Small E-Sellers Angry With Flipkart’s New Rate Card

Kolkata-based Spectral Hues is a gold-tier book reseller on Flipkart marketplace. The company have been selling books ranging from Academic to Regional (Bengali) to Trade to Competitive Books on Flipkart platform since 2017. They have generated crores of revenue for Flipkart and for themselves and growth story continues till Flipkart launched its new and revised rate card on 18th May. After carefully analysing the rate card, the outcome shocked them as the new settlement amount is outrageously less than the old rate card wise settlement.  

Flipkart smartly duping the sellers through this new rate card focusing on fixed fee, shipping and reverse shipping rate. They have erased collection fees but raised the fixed fees so HIGH that sellers will eventually bear Flipkart’s logistic cost but not be able to charge customers due to their new policy. The expense will be rather higher but there will be no option to recover it from anywhere. And it is not that Flipkart does not know, rather Flipkart is allegedly relying on ignorant retailers (the number is surprisingly high) who has yet to understand the settlement amount from new settlement. I am sure, once they see the profit-loss margin from new settlement, they will realise the mistake of trusting Flipkart blindly and relying on their faulty downloaded reports.

I am giving an example for easy understanding. Flipkart has decided to erase shipping fees for the books which weight up to 0.5 kg for local & zonal customers. Please note that in case of under 500 gm, and under 500 rs selling price, – they have proposed fixed fee (65 Rs), Commission (8.5%) and MP tax (18%) for book vertical. The average settlement amount will be Rs 11 for local & zonal and for national its rs -7.6 in case anyone sells a 100 Rs book. And in case of 300 Rs book the settlement amount will be around Rs 187 for local & zonal, for national its rs 168.

In case of 500 Rs regional book which weights around over 1 kg the sellers will get average settlement of Rs 303.

• Please note the average MRP of top selling books are between Rupees 150 and 550.

Flipkart’s new reverse shipping rate in case of customer and courier return should also ring the alarm bell and all sellers should threaten together to revolt over return policy.

After paying new fixed fees, commission and tax, how a small book reseller will compete here? Unless it is Flipkart’s whole motive to erase MSMEs and promote big companies. Anyone who deals with the book section is aware that books are MRP based and cannot be inflated to adjust according to the new settlement. It would be logically impossible to sell books if sellers are to follow this calculation. They do not issue clarity on book vertical as this vertical deal with low margin and will not be possible to sell regional books or school books on their platform if this new rate continues. Settlement prices are so absurd that many sellers including Spectral pulled out from Flipkart’s platform. Ironically, Flipkart found its niche in the Indian market by selling books since its launch.

Flipkart executives not at all addressing the core concern of small sellers. BOOK vertical needs to be treated differently as it includes school & academic books as well as regional titles for which the margin are very low.

By introducing this new rate card Flipkart is fundamentally tried to kill the small book seller’s dream to do fair business on Flipkart’s portal. We are hoping that the management of Flipkart will come to its sense and consider the matter realistically before many sellers apparently find the fault in their new rate card. Sellers should start protest and even pull out from Flipkart’s platform before damage is done by this marketplace.

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