Whoever starts his own Amazon Business usually thinks first of all only about the conversion which he can gain thereby – and that is actually a good argument for a first Amazon Business. However, there are also costs for Amazon FBA and these costs require an exact calculation. In the following we give you an overview on all the Amazon FBA fees and everything you need to know about it.
Antonia Klatt
Last Updated on 18 February 2022
UPDATE: Amazon changed the FBA fulfilments fees on 1 April 2020.
Amazon FBA costs: Which fees apply?
In principle, the Amazon FBA fees can be divided into transaction-oriented costs and transaction-independent costs.
Transaction-oriented costs include all costs that arise indirectly from the sale of products on Amazon. This includes for example the sales commission. Transaction-independent costs, on the other hand, are those costs that are not indirectly related to the actual transaction on Amazon, but are only incurred upstream or downstream. These include, for example, packaging costs.
Amazon FBA fees for sellers in UK & worldwide
In the initial phase of your Amazon FBA business, there are many stages to master before your products can be sold on Amazon. From product research to Amazon listing optimization. All necessary steps for your Amazon business. The identification and design of a product is essential for the sales success on Amazon.
Fees for the Amazon-Seller-Account
To sell on Amazon, you need an Amazon account. Amazon offers two account models for sellers:
- Single seller or
- professional seller.
The two account models differ in the monthly fee. While the professional seller account has a subscription fee of $39.99 per month, the single seller account only incurs costs when a sale is made – $0.99 per sale.
From a cost perspective, the account for individual sellers only makes sense if you have planned the maximum sale of 39 products per month in your business plan. If your Amazon business is scaling up, the account for professional sellers is recommendable: The Amazon sales commission is distributed degressively on your cost apparatus from the 40th sale onwards, which can have a positive effect on your profit margin in the long run.
With the professional salesman account you also gain other advantages such as the possibility of advertising on Amazon. This allows you to make your listing on Amazon more prominent.
Agency fee – the percentage Amazon sales commission
In addition to the fees of the Amazon Seller account, there are always fees per sale of a product via Amazon. This is a percentage sales fee that varies depending on the product category and the country of sale – also known as Amazon Marketplace.
For example, the percentage sales fees are 7 percent for the product category Electronics and 15 percent for the category Sports & Leisure – product sales price plus shipping and the costs for the optional gift packaging – relevant. Since March 1, 2020, Amazon has also introduced a new minimum sales fee of $0.30 per item. This does not apply to product categories:
- Beer, wine and spirits
- Books, Music, Videos and DVDs
- Food & Delicatessen
- Software
- Video games – Games & Accessories
- Video game consoles
For handmade products, sales fees will be reduced from 15 percent to 12 percent through December 31, 2021.
Amazon FBA shipping costs
If you do not ship your products yourself, but have entrusted the Amazon FBA service with the shipping process, additional fees will be charged for this service as well. The amount of the shipping fees depends on the dimensions and weight of the packaging.
Amazon shipping costs for PAN-EU
Here is the official list of the respective shipping fees for shipping with the PAN-EU-Service:
Please note: since the UK’s departure from the European Union, the United Kingdom is no longer part of the Pan-EU program.
