asinIQYou found a kitchen gadget at a clearance price, and it sells for $20 on Amazon.com. Before you buy 30, check the fees for the exact box and price you plan to sell. A few cents saved on the purchase price can disappear into a higher fulfillment band.
The short answer
In our invented Amazon.com FBA example, a $20 Home and Kitchen item weighing 11 oz in a 9 x 6 x 3 inch box has three main Amazon fees. They total $8.76 (44%) in referral, fulfillment and one month of storage at holiday 2026 rates. The same inputs at non-peak rates give $8.29 (41%). A separate CAD $27 Amazon.ca example pays CAD $11.82 at standard rates, before your own costs and any taxes on fees.
- Many categories, Home and Kitchen and Toys and Games included, pay a 15% referral fee on the total the buyer pays, with a $0.30 minimum on Amazon.com and a CAD $0.40 minimum on Amazon.ca.
- In our $20 Home and Kitchen example, FBA fulfillment costs more than the 15% referral fee. Amazon.com sets fulfillment fees by size tier, shipping weight and price band.
- A bulky box can be charged as a heavier item: Amazon uses the dimensional weight when it is larger than the scale weight.
- From October 15, 2026 to January 14, 2027, holiday fulfillment rates apply on both marketplaces, plus a 3.5% surcharge on the fulfillment fee.
- Storage is small per unit for a fast seller, but standard-size storage on Amazon.com costs about three times as much from October to December.
What does Amazon charge on every FBA sale?
Every FBA sale on Amazon.com or Amazon.ca pays three fees: a referral fee, which is Amazon's commission, a fulfillment fee per unit, and monthly storage on the space your units take up while they wait to sell. Amazon.ca describes the fulfillment fee as covering picking, packing, shipping, customer service and returns.
On top of the three FBA fees, Amazon charges for your selling plan. A Professional plan is $39.99 a month on Amazon.com and CAD $29.99 a month on Amazon.ca. The Individual plan has no monthly fee but charges $0.99 per item sold on Amazon.com and CAD $1.49 on Amazon.ca, as listed on the Amazon.com and Amazon.ca pricing pages.
The examples below use a $20 Amazon.com item and a separate CAD $27 Amazon.ca item. Both use FBA; orders you ship yourself have a different cost calculation.
How is the referral fee worked out on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca?
The referral fee is a percentage of the total the buyer pays, or a per-item minimum, whichever is greater. Amazon.com's referral fee page counts the item price, gift wrap and delivery charges, and it defines delivery charges as what you charge for shipping when you fulfill the item yourself. Taxes Amazon calculates are left out. The fee is charged when the order ships.
Many categories pay a 15% referral fee, including Home and Kitchen and Toys and Games. The minimum is $0.30 on Amazon.com and CAD $0.40 on Amazon.ca. In some categories, Amazon.com and Amazon.ca also start the higher rate at different prices, which matters on $15 to $20 items.
| Category or rule | Amazon.com | Amazon.ca |
|---|---|---|
| Home and Kitchen | 15% | 15% |
| Minimum per item | $0.30 | CAD $0.40 |
| Clothing: rate at exactly $20 / CAD $20 | 10% at US $20 | 17% at CAD $20 |
| Category or rule | Amazon.com | Amazon.ca |
|---|---|---|
| Beauty: price eligible for 8% | $10 or less | CAD $15 or less |
| Grocery: price eligible for 8% | $15 or less | CAD $20 or less |
Clothing is the clearest case. A shirt priced at exactly $20.00 on Amazon.com pays 10%, because the 17% rate starts above $20.00. The same shirt at exactly CAD $20.00 on Amazon.ca pays 17%, because Amazon.ca's higher rate starts at CAD $20. Consumer electronics pay 8% on both marketplaces, and Grocery has no minimum on either.
What is the FBA fulfillment fee on a $20 item?
On Amazon.com, a standard-size item priced at $20 pays from $3.32 for the lightest small item to $5.04 for a large standard item just over a pound, before the 3.5% surcharge and at non-peak rates. Heavier items pay more. The rate card has three price bands: under $10, $10 to $50, and over $50. An item priced at exactly $10 or $50 falls in the middle band. Items under $10 get Low-Price FBA rates, $0.86 lower on average.
