Amazon charges sellers a range of fees, and understanding them is the first step to knowing your real profit margin. These costs aren’t the same across the board and they vary depending on whether you use FBA or handle orders yourself through FBM.
This article is your foundation for understanding how Amazon fees for sellers really work.
Overview of Amazon Seller Fees
Here’s a quick-reference table summarizing the main fees you absolutely need to know. Think of this as your cheat sheet for Amazon’s cost structure.
| Fee Type | What It Covers | How It’s Calculated |
|---|---|---|
| Referral Fee | The cost of selling on Amazon’s marketplace. | A percentage of the total sale price (15% in most categories, 8% for few categories). |
| Account Fee | Your access to sell on the platform. | A flat monthly fee (Professional) or a per-item fee (Individual). |
| FBA Fulfillment Fee | Picking, packing, and shipping your orders. | Based on your product’s size, weight, and category. |
| Monthly Storage Fee | Warehousing your inventory. | Based on the daily average volume (cubic feet) your products occupy. |
Keep these four fees top of mind as you plan your business. They form the foundation of your expenses and are critical for accurately calculating your potential profit margins on any product.
The Two Fees Every Seller Pays
No matter what you’re selling or how you plan to ship it, two specific Amazon fees are completely unavoidable. Think of them as your basic cost of entry, the price of admission to Amazon’s massive marketplace.
Both FBA and FBM sellers are required to pay the monthly subscription fee of $39.99 for a Professional plan, along with a referral fee on every sale, which usually ranges between 8% and 15% depending on the product category.
1. Amazon Referral Fee
Amazon’s referral fee is a crucial aspect of selling on their platform, as it represents the fee charged for access to their vast customer base. This fee varies by product category and is calculated as a percentage of the total sales price, including shipping and gift wrapping.
Below is a table detailing the referral fee percentages and minimum amounts for various product categories:
| Product Category | Referral Fee Percentage | Referral Fee Minimum Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon Device Accessories | 45% | $0.30 |
| Appliances – Compact | 15% for the portion up to $300.00, and 8% for any portion greater than $300.00 | $0.30 |
| Appliances – Full-size | 8% | $0.30 |
| Automotive and Powersports | 12% | $0.30 |
| Base Equipment Power Tools | 12% | $0.30 |
| Baby Products | 8% for products $10.00 or less, and 15% for products greater than $10.00 | $0.30 |
| Backpacks, Handbags, and Luggage | 15% | $0.30 |
| Beauty, Health, and Personal Care | 8% for products $10.00 or less, and 15% for items greater than $10.00 | $0.30 |
| Business, Industrial, and Scientific Supplies | 12% | $0.30 |
| Clothing and Accessories | 5% for products $15.00 or less, 10% for products between $15.00 and $20.00, and 17% for products greater than $20.00 | $0.30 |
| Computers | 8% | $0.30 |
| Consumer Electronics | 8% | $0.30 |
| Electronics Accessories | 15% for the portion up to $100.00, and 8% for any portion greater than $100.00 | $0.30 |
| Eyewear | 15% | $0.30 |
| Fine Art | 20% for up to $100, 15% for $100-$1,000, 10% for $1,000-$5,000, and 5% for over $5,000 | Minimum $1.00 |
| Footwear | 15% | $0.30 |
| Furniture | 15% for the portion up to $200.00, and 10% for any portion greater than $200.00 | $0.30 |
| Gift Cards | 20% | — |
| Grocery and Gourmet | 8% for products $15.00 or less, and 15% for products greater than $15.00 | — |
| Home and Kitchen | 15% | $0.30 |
| Jewelry | 20% for the portion up to $250.00, and 5% for any portion greater than $250.00 | $0.30 |
| Lawn and Garden | 15% | $0.30 |
| Lawn Mowers and Snow Throwers | 15% for up to $500.00, and 8% for products greater than $500.00 | $0.30 |
| Mattresses | 15% | $0.30 |
| Media – Books, DVD, Music, Software, Video | 15% | — |
| Merchant Fulfilled Services | 20% | $0.30 |
| Musical Instruments and AV Production | 15% | $0.30 |
| Office Products | 15% | $0.30 |
| Pet Supplies | 15%, except 22% for veterinary diets | $0.30 |
| Sports and Outdoors | 15% | $0.30 |
| Tires | 10% | $0.30 |
| Tools and Home Improvement | 15% | $0.30 |
| Toys and Games | 15% | $0.30 |
| Video Games and Gaming Accessories | 15% | — |
| Video Game Consoles | 8% | — |
| Watches | 16% for the portion up to $1,500.00, and 3% for any portion greater than $1,500.00 | $0.30 |
| Everything Else | 15% | $0.30 |
Source: Amazon US referral fees, Q3, 2025
2. Account Subscription Fee
Next comes the Account Fee, and this is where you have a big decision to make. Amazon gives you two options, and the right choice really just boils down to how much you expect to sell.
