Amazon prices are going up – Here’s why and how to save
When the pandemic hit two years ago it changed the way many of us conducted everyday life. From not going into the office for work to buying groceries online, the world changed. Tap or click here for our online grocery shopping comparison report.
One of the big winners has been Amazon. The company has seen sales skyrocket and is making record-breaking profits. But if you’re buying lots of stuff on Amazon we have bad news. Prices are about to go up.
Read on to find out why you will pay more for goods in the coming weeks and get some money-saving tips.
Here’s the backstory
Inflation is hitting most people hard these days and it’s not just gas prices that are out of control. Take a stroll down any aisle in your neighborhood grocery store and you’ll run into sticker shock everywhere. Really? A stick of deodorant for $8? Yep.
Now, despite massive profits, Amazon is about to hit sellers with a 5% fee due to inflation and increased fuel costs. First reported by Bloomberg, Amazon will begin levying the 5% surcharge on April 28.
You know what that means. Most sellers will pass the fee onto consumers, raising prices on many of the items you purchase on Amazon. Wonderful.
Return on investment
In the note sent to third-party sellers, Amazon boasts that it has “significantly invested in the store,” “nearly doubled fulfillment capacity,” and “enabled tremendous growth for sellers.”
The added 5% is what the company calls a Fuel and Inflation Surcharge and is on top of the current Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) fulfillment fee per unit rates.
According to Amazon’s FBA pricing guide, the referral fee percentage for consumer electronics is 8%. For electronic accessories, Amazon takes 15% from the sales price up to $100, and 8% from the total sales price of more than $100.
What you can do about it
If you can’t find your item anywhere other than Amazon, you should brace yourself for those third-party seller price increases. The most troublesome aspect is that sellers could hike prices by more than 5%.
As Kim recently explained on her radio show: “So here’s what will happen. Sellers get hit with the 5% surcharge. They raise their prices. Other sellers see it and say, ‘Wow, we can raise our prices too.’ And if you don’t know anything about it, you’ll be like – ‘wow, I’m broke.’”
Your best bet is to look around online and compare prices from different stores. Or you can install the Honey browser extension, which works in the background. As soon as you are ready to checkout, Honey finds the best coupons and codes to get a discount.
It works exceptionally well with Amazon. It tries to find you the same product at a better price by comparing different sellers. You can also earn Honey Gold points that you can use for gift cards at popular stores.
Keep reading
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Online shoppers: How to get cashback when you buy
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Tags: accessories, Amazon, cashback, inflation, pandemic, shopping
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