| UK ( £ ) | DE ( €) | FR (€) | IT (€) | ES (€) | |
| Small envelope | 1.35 £ | 1.63 € | 2.24 € | 2.59 € | 2.13 € |
| Standard envelope: 100 g | 1.48 £ | 1.79 € | 2.37 € | 2.72 € | 2.37 € |
| Standard envelope: 50 g | 1.63 £ | 1.92 € | 3.00 € | 3.01 € | 2.65 € |
| Standard envelope: 500 g | 1.73 £ | 2.04 € | 3.37 € | 3.19 € | 2.85 € |
| Large envelope: 1.000 g | 2.17 £ | 2.40 € | 3.95 € | 3.44 € | 2.97 € |
| Standard Parcel: 250 g | 2.14 £ | 2.53 € | 3.94 € | 3.52 € | 2.82 € |
| Standard Parcel: 500 g | 2.27 £ | 2.81 € | 4.59 € | 3.94 € | 3.30 € |
| Standard Parcel: 1.000 g | 2.44 £ | 3.22 € | 5.32 € | 4.59 € | 3.60 € |
| Standard Parcel: 1.500 g | 2.60 £ | 3.76 € | 5.51 € | 4.94 € | 4.05 € |
| Standard Parcel: 2.000 g | 2.84 £ | 4.09 € | 5.62 € | 5.16 € | 4.11 € |
| Standard Parcel: 3.000 g | 4.06 £ | 4.57 € | 6.90 € | 5.98 € | 4.67 € |
| Standard Parcel: 4.000 g | 4.44 £ | 4.95 € | 7.34 € | 6.70 € | 5.58 € |
| Standard Parcel: 5.000 g | 4.53 £ | 5.02 € | 7.36 € | 7.11 € | 5.64 € |
| Standard Parcel: 6.000 g | 5.18 £ | 5.41 € | 7.99 € | 7.96 € | 6.04 € |
| Standard Parcel: 7.000 g | 5.18 £ | 5.41 € | 7.99 € | 7.96 € | 6.04 € |
| Standard Parcel: 8.000 g | 5.31 £ | 5.55 € | 8.19 € | 8.22 € | 6.19 € |
| Standard Parcel: 9.000 g | 5.31 £ | 5.55 € | 8.19 € | 8.25 € | 6.19 € |
| Standard Parcel: 10.000 g | 5.31 £ | 5.55 € | 8.19 € | 8.42 € | 6.19 € |
| Standard Parcel: 11.000 g | 5.32 £ | 5.74 € | 8.24 € | 8.42 € | 6.19 € |
| Standard Parcel: 12.000 g | 5.52 £ | 5.75 € | 8.25 € | 8.44 € | 6.20 € |
FBA Fulfilment Costs for EFN
Here is an overview of FBA Fulfilment Costs for the European Fulfilment Network.
| UK (£) | Non-UK (€) | |
| Small envelope | 3.71 £ | 4.13 € |
| Standard envelope: 100 g | 3.86 £ | 4.30 € |
| Standard envelope: 250 g | 4.14 £ | 4.60 € |
| Standard envelope: 500 g | 4.20 £ | 4.67 € |
| Large envelope: 1.000 g | 4.50 £ | 5.00 € |
| Standard Parcel: 250 g | 4.52 £ | 5.02 € |
| Standard Parcel: 500 g | 4.52 £ | 6.13 € |
| Standard Parcel: 1.000 g | 6.50 £ | 7.23 € |
| Standard Parcel: 1.500 g | 7.14 £ | 7.94 € |
| Standard Parcel: 2.000 g | 8.18 £ | 9.09 € |
| Standard Parcel: 3.000 g | 9.10 £ | 10.12 € |
| Standard Parcel: 4.000 g | 9.92 £ | 11.03 € |
| Standard Parcel: 5.000 g | 10.42 £ | 11.58 € |
| Standard Parcel: 6.000 g | 10.42 £ | 11.58 € |
| Standard Parcel: 7.000 g | 10.42 £ | 11.58 € |
| Standard Parcel: 8.000 g | 11.02 £ | 12.25 € |
| Standard Parcel: 9.000 g | 11.30 £ | 12.56 € |
| Standard Parcel: 10.000 g | 13.52 £ | 15.03 € |
| Standard Parcel: 11.000 g | 13.52 £ | 15.03 € |
| Standard Parcel: 12.000 g | 13.52 £ | 15.03 € |
Find all tables about the FBA fulfilment fees (effective April 1, 2019) for all products and sized on Amazon’s official site and FBA storage fees in Amazon warehouse fees article.
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Example calculation: What are the costs for Amazon FBA?
In order to sharpen the comprehensibility for the Amazon FBA fees explained above, the example calculations below are intended to help.
Sample calculation for the product category sport & leisure
The example company sells a dumbbell set for a sales price of $60.00. This product belongs to the category of sports & leisure, which is why 15 percent sales fees and other Amazon fees are incurred:
| Individual | Professional | |
| Selling price * | $60,00 | $60,00 |
| Shipping fees | $5,95 | $5,95 |
| Total sales price | $65,95 | $65,95 |
| 15% Amazon sales fee | $9,89 | $9,89 |
| Fees Amazon Seller account | $0,99 | |
| Amazon FBA fees | $10,88 | $9,89 |
* In this example, it was assumed that the company that sells the product is subject to sales tax, which is why the Amazon FBA costs are shown here without sales tax, i.e. in net terms. If you, as an entrepreneur, are not subject to sales tax, the Amazon FBA fees increase by another 19 percent VAT.
