When planning to sell on Amazon, it’s important to plan for and understand the Amazon seller fees that will be charged to you for using their platform. There are several types of fees and some will affect you and others won’t. The main types of fees include the “professional selling account” subscription, referral fees, fulfillment fees, storage fees, shipping fees, and some “other” fees.
The Most Significant Fees on Amazon
- The Selling Account Subscription
- Referral Fees
- Fulfillment Fees (when using FBA)
- Storage Fees (when using FBA)
- Shipping
- PPC Advertising Cost
The Amazon Seller fees Subscription
Right off the bat, you already know that when you sign up on Amazon seller central, you immediately have to select a selling plan. You can choose between two selling plans, the individual and the professional plan. The individual selling plan does not include a monthly subscription but will charge an extra $1 for each item you sell. The professional plan is $39.99 and waves the $1 item fee. The professional selling plan allows you to add additional users, get sales reports and analytics, and access the advertising platform, among some other benefits. The individual plan is useful for sellers who aren’t going to be using the seller account actively for a while, or someone who is just selling a couple of items temporarily. If you’re reading this, you’re probably a business looking to sell on Amazon and you would want the professional selling account.
Amazon Referral Fees
When selling on Amazon, you also pay a percentage of the revenue from every sale to Amazon. For the majority of products, the referral fee is 15%. For some categories of products, the referral percentage varies as shown below.
| Category | Referral Fee Percentage | Referral Fee Minimum |
| 3D Printed Products | 12% | $0.30 |
| Amazon Device Accessories | 45% | $0.30 |
| Automotive & Powersports | 12%, except 10% for tires and wheel products | $0.30 |
| Baby Products (excluding baby apparel) | – 8% for products with a total sales price of $10.00 or less- 15% for products with a total sales price greater than $10.00 | $0.30 |
| Beauty | – 8% for products with a total sales price of $10.00 or less- 15% for items with a total sales price greater than $10.00 | $0.30 |
| Books | 15% + $1.80 closing fee | — |
| Camera & Photo | 8% | $0.30 |
| Cell Phone Devices | 8% | $0.30 |
| Clothing & Accessories (Excluding shoes, handbags & sunglasses) | 17% | $0.30 |
| Collectibles – Books | 15% | — |
| Collectibles – Coins | – 15% for the portion of the total sales price up to $250 (with a minimum referral fee of $1.00)- 10% for any portion of the total sales price greater than $250 up to $1,000.00 | $0.30 |
| Collectibles – Entertainment or Sports | – 15% for the portion of the total sales price up to $100- 10% for any portion of the total sales price greater than $100 up to $1,000.- 6% for any portion of the total sales price greater than $1,000 | — |
| Consumer Electronics | 8% | $0.30 |
| Electronics Accessories | – 15% for the portion of the total sales price up to $100 – 8% for any portion of the total sales price greater than $100 | $0.30 |
| Fine Art | – 20% for the portion of Sales Proceeds up to $100 ( with a minimum referral fee of $1.00)- 15% for any portion of Sales proceeds greater than $100 up to $1000.- 10% for any portion of Sales proceeds greater than $1,000 up to $5,000 – 5% for any portion of Sales Proceeds greater than $5,000 | — |
| Furniture & Decor | – 15% for the portion of the total sales price up to $200.00- 10% for any portion of the total sales price greater than $200Note: Mattresses will be charged 15% regardless of price point. | $0.30 |
| Gift Cards | 20% | — |
| Grocery & Gourmet Food | – 8% for products with a total sales price of $15.00 or less- 15% for products with a total sales price greater than $15.00 | — |
| Health and Personal Care (Including personal care appliances) | -8% for products with a total sales price of $10.00 or less- 15% for items with a total sales price greater than $10.00 | $0.30 |
| Home & Garden (Including Pet Supplies) | 15% | $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- 5% for any portion of the total sales price greater than $250.00 | $0.30 |
| Kitchen | 15% | $0.30 |
| Luggage & Travel Accessories | 15% | $0.30 |
| Major Appliances | – 15% for the portion of the total sales price up to $300- 8% for any portion of the total sales price greater than $300 | $0.30 |
| Music | 15% + 1.80 closing fee | — |
| Musical Instruments | 15% | $0.30 |
| Office Products | 15% | $0.30 |
| Outdoors | 15% | $0.30 |
| Personal Computers | 6% | $0.30 |
| Shoes, Handbags & Sunglasses | – 18% for products with a total sales price of $75.00 or less- 15% for products with a total sales price above $75.00 | $0.30 |
| Software & Computer / Video Games | 15% + $1.80 closing fee | — |
| Sports (excluding sports collectibles) | 15% | $0.30 |
| Tools & Home Improvement | 15%, except, 12% for base equipment power tools | $0.30 |
| Toys and Games | 15% | $0.30 |
| Unlocked Cell phones | 8% | $0.30 |
| Video & DVD | 15% + $1.80 closing fee | — |
| Video Game Consoles | 8% + 1.80 closing fee | — |
| 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 |
| Everything Else | 15% | $0.30 |
- Fulfillment by Amazon vs Fulfillment by Seller
You need to also be aware of fulfillment fees. If you’re using FBA (fulfilled by Amazon) you’ll be charged a fulfillment fee for each unit sold.
Just a quick overview on fulfillment by Amazon, simply means that Amazon will be the one storing your products in their fulfillment centers. When an order is made, Amazon will also be the one doing the packing and shipping. This option of course comes with a cost. You do however have an option on whether to let Amazon do the fulfillment or you can ship the orders out on your own.
Amazon Seller Fees for FBA
If you decided to choose the convenience of letting Amazon do the fulfillment of your orders, here are the fulfillment fees.
