Amazon drops planned merchant fee as FTC lawsuit looms

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Amazon is seen, November 15, 2022. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol///File Photo/File Photo

(Reuters) -Amazon.com is scrapping a plan to charge merchants who do not use its shipping services an additional fee, a company spokesperson said on Wednesday, signaling that the e-commerce giant was taking a cautious approach to operations amid mounting antitrust scrutiny.

Effective Oct. 1, Amazon was planning to impose a new 2% fee on every sale by third-party sellers that ship their products themselves, according to media reports in August. The company said the fee was intended to shield itself from higher costs.