Amazon FBA Fees. What should I consider?

Every year, online sales predictions are on the rise and it looks like this trend will continue in the coming years.

Marketplaces like Amazon offer a wonderful system and infrastructure to make it easier for businesses to start selling online. Its platform and the number of customers who go to them when they decide to make a purchase make Amazon a great opportunity that is hard to ignore.

Starting to sell on this Marketplace expands the range of sales worldwide and, if the brand is worked on correctly, a considerable increase in income can be obtained.

But, to use this Amazon infrastructure, there are a set of fees you will have to face as an Amazon Seller.

Referral fees

This is the main fee and it is the commission that must be paid to Amazon for each product sold on its Marketplace. You do not have to worry about any transaction, as Amazon handles the process and deducts the amount directly from your account after the negotiation.

The rate you must pay is around 15% or less.

You can check the list of Amazon Referral Fees in this link.

Individual or professional account

On Amazon, you can sell products as an individual seller or as a professional seller. Although both options allow you to sell products through the Amazon platform, depending on which one you have, you will either have to pay when making a sale or you will have to pay monthly.

Individual seller fee

Amazon charges a fee to sellers for each sale they make through its platform. This fee applies to both individual sellers and professional sellers. The fee varies depending on the type of product being sold and the category it is in.

Here are some examples of fees for individual sellers on Amazon:

• Fashion products: If you sell clothing, shoes, or accessories on Amazon, the fee will be 15% of the sale price.
• Electronic products: If you sell electronics, such as mobile phones or laptops, the fee will be 8% of the sale price.
• Home and garden products: If you sell home products, such as furniture or appliances, the fee will be 15% of the sale price.
• Beauty and personal care products: If you sell beauty and personal care products, such as makeup or creams, the fee will be 15% of the sale price.
• Food and drink products: If you sell food and drinks, the fee will be 15% of the sale price.

It is important to keep in mind that these fees are just examples and can vary depending on the category the product is in and other variables.

Professional seller fee

Professional sellers on Amazon must pay a monthly subscription fee in order to use the Amazon platform to sell their products. This fee is in addition to the referral fee that Amazon charges for each sale made by the seller.

Currently, the subscription fee for professional sellers on Amazon is $39.99 per month. This fee includes access to advanced advertising tools, such as Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands, and the option to use Amazon shipping to send their products to buyers.

It is important to note that the subscription fee does not include the referral fee that Amazon charges for each sale. This fee varies depending on the type of product being sold and the category it is in. You can check the exact referral fee for your product on the Amazon help page.

In addition to the subscription fee and referral fee, Amazon also charges a fee for the use of its payment platform and a fee for Amazon shipping (if you use this service). These fees also vary depending on the type of product being sold and the category it is in.

It is important to note that, although the professional seller subscription fee is higher than the individual seller fee, professional sellers have access to additional tools and services that can help them sell more products and increase their profits. Therefore, it may be worth paying the subscription fee if you plan to sell products more seriously on Amazon.

Administrative fee reimbursement

In some cases, Amazon may reimburse administrative fees to sellers if certain conditions are met. These fees include the referral fee, the fee for the use of the payment platform, and the fee for Amazon shipping.

Here are some of the situations in which Amazon may reimburse administrative fees to sellers:

• Product returns: If a customer returns a product and is refunded the money, Amazon may reimburse the referral fee that was charged for the original sale.
• Billing errors: If Amazon made a mistake when billing administrative fees, it may reimburse fees that were incorrectly charged.
• Shipping issues: If there were problems with the shipping of a product and the customer did not receive the product or received a damaged product, Amazon may reimburse the Amazon shipping fee.
• Other issues: If there is any other issue that warrants the reimbursement of administrative fees, Amazon may consider reimbursing these fees.

If you believe that you are entitled to a reimbursement of administrative fees, you can contact Amazon through the help page. Amazon will review your case and determine if a reimbursement is appropriate.

Fees for FBA

There are two types of logistics within Amazon. FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) logistics, in which Amazon offers its sellers the possibility to manage their inventory, shipping and customer service. And FBM (Fulfillment by Merchant) logistics, where all the inventory, stock and shipping is managed by the seller.

