Unable to Earn Commissions, Many Amazon Operators Want to Change Careers

During the golden years of rapid cross-border e-commerce growth,Amazonoperations roles became popular in the industry thanks to their “commission system.” Many operators once doubled their salaries through this system, attracting a large number of job seekers.

But over the past two years, as the industry has shifted, complaints such as “shrinking commissions” and “only getting base pay” have become increasingly common in cross-border communities, seller forums, and on social media. Some operators have even found themselves uncertain about their career paths.

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AMZ123 learned that the so-called “commission system” refers to a compensation arrangement adopted by cross-border businesses to incentivize operators’ performance and align individual and company earnings. Under this arrangement, additional compensation is calculated based on an operator’s performance and paid according to an agreed percentage or amount.

Put simply:the more an operator earns for the company, the more they get paid.For a long time, commissions were a key pillar of high earnings for Amazon operators.

Today, however, this system seems to be gradually being “phased out” by cross-border businesses. Recently, an Amazon operator shared their thoughts on social media:“Amazon operators these days basically can’t earn commissions.”

According to the post, a colleague in the same role worked hard, and in 9 month, the store’s sales surged while its listings maintained high rankings. They thought they would earn a high salary, but when payday came, they found that the commission they actually received was negligible—the company did not calculate commissions based on actual gross profit. Operating costs included not only on-platform advertising and promotion expenses, but even office supplies and account amortization.

And the post drew comments from many operators with similar experiences:

“Some companies deduct corporate income tax from profits before calculating commissions.”

“The scary thing isn’t just not getting commissions; it’s that the system is unclear. The backend shows a profit, but the following month you find that your commission is actually negative.”

An operator whose IP address was in Guangdong also said thattheir cross-border company now charges almost every cost item to the operators, including social insurance, corporate income tax, and a so-called service fee ( 8.6% of sales), in addition to various platform fees.

Even more frustrating for operators,commission plans may also be changed “at a moment’s notice.”One industry insider revealed that once an operator creates a hit product and their commission is about to rise, some companies will make last-minute changes to the commission plan, lowering the tiered rates and calling it “system optimization.”

Some operators have even said that their companies have decided toeliminate commissions entirely next yearand switch to “base salary + performance pay,” handing all advertising over toAIfor placement and optimization, while operators simply act as assistants, handling product listings, shipping, and promotions and discounts.

In operators’ view, Amazon operations is essentially a sales job—it requires almost year-round monitoring of the store, staying up late to adjust ads, editListing, and handle negative reviews. The effort involved can be said to be no less than that of a sales role. As a result, many operators are deeply dissatisfied with the current industry situation, where “so-called commissions have become a ‘benefit on paper.’”

So why is the once-popular “high-commission” compensation model for operators no longer working?

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As the saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Looking at the industry environment, cross-border e-commerce has long since moved beyond its era of unrestrained growth. In Amazon’s early high-growth period, traffic was abundant, there were fewer competing products, and profit margins were high. A single hit listing created by an operator could generate substantial gross profit. Cross-border businesses had plenty of profit and were willing to use “high commissions” to motivate operators, allowing this compensation system to function effectively.

Today, however, the industry has entered a phase of competition for existing market share. Small and midsize sellers and leading brands have crowded into the market; products have become homogenized, price wars are commonplace, and platform rules continue to tighten. Compliance costs and operational risks have risen sharply,while some companies’ profit margins have continued to fall, leaving them unable to maintain the high-commission mechanisms of the past and causing the original “high-commission” compensation system to come under strain.

Take the recent autumn promotion season as an example: an AMZ123 survey found that 28% of sellers opted out of the competition, 20% failed to achieve growth, and many among the sellers who did grow said they were “making a loss just to attract attention.”

The value businesses place on the role has also changed. As the supporting infrastructure of the industry has matured, operations work has become much more standardized and process-driven. The core tasks of basic operations no longer present a high barrier to entry,and the role has become more replaceable, so companies are naturally less willing to pay high commissions for basic work.

Technology is also reshaping the landscape of these roles. Tasks that used to take operators considerable time, such as market research, product selection and development, and Listing optimization, can now be completed quickly with AI.

Although many in the industry remain skeptical about the accuracy of AI, numerous companies are already using it in their work. Data shows that around 2020, AI penetration in cross-border e-commerce was below 10%, but by early 2026 it had reached 78%.

With these factors combining, the “high-commission” compensation system is gradually breaking down, and a wave of career changes among operators has followed. Based on industry discussions, Amazon operators today are mainly moving in two directions:

Some experienced operators choose to work independently or start their own businesses. These cross-border professionals typically have solid experience in product selection, operations, and supply chains. They aim to draw on the industry resources they have accumulated, take control of their own profits and operating pace, and escape the constraints of salary rules;

others are more inclined to move into cross-border roles related to their existing experience, such as cross-border operations for premium products,TikTokcross-border operations, supply chain operations, and cross-border operations training, where the learning curve for a role change is relatively low.

At present, no one in the industry can say for certain which direction is the best choice. But one thing is foreseeable: whichever path they choose, operators who are “jacks of all trades but masters of none” may be the first to be eliminated.

Given the pressures of today’s job market, industry insiders believe that rather than changing careers blindly, Amazon operators who feel uncertain should consider building core skills that are difficult to replace, such as profit optimization, developing hit products, and risk management.

What do you think? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments~