Amazon FBA Fees Explained — Complete Cost Breakdown (2026)

Updated October 2026 · 6 min read

Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) lets you store products in Amazon's warehouses and have them picked, packed and shipped on your behalf. In exchange, Amazon charges a set of fees that, if you don't account for them carefully, can turn a profitable product into a losing one. Here is every fee you need to know.

The Four Main FBA Fees

1. Referral Fee

Amazon's cut of every sale. It is a percentage of the total sale price (including shipping) and varies by category — typically 8–15%. Electronics are around 8%, toys and games 15%, jewellery up to 20%. This is unavoidable regardless of whether you use FBA or FBM.

2. FBA Fulfilment Fee

Charged per unit shipped. It covers picking, packing, shipping, customer service and returns handling. The fee is based on the product's size tier and weight:

3. Monthly Storage Fee

Charged per cubic foot of space your inventory occupies in Amazon's fulfilment centres. Standard rates: $0.78/cu ft (Jan–Sep) and $2.40/cu ft (Oct–Dec — peak season surge). Slow-selling inventory accrues storage costs quickly, eroding margins.

4. Long-Term Storage Fee

Items stored for over 365 days are charged an additional $6.90 per cubic foot (or $0.15 per unit, whichever is greater) on top of monthly storage fees. This penalises slow-moving stock heavily — keep an eye on your IPI (Inventory Performance Index) score.

Real Example: What Does a Seller Actually Keep?

Product: a kitchen gadget selling for $29.99, weighing 1 lb, standard size.

• Sale price: $29.99
• Referral fee (15%): −$4.50
• FBA fulfilment fee: −$5.42
• Storage (monthly, per unit estimate): −$0.20
• COGS (product + shipping to Amazon): −$8.00
• Net profit: ~$11.87 (39.6% margin)

Use the FBA Calculator to model your own products — input your sale price, COGS and product dimensions and it calculates net margin instantly.

Tips to Reduce FBA Fees

• Reduce package dimensions — crossing from large standard to small standard can save $1–2 per unit.
• Watch your sell-through rate — avoid long-term storage fees by running promotions on slow movers before they hit 365 days.
• Bundle products — two items shipped as one unit pay one fulfilment fee instead of two.
• Use FBA for high-velocity items only — for slow sellers, Merchant Fulfilled (FBM) may be cheaper.