Where do YOU think we are headed in 2025?
Dear Fellow Amazon Sellers,
2024 has been an incredibly challenging year for many of us in the Amazon seller community. I wanted to reach out to gauge how everyone is doing and see if we can collectively bring attention to some of the hurdles we’re all facing.
Our Story:
We’ve been selling on Amazon for four years, and while we’ve grown significantly—selling over 250,000 units this year through a mix of manufacturing, reselling, and exclusive brand representation—it’s becoming increasingly difficult to sustain this growth. 2024 has been the toughest year yet.
This year alone, Amazon introduced several new fees and policies that have drastically impacted our business:
- Low inventory fees
- Inbound shipping fees
- Increased fees for low-priced items
- Removal of the under-$9.99 fee discount
The financial impact has been substantial. Despite doubling our sales compared to 2023, our profits have remained stagnant due to these higher costs.
Additionally, policies around bundling and AI-monitored health violations have caused several of our best-selling items to be removed from the platform, leaving us with limited ways to address these issues.
We personally know of multiple multimillion-dollar businesses—some with years of success—that have either shut down entirely or drastically downsized their workforce this year because they couldn’t navigate the current landscape.
Every day on this forum, I see sellers sharing stories of struggle and uncertainty. It makes me wonder: Is this just an isolated experience within our circle, or is it reflective of broader challenges across the platform?
We Want to Hear from You
How has your business been impacted by the changes in 2024? Are you finding ways to adapt, or are you also facing struggles with sustainability? Let’s share our experiences and see if we can create enough momentum to encourage Amazon to reconsider some of these policies.
Looking forward to hearing your stories. Let’s navigate this together.
Where do YOU think we are headed in 2025?
Dear Fellow Amazon Sellers,
2024 has been an incredibly challenging year for many of us in the Amazon seller community. I wanted to reach out to gauge how everyone is doing and see if we can collectively bring attention to some of the hurdles we’re all facing.
Our Story:
We’ve been selling on Amazon for four years, and while we’ve grown significantly—selling over 250,000 units this year through a mix of manufacturing, reselling, and exclusive brand representation—it’s becoming increasingly difficult to sustain this growth. 2024 has been the toughest year yet.
This year alone, Amazon introduced several new fees and policies that have drastically impacted our business:
- Low inventory fees
- Inbound shipping fees
- Increased fees for low-priced items
- Removal of the under-$9.99 fee discount
The financial impact has been substantial. Despite doubling our sales compared to 2023, our profits have remained stagnant due to these higher costs.
Additionally, policies around bundling and AI-monitored health violations have caused several of our best-selling items to be removed from the platform, leaving us with limited ways to address these issues.
We personally know of multiple multimillion-dollar businesses—some with years of success—that have either shut down entirely or drastically downsized their workforce this year because they couldn’t navigate the current landscape.
Every day on this forum, I see sellers sharing stories of struggle and uncertainty. It makes me wonder: Is this just an isolated experience within our circle, or is it reflective of broader challenges across the platform?
We Want to Hear from You
How has your business been impacted by the changes in 2024? Are you finding ways to adapt, or are you also facing struggles with sustainability? Let’s share our experiences and see if we can create enough momentum to encourage Amazon to reconsider some of these policies.
Looking forward to hearing your stories. Let’s navigate this together.
60 replies
Seller_Sram36TnVt73c
the placement fees have killed my desire to use FBA except for maybe one or two products out of 100s we used to sell through FBA.
Advertising costs have become outrageous.
Customer fraud continues to increase.
There are days I sell more on Etsy, and the endless returns I get here are almost non-existent there.
Danny_Amazon
Hello @Seller_BwhuAKHyZROZM- and thank you for creating this thread and fostering some good discussion around selling on the platform.
We sincerely appreciate feedback on the selling experience, and our teams are constantly looking for new tools to arm our selling partners with, though I can appreciate the frustration voiced in this thread.
Please know this feedback will be connected with our teams internally as plans for the new year are solidified, and we hope you continue to look to the forums to share feedback or ask specific questions of the community.
Best,
Danny
Seller_BwhuAKHyZROZM
Thank you @Seller_KSGiCfnnfnz0d for your support and your input. Being on the platform almost 10 years is an incredible feat!
We have seen both the points you mentioned on your post over the last month, and we have seen many of the FBM sellers frustraton with the padded shipping times with no response from seller support that explains it.
Thanks again for your input, and happy holidays to you and yours!