- Individual Plan: This is the pay-as-you-go option. There’s no monthly subscription, but Amazon will charge you a flat $0.99 for every single item you sell. It’s the perfect starting point if you’re just dipping your toes in or selling a few things here and there.
- Professional Plan: This plan is a flat $39.99 per month, but in return, Amazon ditches that $0.99 per-item fee. It also gives you access to the tools you’ll need to scale, like advertising features and advanced sales reports.
The break-even point is easy to spot. If you sell more than 40 items a month, the Professional plan pays for itself. 40 items x $0.99 = $39.60, which makes the subscription the smarter financial move. Don’t let a monthly fee intimidate you; for any serious seller, it’s a necessary investment for growth.
Breaking Down Amazon FBA Fees
Going with Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a huge help for most sellers. You simply ship your inventory in bulk to an Amazon fulfillment center, and they take over from there, storing, picking, packing, and shipping everything to your customers. It’s a huge time-saver, but that convenience comes with a specific set of Amazon fees.
Messing up your FBA fee calculations is one of the fastest ways to watch your profits evaporate, so let’s dig into the two main components you have to know.
1. Fulfillment Fees
Apart from the account subscription and referral fee, the first fee you will typically encounter with FBA is the fulfillment fee. This is essentially a charge for Amazon’s team handling the physical tasks you would otherwise need to manage yourself. It is a fixed fee for each unit sold, covering the process from warehouse storage to delivery at the customer’s location.
The fee amount is determined by your product’s size and shipping weight. Amazon categorizes these into specific tiers, ranging from “Small Standard” to “Large Bulky and Extra-Large.”
Below are the tables of Amazon FBA fee for US as of Q3, September 2025:
It is important to note that certain product categories, such as apparel, have their own fee structures. A small alteration in packaging can shift a product to a higher size tier, increasing fees by a dollar or more per sale.
As fulfillment fees continue to rise, opting for products that are small and lightweight is advantageous. In fact, selecting the small size products often results into lower FBA fees..
1.1. Low Price FBA Fee Program
Amazon has replaced the Small and Light program with the Low Price FBA Fee program, targeting sellers of items priced under $10. Low-Price FBA rates are $0.77 less than standard FBA rates. This initiative offers a more economical solution for selling low-priced products, assisting sellers in preserving profitability while remaining competitively priced.
The program establishes specific fee structures for items priced at or below $10. The fees are determined based on the product’s size and weight, mirroring the standard FBA fees but at reduced rates for eligible products.
Below is the Amazon Low-Price FBA fee for US as of Q3, September 2025:
2. Monthly Inventory Storage Fees
Next on the list are monthly storage fees. Amazon is essentially renting you shelf space in their fulfillment centers, and they charge you for every cubic foot your inventory occupies. This fee hits your account every month, and the rate isn’t fixed; it changes depending on the time of year.
From January through September, the rates are manageable. For a standard-sized product, you’ll pay about $0.87 per cubic foot. But once the holiday season kicks in, things get expensive fast.
Key Takeaway: During Q4 (October to December), Amazon’s storage fees more than triple. The rate for standard-size items skyrockets to $2.40 per cubic foot. If you have slow-moving products just sitting there during these months, the fees can absolutely demolish your margins.
This holiday price hike is a huge deal for inventory planning. Sending way too much stock before the holidays, especially for items that don’t fly off the shelves, is a classic, and very costly, rookie mistake.
Below is the Amazon monthly storage fee structure for non-dangerous and dangerous goods as of Q3, Sept, 2025.
