Amazon’s Tariff Pricing U-Turn: A Warning Shot for Sellers Still Relying on FBA

Over the past few days, rumours arose that Amazon was preparing to show “Trump Tariff Pricing” against the current prices. Essentially this would highlight to customers how much more they’re paying due to US-China tariffs. A phone call between Trump and Amazon chiefs seems to have taken place and the decision has either been reversed or you could believe Amazon’s line that it was supposedly under consideration for Amazon’s Haul site, but was never finalised.

A bullet dodged for many Amazon sellers? Perhaps. But for many, it should be a wake-up call.

Even when changes don’t go ahead, the threat of them is enough to rattle a business built on borrowed infrastructure. And that’s exactly the problem with relying too heavily on Amazon.

What Just Happened?

It’s been a difficult few months for online retailers as they juggle with new tariffs and increased costs, trying to continually balance margin. In the USA especially, the cost of goods imported from Asian territories, which Amazon sellers and FBA clients often build their business on, have been crushing small businesses in ecommerce. Not only can they not necessarily afford the tariff fees, the products aren’t as easily accessible.

Rumours are already spreading that sellers are pulling out of Prime Day this year as it’s not financially viable (source – Reuters). Amazon have some critical thinking to do ahead of Prime Day to ensure it’s a success but will be that at their expense or their sellers? It’s not yet clear.

The pricing issue that Amazon looked to introduce would just add fuel to the fire.

So far, Amazon haven’t implement this rumoured pricing model, but at some level considered it. For sellers already juggling rising fees, increased ad costs, and brutal competition, this would have been yet another blow.

The message is clear: when you sell on Amazon, you are not in control!

Why You Shouldn’t Get Comfortable

It’s a story seen time and time again in ecommerce. People build their entire business on Amazon, Ebay, Etsy and feel like they’re smashing it. That is until something goes wrong.

In my opinion, if you rely on Amazon for the majority of your sales, you’re building your house on someone else’s land. Jeff Bezos gets richer as you have to fight to sustain your margins on a platform that is forever changing and you’re never in control of.

Amazon can, and often does change:

• Seller fees
• Fulfilment policies
• Product visibility and Buy Box rules
• Review algorithms
• Customer communication rules
• …and yes, even how your prices appear to shoppers

Even without the tariff pricing, the risk still stands.

What happens next time there’s a fee hike, a policy update, or a political influence that changes how your products are positioned?

Diversification Is the Only Real Safety Net

A multi-channel strategy is quite often the only way to ensure you limit your risk in ecommerce. You can do this in a number of ways:

• A Shopify or Woocommerce store you fully own and control
• Customer emails and flows that you can retarget from
• Build your own SEO traffic that doesn’t disappear with a TOS change
• List on multiple platforms rather than just one
• Introduce affiliate campaigns once you have your website set up
• Paid campaigns that you can tweak at will
• Analytics dashboards that show real customer behaviour

The brands that do this aren’t at the mercy of Jeff, Donald, or anyone else who comes along threatening a change that impacts your bottom-line without your input.

This doesn’t just affect USA sellers, although it is more prevalent for them at the moment. If you are UK based, you should be looking to diversify your offering too and negate that risk.

If You Sell on Amazon, Here’s What I Would Do Next

Don’t panic, but don’t wait either.

Use this moment to ask yourself:

• What % of your sales rely on Amazon?
• Do you own your customer data?
• Could you survive if Amazon suspended your account or changed a key rule?

If that thought worries you, it’s time to start building your own website.

I’m here to help you do that. Whether it’s a simple Shopify setup or a full ecommerce transition, I help sellers move from dependency to ownership without losing momentum.

Let’s have a quick chat, even if you’re just exploring options.