Amazon sellers opt out of Prime Day sales event as Trump tariffs squeeze profit margins: report
Amazon sellers are opting out of Prime Day this year, unable to offer steep discounts across their online storefronts as they face uncertainty over President Trump’s tariffs, according to a report.Some merchants who manufacture products in China are sitting out the mid-July shopping event as Trump’s 145% tariff on Beijing hammers their profit margins, according to a Reuters report based on interviews with four merchants and six consultants collectively advising hundreds of sellers.“Amazon will be fine, but I do feel for some of the third-party sellers – they’re the ones that are going to be hurt the most in this environment,” Arun Sundaram, analyst at CFRA Research, told Reuters.An Amazon spokesperson told The Post they have seen a “strong response from selling partners to Prime Day 2025.”They added that prices on hundreds of millions of items on Amazon have not increased outside of typical fluctuations.Steve Green, an Amazon vendor who sells $230 bicycles and $60 skateboards made in China, said he’s skipping Prime Day for the first time since 2020 – claiming Trump’s 145% rate on Beijing will more than double his costs and make the discount holiday “unaffordable.”Kim Vaccarella, chief executive of Bogg Bag, a tote bag company with manufacturing in China, also decided to skip the discount event this year, opting to save her inventory for retailers like Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s and Dick’s Sporting Goods, where the bags can be sold at full price.Vaccarella said she has halted production of the bags, which sell for $70 to $200 on Amazon, while she tries to shift manufacturing to Cambodia and Vietnam.
The two nations are currently facing 10% levies from the White House, as Trump has put much harsher rates on pause for 90 days to provide time for negotiations.Participation in Prime Day is optional for Amazon vendors, but the e-commerce giant spends millions promoting the shopping holiday each year, inciting merchants with the opportunity to...