On: Amazon adds 5% ‘fuel and inflation surcharge’ to seller fees

[jcadam]

Good points. I just wonder why Amazon wouldn't raise the base rate they charge sellers rather than tacking on a "surcharge." It's not as if inflation is transitory :D

[dragonwriter → jcadam]

A surcharge externalizes the blame.

Same reason B2C companies do it all the time. While Amazon is notionally B2B, it's got lots of small sellers that probably behave more like consumers, and the business that don't just won't care how the price is characterized.