Amazon is implement a new fuel surcharge affecting third-party sellers who rely on its fulfillment network. The online giant will charge sellers an additional 3.5 percent fee to account for what it calls “elevated costs in fuel and logistics.”
TechCrunch reports that Amazon has announced a 3.5 percent fuel surcharge for merchants using its Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) service, set to take effect on April 17. The policy comes in response to what the tech giant claims are elevated fuel and logistics costs driven by ongoing geopolitical instability affecting global oil markets. The surcharge will apply to all sellers who use FBA, a program that allows merchants to store their products in Amazon’s warehouses, where the company handles packing and shipping to end customers.
In a statement provided to TechCrunch, an Amazon spokesperson confirmed the new policy: “Elevated costs in fuel and logistics have increased the cost of operating across the industry. 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.”
The spokesperson also claimed that the surcharge is lower than those applied by other major carriers. Amazon told TechCrunch the surcharge would remain in place for the foreseeable future, with the company indicating it will continue to evaluate the policy as market conditions change.
While Amazon does not publicly disclose the number of merchants enrolled in FBA, the program underpins the majority of third-party sales on its platform, meaning the surcharge has the potential to affect a significant portion of the sellers who depend on Amazon’s logistics infrastructure to reach customers.
This is not the first time Amazon has introduced such a measure. The company previously implemented a fuel surcharge in 2022, a period when crude oil prices last exceeded $100 per barrel following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which caused widespread disruption across global energy markets.
Breitbart News reported in 2025 that Amazon set off a firestorm with a plan to show the alleged costs of President Trump’s tariffs on items purchased by Americans. Although the company denied the plan, it took considerable flak as a result:
Punchbowl News first reported on Amazon’s alleged plan “to showcase how much tariffs were contributing to the price of goods sold on their platform.”
However, Amazon was quick to refute the report after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt slammed the reportedly planned move as a “hostile and political act.”
“Why didn’t Amazon do this when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest level in 40 years?” she said. “And I would also add that it’s not a surprise because, as Reuters recently wrote, Amazon has partnered with a Chinese propaganda arm,” Leavitt continued, referencing a 2021 article from the outlet.
Read more at TechCrunch here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
