Amazon FBA Fees Explained

What Are FBA Fees?

FBA (Fulfilment by Amazon) is Amazon's service where sellers send inventory to Amazon's fulfilment centres and Amazon picks, packs and ships orders on their behalf. In exchange, Amazon charges a set of fees that cover the various stages of that process.

FBA fees come in several forms, and understanding each one is essential for accurate profitability modelling. Underestimating FBA costs is one of the most common reasons sellers operate at thinner margins than they realise — or at a loss without knowing it.

Amazon publishes its FBA fee schedules for each marketplace in Seller Central. The rates are updated periodically and differ between Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany and other regional marketplaces. Always verify current rates in Seller Central for the marketplace you sell in — do not rely on third-party figures that may be out of date.

FBA Fulfilment Fees

The FBA fulfilment fee is charged per unit shipped. It covers the cost of picking the product from the warehouse shelf, packing it and delivering it to the customer. The fee is determined by the product's size tier and its unit weight (or dimensional weight for bulky items).

Amazon defines size tiers by the product's dimensions and weight when packaged for shipment — not just the product itself. A product that packages into a small envelope pays a lower fulfilment fee than the same product packaged in a large box. Getting your packaging dimensions accurate in your product listing is important for paying the correct (and not an inflated) fulfilment fee tier.

How Size Tiers Work

Amazon assigns each FBA product to a size tier based on its packaged dimensions and weight. Smaller, lighter products fall into lower tiers with lower fulfilment fees. Larger or heavier products fall into higher tiers. The exact tier thresholds and associated fees are published in Amazon's FBA fee schedule for each marketplace. Review your products' size tier assignments in Seller Central — Amazon's system does not always auto-classify accurately, and an incorrect tier assignment results in either overpaying or underpaying fees.

Dimensional Weight

For larger, lighter products, Amazon may use dimensional weight (also called volumetric weight) rather than actual weight to calculate fees. Dimensional weight is calculated from the package dimensions and is used when it exceeds the actual weight. This affects bulky but lightweight products — such as large toys or packaging-heavy items — which may incur higher fees than their actual weight would suggest.

FBA Storage Fees

In addition to the per-unit fulfilment fee, Amazon charges monthly storage fees for the space your inventory occupies in its fulfilment centres. Storage fees are calculated based on the daily average cubic space (measured in cubic feet on Amazon US, or cubic metres on Amazon EU) your inventory occupies each month.

Standard vs Peak Storage Rates

Amazon charges a higher storage rate during October, November and December to reflect increased demand for warehouse space during the peak selling season. The peak rate is significantly higher than the standard rate and applies regardless of your sales velocity during those months. Sellers who send large amounts of slow-moving stock before Q4 can accumulate substantial storage fees if that inventory doesn't sell.

Long-Term Storage Fees

Amazon charges additional fees for inventory that has been stored in its fulfilment centres for extended periods — currently beyond 365 days on most marketplaces. Long-term storage fees are charged on top of standard monthly storage and apply per cubic foot (or cubic metre) of space occupied. For slow-moving products, these fees can accumulate quickly and significantly erode margin. Amazon provides inventory age reports in Seller Central to help you identify at-risk stock.

Other FBA Fees to Know

Returns Processing Fees

When a customer returns an FBA order, Amazon processes the return on your behalf. For most product categories, Amazon does not charge an additional return processing fee — the original fulfilment fee is not refunded, but no extra fee is charged on top. However, some categories do incur a returns processing fee. Check the fee schedule for your specific category. The returned item may be restocked as new, reclassified as used, or deemed unsellable depending on its condition.

Removal and Disposal Fees

If you want to retrieve unsold inventory from Amazon's fulfilment centres, Amazon charges a removal fee per unit. If you choose to have Amazon dispose of the inventory rather than return it to you, a disposal fee applies. These fees exist to cover the labour cost of moving your inventory out of the warehouse. Removal orders take time to process — typically several weeks — so they should be initiated well in advance of any storage fee deadlines.

Unplanned Service Fees

If inventory arrives at Amazon's fulfilment centres in a condition that does not meet FBA preparation requirements — unlabelled, improperly packaged or not compliant with Amazon's inbound standards — Amazon may apply unplanned service fees to cover the prep work done on your behalf. These fees can be significant and are entirely avoidable by following Amazon's FBA prep requirements before shipping.

How to Minimise FBA Fees

Verify Your Product's Size Tier

Check your product's assigned size tier in Seller Central under Manage Inventory. If the dimensions or weight on record are incorrect, your fee may be assigned to the wrong tier. Correcting inaccurate measurements can reduce your fulfilment fee per unit.

Manage Inventory Age Proactively

Monitor your inventory age report in Seller Central regularly. Items approaching the long-term storage threshold may be more economical to sell at a reduced price, discount or even remove than to pay long-term storage fees on. A repricer can help by automatically applying a more aggressive pricing strategy to ageing stock.

Avoid Overstocking Before Q4

Sending excess stock to Amazon before Q4 risks incurring peak storage rates on inventory that doesn't sell quickly. Match your inbound quantities to realistic sell-through projections, factoring in peak season storage rates in your margin model.

Use FBA Revenue Calculator

Amazon provides a free FBA Revenue Calculator in Seller Central that lets you input a product's details and calculates the expected fees and estimated profit at a given sale price. Use it before listing a new product to verify the margin at your expected price point. It uses current fee rates for the marketplace you select.

Tracking Your Actual FBA Fees

Amazon provides detailed fee reports in Seller Central under Reports → Payments. These reports itemise every fee charged per transaction and per storage period. For a complete picture of what you're paying in FBA fees, review these alongside your order data — not just the high-level settlement summary.

For sellers with larger catalogues, profit analytics tools automate this process by pulling fee data directly from your settlement reports and applying it at the ASIN and order level. This makes it possible to see the true all-in cost of FBA per product without manual reconciliation.

FBA Fees FAQ

Where can I find the current FBA fee schedule?

In Seller Central, go to Help → FBA policies and requirements → FBA features, services, and fees. Amazon publishes the full fee schedule for each marketplace here. Rates are updated periodically so always check the live schedule rather than relying on figures from articles or tools that may not reflect the latest changes.

Are FBA fees the same on all Amazon marketplaces?

No. FBA fees differ between Amazon US, UK, Germany, France, Japan and other marketplaces. If you sell across multiple regions, you need to model fees per marketplace separately. The fee categories are similar but the specific rates and size tier thresholds vary.

Do FBA fees include the referral fee?

No. The FBA fulfilment fee is separate from the referral fee. Both are charged on FBA orders — the referral fee is Amazon's selling commission on the sale, and the FBA fee covers the fulfilment service. Both must be included in your margin calculation.

Can I switch from FBA to FBM to reduce fees?

Yes, but the comparison must account for your own fulfilment costs — shipping rates, packaging, labour — plus the impact on Buy Box competitiveness. FBA's Buy Box advantage means some sellers who switch to FBM on cost grounds discover their sales volume drops enough to offset the fee saving. Model the complete impact before switching.