Amazon FBA Fees: Ultimate Guide For Beginners
By Sam Nguyen
Drive 20-40% of your revenue with Avada
Selling will not be a big deal if you work on Amazon FBA. This program can offer you automatic order fulfillment and achieve more sales from Amazon’s coveted Prime customers. FBA is a really good place for you to start an online business.
However, nothing is free in this world. Everything has to be paid for. That’s also true for Amazon FBA. The fees of this service change on a frequent basis; therefore, it’s essential for you to keep updating the fees regularly.
Through the following article Amazon FBA Fees: Ultimate Guide for Beginners, today we’ll explore how many types of fees the FBA program charges and how the fees change in the year.
What is Amazon FBA and Why should you sell on Amazon FBA?
FBA (Fulfillment By Amazon) is a service offered by Amazon that helps sellers with storage, packaging and shipping assistance. This can cut down the burden on sellers and provides them more flexibility to sell their products. The program enables sellers to transfer their merchandise to the centre of Amazon fulfillment, where Amazon stores products in warehouses until they are sold. When a customer places an order, Amazon employees physically do the preparation, packaging and shipping of the item(s).
Reach to a wider audience
If you use Amazon FBA to sell your goods, they will automatically become qualified enough for Amazon Prime Free Two-Day Shipping, Free Shipping among other advantages. As a consequence, the Amazon Prime logo will be attached to your items, which possibly approaching a larger number of audience.
Easy to scale your business
Once Amazon has fulfilled your orders, there’s no need for you to care much about the logistics part of your business. You’ll have time to concentrate on taking another step forward to grow your business. When the number of orders increases, to fulfill them, you’ll store your inventory in Amazon’s fulfillment centers.
Better ranking in search results
Thanks to Amazon’s search algorithm, FBA items get priority over non-FBA items. This means greater rankings in Amazon’s search findings for products that are fulfilled through FBA service, and thus, more sales. You can go to Amazon’s website to check this. A variety of products appearing on the first page tend to be Prime listings.
Better customer service
When shopping online, customers are more happy and satisfied with purchasing products that can be returned. Besides, customer support will increase the possibility of a product being sold.
What are Amazon FBA Fees?
Amazon adjusts its FBA storage fees depending on the time of year, estimated quantity and product size (standard or oversize). To measure unit dimensions to define estimated quantity, a unit must be packaged and ready to deliver as stated in the policies of the FBA program. Then it only can be gauged by length, width and height.
Amazon will cost an extra fee if units are not packaged according to the FBA program’s policies. It requires accurate math to calculate these fees. This is because there are some variables to include. Just a tiny mistake could result in huge costs for an FBA merchant. To see the cost comparison between fulfilling orders yourself and through FBA, you can utilize the FBA Revenue Calculator.
If you take part in the optional FBA Label Service, the fee per unit will rise to $0.30 from February 2021.
RestockPro would be an ideal way for you to handle FBA fee calculations. FBA storage fee data is automatically measured and reachable within the Estimated Margin calculator of the Restock Suggestions grid. The latest data is synced from Amazon a few times a day to cover FBA fees, commissions, monthly storage fees and different closing fees.
Types of Amazon FBA Fees
Amazon FBA fees per unit
For standard size products
For an item to fall under the standard-size product category, it should not weigh more than 20 pounds when fully packed. Moreover, its dimensions should be less than 18” x 14”x 8”.
Oversize products
Any item that surpasses these above dimensions and the weight is evaluated to be oversized. For instance, if an item weighs more than 20 pounds and surpasses 18 inches on its longest side, it will be put into the overweight category.
