Selling goods on Amazon and Flipkart has become costlier
What's the story
Amazon and Flipkart have raised their seller fees ahead of the festive season. The e-commerce giants are trying to win over shoppers and get a bigger share of the festive spending pie. Amazon has increased cancellation charges for sellers using its Easy Ship and Self-Ship services. The new charges are now linked to the order value instead of being based on referral fees.
Fee details
Amazon's cancellation fee structure
As of August 17, Amazon's cancellation fee is 10% for orders under ₹10,000, 8% for those between ₹10,001 and ₹50,000, 5% for orders between ₹50,001 and ₹1 lakh, and 2% for those above ₹1 lakh.
The fee applies when sellers cancel orders without buyer requests or when Amazon cancels an order due to seller's failure to ship/confirm within 24 hours of estimated shipping date.
Fee hike
Closing fees to increase as well
Amazon is also raising its closing fees from September 7, citing higher fuel and logistics costs.
The closing fee will go up by ₹1 for products priced up to ₹500 and by ₹3 for those above ₹500.
This hike will be applicable across all of Amazon's channels, including Fulfilment Centre, Easy Ship, and Seller Flex.
Penalty system
Flipkart's new penalty structure for sellers
Flipkart has also introduced a new penalty structure for sellers who have been on the platform for at least three months.
The charges are applied on a per-order basis and range from ₹30 to ₹90, depending on the nature of seller-side failure.
A ₹30 penalty is imposed when a seller fails to hand over an order to Flipkart's logistics partner by the agreed dispatch date (DBD).
Cancellation charges
Penalties replace previous account lockout threat
A ₹60 penalty is imposed when a seller cancels an order after receiving it from a customer.
If the seller misses the DBD and cancels the order, the penalty goes up to ₹90.
This new system replaces the earlier one where sellers could face account lockouts for the order cancellations.