How this calculator works
Amazon referral fee is the category percentage of total price—item price after seller discounts plus buyer-paid shipping—or the category minimum, whichever is greater. FBA fulfillment is product-specific, so the base fee is required from Amazon rather than guessed. A temporary 3.5% surcharge is applied to that entered base fee.
- Amazon total price for the referral fee = discounted item price + buyer-paid shipping; buyer sales tax is excluded.
- Referral fee = category rate or tier schedule × Amazon total price, subject to the published $0.30 minimum for the supported categories.
- Supported referral schedules: Home & Kitchen and Everything Else 15%; Consumer Electronics 8%; Baby 8% at $10 or less and 15% above; Clothing 5% at $15 or less, 10% above $15 through $20, and 17% above $20; Electronics Accessories 15% on the first $100 and 8% on the portion above.
- FBA charge = seller-entered base FBA fulfillment fee + 3.5% of that base fee. Storage and inbound allocation are included only when entered.
- Individual plan adds $0.99 per item. The Professional plan can include a user-entered per-unit allocation of the $39.99 monthly subscription.
- Net profit = seller revenue − referral/FBA/plan fees − product and operating costs.
Worked example
Example: a $40 Home & Kitchen FBA unit
Assume a $40 selling price, $12 item cost, no buyer shipping or tax in the fee basis, Professional plan, and a $5.00 base FBA fulfillment fee copied from Amazon's fee preview.
- Home & Kitchen referral fee: 15% × $40.00 = $6.00.
- Entered base FBA fulfillment fee: $5.00.
- Temporary surcharge: 3.5% × $5.00 = $0.18 after cent rounding.
- Total marketplace fees are $11.18 and estimated payout is $28.82.
After the $12 item cost, estimated net profit is $16.82 before storage, inbound placement, advertising, returns, or subscription allocation. Those costs must be entered when they apply.
Important exceptions
- FBA fulfillment cannot be safely derived from price alone. Amazon uses product price, dimensions, shipping weight, size tier, and services, so the base charge stays required and editable.
- Referral rates vary by category and can use whole-price thresholds or graduated portions. Only categories verified in the selector are defaulted.
- Storage, aged-inventory, inbound placement, low-inventory-level, returns processing, removal, dangerous goods, and other program charges can vary by SKU and account.
- The 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge is described by Amazon as temporary and should be checked against a current fee preview.
Assumptions used
- The sale is on Amazon.com for a US seller and the selected category is correct.
- The entered base FBA fee comes from Amazon's Revenue Calculator, fee preview, or a current settlement record.
- Buyer sales tax is excluded from seller revenue and the referral-fee total-price definition.
- Professional subscription allocation is $0 unless the seller chooses a defensible per-unit amount.
Sources and verification
Marketplace defaults come from the sources below. We do not use blog summaries as fee authority. User-specific or unverifiable charges stay editable.
Frequently asked questions
Why must I enter the base Amazon FBA fulfillment fee?
Amazon calculates it from product price, dimensions, shipping weight, size tier, and services. A universal default would be inaccurate, so use Amazon's own fee preview or Revenue Calculator value.
Does the Amazon referral fee include sales tax?
No. Amazon's total-price definition for referral fees includes item price, shipping, and gift wrap, but excludes taxes collected through Amazon tax calculation services.
How does the calculator handle the Professional plan?
The monthly subscription is not automatically assigned to one unit. You can enter a per-unit allocation based on expected monthly sales, while the Individual plan adds the published $0.99 per-item charge.
Are storage and inbound placement included?
Only when you enter them. These costs vary by inventory age, season, volume, shipment plan, and SKU, so the calculator does not invent a default.
Fee-change history
2026 US fee changes began
Amazon announced 2026 US seller-fee adjustments effective January 15, with product and service details handled in Amazon tools. Official source.
Temporary FBA surcharge began
Amazon announced a 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge on FBA fulfillment fees. Official source.
Supported categories reverified
Referral rules, plan fees, and the active surcharge were checked against official public sources.
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