What does Amazon charge this "Variable Closing Fee $1.80"?

#1

Hello Dear freind from forum:

Any one knows why it happend for charging this Variable closing Fee under vedio game category.

Fee Preview Type Amount
Amazon Referral Fee $2.85
Variable Closing Fee $1.80
Per Item Fee $0.00
FBA Fulfillment Fees $2.99
Fee Estimate $7.64

i can understand for the Amazon Referral fee and FBA FULFILLMENT FEES. But this Variable closing fee.

some people explain because the ASIN is under vedio game category. but i have many products under this category. only this one being charge this variable closing fee 1.8 usd.

Appreciate for your explanation

nicolas

#2

Sounds like Nothing Under $10 makes any moneyā€¦

#3

Variable Closing fee is a fee associated with media products. Media categories are Books, DVD, Music, Software & Computer/Video Games, Video, and Video Game Consoles. This is outlined clearly on the [Selling on Amazon Fee Schedule|https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/help.html/?itemID=200336920&ref_=ag_200336920_h_r0_cont_sgsearch] help page.

Not every product in the ā€˜Video Gameā€™ category would qualify as a media product. For example, gaming accessories, headsets, and controllers would not have this fee since these are not media qualified products.

#4

VCF is a double dip from amazon. Having 15% commission and 1.80 VCF is simply non-competitive. The second big market place is substantially lower then amazon. Yes, amazon has more traffic but not enough to swallow all my profit.

Bay fees (if you are store/Top Rated Seller) for Books
-Store Subscription ($20, $60, $300)
-9% commission (20% reduction if you are TRS, which if you sell enough pays for your subscription)
-2.9% commission +.30 on Paypal
-And you get some perks like free shipping supplies, reduce rates on shipping.

If your an individual seller on amazon you are totally screwed over. To the point you should throw low priced books in the trash.

For me amazon is still worth it for books with a lot of profit on them (at least $5.00), books they are junk and take up listing on other sitesā€¦if I sell it for $2.00 profit Iā€™m okay with it, and stuff I have duplicates of.

To maintain profit I had to make bay number 1 marketplace, amazon 2nd, and some smaller sites third.

#5

Why it happened is because it is in Amazonā€™s nature to keep pushing for more and more small added ā€œfeesā€ for this and that , and because they can, and Sellers keep selling, because they have few other alternatives, and never analyze what is happening.
When one calculates ALL the time involved between storing, listing , handling , packing, and taking to post office an article under $10.oo , ( and then sees what is left after all the Amazon fees of one sort or another ) , one realizes it is costing you the Seller more ( in time , compared to a minimum wage job ) to dispose of the article on Amazon than tossing it in the garbage.

#6

thanks for your answer, i am selling with the accessory with this listing. and i check the link you sent . it must be a mistake. i will open a case with Amazon. again. thanks for your help with my confuse.

nicolas

#7

Any luck? I am selling an accessory that will arrive to Amazonā€™s warehouse shortly and for the item retail price a couple dollars over $10, I think itā€™s absurd for this accessory item to be ā€œdouble dippedā€ with a 15% commission AND $1.80 VCF!

I will update you once I hear back as it seems we are in the same boat, but I wish you the best of luck to have that outrageous fee removed!

#8

more like nothing under $15, Iā€™ve adjusted to not have anything priced at less then $15 moving forward

closed #9