How Much Does It Cost to Sell on Amazon in 2026?

ByGulfam Haidar

How much does it cost to sell on Amazon? The plan costs $39.99 a month (Professional) or $0.99 per item sold (Individual). Amazon also keeps a referral fee on each sale, from 5% to 45%, and most items pay 15%. If Amazon ships your orders (FBA), you also pay a fulfillment fee, a 3.5% surcharge on it, and storage. In our worked examples, Amazon keeps about 30% to 45% of the price before ads, and 40% to 55% after ads.

Key facts

  • Professional plan: $39.99 a month. Individual plan: $0.99 per item sold (Amazon, checked 22 Sep 2026).
  • Referral fee: 5% to 45%, 15% in most categories, $0.30 minimum in most categories.
  • FBA fees rose by an average of $0.08 per unit on 15 January 2026. Referral fees did not change.
  • A 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge on FBA fees started on 17 April 2026.
  • The holiday peak fee averages $0.32 per unit from 15 October 2026 to 14 January 2027.

What changed in Amazon seller fees in 2026

Six changes landed in 2026, and four of them raise your cost per unit. Amazon’s own 2026 fee update says FBA fees rose by an average of $0.08 per unit on 15 January. It also says there were no new FBA fee types and no change to referral fees.

The bigger hit came in April. Amazon added a 3.5% “temporary” fuel and logistics surcharge on FBA fees, reported by Supply Chain Dive. It averages about $0.17 per unit, and Amazon has given no end date.

Date (2026) Change Cost to you
1 January FBA prep and labeling services ended (trade press report) You prep and label units yourself or pay a 3PL
15 January FBA fees up, no new fee types, referral fees unchanged +$0.08 per unit on average
12 March DD+7 payouts fully rolled out (trade press report) Cash held until 7 days after delivery
17 April 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge on FBA fees (US and Canada) About +$0.17 per unit on average
2 May Same 3.5% surcharge on Multi-Channel Fulfillment and Buy with Prime 3.5% of those fees
15 October Holiday peak fee starts, runs to 14 January 2027 About +$0.32 per unit on average

Selling plan fees: Individual vs Professional

The Professional plan pays off once you sell 40 or more items a month. At 40 sales, the Individual plan costs 40 x $0.99 = $39.60, about the same as the $39.99 Professional fee. Above that, every sale on Individual costs you more.

The plan fee is also about tools, not only price. Amazon’s pricing page lists these as Professional only:

  • Amazon Ads (Sponsored Products and other ad types)
  • Brand tools such as enhanced product pages and a Store
  • Automate Pricing
  • Selling to businesses through Amazon Business
  • Global Selling and API or app access

Both plans can list products, use FBA and do bulk uploads. If you plan to run ads or build a brand, pick Professional from day one. Our seller account registration guide walks through the sign-up.

Referral fees by category

The referral fee is Amazon’s commission on each sale. It is a percentage of the total price the buyer pays, including shipping and gift wrap. Most categories pay 15%, and most have a $0.30 minimum per item.

This table comes from Amazon’s pricing page, checked on 22 September 2026.

Category Referral fee Minimum
Everything else 15% $0.30
Home and Kitchen 15% $0.30
Sports and Outdoors, Toys and Games, Tools 15% $0.30
Clothing and Accessories 5% up to $15, 10% over $15 to $20, 17% over $20 $0.30
Baby Products 8% up to $10, 15% over $10 $0.30
Beauty, Health and Personal Care 8% up to $10, 15% over $10 $0.30
Grocery and Gourmet 8% up to $15, 15% over $15 None
Electronics Accessories 15% on the first $100, 8% on the rest $0.30
Consumer Electronics 8% $0.30
Automotive and Powersports 12% $0.30
Jewelry 20% on the first $250, 5% on the rest $0.30
Furniture 15% on the first $200, 10% on the rest $0.30
Pet Supplies 15% (22% for veterinary diets) $0.30
Amazon Device Accessories 45% $0.30

Watch the tiers closely, because a clothing item at $14.99 pays 5%, or $0.75. The same item at $15.01 pays 10%, or $1.50. That two-cent price rise costs you 73 cents.

