In this is a blog post we share a basic introduction of the Amazon FBA program and outline how it can be leveraged notably through using DataHawk. Our software comes with a free plan and advanced paid plans for sellers, vendors, and agencies of all sizes.
This article covers the fees related to selling on Amazon including FBA Fees and outlines how to use the Amazon FBA Calculator.
When selling products online on Amazon, mastering your costs is paramount.
Many Amazon sellers are losing money or not making enough profits because they chose the wrong product and miscalculated their expected profits.
You should keep your Amazon FBA calculator close by and rely on it at all times to optimize your margins. Many differences in product characteristics such as its weight, dimension, selling price, or category can make a big difference and help you save money while increasing profits at the same time.
Before you become a professional seller on Amazon and make the transition to FBA, you will have to understand the pricing structure, advantages, and fees of selling on Amazon and using the Fulfillment by Amazon or FBA program.
Today we are going to explain all the fees that come with selling on Amazon through the FBA program to help you become more profitable while guiding on how to best use the Amazon FBA Calculator.
What are the fees related to selling on Amazon?
There are three main fees related to selling on Amazon:
1. Selling on Amazon fees - either a fixed subscription cost or a per-item fee
2. Referral fees - per-item referral fee depending on the item's category
3. Shipping or FBA fees - fees for (1) order fulfillment, (2) storage and optional services under the FBA program
The Amazon FBA Profitability Calculator
If the product you're selling is currently listed on Amazon, you can use one of its identifying numbers such as its ASIN(Amazon Standard Identification Number), its UPC(Universal Product Code), or its EAN(European Article Number) to look it up on the Amazon FBA Calculator on any of the following links, hence getting instant access to the expected costs and resulting profit related to selling it on Amazon:
- US Amazon FBA Calculator
- Canada Amazon FBA Calculator
- Mexico Amazon FBA Calculator
- UK Amazon FBA Calculator
- France Amazon FBA Calculator
- Germany Amazon FBA Calculator
- Italy Amazon FBA Calculator
- Spain Amazon FBA Calculator
- India Amazon FBA Calculator
The Amazon FBA fees calculator includes costs for lots of different parts of the fulfillment service. This includes:
- Order handling
- Pick & pack
- Outbound shipping
- Weight handling
- 30-day storage
- Inbound shipping
Below, we'll be covering all of those in addition to other general non-FBA fees.
The Selling on Amazon fees
First, when it comes to the "Selling on Amazon fees", Amazon offers two selling plans:
1. The Professional selling plan
2. The Individual selling plan
The Professional plan costs a $39.99 monthly subscription fee on top of per-item selling fees, called referral fees, that are dependent on their category - see next section.
However, if you plan to sell fewer than 40 items a month, the Individual plan may be a better fit for you as no monthly subscription fee is tied to it. Instead, Individuals pay $0.99 per item sold plus referral fees. There are additional benefits to using the Professional plan though:
| Seller Account Type | Individual | Professional |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly Subscription | N/A | $39.99 |
| Per Sale Closing Fee1 | $0.99 | N/A |
| Use of feeds, spreadsheets, and other tools to load inventory | No | Yes |
| Access to order reports and order-related feeds | No | Yes |
| Earn top placement on product detail pages | No | Yes |
| Sell in 20+ open categories | Yes | Yes |
| Apply to sell in 10+ additional categories | No | Yes |
| Customize shipping rates | No | Yes |
Read more: Selling on Amazon pricing page
Referral fees
Referral fees on Amazon are also known as the commission fees that sellers need to pay on each item sold on Amazon. Amazon is one of the biggest shopping platforms online and millions of people visit this marketplace every day, giving sellers the ability to instantly reach their customers and start selling products. It is then only natural that sellers pay those commissions on each sale in exchange for this higher reach of high-intent purchasers.
