sellershortsAmazon Seller Fees in 2026: What You Actually Pay
Two selling plans, a referral fee on every sale, and FBA charges if Amazon ships for you. Here is the full stack, plus what actually changed in January 2026.
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Quick Answer
In 2026 you pay a selling plan fee, either $39.99 per month on the Professional plan or $0.99 per item sold on the Individual plan, plus a referral fee on every sale that is 15% in most categories with a minimum usually around $0.30 per item. That referral fee is charged on the total sales price including any shipping you charge. If Amazon fulfils your orders, FBA fulfillment and storage charges sit on top of all of it.
- Professional $39.99 per month, Individual $0.99 per item sold
- Referral fee is 15% in most categories, charged on price plus shipping
- January 2026 raised fees by an average of $0.08 per unit sold
- Use Amazon's FBA Revenue Calculator for your exact ASIN
Amazon fees are not complicated, but they are layered. Sellers get caught out because they price against one fee and forget the other three.
This guide walks through the whole stack in order, sticks to figures Amazon publishes openly, and is deliberately honest about the numbers that sit behind a Seller Central login and should not be quoted from a blog.
Reviewed by the SellerShorts editorial bench. SellerShorts runs an AI tool marketplace for Amazon teams.
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The fee stack, in order
Every Amazon sale passes through the same layers. Understanding the order stops you from double counting or forgetting one.
| Layer | When you pay it | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Selling plan | Monthly or per item | Every seller |
| Referral fee | Every sale | Every seller |
| FBA fulfillment fee | Every FBA order | FBA sellers only |
| FBA storage fee | Monthly while stock sits | FBA sellers only |
| Additional charges | Situational | Depends on your setup |
| Advertising | Per click, if you run ads | Optional but common |
The first two apply to everyone. The rest depend on how you fulfil and how you market.
The two selling plans
Amazon offers two plans, and the choice is a straightforward volume calculation.
- Professional plan: $39.99 per month. Flat, regardless of how many items you sell.
- Individual plan: $0.99 per item sold. No monthly charge, but you pay on every unit.
The break-even is about 40 items a month, because $39.99 divided by $0.99 lands just over 40. Sell fewer than that and Individual costs less. Sell more and Professional wins, and the gap widens fast as volume grows.
Volume is not the only factor though. The Professional plan unlocks capabilities the Individual plan does not include, so if you need those, the break-even point stops being the deciding argument. It is also worth noting that a Professional plan is referenced as a requirement for programs like Seller Fulfilled Prime and for Featured Offer participation.
Referral fees, and the part sellers miss
The referral fee is Amazon's commission on each sale, and it is 15% in most categories with a minimum usually around $0.30 per item.
Here is the detail that catches people out. Amazon charges the referral fee on the total sales price, and that total includes the shipping you charge the buyer. It is not calculated on the item price alone.
So the old trick of listing an item cheaply and recovering margin through a high shipping charge does not reduce your commission. Amazon takes its percentage of the combined figure either way.
- Calculate on price plus shipping. Always model the total the buyer pays.
- Watch the minimum on cheap items. On a very low priced product, the per item minimum can exceed 15%.
- Check your category before pricing. Assuming 15% when your category is different will wreck your margin model.
Category exceptions worth knowing
Most categories are 15%, but the exceptions are large enough in both directions that you must check your own.
| Category | Referral fee |
|---|---|
| Most categories | 15% |
| Amazon Device Accessories | 45% |
| Full-size Appliances | 8% |
| Electronics | 8% |
| Automotive | 12% |
| Jewelry | 20% up to $250, then 5% |
Two things to take from this table. First, Amazon Device Accessories at 45% is a completely different business model to a 15% category, and it needs its own pricing approach. Second, Electronics and Full-size Appliances at 8% are unusually generous, which reflects the thinner margins in those categories.
This is not the complete list. Amazon publishes many more categories on its pricing page, and rates change. Confirm yours before you set a price.
What actually changed in 2026
Amazon announced fees effective 15 January 2026, and the change was small. The average increase was $0.08 per unit sold.
Amazon described that as less than 0.5% of an average item's selling price. Amazon also stated that it would not introduce any new fee types in 2026, which is the more useful commitment because new fee categories tend to cause more disruption than small rate changes.
For context, there were no US referral fee or FBA fee increases in 2025 at all. So the 2026 picture is two quiet years followed by a modest adjustment.
- Average increase: $0.08 per unit sold. Effective 15 January 2026.
- Amazon's framing: less than 0.5% of an average item's price.
- No new fee types introduced in 2026. Stated by Amazon.
- No US referral or FBA increases during 2025.
The practical read: this is not a change that breaks a business model, but it is a reason to re-run your margins on high volume, low price items where eight cents per unit adds up.
FBA fees, and why we will not quote numbers
If Amazon fulfils your orders, you pay a fulfillment fee per unit and storage fees while stock sits. We are deliberately not publishing per-unit cent figures here, and here is why.
FBA fulfillment rates depend on your product's size tier and weight, and the detailed rate cards sit behind a Seller Central login. A number copied into a blog can be out of date, wrong for your size tier, or wrong for your marketplace, and pricing a product against a wrong number is expensive.
Use Amazon's FBA Revenue Calculator instead. It is free, it is Amazon's own tool, and it gives you the real figures for your exact product.
