on some sites; in addition, various storage fees such as monthly storage fees, storage utilization surcharges, overage inventory surcharges , and return processing fees have increased across the board. However, due to the multi-site relationship, the European site does not have the new storage configuration service fee item of the US site.

Let’s take a look at how costs will change next year.

Two new projects added , low inventory fees cannot be avoided

First, Amazon added two new fee items: low-volume inventory fees and discounts for shipping with the original packaging of the product.

1. Low inventory cost coverage

Starting April 1, 2024, for standard-size items shipped through the Pan-EU Fulfillment by Amazon program, Amazon will charge a low inventory cost coverage fee if the number of in-stock items in Germany, France, Italy, and Spain falls below 28 days of inventory relative to the number of shipped items.

Note that Amazon only charges this fee if the historical inventory level of the product is less than 28 days relative to the historical supply days (long-term 90 days/short-term 30 days). If one of the two conditions is met, such as the short-term historical supply days are more than 28 days and the long-term is less than 28 days, no fee will be charged.

The low inventory cost coverage fee rates are as follows:

The shorter the delivery time, the higher the fee. For standard parcels, if the delivery time is less than 14 days in Germany, Italy and Spain, the fee is 0.52 euros, charged per piece; the fee in France is 0.54 euros. For sellers who are not good at inventory management, this will be a considerable fee. However, in some cases, this fee can be waived in the short term, such as professional sellers who have just joined the Pan-EU program.

2. Discounts for original packaging of goods

Amazon will save a lot of effort if the products can be shipped directly in the original packaging. Therefore, for products participating in the original packaging delivery program, Amazon will automatically apply lower delivery fees when delivering. Products whose packaging meets the program standards can obtain Amazon certification, and those that meet the standards after packaging adjustments can also register to join.

For products shipped in original packaging from the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, if the Amazon logistics fee for low-priced products is applied, the discount is up to 0.06 pounds or 0.08 euros per item; for local delivery and cross-border logistics, the discount for small packages is up to 0.09 pounds or 0.12 euros, and the discount for standard items is up to 0.27 pounds or 0.35 euros. Compared with the overall delivery fee, the reduction is very small.

Price increase is the main theme, involving multiple costs

Amazon's adjustment this time is still mainly price increases, covering monthly storage fees, storage utilization surcharges, overage inventory surcharges, redundant inventory fees and other fees.

1. Monthly storage fee

Starting from March 1, 2024, the monthly storage fees for all products (excluding dangerous goods) from October to December will be increased, and the monthly storage fees for large items and clothing, shoes and luggage categories from January to September will also increase as follows:

After the adjustment, the peak season monthly storage fee for all goods increased from 1.1 pounds per cubic foot to 1.21 pounds; for standard-size goods in clothing, shoes and luggage, the off-season charges increased from 0.47 pounds per cubic foot to 0.52 pounds, and the peak season charges increased from 0.6 pounds to 0.66 pounds; the off-season and peak-season charges for large goods also increased by 0.05 and 0.06 pounds respectively.

However, the non-peak season monthly storage fees for standard-size goods at Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland and Belgium stations will be reduced from January to September, which can offset the increase in peak season fees.

2. Warehouse utilization surcharge

Starting June 1, 2024, Amazon will enable a more refined tiering of storage utilization surcharges, and professional sellers with storage utilization rates exceeding 22 weeks will also have to bear this fee. However, inventory stored for 0-30 days and clothing, shoes and luggage products will not be charged.

After adjustment: In the off-season, standard-sized warehouses with utilization rates between 22-28 weeks face a surcharge of £0.42 per cubic foot, 28-36 weeks at £0.78 per cubic foot, 36-44 weeks at £1.04, 44-52 weeks at £1.18, and more than 52 weeks at £1.31. Sellers with data between 22-26 weeks have an additional expense, while fees between 26-28 weeks drop slightly by £0.08. Sellers with slower turnover face higher increases, with fees almost doubling. Large-item fees are also raised.

During the peak season, this surcharge has increased to a uniform £0.78 for standard parts, covering all products with data of more than 22 weeks. Sellers have to be careful when stocking up.

3. Surcharge for overage inventory

Starting February 15, 2024, the surcharge for inventory aged between 271-365 days will increase. Surcharges will also be imposed on items listed in the apparel, footwear, luggage, jewelry and watches categories with an inventory age of 271-330 days. The fees for inventory aged between 271-365 days have more than doubled.

4. Delivery fees at some sites have increased

Although the delivery fee at the US site has been reduced by a small amount, the cost has been reduced after all. The European site does not have such treatment, and the delivery fees at some sites continue to increase.

First, domestic Amazon logistics delivery fees will increase in the UK, the Netherlands, Sweden, Poland and Belgium, while domestic FBA delivery fees in Germany, France, Italy and Spain will remain unchanged. In terms of long-distance delivery, Amazon will reduce the long-distance delivery fees for shipments from France, Germany, Italy and Spain to the UK, and keep the European delivery network and long-distance delivery fees from the UK to the EU unchanged.

5. Return processing fee for products with high return rate

Starting October 1, 2024 (European time) , Amazon will expand the scope of return processing fees to include high-return rate products in all categories. This will apply to products with the highest return rates in each category. The existing average level of return processing fees for clothing and footwear products will remain unchanged.

After several fee increases, Amazon also gave some benefits, including expanding the preferential benefits for new products entering the FBA warehouse in Europe, providing an average of 10% sales commission rebate for new parent ASIN sales that meet the requirements; continuing to provide low-priced Amazon logistics rates for all European sites, including all products priced at 10 pounds in the UK, 11 euros in Germany, 12 euros in France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands, 140 Swedish kronor in Sweden, and 55 zlotys in Poland (including VAT). Eligible products will automatically enjoy low prices.

In addition, Amazon will also update the current European Consolidated Shipping Fee Surcharge for oversized items and will no longer charge the European Consolidated Shipping Fee Surcharge for oversized items whose shipping country is the same as the sales country.

Overall, logistics costs will continue to rise in 2024, and sellers need to try to optimize packaging, etc. to adapt to the changes.