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Amazon FBA fees in 2026: a full cost breakdown
Daniel Pawłowski · Amazonway · · ok. 10 min read
Amazon FBA costs break down into four groups of fees: the referral fee (a percentage of the price, usually somewhere between 8% and 15% depending on the category), the fulfilment fee (a flat per-unit charge based on size and weight), the monthly storage fee (billed per cubic metre) and a set of additional fees (returns, removals, seasonal surcharges and more). To know what an order really costs, you add all four together, then layer on your cost of goods, VAT and advertising. Below we break each group down and show a full price-to-profit calculation.
One thing up front. Amazon publishes a separate fee schedule for every European marketplace (Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.it and so on), the rates differ between them, and Amazon changes them several times a year. So before any pricing decision, confirm the numbers in the official fee schedule for your marketplace and in the FBA revenue calculator inside your Seller Central account. If the model itself is new to you, start with what Amazon FBA is and how it works.
The four groups of Amazon FBA fees
Before the numbers, remember the structure. Amazon charges in four blocks, and each follows a different logic:
- Referral fee: a percentage of the offer price, depending on the product category.
- Fulfilment fee: a flat per-unit amount based on size and weight (so-called size tiers).
- Storage fees: monthly, for the space your inventory occupies, plus surcharges for stock that sits too long.
- Additional fees: returns, removals and disposals, seasonal peak surcharges, battery and dangerous-goods handling, and others.
On top of this sits the monthly subscription for a Professional selling account, billed separately from FBA fees. This article focuses on the fees tied directly to FBA.
Referral fees by category
Amazon charges the referral fee on the full offer price, the amount the buyer pays, whether you fulfil orders through FBA or ship them yourself. The rate depends on the category, and in many categories it is tiered: one rate for cheaper products, another above a price threshold. Most categories also carry a minimum per-unit referral fee.
Amazon states that most categories fall roughly between 8% and 15% of the price, with a handful lower (for example consumer electronics and computers, which are typically single-digit percentages). Because the exact rates vary by marketplace and change over time, we deliberately do not reproduce a full percentage table here. Look yours up in the official fee schedule for your marketplace and in the FBA revenue calculator.
The practical lesson matters more than any single number: the category often moves your profitability more than the logistics fee does. The same price in a low-fee category and in the default "everything else" bracket can differ by several percentage points of margin. It also pays to watch your price against the tier thresholds, since a product priced just below or just above a threshold can fall into two different rates. Price is not only about the referral fee, either, because it also affects whether you win the Buy Box, and therefore your sales volume.
FBA fulfilment fees by size and weight
The fulfilment fee is a flat per-unit charge that covers picking the product from the warehouse, packing, shipping and customer service. Amazon assigns each product to a size tier based on its dimensions and weight, and then to a weight band. For the calculation, what counts is the greater of two values: the actual weight or the dimensional weight (length by width by height in cm, divided by 5000).
Exact per-tier rates sit in the official fee schedule and the FBA calculator for your marketplace, so we point you there rather than freeze numbers that change several times a year. Three add-ons are easy to forget, though, and they apply on top of the base fee:
- A fuel and inflation surcharge added to the fulfilment fee (in force across several European marketplaces, including Germany and Poland).
- A per-unit surcharge for products that contain or ship with lithium batteries, and for dangerous goods.
- A cross-border fulfilment surcharge when an order is fulfilled from a warehouse in another country (relevant in the Pan-European programme).
Some good news for 2026: for many products Amazon lowered fulfilment fees (on average by around 0.17 EUR per unit in Europe) and expanded its low-price FBA programme to products up to 20 EUR, where the rates are lower than in standard fulfilment. If you sell cheap, light products, check whether they qualify.
Storage fees: monthly and long-term
Amazon charges storage per cubic metre, in euros, billed monthly on your average daily volume. The rate depends on the category and the time of year, and there is a sharp jump in the fourth quarter: at the peak of the season the standard rate roughly doubles. Two further surcharges penalise excess inventory:
- A long-term storage surcharge for goods that sit in the warehouse beyond a set number of days. It climbs the longer the stock lingers, and is charged as the higher of a per-cubic-metre or a per-unit amount.
- An inventory storage utilisation surcharge for sellers with a low inventory turnover ratio, charged on top of the base monthly fee (applies on the larger marketplaces such as Germany, France, Italy and Spain).
The practical takeaway: the storage cost of a single fast-moving unit is tiny (cents a month), but stock that will not sell can eat your entire margin through the long-term surcharges. That is why delivery planning and turnover matter as much as the price itself.
Additional fees: returns, removals, disposals, peak season
Beyond the three main blocks, Amazon charges a range of situational fees. The most important:
- Returns processing fee: applies to products with a high return rate (above the category threshold), excluding clothing and shoes. In the clothing and shoes categories, the return fee is a share of the product's fulfilment fee.
- Removals and disposals: per-unit charges for getting inventory out of the warehouse, with disposal also taking a percentage of any recovery value.
- Return to seller: a per-unit charge that is higher for cross-border returns, depending on the zone.
