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It is learned that on December 6, Amazon made changes to sales commissions and a series of logistics costs. Although it lowered the logistics delivery fees and sales commissions for clothing, it also added warehousing configuration service fees and low-volume inventory fees. It is estimated that the overall average cost of each item sold will increase by US$0.15. The news caused an uproar in the industry: while many sellers said that operating costs were rising almost every year, many sellers speculated that Amazon's reduction in sales commissions for clothing was mainly due to the impact of Temu's low prices. However, some sellers also said that the reason why Temu can achieve such low prices is inseparable from the multiple subsidy policies when it was first launched. With the cancellation of the subsidy policies, the platform's attractiveness to sellers will gradually weaken. Recently, we learned that after charging a 5% service fee, which was seen as a "signal of charging commissions", Temu's recent developments have led sellers to speculate that it has a trend of "charging storage fees". It is learned that recently, a seller broke the news on a social platform that when he checked the bill, he found that Temu deducted a fee called "comprehensive warehousing service fee". Based on this, the seller speculated that Temu’s subsidy bonus period has begun to gradually fade, and storage fees may be charged, affecting sellers’ costs. ▲ The picture comes from the seller’s disclosure
It is learned that this is not the first time that the "comprehensive warehousing service fee" has appeared in the vision of Temu sellers. In May this year, a seller revealed that a "PayPass Collection Service Agreement" appeared in the Temu background, which mentioned the "one-stop warehousing comprehensive service fee" , and then a "warehousing service bill" also appeared on the seller's page. ▲ The picture comes from the seller’s disclosure
At that time, many sellers speculated that Temu would charge storage fees and inventory overdue fees. However, a source later revealed that Temu's buyers said that this function was to properly solve the "logistics fee payment" rather than to collect storage fees. At present, Temu has not issued an official announcement on the collection of storage fees and other fees, but industry insiders said: Generally speaking, the subsidies and bonuses given to new platforms in the early stages of their launch will basically disappear gradually with the development and expansion of the platform. As we all know, since its launch in September last year, Temu has attracted a large number of sellers by relying on subsidy policies such as free shipping, no commission, and no advertising fees. However, as the platform expands overseas, continued low-price subsidies and money-burning marketing seem to be unsustainable, and some of the original subsidy exemption costs are gradually returning to Temu sellers: First, the freight: Starting from December 12, 2022, VMI domestic freight will be borne by merchants and platforms in half, and deducted from the settlement amount; - The second is a "commission-like" service fee: Starting from October 2023, Temu has the right to charge a service fee based on the tax-exclusive amount (including credit) actually paid by the user under the store order × 5%.
With supply prices already pushed to the extreme, these adjustments will undoubtedly make Temu sellers’ profits even more miserable. However, the rumors of charging storage fees have not yet been officially confirmed, and how Temu will adjust in the future remains to be seen. For cross-border sellers, in addition to the upcoming increase in operating costs, the recent logistics situation is clearly the most difficult hurdle to overcome. It is learned that recently, a seller revealed that many popular Amazon warehouses in the western United States were suddenly overwhelmed, and there were situations such as appointments being pushed back, appointment times being postponed, and new appointments being basically in PENDING status. ▲ The picture comes from the seller’s disclosure According to the latest news from logistics professionals in the industry, warehouses currently facing severe operational restrictions mainly include: 1. GYR3, GYR2: The warehouse is temporarily closed and no goods will be received. We will notify you when the warehouse will be reopened. 2. SBD1: Due to liquidation, it will be closed for rectification from December 6 to December 10, with the risk of delay; 3. SCK4, ONT6: Restriction on receiving goods, increased probability of rejection; 4. LGB8, SBD2, LAX9: Severe warehouse explosion, refuse to accept goods; 5. ONT8: Serious liquidation, the probability of rejection has increased, and all current appointments have been postponed to after December 10. It can be seen that a large number of Amazon's popular warehouses are currently unable to operate normally. It is not ruled out that delivery transactions are delayed due to severe weather such as blizzards and tornadoes. However, there are also many warehouses that have not been affected by the disaster. Since the beginning of last month, there have been frequent delays in delivery and shelving time. Combined with the recent peak season promotion, many sellers believe that the sudden explosion of Amazon's popular warehouses is mainly due to the following three reasons: 1. The number of orders on Black Friday fell short of expectations, and warehouses were hoarding a large amount of goods: According to survey data, 44% of sellers failed to successfully clear their inventory during Black Friday this year, and only 10% of sellers successfully achieved explosive sales. Amazon did not officially release the specific growth data for this year's Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but revealed that consumers around the world purchased more than 1 billion items on Amazon during the event. It can be inferred that as the number of Amazon sellers increases, the market often sees overproduction, resulting in a surge in orders for some sellers, but a slump in orders for other sellers. 2. Frequent strikes have significantly reduced the efficiency of warehousing and logistics, thus affecting the normal turnover of the warehouse: In addition to the Amazon warehouses launching strikes several times due to dissatisfaction with pay issues during the big promotion period, more than 1,100 DHL workers recently went on strike at DHL's US express processing center due to a deadlock in contract negotiations. Although DHL claims that the strike will not disrupt its normal services, industry insiders believe that the delivery speed of packages will be affected. Based on the above situation, it is currently unknown when Amazon warehouse delivery will resume normal operation. We would like to remind relevant sellers to always pay attention to the operation status of the goods and adjust the shipping plan in time according to the situation to avoid losses.
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