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Amazon hikes up the price of Prime Day promotions for third-party sellers

Amazon hikes up the price of Prime Day promotions for third-party sellers

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2017 was the first year the company charged anything for these kinds of deals

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Amazon’s Prime Day starts a week from today, and sellers are starting to feel the heat. Amazon is upping its fees to participate in what could be considered one of the biggest annual shopping holidays of the year, making it more difficult for smaller sellers to get their products in front of customers, according to CNBC.

Amazon has bumped up the registration fees for sellers to run Prime Day Lightning Deals again, after not charging them at all for the first two years of the shopping event. The deals are what allow sellers to charge special, limited time sales and promotions to Prime members. Last year, Amazon charged sellers $500 to run these exclusives; this year, it’s $750 per Lightning Deal.

Lightning Deals are offered year-round on the site, but they cost a fraction of what a Prime Day deal does. Amazon sees a significant spike in traffic during Prime Day and getting a seller’s products in front of Prime members during that time period could equal more exposure and profit. The fee hike won’t only help Amazon increase profits, but it has the potential to weed out sellers who can’t afford that extra $250 this year.