Indeed, if you decided to create your own eCommerce store, it would take you years to market it properly and get all of those visitors. Since Amazon provides all of these benefits to their users, they consequently charge commissions to their sellers. For most product categories, the Amazon referral fees are fixed at 15% of each sale and every seller needs to pay them, while most of them range from 6% to 18%, excluding some exceptions.
| Categories | Amazon deducts the greater of the applicable referral fee percentage or applicable per-item minimum referral fee. See “Referral fees” notes above. | |
|---|---|---|
| Referral fee percentages | Applicable minimum referral fee(applied on a per-item basis unless otherwise noted) | |
| Amazon Device Accessories | 45% | $0.30 |
| Baby Products (excluding Baby Apparel) | 8% for products with a total sales price of $10.00 or less, and 15% for products with a total sales price greater than $10.00 | $0.30 |
| Books | 15% | – |
| Camera and Photo¹ | 8% | $0.30 |
| Cell Phone Devices* | 8% | $0.30 |
| Consumer Electronics | 8% | $0.30 |
| Electronics Accessories | 15% for the portion of the total sales price up to $100.00, and 8% for any portion of the total sales price greater than $100.00 | $0.30 |
| Furniture (including outdoor furniture) | 15% for the portion of the total sales price up to $200.00, and 10% for any portion of the total sales price greater than $200.00 Note: Mattresses will be charged 15% regardless of price point. | $0.30 |
| Home & Garden (including Pet Supplies) | 15% | $0.30 |
| Kitchen | 15% | $0.30 |
| Major Appliances | 15% for the portion of the total sales price up to $300.00, and 8% for any portion of the total sales price greater than $300.00 | $0.30 |
| Music | 15% | – |
| Musical Instruments | 15% | $0.30 |
| Office Products | 15% | $0.30 |
| Outdoors | 15% | $0.30 |
| Personal Computers | 6% | $0.30 |
| Software & Computer/Video Games | 15% | – |
| Sports (excluding Sports Collectibles) | 15% | $0.30 |
| Tools & Home Improvement | 15%, except 12% for base equipment power tools | $0.30 |
| Toys & Games2 | 15% | $0.30 |
| Unlocked Cell Phones | 8% | $0.30 |
| Video & DVD | 15% | – |
| Video Game Consoles | 8% | $0.30 |
| Everything Else3 | 15% | $0.30 |
| Categories Requiring Approval | Referral fee percentages | $0.30 |
| 3D Printed Products | 12% | $0.30 |
| Automotive & Powersports | 12%, except 10% for tires and wheel products | $0.30 |
| Beauty | 8% for products with a total sales price of $10.00 or less, and 15% for items with a total sales price greater than $10.00 | $0.30 |
| Clothing & Accessories (including activewear) | 17% | $0.30 |
| Collectible Books | 15% | – |
| Collectible Coins | See Category Requirements for referral fees. | $0.30 |
| Entertainment Collectibles | See Category Requirements for referral fees. | – |
| Fine Art | See Category Requirements for referral fees. | – |
| Gift Cards | 20% | – |
| Grocery & Gourmet Food | 8% for products with a total sales price of $15.00 or less, and 15% for products with a total sales price greater than $15.00 | – |
| Health & Personal Care (including Personal Care Appliances) | 8% for products with a total sales price of $10.00 or less, and 15% for items with a total sales price greater than $10.00 | $0.30 |
| Industrial & Scientific (including Food Service and Janitorial & Sanitation) | 12% | $0.30 |
| Jewelry | 20% for the portion of the total sales price up to $250.00, and 5% for any portion of the total sales price greater than $250.00 | $0.30 |
| Luggage & Travel Accessories | 15% | $0.30 |
| Shoes, Handbags & Sunglasses | 15% | $0.30 |
| Sports Collectibles | See Category Requirements for referral fees. | – |
| Watches | 16% for the portion of the total sales price up to $1,500.00, 3% for any portion of the total sales price greater than $1,500.00 | $0.30 |
| Extended Warranties, Protection Plans, and Service Contracts | 96% | – |
The Shipping fees or FBA fees
Amazon also charges its FBA sellers for fulfillment and this includes shipping, packing, and storing products that users are selling. Of course, you will have to pay these fees only if you are using Amazon FBA.
The FBA program alleviates the hassles of fulfillment and logistics for sellers. Whenever you have a customer buy a product from you through Amazon, the Amazon staff has to pick your product in one of the many fulfillment centers they have where they decided to store it, they then have to pack it, and finally ship it to the end customer while also supporting returns.
