Amazon Imposes 3.5% Fuel Surcharge For Many Online Merchants 74
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Amazon will start charging sellers who use its shipping services a 3.5% "fuel and logistics" surcharge later this month, joining the ranks of shipping companies raising prices as the war in Iran pushes oil prices higher. The fees take effect on April 17 for customers of the company's Fulfillment by Amazon service -- which is used by many of the independent sellers who list their products on Amazon's retail sites -- in the US and Canada. Items shipped by Amazon on behalf of merchants who sell on their own sites or at other retailers will carry the surcharge beginning May 2. "Elevated costs in fuel and logistics have increased the cost of operating across the industry," Ashley Vanicek, an Amazon spokesperson, said on Thursday. "We have absorbed these increases so far, but similar to other major carriers, when costs remain elevated we implement temporary surcharges to partially recover these costs."
Vanicek notes that the fee will apply to the sum Amazon charges to ship an item, not the product's sale price.
Last month, USPS announced that it would impose its first-ever fuel surcharge on packages.
Vanicek notes that the fee will apply to the sum Amazon charges to ship an item, not the product's sale price.
Last month, USPS announced that it would impose its first-ever fuel surcharge on packages.
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And 90% of it comes from China on boats powered by (fill in the blank)
Re: Amazon (Score:3)
Just like usps slapping a charge as well. It's the beginning of everything getting a surcharge. No one wants to eat the cost. Unless fuel goes down quick we are going to see this pattern start to take the wheels off the economy. R E C E S S I O N
Son, are you winning? (Score:5, Funny)
Trump lowered military recruitment standards which is the first step towards a draft.
Re:Son, are you winning? (Score:4, Insightful)
U scared bro?
He's probably not scared enough. Anyone old enough to remember Vietnam knows how the song goes from here. "We must throw another batch of American men into the meat grinder, otherwise the lives of the previous batch will have been sacrificed in vain", and repeat ad infinitum.
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If you can't figure out for yourself what's wrong with ordering large numbers of men to their deaths, then I won't be able to explain it to you.
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Maybe you should stop calling it wrong, as if there's some kind of invisible sky giant who frowns upon that kind of thing and will do something about it any minute now?
It's not usefully wrong: it's an inevitable consequence of the choices you make. Eg if you're worried that your house is on fire, why aren't you putting out the fire? The longer you wait, the bigger the consequences get, and the more effort it will take. Inevitably.
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knows how the song goes from here
Yeah, I remember it vaguely...
Manchester, England, England,
across the Atlantic sea,
and there's a stable genius,
and I believe that god believes in Claude,
not me
Re:Son, are you winning? (Score:4, Insightful)
I mean with a six digit slashdot uid, safe to say he's not draft age. But also old enough to understand the consequences of a land war in the Middle East.
Live long enough to know some veterans and the thought of involuntarily sending people into conflicts should be scary for an empathetic human. Maybe infrequently necessary, but always scary.
Re: Son, are you winning? (Score:4, Interesting)
So war is ok because you came back ok? Did you even see front lines or were you some computer tech?
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So you weren't seeing children and innocents blown up right in front of your eyes.
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Re: Son, are you winning? (Score:2)
All I'm saying is that you didn't have the experience that usually causes PTSD.
Re:Son, are you winning? (Score:4, Informative)
Depending on the study, from 30% to 44% of Vietnam vets came back with PTSD. The stereotype of the unhinged 'Nam vet was thus not just a leftist conspiracy. Today, Vietnam-era veterans remain disproportionately represented in the homeless population.
If we have a draft today the level of resistance will cripple the country. Nobody will tolerate the Government pulling that. That move could break the country.
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Yes, and I give him full credit for that. And please note that the reason we don't need a draft now isn't because there's no more conflict but because there are enough men and women willing to serve their country without it.
Re:Son, are you winning? (Score:5, Informative)
I'm old enough that I have known vets from more than just Vietnam. The power of listening to someone describe their experiences during Normandy is permanently etched in my mind. Or looking at a picture of a squad form Korea and having to the stories about a friend that didn't come hone.
Understanding the burden on our service members and respecting the cost that they have paid used to not be a partisan divide. Even with Vietnam, remember that ending conscription was the Nixon campaign promise.
Re: Son, are you winning? (Score:3)
I'm too old for the draft. But I'm scared what it might do to the younger generation. It certainly had a negative impact on the generation that raised me. I had many public school teachers and coaches in the 80's and 90's that were unhinged Vietnam vets.
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Well, are you? Come on who's tired of winning? Trump lowered military recruitment standards which is the first step towards a draft.
Yeah, his SOTU speech where he babbled endlessly about how people were begging him to stop winning is starting to feel a little too real at the moment.
The babbling wasn't the problem (Score:4, Insightful)
I found out that the reason Joe Biden looked so rough is because he stutters and when you saw him doing those long pauses that was him having to pause to get his stutter under control before he spoke. In his old age it came back after he had gotten it under control for a long time.
