How Much Does It Cost to Sell on Amazon? Meet Your Guide to Amazon Seller Fees

Amazon is the go-to ecommerce platform, claiming more than 40% of the world’s online sales. Not to mention, small-to-midsized businesses (SMBs) generate almost 60% of the ecommerce site’s total sales, which is why more companies are thinking about selling on Amazon. What is the cost of selling on Amazon, though?

Tough question. Amazon seller fees vary widely, depending on the item’s cost, category, and weight, as well as the seller’s shipping solutions, seller plan, and order fulfillment process.

Simply put, you can’t put an exact number to the cost of selling on Amazon. You can, however, use this guide (and its table) to view the different Amazon seller fees.

Keep reading to start estimating your Amazon selling fees!

If you’re ready to start selling on Amazon, consider launching your brand with WebFX. Our Amazon Store and marketplace launch services can make creating your account, uploading your products, and optimizing them for sales fast, easy, and effective. Learn more by contacting us online or calling us at 888-601-5359!

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How much does it cost to sell on Amazon?

Amazon seller fees depend on more than 10 different factors, including the seller’s account type. Individual sellers pay $0.99 for every item sold, while Professional sellers pay $39.99 per month. Both account types pay a variable closing fee of $1.80 for every media item sold, plus a referral fee percentage, which ranges from 6% to 96%, for every item sold.

Additional Amazon seller fees depend on the seller’s order fulfillment and shipping settings.

Summary Table: Amazon Seller Fees

If you’re looking for a quick-and-easy reference for Amazon seller fees, you’ve found it. This table compiles every possible cost for selling on Amazon. Check it out!

Curious about some of these Amazon selling fees?

Keep reading for a breakdown of each!

Your guide to Amazon seller fees

If you decide to sell on Amazon, you’ll encounter a few different Amazon seller fees, including:

Selling plan subscription

When you start selling on Amazon, you have two selling plan options:

• Individual Selling Plan: This plan works best for people selling fewer than 40 items per month. It’s free, too, unlike the Professional Selling Plan. If you choose the Individual Selling Plan, you will pay a $0.99 selling fee for every item sold.
• Professional Selling Plan: This plan works well for businesses selling more than 40 items per month and looking to sell to users outside the U.S. With the Professional Selling Plan, you can customize your shipping rates, bulk-list products, and more. It costs $39.99 per month.

While you can start with the Individual Selling Plan, the Professional Selling Plan is a must if you’re looking to generate substantial sales and revenue from Amazon. It not only makes getting started on the platform easier but also makes you eligible for the Buy Box on product pages.

Selling Services fees

For businesses in the home service sector, Amazon also offers a platform for attracting and earning new leads. The Selling Services on Amazon program allows vetted and verified companies to get and find new clients at no upfront cost.

The two fees associated with Selling Services on Amazon include:

• Pre-packaged: A pre-packaged service, like mounting a TV or assembling a treadmill, allows users to purchase your services at an estimated rate. For these services, Amazon takes 20% for the portion up to $1000 and 15% for the part over $1000.
• Recurring: A recurring service, like lawn care or house cleaning, applies to services that users purchased as a subscription. They’ve signed up for recurring appointments. Amazon takes 15% of the recurring service fee.

It’s worth mentioning that Selling Services on Amazon does not include:

• Signup fees
• Subscription fees
• Lead fees
• Advertisement fees

You can also pick and choose your leads. If you receive a work request that doesn’t fit your schedule, you can pass on it. While another provider will have the option to accept that job, this feature allows you to focus on the most valuable leads for your business.

Per-item fees

This Amazon seller fee only applies to Individual Selling Plan users.

For every item sold, Individual Selling Plan users will pay Amazon $0.99. If you’re an active Professional Selling Plan member, Amazon waives this fee.

Referral fees

Amazon charges Individual Selling Plan and Professional Selling Plan users a referral fee. This fee comes from the fact that Amazon brings or refers users to your business and products through its website and brand reputation. For every item sold, your company will pay a referral fee.

Your referral fee will depend on your item’s referral fee percentage and its minimum referral fee. Amazon will charge whichever amount is greater to your account. Here is a quick breakdown of Amazon’s referral fee percentage and minimum referral fee:

• Minimum referral fee: The minimum referral fee per item is $0.30. Some item categories, like books, music, and video games, do not carry a minimum referral fee. That means your referral fees will always come from your referral fee percentage.
• Referral fee percentage: Your referral fee percentage depends on your item’s category. Rates range from 6% (for personal computers) to 96% (for extended warranties, protection plans, and service contracts).

Use Amazon’s referral fee percentage table to see what your company could pay in referral fees.

Rental book service fees

Companies that offer rental books, like college textbooks, will pay a $5.00 fee for every textbook rental sold. Keep this Amazon seller fee in mind when pricing your textbooks and setting your shipping rates as this charge will add up over time.

High-volume listing fees

Amazon features a massive product catalog, which is why it charges a high-volume listing fee of $0.005 per ASIN every month. Not every seller receives a high-volume listing fee, though.

Instead, you must meet several requirements to get billed. These requirements, which focus on your ASINs, include:

• Your ASIN got created at least 12 months ago
• Your ASIN has not sold in the past 12 months
• Your ASIN had an active offer during the month
• Your ASIN is in a non-media category, like books, DVDs, music, game consoles, and video games

In some cases, Amazon will waive this seller fee. Your first 100,000 ASINs that qualify for the high-volume listing fee, for example, will not get charged. Any qualifying ASIN over your first 100,000, however, will receive a charge.