Seller_Yt2dBtmlCatWJ
I believe Amazon is intentionally culling the herd while trying to attract new sellers to abuse. It takes a while for sellers to finally get fed up and bail- in the mean time they are fresh kills. I think there is an analogy here with how the company treats its workers - use, and abuse until they burn out. I finally filed an arbitration case because the company refused to correctly measure my product at the DC level and I had data indicating they overcharged my little company over $600k. I had to settle for $240k because they threated to crush us in arbitration and I was desperate for cash. I think they are going to continue this destructive path going forward because there is nothing to stop the company. It's not really a company, in fact, it's a parasite cordyceps. It takes over and eats your business from the inside out unless you can get away from it early and fast enough. I actively tell people to stay off and away from the platform.
Seller_STvinhqLcKMGQ
All this plus the new inventory replacement change have for sure soured my want to stay on as a seller. I was originally going to ramp up my sales here but now will focus on other avenues and am probably going to be doing less business here except liquidation for a tax write off, and even then I’m tempted to just donate it so Amazon gets nothing.
Seller_bdQDG1lcm6KOA
We're headed to Wal-Mart and other platforms, that's where we're headed.
Seller_ODGnET55Q6yM6
I hope to post a different take on the state of Amazon fees with this post.
When fees are going higher, including PPC fees which are not mentioned enough, you can't keep the same sale price. You have to hand over that cost to customers to maintain your margins at a sustainable level.
Now in my view the real problem is that fees have become so fragmented and complicate that is very hard for sellers to factor-in all these costs in the sales price. It's a labyrinth of hidden costs: low-inventory fees, storage costs, referral fees, placement fees, fulfillment fees (this one deserves its own 4 pages explanation). I am sure I'm forgetting some. Plus it is no longer feasible to sell organically since the Page 1 fold is festered with Sponsored Ads, which is a de-facto fee since last year.
On the top of that we have to deal with logistic disruptions in October-December and loss of revenue, higher Amazon partners transfer costs (we paid $600 for 2 pallets in December), incredible delays in FC Transfer etc etc. Only the bigger sellers will survive this complicate game if Amazon doesn't address the problems.
And no Amazon, the "revenue calculator" you offer is not enough to factor-in all the above costs. Like many of the marketing windows-dressing initiatives you offer they do not solve real sellers problems.
Seller_FG0VsN0Cq0Spj
Advertising fees are are ridiculously high and I question the integrity of the algorithms and programmers.
I'll have 'Exact' search campaigns that regularly get clicks for terms not relevant, why, how? There is no recourse for sellers with these issues. Open a case, and it will be investigated for a few months then quietly closed with no resolution, when it is clear I am being wrongly charged for clicks.
Auto campaigns are also questionable. I'll get a sale, when I launch a campaign and then all the searches thereafter are irrelevant and it appears the be a click farming. I honestly wonder if there is a dept of workers clicking away at search campaigns and ramping up ad fees for sellers.
Anyone else experience similar issues?
Seller_UMm9mWKrdLncg
post.amazon is done this is out last year we had enough of EU rules and amazon back stabbing. [Moderator edit: removed inappropriate commentary]
Seller_kBiQJcB36LEg0
2024 was a hard year!
We had our brand removed twice and transparency taken down 3 times - all down to Amazon errors. No apologies, huge losses, hours and hours of work time wasted trying to sort it all out. To compound that we had listings taken down as Amazon's AI decided our products were pesticides, with months more time wasted in fighting with Seller Support.
Overall sales had improved during 2024, but then we expanded into new global marketplaces, which helped offset the losses. That wasn't the easiest thing to administer though, with hours spent trying to link up ASINs globally - many of which we have just had to leave because Seller Support refuses to help.
2025 is a year of moving into other online marketplaces. So far we've discovered far more help and positivity on platforms outside Amazon - they actually seem to want us to sell and achieve!
We won't be leaving Amazon (yet) but spreading our base so when Amazon's AI suddenly decides to pull the plug yet again we won't be struggling to pay the bills!
If I could wish for anything from Amazon in 2025, it's for Seller Support to read and engage with cases the first time around. This crazy dance of stock replies and asking for information that's already been supplied is so draining!
Seller_c7AY5UmbBC07I
There are so many troubling things about the past year, the list is to long.
I would like to mention that being put in tests and multiple ones without being asked that hurt my business is unacceptable to me. Amazon can test on their own products or ask sellers if they would like to participate.
The cost of advertising is absurd now.
The fees without support who cannot speak English.
REMOVAL OF RELEVANT SEARCH - THIS alone is huge.
Tanked many sellers listings, BUT AS AN AMAZON CUSTOMER it has actually driven me away from buying on Amazon. Even though I know how to change featured to low to high I am not shown more listings.