- Enter your ASIN or your dimensions and weight.
- Enter your intended selling price.
- Read back the fulfillment fee, referral fee, and storage estimate.
- Subtract your product cost and shipping into Amazon.
- Re-run it whenever you change price or packaging. Packaging size can move you into a different size tier.
Other charges to budget for
Beyond the main stack, there are situational charges that surprise sellers who did not plan for them.
- Inbound placement charges. Related to how you split shipments across fulfillment centers.
- Aged inventory surcharges. Applied when stock sits in a fulfillment center too long. This is the same problem your IPI score is measuring.
- Removal and disposal fees. Getting stock back out of the network is not free.
- Returns processing. Depending on category and circumstance.
- Advertising. Not a fee exactly, but for many sellers it is the largest line item of all.
All of these have current rates in Seller Central. Look them up rather than estimating.
Working out your real margin
Do this before you launch a product, not after the first month of sales.
- Start with your selling price including shipping charged.
- Subtract the referral fee for your actual category. Not the 15% default unless that is genuinely yours.
- Subtract FBA fulfillment from the Revenue Calculator. Or your real FBM shipping and packing cost.
- Subtract monthly storage divided across expected units sold.
- Subtract your landed product cost. Including freight and duty into your own hands.
- Subtract expected advertising spend per unit. Be pessimistic here.
- Subtract a returns allowance. Based on your category's realistic return rate.
What is left is your actual margin. If it is uncomfortably thin, the fix is usually higher conversion rather than a higher price, because conversion improves your advertising efficiency at the same time.
Common mistakes
The same pricing errors show up repeatedly.
- Forgetting the referral fee applies to shipping. A very common miscalculation.
- Assuming 15% for every category. A 45% category will destroy a model built on 15%.
- Ignoring storage on slow movers. Storage compounds quietly over months.
- Leaving advertising out of the margin. It is usually bigger than the fees.
- Trusting a per-unit fee number from a blog. Including any figure not taken from your own Revenue Calculator run.
- Never re-running the numbers. Fees change, prices change, and packaging changes size tiers.
Conclusion
The fee picture in 2026 is stable. Professional plan at $39.99 per month or Individual at $0.99 per item, a referral fee that is 15% in most categories charged on price plus shipping, and FBA charges on top if Amazon ships for you. January 2026 added an average of $0.08 per unit sold, and Amazon said it would not add new fee types this year.
For anything per-unit, use Amazon's FBA Revenue Calculator with your own ASIN rather than a number from an article. And when the margin is tight, the fix that helps most is usually conversion, which is exactly what our Amazon Listing Optimizer is built to improve. Next reads: FBA vs FBM compared, IPI score and storage limits, and what wins the Buy Box in 2026.
References
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to sell on Amazon in 2026?
There are two selling plans. The Professional plan costs $39.99 per month regardless of how much you sell. The Individual plan costs $0.99 per item sold with no monthly charge. On top of the plan, you pay a referral fee on every sale, which is 15% in most categories. If you use FBA, you also pay fulfillment and storage fees on top of that.
Which selling plan should I choose?
The maths is simple. The Professional plan is $39.99 per month and the Individual plan is $0.99 per item sold. Divide $39.99 by $0.99 and you get roughly 40 items. Below about 40 sales a month, Individual is cheaper. Above that, Professional is cheaper. Professional also unlocks features that Individual does not include, so if you need those, the break-even point matters less.
What is the Amazon referral fee?
The referral fee is Amazon's commission on each sale. It is charged on the total sales price, which includes the shipping you charge, not just the item price. Most categories are 15%, and there is usually a minimum of $0.30 per item. Some categories differ, so check your specific category on Amazon's pricing page before you set a price.
Which categories have different referral fees?
Amazon lists several exceptions. Amazon Device Accessories is 45%. Full-size Appliances is 8%. Electronics is 8%. Automotive is 12%. Jewelry is 20% on the portion up to $250 and 5% on the portion above that. Most other categories sit at 15%. Always confirm your own category on Amazon's pricing page, because the list is long and it changes.
Did Amazon raise fees in 2026?
Yes, slightly. Amazon announced fees effective 15 January 2026 with an average increase of $0.08 per unit sold. Amazon described that as less than 0.5% of an average item's selling price. Amazon also stated it would not introduce any new fee types in 2026. For context, there were no US referral or FBA increases in 2025 at all.
How do I work out my FBA fees for a specific product?
Use Amazon's FBA Revenue Calculator. You enter your ASIN or product dimensions along with your selling price, and it returns the fulfillment fee, storage estimate, and referral fee for that exact item. This is the only reliable method, because FBA fulfillment fees depend on your product's size tier and weight, and per-unit rates sit behind a Seller Central login.
Is the referral fee charged on shipping too?
Yes. Amazon charges the referral fee on the total sales price, and that total includes any shipping charge you collect from the buyer. This catches out sellers who plan to keep a low item price and recover margin through shipping. It does not work, because the commission applies to the combined figure.
What other fees should I budget for?
Beyond the plan fee, the referral fee, and FBA fulfillment and storage, there are additional charges such as inbound placement charges and aged inventory surcharges when stock sits too long. Advertising is a separate cost entirely and is often larger than all the fees combined. Do not publish a price until you have modelled the full stack in the FBA Revenue Calculator.
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