Amazon Offers Sellers New Discounts on Shipping

Amazon is offering new discounts on shipping for sellers who purchase shipping labels through its Buy Shipping program. The company announced the program today (Monday), and sellers are attempting to learn more about when the new discount applies.

Amazon wrote, “The discount is given at Amazon’s discretion and might not be available for every shipment.” And that’s prompting lots of questions.

So far, some sellers have reported that the discounts aren’t showing when using the Bulk Buy Shipping method – only when buying shipping labels one at a time. And there are indications that in some cases, UPS is less expensive than USPS options.

One seller shared a screenshot showing the options for three USPS shipping services when he went to buy a label: USPS First Class ($6.28); USPS Priority Mail ($9.68); and USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate Envelope ($7.75). The screenshot showed an “Amazon Sponsored Discount” banner next to the option for USPS Priority Mail offering a discounted price of $7.68 – a savings of $2.

Sellers have always appreciated predictability. While some expressed appreciation for the discount, one seller pointed out that a predictable discount could be better for sellers, buyers, and Amazon. “For example,” the seller wrote, “if I know that shipping for a package weighing 2 lbs to zone 8 is now going to be $6 instead of $8, I could lower my costs and everyone wins. With this random “hey you won a small lottery prize” method, there is no way to pass along these savings.”

Stay tuned to the thread on Seller Central to see if Amazon answers some of the questions popping up.

The full post follows below:

We have launched Amazon Sponsored Discount for shipping labels purchased through Buy Shipping to support you in providing fast, on-time, and tracked products to customers. These discounts will be available for select reliable and faster ship methods.

When using Buy Shipping on Seller Central, you will see the shipping methods that are discounted with a blue badge that says Amazon Sponsored Discount with a discounted price next to it.

If you’re using Buy Shipping through Shipping Integrators that have Buy Shipping enabled, you will automatically see the discounted price.

If you are using APIs to use Buy Shipping, you have to call the Get Eligible Shipping Services API (GESS) to view the discounted prices.

The discount is given at Amazon’s discretion and might not be available for every shipment.

Go to Amazon Sponsored Discount to learn more.

Go to Buy Shipping to learn more about its benefits.

Ina Steiner

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.