Gone are the days when people used to wander in markets to build their wardrobes. Nowadays, your favourite dress is just a simple click away. One of the leading giants in the E-commerce sector is Amazon. And now, shopping on the platform may turn out to be a little more heavy on your pocket. While the platform has been known for its exciting offers, Amazon has decided to revise its sales fees and commission charges.
These new charges will be imposed on several categories of products such as electronics and cosmetics with effect from May 31, as per an Economic Times (ET) report. This hike is likely to pass on the excess burden to customers.
Now, let us take a look at the categories of products that are expected to be affected by the increase in charges. Amazon has reportedly decided to raise the seller fees on products like clothes, beauty products, groceries and medicines, among others. In addition to this, it is also reported that there will be a significant increase in the fees for the return of the products. The seller’s fee for over-the-counter medicines is expected to swell from 5.5% to 12% for products worth Rs 500 or less. As for the items costing more than Rs 500, the seller fee will be 15%.
Speaking on the matter, a company spokesperson said, “Seller fee revisions are based on a variety of factors, including market dynamics and various macroeconomic factors. For the time being, we have made changes to our fee rate card, which includes new fee categories and reduced fees in some categories."
Furthermore, Amazon reportedly fired around 500 Indian employees across various departments recently. According to the reports, the fresh round of layoffs will affect approximately 9,000 employees. Amazon is not the only company resorting to downsizing, several other technology giants such as Google are also letting go of several employees.