A $20 item sits in the $10 to $50 band. These rows come from Amazon's 2026 US fulfillment fee page, before the surcharge.
| Size tier and shipping weight | Jan 15 to Oct 14, 2026 | Oct 15, 2026 to Jan 14, 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Small, 2 oz or less | $3.32 | $3.51 |
| Small, 14+ to 16 oz | $3.96 | $4.18 |
| Large, 8+ to 12 oz | $4.20 | $4.48 |
| Large, 1+ to 1.25 lb | $5.04 | $5.34 |
Two more charges apply. Since April 17, 2026, Amazon adds a 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge to FBA fulfillment fees in the US and Canada. It's worked out on the fulfillment fee, not on your sale price, and Amazon says it will keep evaluating it as conditions change (Amazon's announcement). And the holiday peak rates in the right column apply to units that ship from October 15, 2026 to January 14, 2027. Amazon charges the fee when the unit leaves the warehouse, so an order placed on October 14 that ships on October 15 pays the peak rate.
Amazon.ca prices fulfillment by size tier and weight in grams. Its pricing page lists the standard tier at CAD $6.36 for 200+ to 300 g and CAD $7.40 for 500+ to 600 g. Products priced under CAD $14 get rates CAD $0.80 lower. Amazon.ca's peak fees run on the same dates, and Amazon's holiday 2026 announcement puts the increase at CAD $0.39 a unit on average. Your exact peak rate shows in Amazon's Revenue Calculator for Amazon.ca.
Why does a light product get charged like a heavy one?
Amazon.com and Amazon.ca both set the FBA fulfillment fee by shipping weight, which is the larger of the scale weight and the dimensional weight. So a light item in a roomy box can pay for a heavier band.
On Amazon.com, dimensional weight is length times width times height in inches, divided by 139. It applies to large standard and several larger tiers. Extra-large items over 150 lb use unit weight only. Small standard items (up to 16 oz and within 15 x 12 x 0.75 inches) are charged on unit weight only, according to Amazon's size tier page.
For many resold products the box is the brand's, so it's part of what you're buying. Check the package dimensions on the listing before you check anything else on a cheap, light item. Amazon's measurement can also be wrong, and Seller Central has an FBA remeasurement tool for products charged on the wrong size.
What does FBA storage add to each unit?
For a product that sells within a month or two, storage adds cents per unit, but on Amazon.com the rate more than triples from October to December. Amazon works it out as average daily units, times volume per unit, times the monthly rate.
Amazon.com's storage fee page lists standard-size items at $0.78 per cubic foot a month from January to September and $2.40 from October to December. Amazon.ca charges CAD $40 per cubic metre for standard size from January to September and CAD $77 from October to December. A unit in a 9 x 6 x 3 inch box takes 0.094 cubic feet, so a month on an Amazon.com shelf costs about $0.07 in July and about $0.23 in November.
How much does Amazon take from a $20 FBA sale?
In our example, Amazon takes $8.29 of a $20 Home and Kitchen item sold through FBA on Amazon.com at standard rates, and $8.76 at holiday rates. That's 41% to 44% of the price. The item weighs 11 oz, comes in a 9 x 6 x 3 inch box and sells within a month.
For a separate Amazon.ca example, assume a CAD $27 selling price, a 23 x 15 x 8 cm box and a shipping weight of 550 g. The price is invented, not a currency conversion. The shipping weight is an example input, not a weight calculated from these dimensions. For a real ASIN, use the shipping weight and fee in Amazon's Revenue Calculator for Amazon.ca. Figures below are rounded to the cent.
| Fee | Non-peak | Holiday |
|---|---|---|
| Referral, 15% | $3.00 | $3.00 |
| Fulfillment with surcharge | $5.22 | $5.53 |
| Storage, one month | $0.07 | $0.23 |
| Three-fee total | $8.29 | $8.76 |
| Share of $20 | 41% | 44% |
| Left from $20 | $11.71 | $11.24 |
In this CAD $27 Amazon.ca example, referral, fulfillment and one month of storage total CAD $11.82 at standard rates. The holiday estimate is CAD $12.32, using Amazon's average peak increase; the exact fee for your ASIN can differ. Both columns exclude taxes on Amazon's fees and your own costs. Amazon may add applicable taxes to its seller fees; include those in your own calculation.
| Fee (CAD) | Standard | Holiday (est.) |
|---|---|---|
| Referral, 15% | $4.05 | $4.05 |
| Fulfillment with surcharge | $7.66 | $8.06 |
| Storage, one month | $0.11 | $0.21 |
| Three-fee total | $11.82 | $12.32 |
| Share of $27 | 44% | 46% |
| Left from $27 | $15.18 | $14.68 |
These totals leave out your own costs: the product, prep and labels, shipping to Amazon, any inbound placement fee and your plan fee. At 100 sales a month, a Professional plan adds $0.40 a unit on Amazon.com or CAD $0.30 on Amazon.ca.
What other fees can come out of a sale?
Sending stock to one warehouse and refunding an order can each add a fee. Check which charges apply before placing the order.
