Amazon Seller Fees Explained: Referral, FBA, Storage and Placement Fees
A plain-English breakdown of Amazon referral, fulfillment, storage and inbound placement fees, plus a simple way to model your real margin per product.
Amazon seller fees start with a selling plan ($0.99 per item sold or $39.99 a month) and a referral fee on every sale, usually 8% to 15% in most categories, with a $0.30 minimum. FBA sellers also pay per-unit fulfillment fees, monthly storage, inbound placement fees and possible surcharges. Model margin per product before you buy inventory.
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Most new Amazon sellers know there’s a referral fee. Far fewer realize how many other line items show up on their settlement report: fulfillment fees, storage, placement fees, low-inventory charges, return fees and, since April 2026, a fuel surcharge. Each looks small on its own. Together they can turn a “40% margin” product into a break-even one.
This guide walks through every major fee category, what triggers it and how to build a simple margin model so you know your profit per unit before you place a purchase order. Fees change often, so treat the numbers here as a starting point and confirm current rates in Seller Central.
The 2 fees every seller pays
Selling plan fee
Amazon has 2 selling plans in the US:
- Individual: $0.99 per item sold, with no monthly fee.
- Professional: $39.99 a month, with no per-item plan fee.
If you sell more than about 40 items a month, Professional costs less. It also adds advertising, bulk listing tools and most programs, including Seller Fulfilled Prime. Our guide on how to start selling on Amazon covers how to choose.
Referral fee
The referral fee is Amazon’s commission on each sale. It’s a percentage of the total price the buyer pays, including shipping and gift wrap, or a minimum fee, whichever is greater. Amazon’s pricing page lists a range of 3% to 45% across categories, with a $0.30 minimum for most of them.
| Category (US) | Referral fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Home and Kitchen | 15% | $0.30 minimum |
| Toys and Games | 15% | $0.30 minimum |
| Sports and Outdoors | 15% | $0.30 minimum |
| Beauty, Health and Personal Care | 8% or 15% | 8% on totals of $10 or less, 15% above |
| Grocery and Gourmet | 8% or 15% | 8% on totals of $15 or less, 15% above |
| Clothing and Accessories | 5%, 10% or 17% | 5% up to $15, 10% from $15 to $20, 17% above $20 |
| Consumer Electronics | 8% | $0.30 minimum |
| Jewelry | 20% and 5% | 20% up to $250, 5% on the portion above |
| Everything Else | 15% | $0.30 minimum |
Media items such as books, DVDs, music, software and video also carry a $1.80 closing fee per item on top of the referral fee.
Key takeaway: Your referral fee is charged on the full price including shipping, and tiered categories can change your rate when you change your price. A price change of a few cents across a threshold can move your fee from 8% to 15%.
FBA fulfillment fees
If you use Fulfillment by Amazon, you pay a fulfillment fee for every unit shipped. Amazon says the fee depends on the product’s price, weight and dimensions, and it covers picking, packing, shipping, customer service and returns handling.
The fee is driven by size tier, from small standard-size through large bulky and extra-large, and by shipping weight, which can be the greater of actual weight or dimensional weight. A product that’s a quarter-inch too big for its tier can cost noticeably more to fulfill, which is why many sellers redesign packaging.
2 changes in 2026 matter:
- January 15, 2026: Amazon raised FBA fees by an average of $0.08 per unit, and said it would add no new FBA fee types this year.
- April 17, 2026: Amazon added a 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge on US and Canada FBA fulfillment fees. Amazon put the average at about $0.17 per unit for US FBA and called it temporary, without giving an end date.
Not sure whether FBA is right for a product? Compare both options in our Amazon FBA vs FBM guide.
Storage fees
FBA charges monthly storage based on the average daily cubic feet your inventory occupies. Rates depend on size and the time of year. In Amazon’s 2024 rate update, standard-size storage was $0.78 per cubic foot from January to September and $2.40 per cubic foot from October to December. Some sellers also pay a storage utilization surcharge if they store much more than they sell.
On top of base storage:
- Aged inventory surcharge: charged monthly on units stored longer than 181 days.
- Removal and disposal fees: charged per unit when you pull stock out or ask Amazon to dispose of it.
Storage is the fee sellers underestimate most, because it grows quietly. A slow seller can rack up months of storage before you notice.
Inbound placement and other FBA charges
Inbound placement service fee
When you create an FBA shipment, Amazon offers placement options:
- Minimal split: send everything to as few locations as possible, usually 1, and pay a per-unit fee for Amazon to redistribute it. Amazon says fees can vary by inbound location.
- Optimized split: send to the multiple locations Amazon assigns, with no placement fee, if your shipment qualifies. Amazon requires a minimum number of identical cartons or pallets per item for this option.
The trade-off is fee vs freight cost: splitting avoids the placement fee but means paying for more shipments.
Low-inventory-level fee
This fee applies to standard-size FBA products when both your short-term (30-day) and long-term (90-day) historical days of supply fall below 28 days. Amazon’s logic is that thin inventory forces it to ship from farther away. New Professional sellers and qualifying new products have temporary exemptions.
Returns processing fee
Amazon charges a returns processing fee on products whose return rate exceeds a threshold for their category. It’s charged only on units above the threshold, and you can see your rates on the FBA Returns page in Seller Central.
Optional costs
Advertising (Sponsored Products and other ad types), FBA prep and labeling services, and Amazon Warehousing and Distribution are optional but common. Advertising in particular can be your single biggest cost after referral and fulfillment fees.
