(Tony Sifert, Headline USA) Amazon has announced a plan to charge third-party sellers who use Fulfillment by Amazon a 5% “fuel and inflation surcharge,” beginning April 28, according to the Associated Press.
“In 2022, we expected a return to normalcy as COVID-19 restrictions around the world eased, but fuel and inflation have presented further challenges,” an Amazon spokesman told CNBC. “It is still unclear if these inflationary costs will go up or down, or for how long they will persist.”
Amazon issued its fourth quarter financial results in early February, and CEO Andy Jassy commented on the effect that both inflation and the supply chain crisis were having on the company.
“As expected over the holidays, we saw higher costs driven by labor supply shortages and inflationary pressures, and these issues persisted into the first quarter due to Omicron,” Jassy said.
Amazon: “we are forced to add a 5% inflation surcharge and raise Prime prices”
Also Amazon: our profit tripled since pre-pandemic times, our founder is worth $190 billion (up $77B in the pandemic) and we just gave shareholders $10B in stock buybackshttps://t.co/iTPNT28RRj
— Dan Price (@DanPriceSeattle) April 15, 2022
Amazon’s action was immediately criticized by small business and consumer advocates.
