Amazon Sellers Face Cash Crunch As Fuel Charges, Loss Of Credit Card Option For Ad Fees Erode Margins

Amazon sellers are getting bad news on multiple fronts this week as fuel and transportation surcharges and ad fee changes further erode already thin profit margins.

First, Amazon announced that starting April 17, 2026, 3.5% fuel and logistics-related surcharge will be applied to fulfillment fees across Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) in the US and Canada as well as to Remote Fulfillment with FBA from the US into Canada, Mexico, and Brazil.

The surcharge will be further expanded on May 2, 2026, applying to Buy with Prime in the US and Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) in the US and Canada and will be calculated on your fulfillment fees, not on the sale price of your items.

Amazon says on average, that will equate to ~$0.17 per unit for US FBA, though costs will vary based on item sizes and dimensions. The Revenue Calculator, Profit Analytics, and Fee and Economics Preview reports have been updated to reflect the surcharge and provide both the per-unit impact and the full business impact for FBA products.

The move comes as USPS is set to add a "temporary" fuel and transportation cost rate hike for this first time, joining UPS and FedEx who have also instituted their own fuel surcharges in the wake of the current war in Iran.

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Value Added ResourceLiz Morton

But as sellers in the Amazon community forum noted, increases like this are very rarely actually "temporary" - once costs go up, they're likely to stay that way long-term one way or another.

Cost-conscious sellers are also facing another challenge as some report receiving emails indicating Amazon is ending the ability to choose to pay for advertising fees with a credit card, forcing them to be deducted from earnings instead starting April 15, 2026.

While a backup credit card may still be used if your retail proceeds are insufficient, the fact that it will no longer be an option to set credit card as the default means sellers may miss out on rewards points and cashback benefits.

My Amazon Guy founder, Steven Pope, didn't hold back in a post on LinkedIn, calling the change an obvious cash grab by Amazon to save themselves credit card fees while offering ad credits as a concession that will likely drive up PPC bids in the process.

How will these change affect your Amazon business? Let us know in the comments below!