Closing fee for books and media: $1.80 per item

Books, music, DVDs and other media pay a $1.80 closing fee on every sale. It sits on top of the 15% referral fee, and media has no $0.30 minimum. On a $10 used book, Amazon takes $1.50 plus $1.80, which is 33% before any shipping cost.

FBA fees in 2026

FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) means Amazon stores, packs and ships your orders. You pay a fulfillment fee per unit, plus storage and a few conditional fees. Amazon’s public FBA page does not list the rates. It points you to the Revenue Calculator. The full tables sit inside Seller Central.

Fulfillment fees by size tier

Your fee depends on size tier, shipping weight and price band. Amazon’s own 2026 examples, reported by Supply Chain Dive, give a sense of scale:

Example item Size tier 2026 fee Holiday peak fee
Phone case Small standard $2.49 $2.68
T-shirt Large standard $6.14 $6.53
Baby cot Small bulky $10.21 $11.25
TV Extra large, 50 to 70 lb $48.57 $51.38

Third-party trackers report the January change by price band: about +$0.05 under $10, and +$0.31 on average over $50. Amazon has not published that split, so treat it as a guide.

Monthly storage fees

Standard-size storage costs $0.78 per cubic foot from January to September and $2.40 from October to December, per third-party rate trackers. Those base rates have held since 2024. A storage utilization surcharge can push standard size higher if your stock sits too long for your sales rate.

Aged inventory surcharge

Units stored more than 12 months pay a monthly aged inventory surcharge. Trackers report the greater of $0.30 per unit or $6.90 per cubic foot at 12 to 15 months. A new 15+ month tier is reported at $0.35 per unit or $7.90 per cubic foot. Amazon has not confirmed these on a public page.

Low-inventory-level fee

This fee hits when your stock runs too thin. Amazon charges it when both your 30-day and 90-day days of supply are under 28 days. Trackers report about $0.32 to $1.11 per unit for standard size. In 2026 it is checked per FNSKU (your FBA barcode) and now covers bulky items. Slow sellers stay exempt from it.

Inbound placement fee

This fee covers how Amazon spreads your shipment across its warehouses. If you choose the Amazon-optimized split (usually several locations), the fee is $0. If you send everything to one site, you pay the most. Trackers report some 3 to 20 lb bands at $0.38 to $1.50 per unit.

Returns processing fee

You pay this when your return rate beats your category’s threshold. Trackers report about 4.8% for most items and 8.8% for electronics accessories. Clothing and shoes pay it on every return. For small standard items, reports put it at about $1.78 to $2.21 per return.

Other costs Amazon does not list on the pricing page

Amazon seller fees are only part of the bill. Most new sellers also pay for the items below, and they add up before the first sale.

  • Ads. Sponsored Products run on a cost per click. Many launches spend 10% or more of sales on ads in the first months. We cut one account’s ACoS (ad spend as a share of ad sales) from 35% to 10% in six months. See our ACoS case study.
  • Barcodes. Amazon requires a GTIN, usually a UPC from GS1 US, unless you get an exemption.
  • Trademark. Brand Registry needs a pending or live trademark. The USPTO sets the filing fee.
  • Photos, samples and tools. Product photos, test orders and research software all cost money. Our product research guide covers the tool side.
  • Refund administration fee. When you refund an order, Amazon keeps part of the referral fee. Check the current rate in Seller Central.

How much does it cost to sell on Amazon? Worked examples at $12, $25 and $60

These three examples show every fee Amazon charges on one FBA unit, then add ads. Referral rates come from Amazon’s table. The FBA fee, storage and ad cost are example assumptions, because exact FBA fees depend on your size and weight. Run your own item through Amazon’s Revenue Calculator before you buy stock.

Our assumptions: Professional plan spread over 300 units a month ($39.99 / 300 = $0.13 per unit). Storage for one month at $0.78 per cubic foot. Ads at 10% of price. The 3.5% surcharge applies to the FBA fee only.