Here are subdivisions within these sizes:
| PRODUCT SIZE CATEGORY | Special oversize | Large oversize | Medium oversize | Small oversize | Large standard-size | Small standard-size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WEIGHT(IN POUNDS) | Over 150 lb. | Equal to or Less than 150 lb | Equal to or Less than 150 lb. | Equal to or Less than 70 lb. | Equal to or Less than 20 lb. | Equal to or Less than 12 lb. |
| LONGESTSIDE (INCHES) | Over 108″ | 108″ | 108″ | 60″ | 18″ | 15″ |
| MEDIANSIDE(INCHES) | N/A | N/A | N/A | 30″ | 14″ | 12″ |
| SHORTESTSIDE (INCHES) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 8″ | 0.75″ |
| LENGTH +GIRTH (INCHES) | Over 165″ | 165″ | 130″ | 130″ | N/A | N/A |
Amazon fulfillment fees for clothing
| Size Tier | Large Standard | Small Standard | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shipping Weight | 10 oz or less | 10 to 16 oz | 1 to 2 lb | 2 to 3 lb | 3 lb to 21 lb | 10 oz or Less | 10 to 16 oz | |
| Packaging weight | 4 oz | 4 oz | 4 oz | 4 oz | 4 oz | |||
| Before February 18, 2020 | Fulfillment fee per unit | $3.59 | $3.68 | $5.16 | $5.66 | $5.66 + $0.38/lb above first 3 lb | $2.81 | $2.88 |
| February 18, 2020, and after | Fulfillment fee per unit | $3.70 | $3.81 | $5.35 | $5.95 | $5.95 + $0.38/lb above first 3 lb | $2.92 | $3.11 |
For apparels, sellers have to pay $0.40 for a unit’s fulfillment charge.
For instance, if you are offering a dress that weights whose outbound delivery weight is 1.2 pounds, its Amazon FBA fees will be $5.19 per unit.
Amazon FBA fees for non-Amazon products
It’s possible for you to apply Amazon FBA for products that have been being sold on other channels. For example, if you own an elegant website for your product, you can get Amazon FBA to fulfill your orders. That’s called Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF). However, Amazon FBA fees for MCF are comparatively higher.
Amazon understands that you may provide a number of shipping choices for the products displayed on your site. Hence, FBA has created its MCF fees for a number of shipping choices: Standard (3-5 days), Expedited (2 days) and Priority (Next day shipping). The prices have been included in the following tables, for two product-size types - Standard and Oversize.
Standard Shipping Fees For Standard-Size Products
| SIZE | Large(More than 2 lb) | Large(1lb to 2 lb) | Large Products (1lb or less) | Small(1lb or less) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5+ UNIT ORDER | $2.95 + $0.39/lb | $2.95 | $2.80 | $2.20 |
| 4 UNIT ORDER | $3.35 + $0.39/lb | $3.45 + $0.39/lb | $3.95 + $0.39/lb | $5.95 + $0.39/lb |
| 3 UNIT ORDER | $3.35 | $3.45 | $3.95 | $5.95 |
| 2 UNIT ORDER | $3.30 | $3.40 | $3.90 | $5.90 |
| 1 UNIT ORDER | $3.25 | $3.35 | $3.75 | $5.85 |
Standard Shipping Fees For Oversize Products
| Size | Special:more than first 90 lb | Large: more than first 90 lb | Medium: more than first 2 lb | Small: more than first 2 lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5+ UNIT ORDER | $3.80 + $0.39/lb | |||
| 4 UNIT ORDER | $4.80 + $0.39/lb | |||
| 3 UNIT ORDER | $5.80 + $0.39/lb | |||
| 2 UNIT ORDER | $6.80 + $0.39/lb | |||
| 1 UNIT ORDER | $143.30 + $0.92/lb | $78.30 + $0.80/lb | $15.30 + $0.39/lb | $12.30 + $0.39/lb |
Expedited Shipping Fees For Oversize Products
| Size | Special:more than first 90 lb | Large: more than first 90 lb | Medium: more than first 2 lb | Small: more than first 2 lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5+ UNIT ORDER | $6.85 + $0.39/lb | |||
| 4 UNIT ORDER | $7.15 + $0.39/lb | |||
| 3 UNIT ORDER | $7.30 + $0.39/lb | |||
| 2 UNIT ORDER | $7.80 + $0.39/lb | |||
| 1 UNIT ORDER | $143.30 + $0.92/lb | $78.30 + $0.80/lb | $16.80 + $0.39/lb | $12.30 + $0.39/lb |
Priority Shipping Fees For Oversize Products
| Size | Special:more than first 90 lb | Large: more than first 90 lb | Medium: more than first 2 lb | Small: more than first 2 lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5+ UNIT ORDER | $7.30 + $0.39/lb | |||
| 4 UNIT ORDER | $7.70 + $0.39/lb | |||
| 3 UNIT ORDER | $8.20 + $0.39/lb | |||
| 2 UNIT ORDER | $11.30 + $0.39/lb | |||
| 1 UNIT ORDER | $143.30 + $0.92/lb | $78.30 + $0.80/lb | $31.30 + $0.39/lb | $20.80 + $0.39/lb |
From the tables above, it’s proved that if you sell more items on your website, it’ll be much cheaper for you to choose the Fulfillment by Amazon service. This is particularly important if your website has been selling more products than your store on Amazon.