3. Aged inventory surcharge
While you are already incurring monthly storage fees, what occurs when your inventory remains unsold for an extended period? After 181 days (approximately six months), Amazon applies Long-Term Storage Fees (LTSF) in addition to the usual monthly charges. This serves as Amazon’s reminder to either sell the products or remove them from the warehouse.
These fees are levied monthly and can be particularly burdensome for older stock. Items stored for over a year incur significantly higher fees compared to those stored for just seven months.
Real-World Example: Consider you have 50 units of a product that isn’t selling quickly and has been in storage for over a year. With a rate of $6.90 per cubic foot (plus a per-unit minimum), these 50 units might cost you an additional $50 to $100 per month merely for storage. This could potentially negate any profit once the items are sold.
Below are the aged inventory surcharge currently charged by Amazon as of Q3, 2025.
4. Low-Level Inventory Fee
From April 1, 2024, Amazon will implement a Low-Level Inventory Fee for sellers who consistently maintain low inventory relative to their sales volume. This fee aims to motivate sellers to maintain adequate inventory to meet customer demand and avoid extra charges.
Below is current Amazon low-inventory fee structure for Q3 of 2025.
5. Inbound Placement Service Fee
Beginning March 1, 2024, sellers will incur an Inbound Placement Service Fee related to organizing inventory in Amazon’s fulfillment centers. This fee covers costs for managing product placement and distribution, aligning with Amazon’s logistics. Keep in mind that currently this service fee is for US-only placements.
Below is current Amazon FBA inbound placement service fee structure for Q3 of 2025.
6. Removal and disposal fees
So, what do you do with that inventory racking up long-term storage fees? You’ve got two options: have Amazon send it back to you, or have them destroy it. And yes, both come with a price tag.
- Removal Fees: Want your inventory back? You’ll pay a per-item fee for Amazon to pack it up and ship it to your address.
- Disposal Fees: If a product isn’t worth salvaging, you can pay Amazon to dispose of it. This is often cheaper than removal, but it means taking a total loss on the product’s cost.
The cost for these services has shot up over the years, making good forecasting more important than ever. Below is the current fee structure for disposal, removal and liquidation of inventory as of Q3. 2025
7. Return Processing and Refund Administration Fees
Customer returns are just part of the e-commerce game, but on Amazon, they come with their own set of fees. For certain categories like Apparel and Shoes, Amazon charges a Returns Processing Fee for every single customer return. This fee is equal to the original fulfillment fee for that item.
Even for categories that don’t have that specific fee, there’s the Refund Administration Fee. When you issue a refund, Amazon gives you back the referral fee you paid, but they keep a small piece of it for themselves, up to a maximum of $5.00.
Hidden Amazon Seller Fees
While the fees above are major culprits, plenty of smaller, less obvious charges can eat into your profits. Here’s a quick look at some of the most common hidden ones that new and even experienced sellers forget to account for.
| Fee Name | What Triggers It | How to Avoid or Minimize It |
|---|---|---|
| High-Volume Listing Fee | Having a large number of active, non-media ASINs that haven’t sold in 12 months. | Regularly audit and close out old, non-selling listings to keep your catalog clean. |
| Rental Book Service Fees | Selling textbooks through Amazon’s rental program. | If you sell books, stick to traditional sales unless you’ve calculated the rental margins carefully. |
| Coupon Redemption Fees | A customer uses one of your Amazon-created coupons. You pay a fee for each redemption. | Be strategic with coupon offers. Ensure your product margin can support both the discount and the fee. |
| FBA Prep Service Fees | Paying Amazon to label, bag, or bubble wrap your inventory upon arrival at the warehouse. | Do all product prep and labeling yourself or at your supplier’s factory to avoid these per-item charges. |
Keeping these fees on your radar is important. They might seem small individually, but they can add up to a significant drain on your business if left unchecked.
Example of Calculating Profitability for FBA Product
Let’s walk through a complete profit breakdown for a private-label product to see just how quickly Amazon fees can stack up.
Imagine you’re selling a set of silicone baking mats. They’re a solid product choice: lightweight, standard size, and always in demand. You’ve landed on a competitive sale price of $25.00.
Looks pretty good on paper, right? Now, let’s start peeling back the layers and subtracting the fees to find your actual, take-home profit.
