The Hidden Struggles of Selling on Amazon: When Support Becomes a Burden

 Running a small business on Amazon often looks glamorous from the outside. People see sellers reaching millions of customers and assume the platform is a guaranteed path to success. But behind the scenes, the reality for many sellers like me is filled with frustration, helplessness, and financial strain.

                                         

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Paying for “Support” That Becomes a Burden

Like many sellers, I signed up for Amazon’s paid services – advertisements, account management, and platform tools – with the hope that these investments would help my products gain visibility and increase sales. These are not free, and the cost is substantial.

On top of that, Amazon charges:

• Taxes & Platform Fees – deductions on every single order.

• Order Processing Fees – eating into margins even before the product reaches the buyer.

• Coupons & Deals – marketed as “sales boosters,” but they come out of the seller’s pocket.

• Refunds & Exchanges – where the platform often sides with the buyer, even if the seller faces unnecessary losses from frivolous return claims.

Instead of feeling empowered, sellers often feel like they are constantly paying just to “stay visible.”

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The New Surprise: Amazon Business Advisory (ABA) Fee

As if the above wasn’t enough, Amazon has now introduced the Amazon Business Advisory (ABA) Fee. On paper, it sounds like a premium service to guide sellers. In practice, it feels like another unexpected drain on earnings.

Suddenly, sellers are hit with deductions labeled “Business Advisory Fee” – charges that can be large enough to wipe out profits for the week. For many small businesses, this isn’t just frustrating – it’s devastating.

When you are already paying for advertisements and account management, adding ABA on top feels like double charging. Instead of helping businesses grow, it makes them lose money faster.

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The Bitter Reality: Losing More Than Earning

Day after day, sellers like me are watching our margins shrink. We pour our energy into creating quality products, ensuring safe dispatches, and delighting customers. Yet, after all the deductions – taxes, platform charges, advertising costs, refunds, deals, and now ABA – the balance sheet shows a harsh truth:

👉 We are losing more money on a daily basis than we are earning.

What should have been a partnership to grow together feels like a battle of survival.

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A Call for Change

Sellers do not expect Amazon to work for free – but we do expect fairness and transparency. Paid services should add value, not create duplication of costs. Refund and exchange policies should protect honest sellers as much as buyers. And new fees should be introduced with clarity and choice, not sudden deductions.

Until then, the frustration will only deepen, and more small businesses will wonder whether selling on Amazon is worth the price they are paying – both financially and mentally.

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