Amazon adding fuel surcharge for Canadian, U.S. sellers starting April 17

Amazon is applying a fuel surcharge to fulfillment fees for sellers in Canada and the U.S., a spokesperson for the e-commerce giant confirmed to CBC News on Thursday.

The 3.5 per cent surcharge will first apply to those using the Fulfillment by Amazon program, through which sellers can outsource packing and shipping to the company’s fulfillment warehouses. This surcharge, meant for those with an online Amazon storefront operating in the United States and Canada, will be imposed beginning on April 17.

Sellers who use the company’s Multi-Channel Fulfillment program — which can be used by those who have a non-Amazon sales channel, like a personal website — will see a surcharge starting on May 2.

“Elevated costs in fuel and logistics have increased the cost of operating across the industry,” the spokesperson said in a statement, saying the company has “absorbed these increases” so far.

“But similar to other major carriers, when costs remain elevated we implement temporary surcharges to partially recover these costs,” the spokesperson wrote. “We remain committed to our selling partners’ success and to maintaining broad selection and low prices for customers.”

A number of major companies who offer consumer services have added fuel surcharges to their base rate in the weeks since the beginning of a global energy crisis that began with the U.S. and Israel’s attack on Iran.

Iran retaliated partly by closing the Strait of Hormuz, a tiny waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil and gas passes.