Amazon FBA Fee Breakdown: What Every Importer Should Budget For
The Fees Nobody Tells You About (Until It's Too Late)
Amazon makes FBA sound simple: send your products, they handle the rest. What they don't emphasise is that "the rest" comes with a complex fee structure that can consume 40–50% of your selling price if you're not careful.
Here's every fee, explained in plain language.
Core FBA Fees
Referral Fee
A percentage commission Amazon takes on every sale. This varies by category:
| Category | Referral Fee |
|---|---|
| Most categories | 15% |
| Electronics | 8% |
| Clothing and accessories | 15% |
| Automotive | 12% |
| Books | 15% |
| Grocery | 8–15% |
Example: A product selling for £24.99 in most categories pays £3.75 in referral fees.
FBA Fulfilment Fee
A per-unit fee for picking, packing, and shipping to the customer. Based on product size and weight:
| Size Tier | Weight | Approx. Fee (UK) |
|---|---|---|
| Small standard | Up to 150g | £1.66 |
| Standard | 150g–400g | £2.28 |
| Standard | 400g–900g | £2.76 |
| Standard | 900g–1.4kg | £3.15 |
| Large standard | 1.4–4.5kg | £4.18–£5.47 |
| Small oversize | Up to 15kg | £5.89–£8.50 |
Key insight: Every gram matters. If your product is 905g, it costs significantly more than one at 895g. Optimise packaging to stay in a lower tier. Use the FBA calculator to check your exact fee tier.
Monthly Storage Fees
Charged per cubic foot of warehouse space your inventory occupies:
| Period | Standard Size | Oversize |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Sep | £0.75/cu ft | £0.50/cu ft |
| Oct–Dec | £2.40/cu ft | £1.20/cu ft |
Q4 storage fees triple — if your products don't sell fast during the holidays, you're paying premium storage rates.
Long-Term Storage Fee
Inventory sitting for 181–365 days incurs a surcharge. Beyond 365 days, fees increase further. This penalises slow-moving products and overstocking.
Less Obvious Fees
Inbound Placement Fee
When you ship inventory to Amazon, they may distribute it across multiple warehouses. If you want to ship to a single location, you'll pay an inbound placement fee per unit.
Returns Processing Fee
In categories with free returns (most categories now), Amazon charges a return processing fee. This is on top of losing the referral fee on the refunded sale.
Removal and Disposal Fees
Need to get unsold inventory out of Amazon's warehouses? That costs money too:
- Removal: £0.25–0.60 per unit
- Disposal: £0.10–0.25 per unit
FBA Prep Service Fees
If your products need labelling, poly-bagging, or bubble-wrapping, Amazon can do it — at £0.20–0.80 per unit. Doing this yourself (or having your supplier do it) is cheaper.
The Hidden Fee: Advertising
While technically not an FBA fee, PPC advertising is essential for most products. Typical costs:
- Average CPC (Cost Per Click): £0.30–1.50 depending on category
- ACoS (Advertising Cost of Sale): 15–35% of advertising-driven revenue
- Effective cost per unit: 10–25% of selling price
Many sellers don't include advertising in their profitability calculations. This is a mistake — for new products, advertising is your biggest expense after the product itself.
Complete Fee Example
A kitchen product selling at £19.99:
| Fee | Amount | % of Sale |
|---|---|---|
| Referral fee (15%) | £3.00 | 15.0% |
| FBA fulfilment | £2.76 | 13.8% |
| Storage (prorated) | £0.15 | 0.8% |
| Returns (5% rate) | £1.00 | 5.0% |
| PPC advertising | £3.00 | 15.0% |
| Total Amazon costs | £9.91 | 49.6% |
| Remaining for product + profit | £10.08 | 50.4% |
If your landed cost is £6.00, your profit is £4.08 per unit (20.4% margin). That's workable — but it shows why products with a landed cost above £8–9 at this price point don't work.
How to Model Your FBA Profitability
- Calculate your landed cost per unit
- Look up your FBA fees using the FBA calculator
- Estimate your advertising spend (start with 15–20% of selling price)
- Factor in returns (use your category's average rate)
- Use LandedCost.io's profitability tool to see the full picture
The importers who profit on Amazon are the ones who know their numbers before they ship the first unit.
Know your true landed cost
before you import
Calculate duty, shipping, FX rates, and Amazon fees in one place. See your real profit per unit before committing to a shipment.
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