Amazon Announces 2020 FBA Fee Changes

2019 was a groundbreaking year for Amazon, particularly for the fact that it launched one-day delivery on more than 10 million products — an attractive selling point for many high-value Prime customers. 

The company announced that it “invested more than $15 billion in infrastructure, programs, people, and 150 new tools and services to help our sellers grow their brands and businesses,” and confirmed that one-day delivery was the most significant single-year investment it has ever made in FBA. 

The 2020 fulfillment fee changes, which Amazon describes as “only moderate,” will help the company face the higher costs — including the 46% increase in shipping costs in Q3 alone — that come with large-scale programs such as one-day delivery.

The updates are outlined below for your reference. All changes will take effect on Feb. 18, 2020. It is important to note that FBA fulfillment fees are calculated and charged based on when shipments leave Amazon fulfillment centers, so even if an item is ordered before Feb. 18, 2020 but is shipped on or after that date, the new fees will apply.

2020 U.S. Fulfillment Fee Updates

To begin, there will be FBA fee changes on core FBA products, excluding clothes. Sellers and brands participating in FBA should reference the updated fulfillment fee per unit grid in Seller Central for a full overview, but most notably, small standard, large standard, and medium oversized products are receiving an increase. 

For clothing and accessories, the $0.40 per-unit surcharge will be eliminated and per-unit fulfillment fees will increase on both small and large standard products. Oversized clothing tiers will be charged the core FBA fulfillment fees outlined above.

Lastly, products in Amazon’s dangerous goods program, also known as hazardous materials or hazmat products, will face per-unit fulfillment fee increases on both small and large standard products.

2020 U.S. Referral Fee Updates

Referral fees are a portion of the product sale that sellers pay on each product sold. Amazon mentions it ensures the fees “reflect changing industry dynamics and costs” as well as the feedback it receives from sellers. Below are the updates to 2020 referral fees:

• Activewear will be charged the Clothing & Accessories category referral fee of 17% as opposed to the Sports & Outdoors category referral fee of 15%.
• The referral fee percentage for shoes, handbags, and sunglasses will be reduced to 15% from 18% on products with a total sales price above $75.
• Outdoor furniture products will be consolidated into the Furniture category, lowering its referral fee percentage to 10% from 15% on any portion of the total sales price above $200.
• Personal care appliances will be consolidated into the Health & Personal Care category, which will lower the referral fee to 8% from 15% for items with a total sales price of $10 or less. Items above $10 will maintain the 15% referral fee.
• Ring accessories will be consolidated into the Amazon Device Accessories category, which has a 45% referral fee.
• The tiered fee structure for Amazon Business will be discontinued and one referral fee rate will be charged per category. Products above $1,000 will be charged the same referral fee rate that currently applies to products $1,000 or less in each category.