Fulfillment Fees for non-apparel products
| Size Tier | Max Dimension | Shipping Weight | Packaging | Fulfillment fee by unit |
Small standard | 15”x12”x0.75” | 10oz or less | 4oz. | $2.92 |
| 10+ to 16oz | 4oz. | $3.11 | ||
| Large standard | 18”x14”x8” | 10oz or less | 4oz. | $3.70 |
| 10+ to 16oz. | 4oz. | $3.81 | ||
| 1 to 2 lb | 4oz. | $5.35 | ||
| 2 to 3 lb | 4oz. | $5.95 | ||
| 3 to 20 lb | 4oz. | $5.95 + $0.38/lb above first 3 lb. | ||
| Small oversize | 60”x30” | 71lb or less | 1lb. | $8.26 + $0.38/lb above first 2 lb. |
| Medium oversize | 108” longest side | 151lb or less | 1lb. | $11.37 + $0.39/lb above first 2 lb. |
| Large oversize | 108” longest side | 151lb or less | 1lb. | $75.78 + $0.79/lb above first 90lb. |
| Special oversize | >108” longest side | N/A | 1lb. | $137.32 + $0.91/lb above first 90lb. |
Fulfillment fees for apparel products
Amazon seller fees for apparel products are different from the fees for non-apparel products when you choose to go for FBA.
| Size Tier | Max Dimension | Shipping Weight | Packaging | Fulfillment fee per unit |
| Small standard | 15” x 12” x 0.75” | 10oz or less | 4 oz. | $2.92 |
| 10+ to 16oz | 4 oz. | $3.11 | ||
| Large standard | 18”x14”x8” | 10 oz or less | 4 oz. | $3.70 |
| 10+ to 16oz | 4 oz. | $3.81 | ||
| 1lb. to 2lb. | 4 oz. | $5.35 | ||
| 2lb. to 3lb. | 4 oz. | $5.95 | ||
| 3lb. to 20lb. | 4 oz. | $5.95 + $0.38/lb above first 3 lb. | ||
| Small oversize | 60” x 30” | 71lb or less | 1 lb. | $8.26 + $0.38/lb above first 2lb. |
| Medium oversize | 108” (longest side) | 151 lb or less | 1 lb. | $11.37 + $0.39/lb above first 2lb. |
| Large oversize | 108” (longest side) | 151 lb or less | 1 lb. | $75.78 + $0.79 / lb above first 90 lb. |
| Special oversize | >108” (longest side) | N/A | 1 lb. | $137.32 + $0.91/lb above first 90 lb. |
Aside from these amazon seller fees for FBA, here are two more things you should know.
- The shipping weight is computed by adding the packaging weight and the unit weight.
- If the product comes with a lithium battery an additional $0.11 will be charged per unit.
Shipping costs for Fulfillment by Seller
If you want to avoid the FBA fees you can fulfill the order on your own. That would mean, however, that you will have to do the handling and shipping of your products. In general, you as the seller would handle all the shipping fees, except for products such as books, music, videos, and DVDs. For these products, the seller will be receiving the shipping amount in terms of shipping credits. Here are the shipping rates for said products.
Amazon Seller Fees for Books, music, videos, and DVD’s
| Shipping Method | Books | Music | Videos | DVD’s |
| Domestic Standard* | $3.99 | $3.99 | $3.99 | $3.99 |
| Domestic Expedited** | $6.99 | $6.19 | $6.19 | $6.19 |
| Domestic two day*** | $14.95 | $14.95 | $14.95 | $14.95 |
| International Standard | Up to 1lb. – $16.95 Over 1lb – $24.95 | $14.95 | $14.95 | $14.95 |
| International Expedited | $46.50 | $46.50 | $46.50 | $46.50 |
| * Includes APO, FPO, and U.S. protectorate addresses** Two-day shipping is available to eligible sellers only.*** Refers to the weight of the item, excluding the seller’s packaging |
Amazon seller fees for FBA Storage
When you let Amazon provide the fulfillment service for your orders, you will have to ship your products to Amazon for storage. Which means you have to pay for storage fees. You’ll notice that the storage fees are MUCH higher in quarter 4 due to the holiday shopping season.
| 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 |
Note that there will be additional fees for goods that are categorized under dangerous products. There will also be an additional fee for products that were stored in an Amazon fulfillment center for more than 365 days.
In general, when estimating shipping fees, it’s typical to assume that inventory will be in the FBA warehouses for an average of 2-3 months.
Other Amazon Seller Fees
- Inventory fees – for those who are subscribed to Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), aside from the monthly inventory storage fees, other fees such as removal order fees and long-term storage fees may be incurred.
- Rental book service fee – those offering textbook rentals will be charged $5.00 for the rental book service fee.
- High Volume Listing Fees – sellers who have a high volume of active non-media listings that were not sold in 12 months will be charged a monthly fee amounting to $0.005 per eligible listing as a way to cover cataloging costs. Note, however, that Amazon waives the fee for the first 100,000 listings.
- Refund administration fee – if you have refunded the cost of an item to a customer for which you already got paid, Amazon will refund you the referral fees deducted by Amazon less the refund administration fee. The refund administration fee will either be $5 or 20% of the referral fee, whichever is lesser.
Conclusion:
Amazon can be a great platform to sell your products, especially so that Amazon is averaging about 2.5B of visits per month. That is a lot of online shoppers looking for the right product to buy. This makes putting your product on Amazon worth it if you know how to navigate the system efficiently. That includes optimizing your inventory so that you would be paying less on fees. This is just one of the areas that our Amazon consultants can help you with. If you want to know more about how you can optimize your product page on Amazon you can contact us today at Five Star Commerce.