All of these warehouses are scattered around different states in the US, and around the world while being packed with millions of products. It takes a lot of logistics and management to take care of these items and deliver them to the right customers. This is why people need to pay the fulfillment fees to compensate Amazon for their troubles.
FBA fulfillment fees consist of two components:
1. Fixed FBA fees
2. Variable FBA fees.
Fees are further broken down into two types of fees categories depending on the product characteristics:
1. Small and Light FBA fees
2. Standard-size and oversize FBA fees
Small and Light FBA pricing
- Order handling, pick & pack, and weight handling fees consolidated into a single per-unit fulfillment fee by weight.
- $0.10 per is charged per unit for Small and Light items in the optional FBA Label Service.
- All standard FBA storage fees will apply to Small and Light, which will reduce the per-unit fee from $0.50 to $0.15. Small and Light FBA fees pricing table:
| Size | Weight | Fulfillment fee per unit |
|---|---|---|
| 16 x 9 x 4 inches or less | Less than 4 oz | $1.97 |
| Greater than or equal to 4 oz and less than 10 oz | $2.39 |
| Long-term storage for Small and Light | February 15, 2020, and after |
|---|---|
| Items in a fulfillment center for 181 to 365 days | No fee applies |
| Items in a fulfillment center more than 365 days | $0.15 per unit or $6.90 per cubic foot1 |
The variable fees on the Small and Light pricing include weight handling which varies depending on the weight of a product.
For Small and Light items between 4 and 10 ounces, the per-unit fee is charged from $0.25 to $0.30. The rate for items under 4 ounces will remain $0.25 per unit.
This means that on Small and Light pricing, you should expect a minimum of $1.6 and up to $$3.2 ($0.8 + $0.75 + 0.15 oz * $0.11 for an item with a weight of 15 oz) on items with a price lower than or equal to $5, in other words, FBA fees will represent 32% to 64% of your $5 item's selling price. Were you selling a $15 item, you would be paying $1.9 to $3.4 in FBA fees.
Tough, right?
Standard-size and Oversize FBA pricing
In standard-size and oversize pricing, the FBA pricing structure is somehow simplified as the order handling and pick & pack fees are merged into one single and tiered size fee that depends on the size of the product, or, more precisely, on its dimensional or volumetric weight, also called DIM weight.
Indeed, the outbound shipping weight outlined in the pricing tables below is to be calculated for each unit by adding the packaging weight to the greater of the unit weight or the dimensional weight. DIM weight is used to calculate the shipping cost of bulky yet lightweight packages (think of a large bag for instance). In other words, if your package is taking up a bit more space than the weight the package captures in rates, you will pay for that additional space.
The dimensional weight in lbs. is calculated by determining the cubic size of the item and dividing it by a divisor. The formula used is Length*Width*Height/Divisor where the divisor depends on if the shipment is domestic or international.
Standard-Size pricing table:
| Product Size | Price |
|---|---|
| Small standard-size (1lb. or less) | $2.50 |
| Large (1lb. or less) | $3.31 |
| Large (1 to 2lb) | $4.90 |
| Large (3 to 21lb) | $5.42 + $0.38/lb after the first 3 pounds |
The above pricing applies to domestic and international orders.
Clothing items, however, incur an additional per-unit fulfillment fee. Here is how that works:
| Size Tier | Shipping Weight | Packaging weight | Fulfillment fee per unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Standard | 10 oz or Less | 4 oz | $2.92 |
| 10 to 16 oz | $3.11 | ||
| Large Standards | 10 oz or less | 4 oz | $3.70 |
| 10 to 16 oz | $3.81 | ||
| 1 to 2 lb | 4 oz | $5.35 | |
| 2 to 3 lb | 4 oz | $5.95 | |
| 3 lb to 21 lb | 4 oz | $5.95 + $0.38/lb above first 3 lb |
Oversize pricing table
| Product Size | Product Price |
|---|---|
| Small oversize (71lb or less) | $8.26 + $0.38/lb above the first 2lb |
| Medium oversize (151lb or less) | $11.37+ $0.39/lb above the first 2lb |
| Large oversize (151lb or less) | $75.78 + $0.79/lb above the first 90lb |
| Special oversize | $137.32 + $0.91/lb above the first 90lb |
The above pricing applies to domestic orders only.
