AMAZON · UPDATED JULY 2026
Amazon FBA Fees Explained for 2026: Referral, Fulfillment, Storage
Amazon's fee structure has four separate layers, and most new sellers only know about one of them. Here's every fee, what triggers it, and a worked example showing real per-unit profit.
Key takeaways
- Amazon FBA has four separate fee layers: referral, fulfillment, monthly storage, and long-term storage — most sellers only budget for the first two.
- Referral fee ranges 8–45% by category; 15% is standard for most general merchandise.
- On a typical $35 sale, advertising and referral fees combined often exceed the FBA fulfillment fee itself — PPC, not Amazon's base fee, is usually the real margin killer.
- Inventory sitting past 365 days triggers a long-term storage surcharge on top of the regular monthly fee — run age reports before it hits.
The Four Layers
1. Referral fee (per sale) · 2. FBA fulfillment fee (per unit) · 3. Monthly storage fee (per cubic foot) · 4. Long-term storage fee (inventory over 365 days)
1. The referral fee
This is Amazon's commission on every sale — charged whether you use FBA or fulfill yourself (FBM). The rate depends on category:
| Category | Referral fee |
|---|---|
| Personal computers, groceries | 8% |
| Consumer electronics | 8% |
| Most general merchandise, toys, books, beauty | 15% |
| Furniture, most home goods (over threshold) | 17% |
| Jewelry | 20% |
| Amazon Device Accessories | 45% |
Rates shown are representative standard tiers — always confirm your exact category rate in Seller Central, since some categories have minimum referral fees or per-item caps.
Important: the referral fee is calculated on the item price only, not shipping you charge the buyer (if you're FBM).
2. The FBA fulfillment fee
If you use Fulfillment by Amazon, this per-unit fee covers pick, pack, weigh, and ship. It scales with your product's size tier and shipping weight:
- Small standard (≤16 oz): ~$3.06–$3.50
- Large standard (up to 20 lb): ~$4.50–$6.50
- Large bulky / oversize: ~$7–$12+
Find your exact tier in Seller Central's FBA revenue calculator, then enter it directly into the Amazon fee calculator on this site.
3. Monthly storage fees
FBA charges a per-cubic-foot fee for inventory sitting in Amazon's warehouses, billed monthly. Rates roughly double during Q4 (October–December) due to peak holiday demand on warehouse space. If your inventory turns over quickly, this is a minor cost — if you're overstocking slow movers, it compounds fast.
4. Long-term storage fees
Inventory that sits in an Amazon warehouse for more than 365 days gets hit with an additional long-term storage surcharge — on top of the regular monthly fee. This is Amazon's way of discouraging dead stock. The practical takeaway: run inventory reports regularly and remove or liquidate anything approaching the one-year mark.
Tactics to reduce storage-fee exposure
- Ship smaller, more frequent batches. Sending inventory based on trailing 30-day sales velocity — instead of one large restock — keeps less stock aging in the warehouse at any given time.
- Run the Inventory Age report monthly. Found under Reports → Fulfillment → Inventory Age in Seller Central. Flag anything crossing 270+ days before it hits the 365-day long-term threshold.
- Use removal orders proactively, not reactively. Removing slow-moving stock before the long-term surcharge hits is almost always cheaper than paying the surcharge and hoping it eventually sells.
- Time inventory shipments around Q4. Since monthly storage rates roughly double in October–December, avoid sending slow-moving SKUs into FBA right before peak season unless you're confident they'll sell through quickly.
Worked example: a $35 item
Sale price: $35.00
Referral fee (15%): −$5.25
FBA fulfillment fee: −$4.50
Item cost (COGS): −$12.00
Advertising (PPC): −$3.00
Net profit: $10.25 · Margin: 29.3% · ROI: 85.4%
Notice that advertising and referral fees together ($8.25) exceed the FBA fulfillment fee ($4.50) — for many sellers, PPC spend is the real margin killer, not Amazon's base fees. Run your own numbers in the Amazon fee calculator, which models all four cost lines and shows margin and ROI live.
FBA vs FBM: which to choose
FBA sellers get Prime eligibility, Amazon-handled customer service, and don't manage shipping — at the cost of fulfillment + storage fees. FBM sellers skip those fees but handle shipping themselves and lose the Prime badge (which significantly affects conversion). For most sellers with steady-moving inventory, FBA's volume discount and Prime visibility outweigh the fees. For slow-moving or oversized items, FBM often nets more.
Model both scenarios side by side in the Amazon calculator — toggle the fulfillment fee to 0 and add your real shipping cost to simulate FBM.
Common mistakes FBA sellers make
- Budgeting for referral + fulfillment but forgetting storage. Storage fees are small per unit but compound across an entire catalog — model them per SKU, not just per sale.
- Guessing the size tier instead of confirming it in Seller Central. A product that looks "small standard" by eye can get reclassified as "large standard" after Amazon measures the packaged dimensions — always confirm before pricing.
- Not including PPC spend in margin calculations. As the worked example above shows, advertising can cost more than Amazon's own fulfillment fee — leaving it out overstates your real margin significantly.
- Restocking on a fixed schedule instead of sales velocity. This is the single biggest driver of avoidable long-term storage fees.
Frequently asked questions
What fees does Amazon charge FBA sellers?
FBA sellers pay a referral fee (8–45% depending on category, 15% standard), a per-unit FBA fulfillment fee based on size and weight ($3–$12+), monthly storage fees per cubic foot, and long-term storage fees on inventory held over 365 days. Use the Amazon calculator to model referral and fulfillment fees together.
What is Amazon's standard referral fee?
15% is the standard referral fee for most general merchandise on Amazon in 2026. Personal computers and groceries are 8%; Amazon Device Accessories can reach 45%. Adjust the rate field in the calculator to match your category.
How much is the Amazon FBA fulfillment fee?
FBA fulfillment fees start around $3.06 for a small standard envelope and go up to $7–$12+ for large standard and large bulky items, depending on the size tier and shipping weight. Find your exact tier in Seller Central's FBA revenue calculator.
How do I avoid Amazon long-term storage fees?
Run an Inventory Age report monthly in Seller Central and create removal orders for anything approaching 365 days in a fulfillment center. Shipping smaller, more frequent restocks based on actual sales velocity also reduces the odds of inventory aging past the threshold.