Amazon recently launched a new program that effectively forces small business owners to do their dirty work, delivering packages during the last mile of delivery.
It is an audacious move by the e-commerce giant, which has long leveraged its platform and delivery pipeline to bolster their own profits while leaving small businesses to fend for themselves.
Now, Amazon wants to enlist them to pick up the slack and do their work for them…
The exact pay is undisclosed, but Amazon estimates a small business could earn up to $27,000 a year by making the deliveries. If a company delivers 30 packages a day — what Amazon says they will receive, on average — including weekends but excluding major holidays, that works out to about $2.50 a package.
Before you throw a tizzy, yes, Amazon is paying them…
‘About’ $2.50 a delivery.
So, we’re in Bangladesh, apparently.
This is what I want to know (and am in the process of trying to find out):
What if a business tells them, “uh, no thanks”.
Amazon doesn’t exactly have a stellar record of ‘fairness’
How do I know this? It isn’t hard. You can start by asking just about any Amazon Flex delivery driver, at least the ones who are still driving.
This takes me back a few years when the big A decided to chop their already paltry affiliate commissions. Not sure if they felt it wasn’t profitable and that FBA partnerships were the future. And it IS their business.
But for the aspiring affiliate? Look elsewhere for a partner.
(UPDATE: Amazon is taking the affiliate axe to their program in Australia. ‘Streamlining’ costs as the CEO puts it)
Amazon is (obviously) free to do as they please. Doesn’t mean you have play ball with them.
Thoughts? Lay it out below…