So all that crap about sleepy Joe was literally just a man with a mild speech impediment struggling with it. Of course none of that was reported by the news media...
Meanwhile Trump was talking about a bill he wanted to pass and mid sentence started to talk about a imaginary person named Bill. This is a real thing that happened. Never mind the bizarre post he just made about Jasmine Crockett being related to Davy Crockett.
Re:The babbling wasn't the problem (Score:4, Insightful)
Well no more than usual. The problem is that he couldn't even stick to a simple message. About half the speech was about how the war is ending and they're bringing peace and the other half the speech was about killing every single person in Iran. I found out that the reason Joe Biden looked so rough is because he stutters and when you saw him doing those long pauses that was him having to pause to get his stutter under control before he spoke. In his old age it came back after he had gotten it under control for a long time. So all that crap about sleepy Joe was literally just a man with a mild speech impediment struggling with it. Of course none of that was reported by the news media... Meanwhile Trump was talking about a bill he wanted to pass and mid sentence started to talk about a imaginary person named Bill. This is a real thing that happened. Never mind the bizarre post he just made about Jasmine Crockett being related to Davy Crockett.
Anybody with a modicum of brain power themselves knows Trump's been off his rocker for years. The worst part with the comparisons to Biden is that Biden built a cabinet of people he trusted as advisors, and as people that could help shape policy and implement it. Trump surrounds himself with sycophants that spend most of their time worried about how best to kiss the royal ass, and then still ends up firing them for not kissing it enough, and refuses to listen to anyone with a clue on any subject.
And it's getting really old listening to how Trump thinks the country was completely broken when he took office this go around and that he's made the US "the hottest country going." Maybe, if me means hottest like the two dollar Rolex line on Landman.
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When Trump was selecting his cabinet, Donald Trump Jr. stated on Fox & Friends that he wanted to prevent "disaster" by blocking, as he put it, "liars" or individuals who feel they are more knowledgeable than his father.
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When Trump was selecting his cabinet, Donald Trump Jr. stated on Fox & Friends that he wanted to prevent "disaster" by blocking, as he put it, "liars" or individuals who feel they are more knowledgeable than his father.
That definitely checks out. Wouldn't want anyone with knowledge filling an advisory role. Dude's ego must be the most fragile thing in the universe.
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That definitely checks out. Wouldn't want anyone with knowledge filling an advisory role. Dude's ego must be the most fragile thing in the universe.
You can watch actual live streams of cabinet meetings. It is just a bunch of people going around the table kissing his ass. No one providing any real advice or information. It is a performance.
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Is the undocumented in the room with you now? Can we talk to the undocumented?
Re:Son, are you winning? (Score:5, Insightful)
You mean like the president? Oh wait, captain bone spurs.
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We just haven't won enough yet!
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"Trump lowered military recruitment standards which is the first step towards a draft."
They're making a big thing out of this here in Pittsburgh.
Lowered standards exist to avoid the draft. (Score:2)
The proportion of Americans fit for service is tiny. While the USAF (which never drafted) and Space Force easily meet recruiting goals they also don't require the number of mundane jobs other services do. The enormous support tail enabling modern warfighting can often be manned by lower quality troops.
The late draft era was a military disaster. One day some leadership imbeciles will bring it back but it's so easy to disqualify yourself from service without provable malingering mostly greater imbeciles would
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Who's tired of too much winning?
Unfortunately not Netanyahu or Putin. But I'm waiting for Xi to drop the other shoe with an offer the YOB can't refuse. Only link to Amazon I can imagine involves merchandise made in Taiwan? "But if you let us build a big military base on Taiwan then it will eliminate any risk of a YUGE amphibious invasion in the future..."
Anyway, I'm not even clear why your comment was modded Funny, much as I want to see Funny these days. Mostly seems irrelevant, dare I say off topic, unless
Charge on what, exactly (Score:4, Interesting)
Is this a 3.5% charge on the value of the sale? Or on just the actual shipping charges? Because if it is the former, it is just a money grab because the value of the total sale has nothing to do with how much it costs to ship. That is determined by size and weight.
Can't read the referenced article, and other articles I tried don't say.
Note that surcharges are usually temporary for what is expected to be temporary unusual market swings. Amazon did this in the past, in April 2022 and then dropped it in 2023 as prices normalized again. And that was a 5% charge, not 3.5%.
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Is this a 3.5% charge on the value of the sale? Or on just the actual shipping charges? Because if it is the former, it is just a money grab because the value of the total sale has nothing to do with how much it costs to ship. That is determined by size and weight.
Can't read the referenced article, and other articles I tried don't say.
Note that surcharges are usually temporary for what is expected to be temporary unusual market swings. Amazon did this in the past, in April 2022 and then dropped it in 2023 as prices normalized again. And that was a 5% charge, not 3.5%.
