Amazon has announced a new surcharge on its fulfillment services, as rising fuel and logistics costs — widely linked to the US and Israeli attacks on Iran — begin to ripple through the ecommerce sector.
In the latest sign that delivery costs are being increasingly passed on to online sellers, the move will see a 3.5% “fuel and logistics-related surcharge” applied to a range of its fulfillment offerings.
New surcharge rolls out in phases
From April 17, 2026, the surcharge will apply to Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) orders in the US and Canada, as well as Remote Fulfillment shipments from the US into Canada, Mexico, and Brazil.
A second phase will follow on May 2, when the fee is extended to Buy with Prime orders in the US and Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) services across the US and Canada.
The surcharge will be calculated based on fulfillment fees rather than product prices, meaning its impact will vary depending on the size, weight, and handling requirements of each item.
Average impact: modest per unit, significant at scale
Amazon said the new charge will equate to an average increase of around $0.17 per unit for US FBA sellers, although this figure will differ depending on product specifications.
To help merchants assess the impact, the company has updated several of its internal tools — including its Revenue Calculator and Profit Analytics dashboards — to reflect both per-unit and overall business cost increases.
Amazon cites “elevated costs” — but wider forces are at play
In its official statement, Amazon pointed to “elevated costs in fuel and logistics” across the industry, noting that it had absorbed these increases up to now. However, the company did not explicitly identify the underlying causes of these rising costs.
Industry analysts and recent reporting suggest that ongoing geopolitical instability — particularly the US-Israel conflict with Iran — has contributed to higher global oil prices. In turn, this has pushed up transportation and delivery costs for logistics networks worldwide.
Lower than rival surcharges?
Amazon emphasized that its new fee is “meaningfully lower than [those of] other major carriers,” suggesting that efforts to optimize its fulfillment network have helped limit the size of the increase.
The company also described the surcharge as temporary, adding that it will continue to evaluate the measure as market conditions evolve.
A familiar trend for ecommerce sellers
For merchants, the change represents another incremental cost in an already margin-sensitive environment.
While a $0.17 increase per unit may appear relatively small, high-volume sellers could see a noticeable impact on profitability — particularly those heavily reliant on FBA for order fulfillment.
Why this matters to ecommerce merchants
For sellers using Amazon’s fulfillment infrastructure, even small per-unit increases can have a significant impact at scale. A $0.17 increase may sound modest, but for high-volume sellers, it could translate into thousands of dollars in additional monthly costs.
The application of this surcharge also reinforces a broader trend: as logistics costs rise globally, marketplaces and carriers are becoming ever-less willing to absorb these increases themselves.
Merchants may now need to revisit pricing strategies, margins, and fulfillment models — particularly those heavily reliant on FBA — to remain profitable.
📖 Related resource: JoyExpress to Challenge Amazon
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Chris Singleton is the Founder and Director of Ecommercetrix.
Since graduating from Trinity College Dublin in 1999, Chris has advised many businesses on how to grow their operations via a strong online presence, and now he shares his experience and expertise through his articles on the Ecommercetrix website.
Chris started his career as a data analyst for Irish marketing company Precision Marketing Information; since then he has worked on digital projects for a wide range of well-known organizations including Cancer Research UK, Hackney Council, Data Ireland, and Prescription PR. He then went on to found the popular business apps review site Style Factory, followed by Ecommercetrix.
He is also the author of a book on SEO for beginners, Super Simple SEO.