Line $12 kitchen gadget $25 home item $60 sports item
Referral fee (15%) $1.80 $3.75 $9.00
FBA fee (example assumption) $3.30 $5.50 $8.00
3.5% surcharge on FBA fee $0.12 $0.19 $0.28
Storage (0.05 / 0.25 / 0.6 cu ft x $0.78) $0.04 $0.20 $0.47
Plan fee per unit $0.13 $0.13 $0.13
Amazon fees before ads $5.39 (44.9%) $9.77 (39.1%) $17.88 (29.8%)
Ads at 10% (example assumption) $1.20 $2.50 $6.00
Amazon’s total take $6.59 (54.9%) $12.27 (49.1%) $23.88 (39.8%)
Landed product cost (example) $3.00 $6.25 $15.00
Profit per unit $2.41 (20.1%) $6.48 (25.9%) $21.12 (35.2%)

Here is the math for the $25 item. The referral fee is $25 x 15% = $3.75. The surcharge is $5.50 x 3.5% = $0.19. Storage is 0.25 x $0.78 = $0.20. Add the $0.13 plan share and you get $9.77, which is 39.1% of $25.

Now shift the same item to November. Storage rises to 0.25 x $2.40 = $0.60. The holiday fee adds about $0.32, plus 3.5% on it. Fees before ads climb to about $10.50, or 42% of the price.


So how much does Amazon take from each sale?

On an FBA item, Amazon usually keeps about 30% to 45% of the price in fees, and 40% to 55% once you add ads. The cheaper the item, the bigger the share, because the FBA fee barely drops with price.

In our examples, the $12 gadget loses 45% to fees, the $25 item 39%, and the $60 item 30%. If you ship orders yourself (FBM, or Fulfilled by Merchant), Amazon’s take drops to the referral fee and plan share, often 15% to 16%. You then pay for postage, packing and labor on your own.

This is why we tell new sellers to aim for items priced at $20 or more. Below that, the fixed FBA fee eats most of the margin.

New seller incentives: what they are really worth

Amazon markets its New Seller Incentives as “over $50,000” in value. For most small sellers, the real figure is closer to $3,000 to $6,000 in year one. The headline assumes about $1 million in branded sales.

Here is the list from Amazon’s incentives page, checked 22 September 2026:

Incentive Headline value What it takes
Brand bonus 10% back on the first $50,000 of branded sales, then 5% up to $1 million Join Brand Registry within 6 months of your first listing
Vine credit $200 Enroll a product in Vine for early reviews
Inbound placement credit $400 Ship inventory into FBA
Sponsored Products credits Up to $1,000, matched Spend your own money on ads
Partner Carrier discount $100 Use Amazon’s partnered carrier
AGL credit $200 Use Amazon Global Logistics
Coupon credit $50 Run a coupon
FBA extras Free storage and liquidations for new items, no low-inventory fee or storage surcharge for 1 year Enroll through FBA New Selection

The $50,000 math works like this. 10% of $50,000 is $5,000. Then 5% of the next $950,000 is $47,500. You need $1 million in branded sales to earn the full amount.

A more typical first year looks like $3,000 a month in branded sales. That is $36,000 a year, so the bonus is $3,600. Add $200 Vine, $400 placement and $1,000 in ad credits you match with your own spend. The total lands near $5,200. Most of these credits must be claimed within 90 days of listing, so plan the launch around them.

Amazon’s pricing page also mentions first-year referral fee waivers for some new brands. Amazon has not published the full terms, so check them in Seller Central before you count on them.

Cash flow: DD+7 and when Amazon pays you

Since March 2026, Amazon holds each sale’s funds until 7 days after the buyer receives the order. This is called DD+7 (delivery date plus 7 days). Trade press reports and Seller Forums threads date the full rollout to 12 March 2026. Amazon has not published a dated notice we could confirm.

Take a seller doing $10,000 a month. Seven extra days means about $2,300 of sales on hold at any time ($10,000 / 30 x 7). Add 2 to 3 days of shipping time, and the gap grows to about $3,000. That is cash you cannot spend on new stock or ads while you wait.

Plan for it by keeping a cash buffer of about one-third of a month’s sales. Our inventory management guide shows how to time reorders so the gap does not stall you.

Seven ways to lower your Amazon fees

Most fee savings come from the FBA side, because referral rates are fixed by category. These are the steps we check first in the accounts we manage.

