As the most popular online marketplace in the world, Amazon offers sellers instant access to millions of potential customers. But being part of Amazon’s massive marketplace isn’t particularly cheap, as there are many expenses to consider.

This article will break down the company’s current selling fees. These include Amazon FBA fees, seller fees, and other charges you will encounter while selling on the marketplace.

Seller Fees

How much Amazon charges you for selling on their platform depends on the type of business you manage, what kind of product you’re selling, and the volume you may have available. Before your company starts succeeding on the platform, it’s very important to keep track of relevant expenses. However, there are other options to consider, too. The following list will help you decide what suits your business best.

Monthly subscription Fees

Amazon has two monthly subscription fee options:

Individual seller fees

An individual seller subscription charges you $0.99 per sale, as you avoid paying a monthly subscription fee. Amazon’s Individual plan may be a good option if you’re new to Amazon and only want to test the platform’s features and services. However, you need to consider the limitations it carries. You’ll have no gift-wrapping option or control over shipping rates. Plus, product category restrictions and manual product listing limitations exist, meaning individual sellers can only manually create 40 new product listings per month. 

Professional seller fees

If your company sells more than 40 products monthly, you should subscribe to Amazon’s professional seller plan, which costs $39.99 monthly and is not charged $0.99 on every sale. This plan offers the following features:

• Software Integration
• Gift wrapping options
• Customizable shipping rates
• Order management
• Inventory management
• Bulk product uploads

 

Referral fees

Referral fees are applied to every product you sell on the platform. It has a bare minimum of 0.30 cents of charge per sale, but it is a percentage that varies depending on the type of product you’re selling.

For example, let’s say you’re selling a product that enters the“Backpacks, Handbags, and luggage” category. Well, then Amazon would charge you 15% on every sale. That means that if you sold a backpack for 30$, Amazon would keep $4.5.  

You can see the whole Fees Table here.

Amazon FBA Fees

FBA stands for “fulfillment by Amazon.” With FBA, you can ship your products to Amazon, so they fulfill the rest of the order when a customer purchases. This reduces your responsibilities as a business owner, allowing you to dedicate your attention to other aspects of your company. However, this convenience does come with associated costs.

There are several exclusive fees to consider when being a part of Amazon’s FBA program. 

• Pick and Pack Fee: As the name suggests, this is the fee Amazon charges you for packing up your product, delivering it, and all the handling in between. The fee you end up paying will depend on the size of your product once it’s fully packaged. The bigger your product is, the more you’ll have to pay, and it will be higher or lower depending on how much your product weighs. Plus, there are different categories: Non-Apparel, Apparel, and Dangerous. If you´re selling Apparel, the fee will usually cost $0.40 more than Non-Apparel. The same happens if you’re selling a Dangerous product. Use Amazon’s Revenue Calculator for free to calculate how much you’ll pay.

• Amazon Storage Fee: This fee is charged monthly for the inventory stored in Amazon’s warehouse. From January to September each year, the charge is $0.75 per cubic foot of stock stored. From October to December, the fee increases to $2.40 per cubic foot.
• Long-Term Storage Fee: If you keep products in Amazon’s warehouse for more than 365 days, they charge a long-term storage fee. The fee is $6.90 per cubic foot or $0.15 per item.
• Prepping Fee: Amazon can print an FNSKU barcode for $0.55 per product. Learn more about Amazon FBA Labels.  

Customer Return Fees

If a customer returns a bought product, Amazon charges you customer return fees. The cost depends on the size and weight of your product. The FBA program covers the costs of return shipping and processing in the Amazon warehouse.

FBM Fees

Fulfilled By Merchant (FBM) is when a seller handles the warehousing and shipping aspect of things while selling on the Amazon online marketplace. FBM fees are generally lower than FBA, but this doesn’t mean it’s better. 

FBA or FBM: What to choose?

As a seller on Amazon, there’ll come a time for you to decide between FBA (Forwarded By Amazon) and FBM (Forwarded By Merchant). There are many aspects to consider:

As we already saw, FBA sellers must pay additional fees for Amazon to store and deliver their products. Amazon also assists with customer service on the seller’s behalf. 

On the other hand, FBM sellers pay less fees, but they have to pack, store, and deliver their products themselves. They have to manage customer service and other aspects of the business, like returns. Plus, products sold by FBM sellers aren’t eligible for the Prime subscription.

The final choice ultimately depends on your preference for managing your eCommerce store. FBM is a more cost-effective option, but it requires you to handle all the operational aspects of your business, which requires a lot of time and effort on your end. FBA might be the better option if your business is thriving and the volume of products you’re selling is growing larger.

Conclusion

Understanding the breakdown of these fees is crucial for managing a successful eCommerce business on Amazon. No matter which seller plan you choose (Individual or Professional) or if you sign up for the FBA (Forwarded By Amazon) program, it’s very clear that understanding seller fees is a great way to prevent eventual money losses.

But there’s more. There’s no way of growing on Amazon if enough customers don’t see your products. BellaVix can help your business grow by boosting its visibility on the Amazon search engine.

If you have any further queries or require assistance on your Amazon journey, feel free to reach out to the BellaVix Team. We are always here to help.  

 

Keep up with the latest Amazon and Walmart news updates and subscribe to our BellaVix newsletter 👇👇👇