Fees for FBM sellers
Merchant-fulfilled sellers pay the plan fee and referral fee, but not FBA fulfillment, storage or placement fees. Instead, they pay their own:
- Shipping labels, whether bought through Amazon’s Buy Shipping or directly from carriers
- Boxes, mailers and packing materials
- Labor, warehouse rent or a 3PL’s pick, pack and storage fees
- Returns shipping and handling
When a buyer gets a refund, Amazon returns most of the referral fee but keeps a refund administration fee.
How to model your margin per product
Use a simple per-unit model before you buy inventory. Here’s the structure, with illustrative inputs you would replace with your own numbers from Amazon’s Revenue Calculator:
| Line item | How to calculate | Example input |
|---|---|---|
| Selling price | Your planned price | $25.00 |
| Referral fee | Price x category rate | 15% = $3.75 |
| FBA fulfillment fee | From Revenue Calculator, including surcharge | Your figure |
| Storage per unit | Monthly cost per cubic foot x unit volume x months stored | Your figure |
| Inbound cost per unit | Freight + placement fee, divided by units | Your figure |
| Product cost (landed) | Unit cost + freight + duties | Your figure |
| Ad cost per unit | Monthly ad spend divided by units sold | Your figure |
| Returns allowance | Expected return rate x loss per return | Your figure |
| Net profit per unit | Price minus everything above |
3 tips make this model much more accurate:
- Use real dimensions in the packaging. Measure the boxed unit, not the product.
- Model storage by sell-through. Divide units in stock by daily sales to see how many months they’ll sit. Use peak rates for October to December.
- Run a “bad month” scenario. Lower your price 10%, double ad cost and add returns. If the product still makes money, it’s sturdy.
If you track this in a spreadsheet, our guide on AI in Excel and Google Sheets shows ways to speed up the formulas.
Where to start
- Open Seller Central’s Fee Preview or Fee and Economics report to see the fees Amazon actually charges per SKU.
- Check the new Profit Analytics dashboard, which Amazon launched for 2026 to show unit economics and fee impact by product.
- Audit your 10 highest-volume SKUs for size tier. Packaging changes can drop a product into a cheaper tier.
- Review inventory age monthly and act on anything nearing 181 days.
- Watch your days of supply so you don’t trigger the low-inventory-level fee.
- Set a calendar reminder before every October peak, and every January, when Amazon usually updates fees.
Conclusion
Amazon fees aren’t hard once you split them into layers: plan fee, referral fee, fulfillment, storage, placement and the occasional surcharge. The sellers who stay profitable model every layer per product, review fees every quarter and treat packaging and inventory planning as profit levers. For a wider view of the tools changing online selling, see AI in retail and ecommerce.
Sources
- Amazon: Selling plans and fees — plan prices, referral fee range, category rates, $0.30 minimum and $1.80 media closing fee
- Amazon: Update to US referral and FBA fees for 2026 — $0.08 average FBA increase from January 15, 2026, no new fee types and the Profit Analytics dashboard
- Amazon: Fulfillment by Amazon — FBA fee basis, storage calculation, inbound placement and aged inventory over 181 days
- Amazon Seller Central: 2024 FBA storage fee and aged inventory surcharge changes — seasonal standard-size storage rates
- Amazon Seller Central: FBA inbound placement service fee — minimal and optimized split options
Frequently asked questions
How much does Amazon take per sale?
Amazon takes a referral fee on every sale, usually 8% to 15% in most categories, with a $0.30 minimum. Individual-plan sellers also pay $0.99 per item. FBA sellers pay a per-unit fulfillment fee on top, plus storage. All in, total Amazon fees often take a large share of the selling price, so model each product before buying stock.
What is the Amazon referral fee?
The referral fee is Amazon's commission on each sale. It's a percentage of the total price, including shipping and gift wrap, or a minimum fee, whichever is higher. Rates vary by category, from 3% to 45% according to Amazon, and many categories use 15%. Some categories have tiers that change the rate at certain price points.
How are FBA storage fees calculated?
FBA storage fees are charged monthly based on the average daily volume, in cubic feet, of your inventory in Amazon's fulfillment centers. Rates depend on size tier and season, and they're much higher from October to December. Units stored over 181 days also face an aged inventory surcharge, so slow sellers get expensive.
What is the Amazon inbound placement fee?
It's a per-unit fee Amazon charges when you send FBA inventory to fewer locations and let Amazon redistribute it across its network. You can avoid it by choosing an optimized split and sending to the multiple locations Amazon assigns, if your shipment meets the carton or pallet requirements. Compare the fee against your extra freight cost.
Did Amazon raise fees in 2026?
Yes. Amazon raised FBA fees by an average of $0.08 per unit on January 15, 2026, after no US referral or FBA fee increase in 2025. Then, starting April 17, 2026, it added a 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge on US and Canada FBA fulfillment fees, which it described as temporary.
How do I avoid the low-inventory-level fee?
Keep at least 28 days of supply for standard-size FBA products, because the fee applies when both your 30-day and 90-day historical days of supply fall below that level. Use Amazon's restock recommendations, send replenishment earlier and check exemptions for new sellers and new products. Oversize items aren't subject to this fee.
Is it still profitable to sell on Amazon?
It can be, but margins depend on fees, product cost and advertising. Products that are small, light, sell steadily and have room for at least a healthy markup over landed cost tend to work best. Heavy, low-priced or slow-moving items are harder. Build a per-unit margin model with real fee data before committing to inventory.
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Manishdai
Manishdai writes about the technology that is reshaping every industry — from AI agents and cloud platforms to healthtech, fintech and the IT companies building it all across the United States.
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