Amazon has come out with yet another announcement on reduction of charges that it collects from sellers on its platform. There are around 22 different categories chosen this time for reduction and the date from which the fresh rates will apply is July 15.
The categories covered in this round of fee reductions include, laptop bags and sleeves, home storage, eyewear, wallets, backpacks, innerwear, watches, luggage and furniture and so on. The reduction has come in the referral fee and also in the fees that the sellers bear for handling and pick and pack etc. These are in particular reference to over-sized items. Amazon’s spokesperson claims that the company recognizes that the success that the sellers achieve on their platform can only help Amazon rachet up its business.
It was just in April last that Amazon had done a similar exercise of reducing and increasing the different charges being collected from the sellers. This time round, the 22 categories chosen bear charges between 5.5% to 20%. Under one more head, ‘Fulfilled by Amazon’, sellers will get a 25% reduction on items exceeding Rs 500 in value.
Both the top ecommerce entities in India have been going out of their way to woo the sellers on their respective platforms, particularly to stop them from leaving their platform in preference for the other. This also comes at a time when associations such as the All India Online Vendors Association (AIOVA) has been objecting to several issues.
The main grievance from AIVOA is that neither Flipkart nor Amazon ever discuss with them any of these policies and unilaterally make announcements on the fees etc. that directly affects their members’ businesses.
Even in terms of the current reduction of seller prices, the sellers’ body is unhappy. “Such frequent, non-consultative tariff changes need to be regulated. It is not about Amazon but the entire ecosystem, which is unregulated,” Indian Express quotes an AIOVA spokesperson as saying.