The pessimist in me says this is one of those temporary fees that will get removed...never. It's the airlines' way of boosting ticket prices without boosting ticket prices themselves. Think the fee will get dropped once fuel prices go down? No, neither do I.
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Opps, I got sidetracked and jumped to airline fees...but my point stands. The fuel surcharge isn't going to go away if/when fuel prices come down.
Re:Charge on what, exactly (Score:4, Informative)
Is this a 3.5% charge on the value of the sale? Or on just the actual shipping charges?
Not quite either; it's on the FBA fees, although shipping is certainly what a chunk of that goes to (as, outbound, it is not assessed separately to sellers). FBA fees depend on the item's dimensions, weight, category, and other factors Amazon decides but are vaguely summarized in Amazon's FBA support docs: https://sellercentral.amazon.c... [amazon.com]. FWIW, they claim it represents 17 cents per item on average in another article I saw (couldn't read the Bloomberg one from TFS because paywall).
Call it what it is (Score:4, Informative)
A Trump surcharge. Gasoline is now averaging $4 a gallon thanks to his and Israel’s war.
Re: Call it what it is (Score:2)
Re:Call it what it is (Score:4, Insightful)
Biden caused a global pandemic that affected supply chains from top to bottom? Wow that's incredible!
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Did Amazon charge a fuel surcharge in 2023?
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Thought so.
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>"A Trump surcharge. Gasoline is now averaging $4 a gallon thanks to his and Israelâ(TM)s war."
Yeah, it is almost approaching the Biden surcharge for gas... Jan 2021 average $2.39, June 2023 over $5. Hopefully it will drop a lot soon. Time will tell.
https://ycharts.com/indicators... [ycharts.com]
Okay, allow me to educate you for a moment. There are two things that affect the price of gas: supply and demand.
Supply is affected by wars, mostly, and to a very limited extent by laws regarding where you can drill.
Demand is affected by the economy.
President Trump left office with one of the worst economies in decades, mostly because of COVID and our government's botched response to it:
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Amazon probably cares more about diesel, which is $5.40 / gallon US average (1.5x one year ago) and jet fuel, which seems to vary wildly but is at least 2x it's normal price. Gasoline looks comparatively reasonable, averaging about 30% higher than a year ago.
Call it what it is, a Christian Zionist surcharge (Score:3)
While a large proportion of observant, fundamentalist Jewry in Israel do not support Zionism or fight in its wars, a vast number of American Christian Zionists consider themselves obliged to serve the Chosen by helping kill their enemies.
A sufficient proportion of Americans and Israelis don't care about Muslim lives to let this preference guide policy. Islamist backlash will increase that number.
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Who knew ... (Score:3, Insightful)
Let us see ...
Americans elected a fraudster because he promised to lower prices.
The results: imposing tariffs on whims, and starting a war on an oil choke point, so prices rise across the board ...
Russia is a friend now, and Ukraine is the aggressor.
NATO is evil, and so are Western democracies.
The whole world order was toppled by the fraudster ...
And the whole world will suffer because of the choices Americans make.
Passed straight though to the buyers (Score:2)
and then some for overhead.
Maybe brick and mortar stores will become less expensive then Amazon, but maybe not if the profits are pocketed there.
Lowering inflation is going well. (Score:2)
Hahahahhahaha.
Well it it weens us off Amazon landfill there's an upside.
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Do you really think T-man cares?
He only cares that it's making a *LOT* of money for the already wealthy. If it completely breaks the world to do that? So be it. He never made any secret about what he wanted to do, but his followers weren't smart enough to realize that they were useful only as long as he needed their votes and that most of them were never in the chosen club to be benefactors of his stated policies.
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Such duplicity. Why didn't they do this (or if they did, why didn't the media trumpet it like they are now?) back in the deep dark days of 2022? Gas was more expensive then, than right now.
Anything to throw mud at the politicians they don't like, and you people play right into it.
I'm so tired of the manipulation.
Because gas prices were elevated due to a fucking pandemic, you moron. This shit is permanent, hence the surcharge.
Gas prices collapsed because of the pandemic. Diesel prices increased because more people were buying things from Amazon and similar instead of from their local stores. Also, they couldn't do it then in part because they were enjoying all the extra revenue from people buying more online, and they wouldn't have wanted to risk disrupting that by increasing the fees.
But otherwise, yeah.
Thanks Trump (Score:2)
Tariffs and fuel surcharges. So nice that big corporations aren't the ones burdened by what is obviously another tax on the consumer.
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| And they get to do it because the FTC has been totally defanged. It has nothing to do with Trump or oil. Sheeple indeed.
In March 2025, Mr. Trump fired the two remaining Democratic commissioners of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, basically consolidating executive control over the agency. This action effectively ended the agency’s longstanding statutory and bipartisan independence.
So, basically, Mr. Trump defanged the FTC. Who's the sheeple now?
What are "fuel surcharges"? (Score:2)
Is this a way to avoid saying "raising shipping prices"? Why is it legal to lie like this?