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Amazon Fees
Amazon fees are the cumulative charges that Amazon takes from the seller. These fees can be monthly charges, penalty charges, or other payments required for a variety of reasons.
General Fees
Amazon charges a fee each time an item is sold through the site. Fees vary depending on what type of item is sold and range from 6% to 25%. See this article on referral fees for a complete list of percentages deducted for various items. In addition to the referral fee, Amazon charges a per-item fee for each item sold if the seller has an Individual Seller account. Professional Seller accounts do not get charged per item.
Amazon Selling Fees
The first time a person registers to sell an item on Amazon, he is automatically signed up for an Individual Seller account and will be subject to all fees applicable to this type of account. A Professional Seller account is also available for sellers who wish to sell their products in greater volume. Fees are as follows:
- Individual Seller: $0.99 charge per item that is sold.
- Professional Seller: A monthly charge of $39.99, no per-item fee.
FBA Fees
Fulfillment by Amazon is a service that many sellers enjoy taking advantage of. FBA means that all the seller’s products are stored in an Amazon warehouse and all packing, shipping, and inventory work is done by an Amazon employee. Fees that apply to this service include:
- Inventory charges. These are incurred according to the bulk weight and measurement of the seller’s inventory each month. Sellers are billed once a month for an average daily maintenance fee based on the remaining amount of inventory that is left at the fulfillment center. This is, in essence, a charge for the storage space being used.
- Long-term storage fee. A long-term storage fee applies to products that are being stored in the Amazon fulfillment center warehouse for over a 365-day period. This fee is charged according to the product’s SKU number and can be calculated by multiplying the quantity of the items being charged by the per unit volume.
- Pick and pack fee. The pick and pack fee is a charge that Amazon takes for having one of their employees choose an item, package it, and prepare it for delivery.
- Weight handling fee. This fee is charged per pound (lb.) and is based on the weight of the entire package being shipped.
- Shipping charges fee. This fee can vary depending on the shipping method and services chosen.
- Per-fulfillment order fee. A per-fulfillment order fee is a cumulative charge that is taken by Amazon for the various fees accrued to process an order.
- Returns processing fee. A returns processing fee will be charged if an item is returned by the buyer.
- Non-compliance charge. A non-compliance charge will be incurred for items shipped to an Amazon fulfillment center without the proper packaging, labels, or other predetermined conditions.
- Prep service fee. Specialty items may require a prep service fee as well. Amazon requires the seller to prepare every item for shipping in a specific and specialized manner for that product. If a seller does not feel equipped to prepare the item personally or just doesn’t want to go through the process, Amazon will have one of their personnel package the item at one of their fulfillment centers. This is done for a prep service fee.
Note: See the Fulfillment by Amazon page for questions about multi-channel fulfillment and international fulfillment, as well as a complete list of questions and answers regarding this service.
Variable Closing Fee
Amazon charges sellers a variable closing fee for every item sold via Amazon’s platform. This payment is charged to sellers in addition to a referral fee (a percentage of the item’s selling price). For sellers who do not pay a monthly subscription fee, the variable closing fee is calculated as a per-item charge as well.
Costs
The variable closing fee for the following product types is $1.35 for both domestic standard shipping and domestic expedited shipping, and for international shipping in all but the last three categories:
- Books
- DVD
- Music
- Video
- Video Games
- Software & Computer/Video Games
- Video Game Consoles
For non-media categories, the variable closing fee is calculated per item and also per weight, so that items being shipped via domestic standard shipping incur a variable closing fee of $0.45/item + $0.05/lb. Items being shipped via domestic expedited shipping incur a charge of $0.65/item + $0.10/lb, and international shipping is not available for these items.
All fees are deducted from the seller’s account automatically. Monthly fees are deducted once a month from the seller’s account on an automatic schedule based on when the account was registered. Per item sales fees are deducted from the buyer’s payment prior to deposit into the seller’s account.