For instance, if you are offering a non-clothing item on Amazon, which weighs more than 1 pound, the fulfillment fee will be $2.41 per unit. Nevertheless, if you are selling the same product on Amazon, the fulfillment fee for standard delivery will be $2.20 per unit, as long as the order contains more than 5 units. Therefore, it’s really essential that you should make careful calculations to determine which platform brings more benefits to your business.
Amazon FBA monthly storage price
To make sure that you fulfill the orders of your customers rapidly, you can select to store your items in Amazon’s fulfillment centers. This is especially beneficial if your products are popular among your consumers and they run out very fast. The tables below show storage fees for the 30-day period and long-term period.
| Storage Month | Standard-Size | Oversize |
|---|---|---|
| Jan – Sep | $0.75 / cubic foot | $0.48 / cubic foot |
| Oct – Dec | $2.40 / cubic foot | $1.20 / cubic foot |
Monthly Storage Cost
| Inventory Assessment Date | Items In Fulfillment Centers 181 To 365 Days | Items In Fulfillment Centers 365 Days or More |
|---|---|---|
| Semi-annual (February 15 and August 15) | $11.25 / cubic foot | $22.50 / cubic foot |
Long-Term Storage Fees
| Inventory Assessment Date | Items In Fulfillment Centers 181 To 365 Days | Items In Fulfillment Centers 365 Days or More |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly (15th of every month) | $3.45 / cubic foot | $6.90 / cubic foot |
Minimum Long-Term Storage Fees
| Inventory Assessment Date | Items in Fulfillment Centers 365 Days Or More |
|---|---|
| Monthly (15th of every month) | $0.50 / unit |
Some extra fees
If you decide to choose Fulfillment by Amazon program, you’ll necessarily consider some additional fees mentioned below.
Monthly Selling Fees - These are the fees that Amazon charges you monthly for selecting its platform. It sounds like rent that you have to pay to use Amazon’s website to sell your goods.
Referral Fees and Variable Closing Fees - This is similar to the commission that Amazon takes from you on each product you sell on its site.
Returns Processing Fees - Whereas the returns processing fee of some products costs zero, you’ll have to pay attention to those product categories that are not included in the purview of this. Hence, you need to pay a fee to process your returns. Moreover, you may have to pay a repackaging fee, as long as your product requires repackaging for resale.
Stock Removal Fees - If you would like to remove your unsold stock out of Amazon’s inventory, a stock removal fee will be paid. You also have to pay more if you require Amazon to return your products for you.
Inventory Placement Service - Rather than getting Amazon to split your shipment into different shipments with each going to a disparate center, you can sign up for FBA Inventory Placement Service to ensure all of your eligible inventory in one fulfillment center. That service also charges you a fee.
Amazon FBA Export Fees - Fulfillment by Amazon enables you to sell your products to a variety of countries, as long as your country has this export service. Consequently, an export fee may be imposed on your products according to the channel you sell it from.
Is FBA the right option for your business?
While 66% of third-party sellers opt for Fulfillment by Amazon, that does not mean it’s the right option for your business.
It is crucial for you to evaluate its primary advantages versus service fees. You need to define what costs to expect from FBA before signing up for the program.
Conclusion
That’s all the information about Amazon FBA Fees that you should keep an eye on. If you’re going to run an online business with FBA, it’s really critical to undertake thorough calculations before making any decision.
If something in this post is still unclear to you, tell us in the comment section below. We’ll help you immediately. Thank you all for reading!
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