  1. Re-measure your packaging. A box that is half an inch too long can push an item into a higher size tier. Trim the box, then ask Amazon to re-measure the item.
  2. Use the Amazon-optimized split. It cuts the inbound placement fee to $0, and the trade-off is more boxes going to more warehouses.
  3. Keep at least 28 days of supply. That keeps you clear of the low-inventory-level fee, so set reorder alerts at 45 days.
  4. Remove or sell aged stock early. Clear units before 12 months to skip the aged inventory surcharge. Run a coupon or a removal order at month 10.
  5. Price below category thresholds. A $15.01 shirt pays twice the referral rate of a $14.99 shirt. Baby and beauty items change rate at $10.
  6. Run the Revenue Calculator before launch. Check fees at your real size and weight before you order stock, then check again each January.
  7. File claims for fee errors. Amazon sometimes charges fees based on the wrong dimensions. Our FBA reimbursement guide shows how to find and claim them.

Where these numbers could be wrong

Amazon changes fees at least once a year, and it can add surcharges with short notice. The 3.5% surcharge came with about two weeks’ notice. Every figure here carries a date for that reason.

Many exact FBA tables sit behind the Seller Central login. Where we could not confirm a rate at a primary source, we say so. Our worked examples use assumptions for FBA fees, storage size and ads, and your item will differ.

This guide also covers the US only. Europe, Canada and Japan use different rates and VAT rules. If you sell there, use each marketplace’s own fee pages.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to sell on Amazon per month?

The fixed monthly cost is $39.99 on the Professional plan. On the Individual plan there is no monthly fee, only $0.99 per item sold. On top of that, you pay referral fees on each sale and, with FBA, fulfillment and storage. Most small sellers also budget for ads.

How much does Amazon take from each sale?

Amazon usually keeps 30% to 45% of the price on an FBA item, counting referral, fulfillment, surcharge and storage fees. Add ads and the share often reaches 40% to 55%. Cheap items lose a bigger share, because the fulfillment fee stays almost the same as price drops.

Is an Amazon seller account free?

Opening an account is free on the Individual plan. You pay nothing until you sell, then $0.99 per item plus referral fees. The Professional plan charges $39.99 a month from the start. Either way, registration itself has no sign-up charge.

When is the Professional plan worth it?

Professional pays off at about 40 sales a month. At that point, 40 x $0.99 equals $39.60, roughly the $39.99 monthly fee. You also need Professional to run Amazon Ads, use brand tools, automate pricing or sell through Amazon Business, so most brands choose it early.

What are the FBA fees for 2026?

FBA fees depend on size tier, weight and price. Amazon’s own 2026 examples include $2.49 for a small phone case and $6.14 for a T-shirt. Rates rose by an average of $0.08 per unit on 15 January 2026. Check your exact item in the Revenue Calculator.

Did Amazon raise fees in 2026?

Yes. FBA fees went up by an average of $0.08 per unit in January, and a 3.5% surcharge on FBA fees began in April. Referral fees stayed the same. The holiday peak fee returns on 15 October at about $0.32 per unit.

What is the Amazon fuel surcharge?

It is a 3.5% fee added to FBA fulfillment fees from 17 April 2026. It averages about $0.17 per unit. Amazon calls it temporary but gave no end date. It also applies to Multi-Channel Fulfillment and Buy with Prime from 2 May 2026.

What is the inbound placement fee, and how do I avoid it?

It is a per-unit fee for how your shipment is split across Amazon warehouses. Choose the Amazon-optimized split and the fee is $0. Sending all units to one site costs the most. New sellers also get a $400 placement credit through the incentives program.

What is the low-inventory-level fee?

It is a per-unit charge when your stock runs low. Amazon applies it when both your 30-day and 90-day supply fall under 28 days. Reported rates are about $0.32 to $1.11 per standard unit. New sellers are exempt for their first year.

How much is FBA storage?

Standard-size storage runs about $0.78 per cubic foot a month from January to September. It jumps to about $2.40 from October to December. Extra surcharges apply to stock held too long or stored beyond your sales rate. Confirm current rates in Seller Central.

Are there fee discounts for new sellers?

Yes. New sellers can earn 10% back on their first $50,000 of branded sales, plus Vine, ad and shipping credits. Most need Brand Registry within 6 months or action within 90 days. For a typical small seller, the real value is about $3,000 to $6,000.

When does Amazon pay sellers?

Amazon releases funds 7 days after the order is delivered, a rule called DD+7. Money then moves to your bank account in the next scheduled payout. For a seller making $10,000 a month, about $3,000 is on hold at any time.

If you want a second pair of eyes on your fees, ads and cash flow, see our Amazon account management service.

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