How much does Amazon FBA take per sale?

Short answer

Amazon typically takes 35–45% of the sale price on an FBA order once the referral fee, fulfilment fee, and storage are combined. On a $30 product that is roughly $10–$13, leaving about $17–$20 before your cost of goods and advertising.

Amazon FBA fee stack on a $30 product

Fee	Typical amount	Notes
Referral fee	$4.50	15% in most categories
FBA fulfilment fee	$4.50–$7.00	Size and weight based
Monthly storage	$0.15–$0.60	Higher in Q4
Advertising (PPC)	$3.00–$6.00	10–20% of revenue
Returns allowance	$0.60–$1.50
Left before COGS	$11–$17

How to read this table

Left before COGS sits at the top of the table ($11–$17). If your situation looks like this row, plan against the upper half of the range rather than the midpoint.
Monthly storage anchors the bottom ($0.15–$0.60) — higher in q4. Treat this as the conservative case you should still be profitable at.
The gap between the top and bottom row is roughly 113×. That spread is why a single blended average is close to useless here — pick the row that matches your setup instead of averaging the column.
Most rows are ranges, not single figures. The low end usually reflects a weaker month, a softer audience geography, or an unoptimised setup; the high end reflects a well-run, well-targeted operation of the same size.
With 6 reference points in the "amazon fba fee stack on a $30 product" table, the fastest way to use this page is to find the closest row, take its typical amount, then stress-test it ±30% before you build a plan on it.

Context

The fee stack is why price point matters so much on Amazon. Fixed fulfilment fees make products under $20 structurally hard to run profitably, while the same absolute fee on a $60 product is a much smaller share of revenue. Most sellers who fail on margin chose the price point wrong, not the product.

What moves this number

Product margin

Gross margin sets the ceiling on what you can pay to acquire a customer. Everything downstream is constrained by it.

Acquisition cost trend

Paid acquisition costs drift upward as you scale spend. A blended CAC that works at $5k/month often breaks at $50k/month.

Repeat purchase rate

Contribution on the second and third order is what makes most stores viable; first-order profitability is rare in paid-heavy models.

Fees and returns

Marketplace fees, payment processing, shipping, and returns commonly consume 15–35% of gross revenue.

Methodology

Fee figures reflect standard-size 2026 US FBA rate cards and 15% referral in common categories. Advertising and returns are typical operator averages, not Amazon-published fees.

Assumptions and caveats

Figures are before returns, chargebacks, and marketplace fees unless noted.
Category economics vary widely; apparel and electronics behave very differently.
This page was last reviewed on 2026-08-12. Ranges are updated as new data lands, so re-check before using them in a contract or a plan.
Use these numbers as a starting range, not a guarantee — your own historical data always beats a benchmark.

Frequently asked questions