What Percentage Does Amazon Take from Sellers? (2026 Breakdown)

If you sell a product for $25 on Amazon using FBA, you will typically keep $14-$17 after all Amazon fees are deducted — before your own product costs and advertising. That means Amazon's total cut ranges from 30% to 45% of your sale price depending on your product category, size, weight, and how long it sits in their warehouse.

That headline number surprises many new sellers. But the percentage is not one single fee — it is a stack of different charges that each take a slice. Understanding exactly where each dollar goes is the key to pricing your products profitably and identifying opportunities to reduce your costs.

The Fee Stack: Breaking Down Amazon's Cut

Amazon's fees come from several distinct sources. Here is each component and what it costs as a percentage of a typical sale:

1. Referral Fee (8-20% of sale price)

The referral fee is Amazon's commission for every sale made on their platform. It is a flat percentage of the total sale price (including shipping charges if you set any). The rate varies by product category:

Category	Referral Fee
Most categories (Home, Kitchen, Sports, etc.)	15%
Clothing & Accessories	17%
Jewelry	20%
Consumer Electronics	8%
Computers	8%
Automotive	12%
Grocery & Gourmet	8-15%
Health & Personal Care	8-15%
Beauty	8-15%
Books	15%

Most private-label sellers fall into the 15% bracket. The referral fee has a minimum of $0.30 per item, which matters only for very low-priced products. For a $25 product in a standard 15% category, the referral fee is $3.75.

This is the one fee you cannot avoid on Amazon regardless of fulfillment method. Whether you use FBA or ship orders yourself (FBM), the referral fee applies to every sale.

2. FBA Fulfillment Fee (varies — typically 12-20% equivalent)

The FBA fulfillment fee covers picking, packing, and shipping your product to the customer. Unlike the referral fee, this is a flat dollar amount based on product size and weight, not a percentage of the sale price. This means the effective percentage varies depending on your price point.

Current 2026 FBA fulfillment fee rates for standard-size products:

• Small standard (2 oz or less): $3.06
• Small standard (2-6 oz): $3.15
• Small standard (6-12 oz): $3.30
• Small standard (12 oz-1 lb): $3.68
• Large standard (4-8 oz): $4.25
• Large standard (8-12 oz): $4.55
• Large standard (12 oz-1.5 lb): $5.40
• Large standard (1.5-3 lb): $6.15-$7.17

For a $25 product weighing 10 oz in the small standard tier, the FBA fee is approximately $3.30, or 13.2% of the sale price. For a $15 product with the same specs, that same $3.30 fee becomes 22% — which is why low-priced products are harder to make work on FBA.

3. Monthly Storage Fees (~1-5% equivalent)

Amazon charges monthly rent for your inventory sitting in their warehouses. The rate depends on the time of year and your product's cubic footage:

• January - September: $0.78 per cubic foot (standard-size)
• October - December: $2.40 per cubic foot (standard-size)

For a small product (0.1 cubic feet) that sells through in 30 days, the storage cost is about $0.08 — negligible. But slow-moving inventory racks up costs quickly, and aged inventory surcharges (starting at 181 days) add $1.50-$6.90+ per cubic foot on top.

As a percentage of the sale price, storage typically runs 1-2% for fast-selling products and 3-5%+ for slow movers. Efficient inventory management keeps this number low.

4. Other Fees (~2-5% equivalent)

Several additional fees add to Amazon's total take:

• Inbound placement fee: $0.27-$1.58 per unit for standard-size items (if shipping to a single warehouse)
• Refund administration fee: When a customer gets a refund, Amazon keeps the lesser of $5.00 or 20% of the referral fee
• Return processing fee: Charged in certain categories (apparel, shoes, watches) when items are returned
• Low-inventory-level fee: $0.32-$0.97 per unit when your stock drops below 28 days of supply

These fees combined typically add another 2-5% on top of the core referral and fulfillment fees.

Real Example: Where Each Dollar Goes on a $25 Product

Let's trace the money on a typical $25 product — a kitchen gadget weighing 10 oz, sold in the Home & Kitchen category (15% referral fee), with a landed cost of $5.00 per unit.