If you have FBA logistics, you get great advantages, but there is a set of fees that must be paid to enjoy them.

FBA fees

If you decide to be FBA, the management goes into the hands of Amazon, so it is their own workers who are in charge of collecting, packing and shipping the products for you.

The costs derived from this service are charged from the Amazon FBA fees. This fee is determined by the size and weight of the product.

You can see the Amazon FBA fees in the following tables:

FBA storage fees

The storage fee is charged for the space occupied by products in Amazon’s storage centers. This fee varies based on the size and weight of the products and the month in which they are stored. For example, larger and heavier products will have a higher storage fee than smaller and lighter products. In addition, storage fees are higher during months of higher demand, such as November and December.

The shipping fee is charged every time a product is shipped to a buyer through FBA. This fee varies based on the size and weight of the product and the location of the buyer. For example, larger and heavier products will have a higher shipping fee than smaller and lighter products. In addition, shipments to farther destinations will have a higher shipping fee than shipments to closer destinations.

In this case, sellers have two fees to choose from, long-term or monthly.

Long-term storage fee

On the 15th of each month, Amazon records which products have been stored in its distribution centers for 181 days or more.

For all items that exceed these deadlines, Amazon will charge the seller a surcharge for old inventory, based on how long the products have been stored.

Monthly storage fees

It is difficult to determine exact monthly storage fees for a particular seller, as they depend on many factors such as the size and weight of the stored products, the location of the storage centers, and the month in which the products are stored.

To calculate FBA storage fees for your product, you can use Amazon’s FBA fee calculator. You just need to provide information about the size and weight of your products and the location of the storage centers to get an estimate of monthly storage fees. Keep in mind that this estimate may vary based on other variables, such as the month in which the products are stored.

Fees for FBM

Sellers who opt for FBM do not have specific fees, as they themselves must be responsible for the entire process. Therefore, they must be responsible for storing, picking up, packaging, and shipping their own products. In addition to managing their own customer service. The cost of all these services will depend on each FBM seller and their ability to offer these services optimally with maximum efficiency.

Fees for various services

Amazon charges a series of fees for various services to sellers who use its platform to sell their products.

There are other types of fees that certain sellers must pay, regardless of whether they are FBA or FBM sellers.

Closing fees

Amazon closing fees are an additional fee that is applied to certain products when they are sold through the Amazon platform. These fees are applied to cover the costs associated with managing and closing the sale transaction, such as payment processing and return management.

Currently, Amazon closing fees are applied to the following products:

• Gold, silver and precious stone products
• Jewelry
• Watch products
• Luxury products
• Collection products
• Art products

The closing fee is in addition to the prior fee that Amazon charges for each sale and any other fees that may apply to the product, such as the fee for using the payment platform or the fee for shipping through Amazon.

High volume quotation fee

The high volume quotation fee is an additional fee that Amazon charges to sellers who make a high volume of sales through its platform. This fee is applied to cover the additional costs associated with managing a high volume of sale transactions, such as payment processing and return management.

The high volume quotation fee is in addition to the prior fee that Amazon charges for each sale and any other fees that may apply to the product, such as the fee for using the payment platform or the fee for shipping through Amazon.

Amazon sets the sales volume thresholds that determine when the high volume quotation fee is applied confidentially and does not publicly share them. Sellers who reach these sales volume thresholds will receive notification from Amazon and the high volume quotation fee will be applied from that point on.

Book rental expenses

Amazon offers the book rental service to allow students and other interested parties to rent e-books and text books at a lower price than purchasing. Rented books can be read on devices compatible with the Amazon reading platform, such as Kindle and the free Kindle reading app for mobile and desktop devices.

Sellers who make their books available for rent through the Amazon book rental service are charged a rental fee for each book rented. This fee is in addition to any other fees that may apply to the sale of the book, such as the Amazon marketplace fee and the payment processing fee.

In this article you have found a summary of the Amazon FBA and FBM fees that sellers must pay depending on their characteristics and that you must take into account if you want to start operating on Amazon.

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