'It seems really unethical': Amazon adds holiday supplement for sellers

It's getting more and more expensive to sell on Amazon. At least, that's how Meaghan Thomas, co-owner of Pinch Spice Market feels.

Thomas and his partner, Thomas McGee, launched a direct-to-consumer retailer of organic spices in 2012, and said selling on Amazon had helped them reach customers they couldn't have reached using only their website.

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But after Amazon added a 5% fuel and inflation surcharge in April and announced on Tuesday that it would charge sellers who use Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) an additional 35 cents per product sold during the parties, Thomas feels full up.

"We've literally grown our business out of our own pockets and have been for 10 years, and it's growing, we're doing well, but that kind of success completely guts us," Thomas told Entrepreneur.< /em>

"I think a lot of us small to medium sized sellers are fed up, but what are we going to do?" she added.

Amazon told sellers in an email Tuesday that it will charge third-party sellers who use FBA an additional 35 cents per product, from October 15 through January 14, according to CNBC. This will depend on the weight, dimension and category, adds the outlet.

With FBA, Amazon ships your products for you, but it's nearly impossible to be an Amazon Prime seller — which is huge for sales — without using FBA, says Eli Coen, CEO of consultancy Lero Amazon helping sellers.

This is the first time Amazon has done this, but it's common for companies like UPS and FedEx to add holiday surcharges, according to CNBC, and the USPS requested last week.

"Everyone is falling apart," Coen said, referring to his Facebook seller group.

The worst thing, he said, is that the policy will be in place every holiday season, based on the email he received from Amazon announcing the change, a screenshot of which screenshot was seen by Entrepreneur. (It also sells on Amazon.)

“We have decided that, like other carriers, we will implement a vacation peak run fee that applies for a limited time each year,” the email reads, according to the capture. screen.

His advice to businesses: "I think the best advice is to raise prices if they can," he said.

The holiday season is one of the busiest for Amazon, known as the "peak". During another busy season, Amazon Prime Day, a New Jersey warehouse worker died, and The Guardian reported that warehouses had high injury rates and workers viewed conditions as stressful and dangerous.

Amazon said in the email that it was adding the supplement because “spending is reaching new heights,” according to CNBC.

“Our business partners are extremely important to us, and this is not a decision we took lightly,” Amazon reportedly added in the email.

Thomas has estimated that based on October-January 2021 sales of one of their middlemen, an organic Ras El Hanout spice blend, this 35 cent surcharge will cost them about $18,725 more than last year, assuming a product sales this year are the same as last year.

Thomas added that she's been trying to wean her business off of Amazon for years, and she says it's working; two years...