Amazon FBA storage fees in UK & worldwide
To get the total cost of the FBA service, the storage costs must also be included in the calculation. These are measured in cubic meters per month and vary from country to country.
In addition, there are different storage costs depending on the season. Thus Amazon increases the storage costs from October to December because of the Christmas business. Starting from New Year (January) again the costs are adapted to the off-season.
Platform independent costs – fees outside Amazon
In addition to the transaction-related costs, there are also costs that are mostly not necessarily indirectly related to the transaction. This means that these costs are not specific Amazon costs, but are related to the transaction upstream or downstream.
Such costs should definitely be considered in the price calculation and, if it is not otherwise possible, distributed via a distribution key – if the costs are not incurred per transaction – assuming an annual order volume.
If applicable, the following cost centers should be taken into account when calculating the sales price:
- Freight costs: The freight costs cannot be generalized and depend on the respective transport route. The country of origin for the purchase of the product and the destination country of the customer are certainly decisive here.
- Customs duties: These fees arise in the context of cross-border transport routes.
- Packaging costs: This includes all costs for the cardboard boxes and packaging material such as adhesive tape, etc.
- Certificates: Such costs are usually incurred during product development and cannot be directly allocated to individual sales on Amazon. Therefore, the certificate costs should be allocated to individual orders using a distribution key.
- EAN / GTIN code: Also these costs cannot be assigned directly to the individual sales on Amazon. Therefore, the distribution of the costs via a distribution key is also suitable here.
- Marketing: This includes all costs for measures which specifically advertise the product with the aim of selling or making it known. In principle, performance-oriented marketing approaches offer the possibility of directly allocating the costs incurred for the acquisition of a sale to an order. Other marketing costs should also be allocated via a key. But attention: The marketing costs can be prognosticated at the beginning only and be priced in under assumptions into the selling price. A constant Controlling and possible adjustments should be accomplished therefore regularly.
How does Amazon calculate the EU VAT on monthly subscription fees and Selling on Amazon fees?
Now let’s talk about VAT on Amazon fees. Amazon will charge the standard rate of VAT applicable to your EU country of residence for any monthly subscription fees and Selling on Amazon fees.
Is Amazon FBA still profitable in 2021 for beginners?
How far Amazon FBA makes sense for your business depends on several factors. The Amazon FBA fees can be quite high for many merchants. If you are already earning low margins on your product sales, you should consider carefully whether you want to incur additional fees. After all, they could further reduce the margin or completely destroy it.
Amazon FBA is only relevant for the buyer because it allows him to order your products via Amazon Prime. But if you offer a niche product and have no or only few competitors, the buyer will not be interested in whether you offer Amazon Prime or not. If your trade is located in a niche, the advantage of Amazon Prime is limited.
The more products you sell, the more Amazon FBA pays off. Because there is no need for the entire shipping process or reverse transaction and you can save a lot of time. If you have a reasonable margin and you can handle the fact that you have to give a certain percentage to Amazon, Amazon FBA definitely makes sense for you. The availability of Amazon Prime gives you an advantage over your competitors, gives you more confidence with your buyers and saves you a lot of work at the same time. This has been the case so far and will still be the case in 2021.
As a new merchant, you should reach a minimum of 40 sales per month, so that Amazon FBA starts to make sense, rather a little more. If you are ready to get started with Amazon FBA, you can register for Seller Central here.
When you register, you should have the following data ready:
- Bank account number and bank routing number
- Chargeable credit card
- Government issued national ID
- Tax information
- Phone number
Summary
It can be noted that transaction-dependent Amazon FBA fees are incurred, but also platform-independent costs, such as freight charges. Both groups of costs should be included in the final sales price in order to include all costs that are indirectly related to the orders.
Depending on which Amazon Seller account you sign up for, either $0.99 per referred transaction or $39.99 per month as a flat rate. Depending on how extensive you start your Amazon business, it might be worthwhile to switch directly to the professional version. There are monthly fixed costs of $39.99, which are distributed degressively with increasing sales to all orders.
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In addition to the Amazon seller fees, there is also a commission fee. This varies depending on the product category. For media items such as books, music or videos, additional closing fees are also incurred. These also vary depending on the product category. Furthermore, if you use the Amazon FBA service, shipping and storage fees will also apply. Both cost elements are variable and depend on size, measurements or area.
