Amazon quietly made a big change for people who sell clothes on its site - and it could signal the future of its apparel business
- Amazon has increased its third-party seller fees for a number of categories.
- Amazon's cut of both third-party clothing and accessories sales has increased, but jewelry saw a reduction.
- Apparel is now the most expensive item to sell on Amazon.
Amazon has made another small tweak to its fees - but this could have wider implications than raising monthly Prime subscription costs.
Amazon raised seller fees for several categories, increasing the percentage of the sale it takes from third parties, according to analysis from Instinet. The company raised the fee for the Clothing & Accessories category from 15% to 17% and for the Handbags & Sunglasses category from 15% to 18% on items priced above $75. Items under $75 will still be charged the 15% rate.
At the same time, Amazon tweaked the rate for jewelry items, charging 20% on the first $250 of the price, and 5% thereafter.
The fee changes seemed to be limited to the apparel and accessories space, which is curious, as it's an area that has seen growth and been chief among Amazon's focus recently. The changes mean that apparel now carries the steepest fees of all categories on Amazon, according to Instinet.
Amazon is either increasing fees to dissuade third-party sellers and increase prominence of its own apparel offerings, or it feels confident enough in its ability to sell apparel that it believes sellers will keep coming back despite the price increase.
For jewelry, it's more straightforward and seems to be a play at getting some higher-priced luxury for sale on the website, which Amazon has had trouble getting and selling first-party.
Amazon did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.