Cast you mind back to the pre-pandemic times of early March 2020, and you may be forgiven for having forgotten that Amazon referral fees for clothing, shoes, bags and accessories that are sold via Prime used to be 15%. But from the 1st of March 2020 (originally until the 28th of February 2021) the referral fee for these products was reduced to just 7% on the portion of the total sales price that is greater than £40 (€45), when sold via Prime.
‘Sold by Prime’ is a catch all term that covers both FBA fulfilled orders and those shipped via Seller Fulfilled Prime. If you’re in that bucket then due to incentive extensions you’ve been enjoying lower fees ever since and, probably become so accustomed to the discount, you’ve forgotten the real fee is 15%.
Now you’re fretting your fees are about to rise, but fear not, today we’ve good news from Amazon. The promotion will now be once again extended and will run until the 31st of March 2023. the lower fees will be applied automatically to all of your eligible products sold via Prime.
There is a slight kicker however, the promotional rate will be adjusted upward by 2% for the UK, and 3% for France, Italy and Spain because of the digital services tax. Amazon are passing that on to you.
Clothing, Shoes and Bags selling options
This does open up a dilemma for sellers however, Option 1 is to retain control of your products in your own warehouse and pay 15% fees, with Option 2 being to put your products into Amazon’s FBA warehouse and pay 7% fees. Option 3 is to qualify for Seller Fulfilled Prime and you get the best of both worlds – retain control of your inventory and access the discount – but you do have hoops to jump through in terms of shipping.
It all comes down to a balance between what’s more important to you – paying higher fees or complying with the requirements of Prime. Only you can decide what is best for you and your operations.