You can check how many ASINs qualify for the high-volume listing fee in Seller Central. Just follow these steps:

• Sign into your Seller Central account
• Click the Inventory tab
• Select the High Volume Listings Report

If you have more questions about this Amazon seller fee, check out Amazon’s FAQ.

Refund administration fees

A refund administration fee only applies to sellers that refund a customer for an order after receiving payment from Amazon. With this selling fee, Amazon refunds your referral fee after deducting its refund administration fee. Your refund administration fee will always be the lesser of $5.00 or 20% of your referral fee.

Variable closing fees

If you’re selling products in one of the following media categories, you will pay a closing fee:

• Books
• DVDs
• Music
• Software & Computers
• Video Games
• Video
• Video Game Consoles
• Video Game Accessories

Amazon charges a closing fee of $1.80 per media item sold.

Shipping fees

When it comes to discussing the cost to sell on Amazon, shipping is one of the most talked-about topics. Shipping costs vary and depend on your products, seller plan, delivery address, order fulfillment solution, and more. Your selling plan will set a baseline for your shipping costs:

• Individual Selling Plan: With the Individual Selling Plan, your business will pay set prices for shipping your products. Prices range from $3.99 to $14.95 for domestic orders and $16.95 to $46.50 for international orders. If you exceed the weight for your selected shipment type, you will pay $0.50 to $0.99 for every pound over the weight limit.
• Professional Selling Plan: With the Professional Selling Plan, your company sets your shipment prices. This freedom to choose, however, makes it essential for your business to research competitor prices and set rates that don’t push shoppers away from placing their order.

If you’re thinking about selling on Amazon, spend some time calculating your expected shipping costs.

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) fees

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a popular inventory management, shipping, and customer service solution for businesses on Amazon.com. While often a smart choice, FBA does include a few different fees. These Amazon seller fees include:

• Inventory storage

For storing your products, Amazon charges the following monthly fees, which are per cubic foot:

• $0.69 to $2.40 for non-dangerous goods
• $0.99 to $2.43 for dangerous goods

Your rate will depend on your unit size (either standard or oversize) and the time of year. Prices for October to December range from $1.20 to $2.40 per cubic foot, while January to September rates range from $0.48 to $0.69 per cubic foot. Amazon also charges a long-term storage fee (LTSF), which targets items stored for more than 365 days.

If you have products in storage for more than a year, Amazon will either charge $6.90 per cubic foot or $0.15 per unit, whichever amount is higher.

• Fulfillment

For fulfilling your orders, Amazon charges $2.41 to $137.32 per unit — if you exceed unit weight limits, Amazon will charge $0.39 to $0.91 for every pound over. Unit sizes range from less than 10 ounces to more than 150 pounds. This fee includes:

• Picking and packing orders
• Shipping orders
• Order handling
• Product returns
• Customer support

For many Amazon sellers, order fulfillment via FBA is worth the cost because of everything it includes.

• Per-unit

Order fulfillment also includes an additional per-unit rate for the following items:

• Clothing: $0.40 per unit
• Products with lithium batteries: $0.11 per unit

If you sell either of these products, keep these additional seller fees in mind when signing up for FBA.

FBA Small and Light fees

Companies selling items that meet the following requirements can use FBA Small and Light:

• 10 ounces or less
• 16x9x4 inches or less
• $7 or less
• Fast-moving ASIN
• ASINs with sales of 25 units or more in the past four weeks

If you qualify for FBA Small and Light and decide to use it, you’ll have the following Amazon seller fees:

• Order handling

For order handling, Amazon charges either $0.80 or $1.00 per item. The $0.80 fee applies to items priced less than (or equal to) $5.00, while the $1.00 fee applies to items priced higher than $5.00, but less than (or equal to) $7.00. If you receive an order with products in both price ranges, Amazon will charge the higher $1.00 rate.

• Picking and packing

For picking and packing your orders, Amazon charges a $0.75 per unit fee.

• Weight handling

For weight handling, which combines the weight of your item’s box and packing materials, Amazon charges $0.11 per ounce, up to 10 ounces per unit. Amazon will round up to the nearest whole ounce for this Amazon seller fee.

• LTSF

A long-term storage fee also applies to FBA Small and Light inventory. If items remain in storage for more than 365 days, Amazon will charge a minimum of $0.25 per unit.

Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) fees

Companies that sell on- and off- Amazon.com can use Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF). With MCF, like FBA, you ship and store your products at an Amazon fulfillment center.

Whenever you receive an order, Amazon packages and ships your product. Costs for using MCF range from $5.85 to $143.30 per unit. Factors that influence your expenses include:

• Unit order
• Unit weight
• Shipping speed

If your unit exceeds its unit size weight limit, Amazon will add $0.39 to $0.92 for every pound over the weight limit. For example, a large unit over two pounds will get charged $0.39 for every additional pound. Now that you know all about the cost of selling on Amazon, are you ready to open your store?

Start selling like an Amazon pro with WebFX

Amazon offers immense potential for businesses, from established brands to growing SMBs.

Getting started on Amazon.com, however, can pose a challenge. You must learn how to add your products to the platform, set your prices, fend off your competitors, and minimize your Amazon seller fees. WebFX, however, can make the process hassle-free — and profitable.

With more than 500 experienced team members, we can help you launch your account, optimize your products, and gear your store for success. Just in the past five years, we’ve helped our clients’ companies earn more than $6 billion in revenue and manage more than nine million transactions. Contact us online or call us at 888-601-5359 to learn more about our Amazon services!