- Inbound placement fee on Amazon.com: send a standard-size shipment to a single location and Amazon charges a per-unit fee, from $0.20 to $0.50 for a large standard item up to 1.5 lb. Sending it to multiple inbound locations yourself is free, but that option needs at least five identical cartons or pallets per item. The fee is billed 45 days after Amazon receives the units, per Amazon's placement fee page.
- Dangerous goods have their own, higher fulfillment rate card on Amazon.com. A large standard item at 1+ to 1.25 lb pays $5.64 instead of $5.04 at non-peak rates.
- Refunds on Amazon.com: when you refund a non-media item in full, Amazon gives back the referral fee minus a refund administration fee, the lesser of $5 or 20% of the referral fee. On the $20 example that's $0.60 of the $3.00, per Amazon's refund administration fee page.
- Returns processing fee on Amazon.com: charged on returned units above a category threshold, 8.1% for Home and Kitchen, at $3.70 a unit for a large standard item at 1+ to 1.25 lb. Apparel and shoes pay it on every return. A product that shipped fewer than 25 units in a month is exempt (Amazon's returns fee page).
How do I check Amazon's fees before I buy?
Run the exact ASIN at the price you expect to sell at, with the box dimensions Amazon has on file, and use holiday rates for anything that will sell between October 15 and January 14. Amazon's Revenue Calculator for Amazon.com shows the fulfillment fee for one ASIN, including peak rates.
When you're checking a whole list, paste the links into asinIQ. You enter your prep and shipping costs once, and each check shows the fees, your estimated profit at your landed cost, and the most you can pay a supplier. Take that maximum buy price into the store or the supplier call. If you're still sizing the order, our post on how many units you'll sell covers the other half.
Common questions
What percentage does Amazon take per sale?
The referral fee is 15% in many categories on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca, 8% in some, like consumer electronics, and higher in others, like 17% for clothing over $20 on Amazon.com. With FBA, the fulfillment fee comes on top, and on a $20 item in a 15% category it's larger than the referral fee. Storage is added monthly. On a $20 Amazon.com item, the three can pass 40% of the price.
Is the Amazon referral fee charged on shipping?
Yes, when the buyer pays for shipping. Amazon.com's total sales price includes delivery charges, which it defines as what you charge for shipping when you fulfill the item yourself, plus the item price and gift wrap. Amazon.ca's pricing page lists item price, shipping cost and gift wrapping. If you ship orders yourself, the referral fee applies to your shipping charge too.
Do holiday peak fees apply to orders placed before October 15?
They can. Amazon.com charges the FBA fulfillment fee when the unit ships from the fulfillment center, so an order placed before October 15, 2026 that ships on or after that date pays the peak rate. The peak period runs to January 14, 2027 on both Amazon.com and Amazon.ca.
Is the 3.5% FBA surcharge charged on my sale price?
No. Since April 17, 2026, Amazon adds a 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge to FBA fulfillment fees in the US and Canada, worked out on the fulfillment fee only. On a $5.34 fulfillment fee the surcharge is about $0.19. It also applies on top of the holiday peak fulfillment rates.
Is the Amazon.ca referral fee minimum the same as Amazon.com?
No. Amazon.com's per-item minimum referral fee is $0.30 in most categories, and Amazon.ca's is CAD $0.40. The minimum only matters on cheap items, where 15% of the price comes to less than the minimum. On Amazon.ca, that's anything in a 15% category priced under about CAD $2.67.
Sources
Checked October 27, 2026. Amazon changes fees and rules often, so check the page for your own marketplace before you buy.
- Referral feesAmazon Seller Central (US)
- FBA fulfillment feeAmazon Seller Central (US)
- 2026 US FBA fulfillment fee changesAmazon Seller Central (US)
- Product size tiersAmazon Seller Central (US)
- Monthly inventory storage feesAmazon Seller Central (US)
- FBA inbound placement service feeAmazon Seller Central (US)
- Refund administration feeAmazon Seller Central (US)
- 2026 returns processing fee changesAmazon Seller Central (US)
- Fuel and logistics-related surcharge: FBA, MCF, and BWP in US and CAAmazon Seller Forums, Amazon announcement
- Selling on Amazon fees and plansAmazon (sell.amazon.com)
- Selling on Amazon.ca fees and plansAmazon.ca (sell.amazon.ca)
- Holiday 2026: Same fees, same eligibility, earlier deadlinesAmazon.ca Seller Forums, Amazon announcement
- Revenue CalculatorAmazon Seller Central (US)
- Revenue CalculatorAmazon Seller Central (Canada)
- Canadian Sales Taxes on Amazon.ca Seller FeesAmazon Seller Central (Canada)