Amazon India has notified sellers that it will change its fee structures from April 7, with several categories set to attract higher outgo, depending on the price bracket of the products.
On an average, the overall commission increase is in the range of 10-30% across major segments.
With the cost of servicing each order increasing for sellers, margins per sale will be affected. Merchants may decide to pass on at least a part of the fee hike to consumers, according to industry executives.
Amazon’s communication to sellers, which ET has seen, said the ecommerce company is revising a variety of fees around shipping, referrals and technology costs. In a statement, Amazon India said seller fees and incentives were “strong long-term levers” for individual businesses as well as the marketplace.
A variety of categories such as car electronics, camera accessories, keyboards and mouses, and personal care appliances have shifted from a single flat price to a tiered price system.
“Beauty and personal care items have seen a significant hike compared to other segments. So, you will see an impact there, across direct-to-consumer brands,” an online merchant said.
The steepest hikes have been introduced for products like moisturisers and sunscreen (range starting at 6.5%, against 2.5% earlier), grocery and gourmet gifts (range starting at 9%, versus 6% earlier), doors and windows (a flat 10% now, which was a range starting at 5%) and 3D printers (flat 10% now as opposed to 7% earlier).
Charged from sellers for every item sold on the platform, such fee is the main source of revenue for the local arm of the US-based ecommerce firm. The weight of products also plays a role in total fee since the majority of sellers use Amazon’s shipping services to deliver.
Marketplaces make changes to their fee structure periodically, including offering incentives ahead of the festive season for onboarding new sellers to widen product listings.
In the latest move, a few categories also saw a slight decrease, such as inverter and batteries (4.5% now, against 5.5% earlier) and fragrances (range starting at 12.5% versus a flat 14% earlier).
Shipping prices were also revised. Prices for ‘easy ship’ and ‘self-ship’ services will now be between Rs 4 and Rs 80, against Rs 3 and Rs 70 earlier. The upper limit for ‘seller flex’ service has been pushed to Rs 61, from Rs 58 earlier. The technology fee per unit has inched up to Rs 14, from Rs 13 earlier.
The firm also removed its Zero Fee fulfilment policy and will now charge a weight handling and shipping fee for standard-sized shipments costing over Rs 20,000.
Amazon Seller Services, the entity that runs the Amazon India marketplace, posted a muted 3.4% increase in revenue at Rs 22,198 crore in the financial year ended March 2023, while its loss widened by about a third to Rs 4,854 crore.