Amazon FBA Unit Economics

Net price = selling price minus discount. Referral fee = Amazon's category rate applied to the total sales price (which for Amazon includes any delivery and gift-wrap charges), subject to that category's minimum - usually $0.30, though some categories have none. A few categories are charged in portions rather than one flat rate: jewelry, for example, is 20% of the first $250 and 5% of anything above, like tax bands.

The FBA fulfillment fee comes from Amazon's published 2026 rate card, looked up by size tier, billable weight and price band, with the 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge added on top (Amazon publishes its tables surcharge-exclusive). Two different weights are involved, which trips up most calculators: your size tier is decided on the greater of unit weight and dimensional weight (L×W×H÷139), while the fee is billed on unit weight for small standard and extra-large 150+ lb items and on the greater of the two for everything else. Oversize tiers are billed on the whole pound. This is why a light but bulky product can land in a much more expensive tier than its weight suggests.

Storage = unit volume (cu ft) × monthly rate × months. If you switch on the optional storage utilization surcharge, it is added per cubic foot on top of the base rate, but only on the months a unit sits aged over 30 days, and at the same rate in both columns. Inbound placement and removal/disposal are your inputs. Contribution = net price minus every cost line minus product cost - what one unit leaves behind to cover your fixed costs.

Returns. When a unit comes back you refund the sale price and Amazon returns the referral fee minus a refund administration fee (the lesser of 20% of the referral or $5). The fulfillment fee and product cost aren't charged again here - you paid them once and they're already in the lines above. A restocked unit goes back into sellable stock, so its product cost and inbound costs are credited back; a disposed or removed unit's are not. This assumes a full refund.

The holiday column. Two things move and nothing else. Fulfillment: Amazon publishes a separate, higher fulfillment fee table for its peak season (15 Oct 2026 – 14 Jan 2027). This tool uses that published table - not a percentage, not a flat add-on. We show the gap as its own line so you can see it, but Amazon doesn't bill it separately; it is simply a bigger fulfillment fee. The gap varies by size and weight, from about 19¢ on the lightest small-standard unit to several dollars on extra-large. Storage: a higher monthly rate per cubic foot at peak ($2.40 standard, $1.40 oversize). Both columns use the same number of months you entered, so the storage gap is the rate change on its own - raise the months if you also plan to hold stock longer through the holidays. One calendar note: Amazon's storage peak (Oct–Dec) and its fulfillment peak (15 Oct – 14 Jan) don't run on the same dates, so early and late in the season a unit can hit one before the other. This tool shows the peak rates, not specific dates. Returns cost the same at holiday rates - a refund is a refund, and the fees Amazon gives back don't change at peak, so the returns lines are identical in both columns.

Dangerous goods. This tool applies Amazon’s standard, non-hazmat rates. Products classified as dangerous goods (aerosols, flammables, lithium batteries and similar) carry higher storage and fulfillment fees than shown here.

What is verified. Every fee rate in this tool comes from Amazon’s own published rate cards and was checked cell by cell on 23 July 2026: the everyday and holiday fulfillment tables, the referral rates and their minimums, the size tier definitions, and the base and peak storage rates (the storage figures were also confirmed against real seller billing data). Our size-tier and fee logic reproduces every worked example Amazon publishes - from a $2.49 phone case to a $48.57 television - exactly.

What isn’t included. A few real Amazon charges sit outside this tool: the low-inventory-level fee (when stock falls below about 28 days of supply), the packaging fee for bulky items not eligible for Ships in Product Packaging (averaging around $2.07 a unit), the Overmax handling fee on extra-large items over 96 inches long or 130 inches in length plus girth, the returns processing fee that applies to some high-return categories, and inbound defect fees. None of them apply to most sellers, but if any applies to you, your real cost is higher than shown. One simplification in the fee above. Amazon calculates dimensional weight for bulky and extra-large items using a minimum width and height of 2 inches; this tool uses your actual measurements. On a very flat oversize item - a door mat, a wall panel, a flat-packed board - the fulfillment fee shown here is lower than what Amazon will bill you.

Rates change. Amazon revised these twice in 2026 alone. This page reflects the card as at 23 July 2026 - always confirm against your live Seller Central fee preview before you price against it.