Read more:
The variable FBA fees
Storage fees
Storage fees include the services of storing and maintaining products within the fulfillment centers. They are are based on the daily average volume (measured in cubic feet) for the space your inventory occupies in fulfillment centers. Storage fees are divided into two categories, depending on the required time of storing:
1. Normal or short-term storage fees
2. Long-term storage fees
Inventory storage fees
Inventory storage fees are paid monthly and are typically charged between the 7th and 15th day of the month following the month the fee applies to. Each month, you calculate how many items you stored within their fulfillment center and pay the adequate price for that storage space.
Additionally, you should bear in mind that the prices for November and December are higher given its a high-velocity sales period with constrained warehouse space.
Again, this is a fee where your product's volume is paramount.
| Storage Month | Standard Size | Oversize |
|---|---|---|
| January – September | $0.75 per cubic foot | $0.48 per cubic foot |
| October – December | $2.40 per cubic foot | $1.20 per cubic foot |
Long-term storage fees
These fees are paid twice per year. They include all products which were stored for at least six months within the fulfillment center. These fees have two tiers, the first one is $11.25 per cubic foot for all items that have been 6 or 12 months in the fulfillment center since the last inventory cleanup. The other one is $22.50 for all times that were in the storage for 12 months or longer since the last inventory cleanup.
The long-term storage fee is in addition to the monthly inventory storage fee. Fees are not charged if a removal order has been submitted prior to the fee being charged.
To calculate cubic feet from inches:
1. Multiply Length*Width*Height in inches to get the volume.
2. Divide the volume by 12 cubic inches (12" *12" *12" = 1728 ).
Example: A unit measuring 47" x 12" x 10" divided by 1,728 = 3.3 cubic feet.
Monthly Storage Fees
| Date of arrival | 181 to 365 days | 1+ years |
|---|---|---|
| Semi-annual (February 15 and August 15) | $11.25 per cubic foot | $22.50 per cubic foot |
Long-term Storage Fees
| Date of arrival | 181 – 365 days | 1+ years |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly (15th of every month) | $3.45 per cubic foot | $6.90 per cubic foot |
Minimum Long-term Storage fees
| Date of arrival | Items in centers more than 365 days |
|---|---|
| Monthly (15th of every month) | $0.50 per unit |
Storage Limits and the Inventory Performance Index
Since there are so many sellers on Amazon and efficient warehouse space management is essential, Amazon has decided to measure sellers performance and favor those that perform well.
After all, it’s not in their interest to store countless items that aren’t being sold and take up so much valuable space that could be used better by other sellers. This is why they’ve added the Inventory Performance Index which is a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) based on how well you keep popular products in stock, maintain healthy inventory levels, and fix listing problems.
- Sellers who maintain an Inventory Performance Index of 350 or greater will have unlimited storage for standard-size, oversize, apparel, and footwear items.
- Sellers with an Inventory Performance Index less than 350 six weeks before the end of a quarter will be notified of their potential storage limits. If their score is still less than 350 on the final day of the quarter, the limits will apply for the next quarter.
| Score less than 350(Six weeks before the current quarter ends AND at the end of the current quarter) | Score of 350 or more |
|---|---|
| Storage limits | Updated quarterly |
| Monthly Inventory Storage Overage Fee | $10 per cubic foot over the storage limit |
The seller’s score can go from 0 to 1k and you need a score of at least 400 puts if you want to have unrestricted storage and all the benefits. Having a lower score than this would mean that you need to improve as a seller. Amazon hasn’t revealed exactly how they calculate the scores, but some factors that definitively affect it are sell-through rates, excess inventory, current in-stock inventory, and stranded inventory.
Conclusion
Amazon fees are a complex matter that's paramount to master if you want to succeed selling on Amazon, and doing your homework by computing products detailed fees is essential before sourcing and purchasing them from your suppliers.
As part of your Amazon Product Research process, you can leverage DataHawk Amazon seller software not only to get product launch ideas but also to instantly unveil their related Amazon fees, including FBA fees and referral fees.
