Ahead of their Federal Trade Commission (FTC) antitrust suit, Amazon.com Inc. announced a new fee of 2% that merchants will have to pay who don’t use the company’s logistics services starting in October.

According to Bloomberg, the additional fee on top of the commission of around 15% merchants already pay is unwelcome not to mention surprising, considering Amazon has an FTC case looming over the business.

The merchants Bloomberg interviewed asked to remain anonymous and see the new fee as another way the e-commerce titan can force them into using Amazon’s logistics services.

“We’re sitting here waiting for the FTC to take action against Amazon for antitrust issues, and this fee shows Amazon is not scared at all,” said Jason Boyce of Avenue7Media.

Prior to the FTC case, Amazon has been accused of acting as a monopoly in the U.S. due to its massive reach in the consumer market which forces other smaller businesses to work with them.

According to Insider Intelligence, the retailer has snatched up roughly 37.6% of all online spending in the States which is close to six times over its closest online competitor, Walmart Inc.

The fee will also fill a void due to Amazon’s core online operation part of the business slowing down. The fees Amazon charges merchants have become increasingly critical in terms of profitability.

In the second quarter alone, seller services produced $32.3 billion in the last quarter, which leaped up 18% from last year earlier.

For the merchants, turning a profit is becoming harder with Amazon seller fees consuming around 50% of the cost of each sale which happened for the first time last year.

Primarily aimed at merchants who use Seller Fulfilled Prime, which empowers them to control their own logistics, the service is better suited for merchants who sell large items.

A furniture merchant interviewed by Bloomberg enrolled in the Seller Fulfilled Prime, but asserted that the fee adds up to around $1 million a year for the company, which will likely mean he will have to increase prices.

He said he feels like he has no choice and worse, that he will not get anything in return for the fee.

Another source said that this fee could erase any decent profit from their bottom line making it that much harder to stay in business.

Since 2019, lawmakers have been watching Amazon’s seller fees carefully and claiming the merchant is exerting its power unlawfully to force sellers to use its logistics services. These claims have resulted in the FTC’s antitrust case, according to insiders.

Over in the Amazon camp, however, the company says the fee will offset the expenditures of managing a separate infrastructure with Amazon spokesperson Jonathon Hillson saying the company is “excited to offer Seller Fulfilled Prime to sellers as a way to independently handle fulfillment of their products while also making those products available to Prime customers with fast, free delivery, great customer service, and free returns.”