It’s about to get much pricier to be a seller on Amazon.
CNBC reported this week that the e-commerce retail giant is charging sellers a one-time, nonrefundable $1,500 fee if they want to sell brands such as Nike, Adidas and Asics. Amazon began rolling out the fee, which it is calling “brand gating” selectively last week as a measure to fight a recent swell in counterfeits on the site and make it harder for unauthorized merchants to sell.
“We want customers to be able to shop with confidence on Amazon,” Erik Fairleigh, an Amazon spokesman, wrote in an email to CNBC. “For certain products and categories, Amazon requires additional performance checks, other qualification requirements, and fees.”
This comes following news in July that Birkenstock would no longer be selling its footwear on Amazon and is also barring third-party sellers from doing so. David Kahan, CEO of Birkenstock Americas, said in a letter that the decision was made based on what he called “unacceptable business practices” that include “posting by sellers proven to have counterfeit Birkenstock products.”
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“Policing this activity internally and in partnership with Amazon.com has proven impossible,” Kahan said.
CNBC spoke to multiple legitimate sellers, one of which said that the fees would be prohibitive to business, especially for sellers bringing in revenues less than $1 million a year. Another seller said it seems “the rules aren’t clear and they change them as they go along.”
Meanwhile, in other counterfeit-related news, customs agents at the Los Angeles/Long Beach port seized thousands of pairs of fake Salvatore Ferragamo shoes valued at nearly $4.3 million.
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