Starting the Calculation
First things first, we need to nail down the product’s landed cost. This isn’t just what you paid the factory; it’s the all-in cost including international shipping, tariffs, and any prep work needed to get it Amazon-ready.
- Landed Product Cost (COGS): Let’s say after sourcing, inspections, and freight to the US, your total cost per unit comes out to $5.50.
So, we have our two starting numbers: $25.00 in revenue and $5.50 in costs. That leaves us with a gross profit of $19.50. Now let’s see how Amazon’s fees chip away at that margin.
Subtracting the Amazon Fees
Next up are the two big, non-negotiable fees you’ll pay on every single FBA sale: the referral fee and the FBA fulfillment fee.
- Referral Fee: Your baking mats fall into the “Kitchen & Dining” category, which has a 15% referral fee. So, Amazon takes $3.75 right off the top (15% of $25.00).
- FBA Fulfillment Fee: Since your baking mats are a small, standard-size item weighing less than a pound, the Amazon FBA fee is $3.22 (as of September 2025).
After just these two fees, your initial $19.50 gross profit has already shrunk to $12.53. And we’re far from finished.
Other Applicable Costs
Now we have to account for the other expenses that are just part of doing business on Amazon, like storage and advertising. These can vary month to month, but you absolutely have to budget for them.
- Monthly Storage Fee: Your item is small, taking up about 0.05 cubic feet. At the standard rate of $0.87 per cubic foot, this adds up to about $0.04 per unit, per month. It seems tiny, but it adds up fast across hundreds of units.
- Advertising Cost (PPC): You will almost certainly need to run ads. A healthy target for ACoS (Advertising Cost of Sale) is often around 25%. This means for every $25 sale, you can expect to spend $6.25 on ads to make it happen.
- Estimated Returns: Let’s budget for a conservative 3% return rate. On a $25 item, a 3% loss spread across all units sold translates to a cost of about $0.75 per sale.
The Final Profit Breakdown:
- Sale Price: $25.00
- Landed Cost: -$5.50
- Referral Fee: -$3.75
- FBA Fee: -$3.22
- Storage Fee: -$0.04
- PPC Ad Cost: -$6.25
- Return Cost: -$0.75
After subtracting every last cent, your final net profit per unit is $5.49.
That initial $19.50 margin looked incredible, but the reality is a 22% net margin. This is a very realistic outcome and shows exactly why you must account for every single fee. Overlooking just one of these costs, especially advertising, could have turned this profitable product into a money-loser.
Amazon Fees for Kindle Direct Publishing Authors
Unlike the Amazon FBA model where you calculate profit margins on physical goods, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) operates on a royalty-based system. This means you earn a percentage of your book’s list price for each sale, not a profit after cost of goods.
1. eBook Royalties
For eBooks, your royalty rate is determined by the list price you set. You have two options to choose from.
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The 70% Royalty Option
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This option applies to eBooks with a price between $2.99 and $9.99.
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With this option, Amazon subtracts a delivery fee from your earnings based on the file size of your eBook. In the U.S., this fee is $0.15 per megabyte.
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Formula: (70% x List Price) – Delivery Costs = Your Royalty
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The 35% Royalty Option
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This option is for eBooks priced below $2.99 or above $9.99.
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An advantage of this plan is that you are not charged any delivery fees.
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Formula: 35% x List Price = Your Royalty
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To receive a 70% royalty on sales in Brazil, Japan, India, and Mexico, your eBook must be enrolled in KDP Select.
2. Print Book Royalties (Paperback and Hardcover)
For print books, KDP offers a fixed royalty rate, and your earnings are calculated after the printing costs have been deducted.
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Royalty Rate Details
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For paperbacks and hardcovers sold on Amazon marketplaces, KDP offers a 60% royalty rate.
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Formula: (Royalty Rate x List Price) – Printing Costs = Your Royalty
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Printing costs are determined by the page count, whether the ink is black and white or color, and the specific Amazon marketplace where the book is sold.
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Important Upcoming Change
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Starting on June 10, 2025, the royalty rate for print books priced below certain thresholds (such as $9.99 in the U.S.) will be reduced from 60% to 50%.