- Holiday peak surcharge: raises the fulfilment fee during the peak season window (roughly mid-October to mid-January).
- Low-inventory-level fee: charged in the Pan-European programme when stock drops below about 28 days of sales. It applies on Germany, France, Italy and Spain, but not on every marketplace.
Two clarifications, because a lot of imprecise information circulates online. First, the US-style inbound placement service fee is not part of the European FBA schedule; the European counterpart is a surcharge for Pan-European oversize shipments. If someone quotes you US placement-fee rates as applying in Europe, treat it as a warning sign. Second, the low-inventory-level fee genuinely exists, but it does not apply on smaller EU marketplaces, so do not assume it hits every account.
Differences across EU marketplaces: currencies and pitfalls
If you sell on several markets, watch three things:
- The billing currency can differ within a single marketplace. On some marketplaces Amazon charges the fulfilment fee and referral in local currency but storage, removals and disposals in euros. Your real cost then depends on an exchange rate you do not control.
- Market clustering. Amazon publishes some rates for a regional cluster of countries together, and others per marketplace. Do not assume the German rate equals the French or Polish one.
- Some fees do not apply everywhere. As above, the low-inventory-level fee and the storage utilisation surcharge mainly affect the larger markets, not every marketplace.
That is why profitability has to be calculated per marketplace, not by eyeballing one country's rates and applying them everywhere.
A worked example: from price to profit (illustrative)
The figures below are illustrative and rounded to show the method. They are not a current price list. Check the official Amazon fee schedule and the FBA revenue calculator in Seller Central for your marketplace and category. Assumptions: a standard-size product sold on a German marketplace for 29.99 EUR including VAT (Germany's standard VAT rate is 19%), fulfilled through FBA. The referral fee, fulfilment fee, storage and cost of goods are all example values.
| Item | Amount (EUR) |
|---|---|
| Selling price (incl. 19% VAT) | 29.99 |
| VAT 19% to remit | −4.79 |
| Referral fee (15% of the offer price, illustrative) | −4.50 |
| FBA fulfilment fee (standard parcel, illustrative) | −3.50 |
| Fuel and inflation surcharge (illustrative) | −0.05 |
| Storage, 1 month (assumption) | −0.06 |
| Cost of goods / COGS (assumption) | −8.00 |
| Profit before advertising (PPC) | 9.09 |
What does this tell us? The Amazon fees alone (referral plus fulfilment plus fuel surcharge plus storage) come to about 8 EUR here, roughly 27% of the gross price. After VAT and cost of goods, 9.09 EUR is left, about 36% of net revenue (25.20 EUR), but that is still before advertising. If you add PPC campaigns at, say, 15% of revenue, the margin drops by a couple of euros more. This is the most common mistake in these calculations: count the referral and fulfilment fee, but forget VAT, storage and advertising.
If you want to move from a single calculation to managing margin across your whole catalogue, we cover that in the article on how to turn fees into margin and profitability on Amazon.
FAQ: common questions about Amazon FBA fees
How much is the Amazon referral fee in 2026?
It depends on the category and marketplace, but most categories sit between roughly 8% and 15% of the offer price, with some (such as consumer electronics and computers) lower. Look up the exact rate for your product in the official fee schedule and the FBA revenue calculator, since Amazon updates it several times a year.
Does the low-inventory-level fee apply on every marketplace?
No. The low-inventory-level fee in the Pan-European programme applies on Germany, France, Italy and Spain when stock falls below about 28 days of sales, but it does not apply on every EU marketplace. Check the rules for the marketplace you sell on.
In what currency does Amazon charge fees?
It varies by marketplace. On some, the fulfilment fee and referral are charged in local currency while storage, removals and disposals are charged in euros, so the real cost of the latter depends on the exchange rate. Confirm the currency in your marketplace's fee schedule.
What is the simplest way to calculate the FBA fee for my product?
Use the FBA revenue calculator in Seller Central: enter the dimensions, weight, category and price, and the tool returns the referral and fulfilment fee. It is the fastest way to check today's rate, because Amazon updates it several times a year.
Are FBA fees rising or falling in 2026?
In 2026 Amazon both lowered some fees (on average around 0.17 EUR per unit in Europe, including lower fulfilment fees and referral fees in selected categories) and raised others (storage, return to seller, disposals in some countries). The net effect depends on your assortment, so calculate it for your own products rather than relying on a general announcement.
Calculate your margin before you set a price
FBA fees are predictable once you split them into four blocks and run the numbers on a specific product, VAT and advertising included. The difficulty starts at scale: dozens of SKUs, several marketplaces, different currencies and price thresholds. If you want to be sure your prices cover the full cost of Amazon, not just the referral fee, take a look at our marketplace account management, or book a free account and margin audit.
At Amazonway we run this calculation at the start of every engagement, during WP 01 (Direction) of the Waypoint framework: we audit the account, the product data and the margins to show which products actually earn once every Amazon fee is deducted. It is simply the first step, before we touch pricing or advertising.