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Actionable Strategies to Reduce Your Amazon FBA Fees
You can’t get rid of Amazon fees completely, but you can absolutely get smarter about chipping away at them. Shaving off a few cents here and a dollar there adds up to thousands in your pocket over a year.
Improve Inventory Flow
Poor inventory management is a direct line to unnecessary fees. The two biggest offenders are the aged inventory surcharge and the new low inventory level fee.
The solution is to get much better at sales forecasting. Study your sales data from the last 30, 60, and 90 days to get a real feel for future demand. This helps you order just enough to stay in that sweet spot, avoiding both penalties. As a rule of thumb, don’t let any inventory sit for more than 90 days without a clear plan to move it.
Use tools like Sellerboard to to view real time stock levels, sales velocity, and reorder timing. As shown in the image, it calculates days of stock left, and highlights when to reorder.
Optimize Your Product Packaging
One of the most overlooked ways to slash your Amazon FBA fees is by rethinking your product’s packaging. It’s wild, but a few millimeters or a couple of ounces can be the difference between a standard and an oversized fee tier, costing you extra on every single sale.
Pro Tip: Talk to your supplier about designing packaging that’s as compact and lightweight as possible without compromising on protection. Sometimes, simply removing a pointless cardboard insert or using a slightly smaller box can bump your product into a lower, cheaper fee tier. Over thousands of units, that’s a fortune saved.
Prepare Your Shipments Perfectly
Every single time your inventory shows up at an Amazon warehouse unprepared, you get slapped with an unplanned service fee. These are 100% avoidable. You just have to know and follow Amazon’s prep requirements for your specific product category.
- Labeling: Are your FNSKU barcodes applied correctly? Are they flat, unsmudged, and easily scannable?
- Bagging: Do items that need poly bags have them, complete with the required suffocation warnings?
- Boxing: Are your master cartons properly labeled for inbound shipping so the warehouse team knows exactly what’s inside?
Taking an extra 15 minutes to double-check your prep work before a shipment goes out can save you hundreds in frustrating, unnecessary fees.
Frequently Asked Questions About Amazon Fees
Let’s tackle some of the most common questions sellers have when they’re trying to get a handle on Amazon’s fee structure. Think of this as the quick-start guide to the financial side of your business.
What Should I Do When Amazon Changes Its Fees?
First, don’t panic. Amazon tweaks its fees at least once a year, usually dropping the news in late Q4 for an early new-year rollout. It’s a normal part of the selling cycle.
Your first move is to jump into Seller Central and read the official announcement. Get clear on exactly which fees are changing. Is it FBA fulfillment, storage, or referral fees?
Next, and this is critical, update your profit calculators immediately. Whether you use a simple spreadsheet or a sophisticated software tool, plug in the new numbers. This is the only way to see how the changes will hit your margins. If a fee hike pushes a product into the red, you’ve got a few levers to pull: bump up your sale price, renegotiate with your supplier to lower your landed cost, or find ways to make your ad spend more efficient.
How Can I See a Detailed Breakdown of My Fees?
Your Amazon payment reports are the absolute source of truth for every single penny you’ve been charged.
To get there, head to your Seller Central dashboard and go to Reports > Payments.
The default “Statement View” gives you a nice summary of your revenue and costs for each payout period. But for the real details, you need to click over to the “Transaction View” tab. This is where you can see a line-by-line breakdown for every single order, showing you the referral fee, FBA fee, and any other charges that applied.
For a serious analysis, download these reports as a CSV file. Opening it in a spreadsheet is the best way to get a true picture of where all your money is really going.
What Are the Main Cost Differences Between FBM and FBA?
The whole game changes when it comes to fulfillment and storage. It’s a classic trade-off between time and money.
With Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM), you’re the warehouse and the shipping department. You’re on the hook for storing your inventory, then picking, packing, and shipping every order yourself. Your main costs are your own storage space (be it a garage or a warehouse), boxes and tape, and the shipping labels you purchase. The big upside? You completely sidestep Amazon’s FBA fulfillment and storage fees.
With Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), you pay Amazon to take all of that off your plate. You’ll see FBA fulfillment fees on every sale and monthly storage fees for the inventory you keep in their warehouses. FBA is almost always more expensive on a per-unit basis, but it frees up a massive amount of your time. Plus, it gives you the Prime badge, which can be a huge sales driver.