Fee Component	Amount	% of Price
Sale price	$25.00	100%
Referral fee (15%)	-$3.75	15.0%
FBA fulfillment fee	-$3.30	13.2%
Monthly storage (avg)	-$0.15	0.6%
Inbound placement	-$0.45	1.8%
Other fees (avg)	-$0.25	1.0%
Total Amazon fees	-$7.90	31.6%
Product cost (landed)	-$5.00	20.0%
PPC advertising (est.)	-$3.00	12.0%
Net profit	$9.10	36.4%

In this example, Amazon's direct fees consume 31.6% of the sale price. Add advertising (which goes to Amazon) and the total Amazon-directed spend is 43.6%. The seller keeps 36.4% — which then needs to cover taxes, returns, software, and other business expenses.

Visualizing the Fee Stack

Here is how each dollar of that $25 sale breaks down:

FBA vs. FBM: How the Percentage Changes

Fulfillment method significantly affects Amazon's total take. Here is a side-by-side comparison for the same $25 product:

With FBM, Amazon takes only the referral fee — roughly 15-17% for most categories. But you absorb all fulfillment costs yourself: shipping materials, postage, labor, and customer service. Many FBM sellers find that their total cost of fulfillment is similar to FBA's fees, with the added burden of managing the operation themselves.

The FBA premium — the extra 13-15% Amazon charges over the basic referral fee — buys you access to Prime two-day shipping (which dramatically increases conversion rates), Amazon-managed customer service, and returns processing. For most products, the sales lift from the Prime badge more than offsets the higher fee.

How Your Price Point Affects the Percentage

Because the FBA fulfillment fee is a flat dollar amount, your selling price dramatically changes the overall percentage Amazon takes:

• $10 product: Amazon takes approximately 45-55% (the fixed fulfillment fee is brutal at low price points)
• $15 product: Amazon takes approximately 37-45%
• $25 product: Amazon takes approximately 30-35%
• $50 product: Amazon takes approximately 24-30%
• $100 product: Amazon takes approximately 20-25%

This is why experienced sellers generally avoid products priced below $15 on FBA — the math simply does not work. Below that threshold, Amazon's fixed fulfillment fee consumes too large a share of the revenue to leave room for product cost, advertising, and profit.

How to Lower the Percentage Amazon Takes

While you cannot negotiate Amazon's referral fee, you can reduce the total percentage through several strategies:

• Increase your selling price. The most direct lever. A $30 product loses a smaller percentage to fixed fees than a $20 product. Add value (bundling, premium packaging, better features) to justify a higher price.
• Reduce your product size and weight. Smaller, lighter products pay lower FBA fulfillment fees. Optimize packaging to stay in a lower size tier.
• Manage inventory turnover. Fast-selling inventory minimizes storage fees and avoids aged surcharges, keeping the storage component below 1%.
• Consider FBM for low-margin or heavy items. Products where FBA fulfillment fees represent more than 20% of the sale price may be better suited to merchant fulfillment.
• List in the correct category. Make sure your product is categorized accurately — a product in an 8% referral fee category should not be listed under a 15% category by mistake.

Comparing Amazon's Cut to Other Platforms

Amazon's 30-45% total take may sound steep, but context matters. Here is how other selling channels compare:

• eBay: ~13-15% total (final value fee + payment processing). No fulfillment included — you ship everything yourself.
• Shopify: ~3-5% (payment processing only). But you pay for all traffic (ads), fulfillment, and customer acquisition separately — total costs often rival Amazon's.
• Walmart Marketplace: ~12-15% referral fee. Lower than Amazon, but significantly less traffic. WFS (Walmart Fulfillment Services) adds similar fulfillment fees to FBA.
• Etsy: ~11-15% total (listing fees + transaction fee + payment processing). Niche audience, lower volume for most product types.

Amazon's higher percentage reflects the value of their marketplace: 200+ million Prime members, massive organic traffic, built-in customer trust, and a fulfillment network that delivers orders in one to two days. For many sellers, the volume Amazon generates more than compensates for the higher fee percentage.

The Bottom Line

Amazon takes 30-45% of your sale price through a combination of referral fees, fulfillment fees, storage fees, and miscellaneous charges. The exact percentage depends on your product category, size, weight, price point, and how efficiently you manage inventory.

For a typical $25 product in a standard category, expect Amazon's direct fees to consume about $7-9 per unit (28-36%). Add PPC advertising and the total Amazon-directed spend rises to 40-48% of revenue.

The sellers who thrive on Amazon are the ones who understand this fee structure deeply, price their products accordingly, and optimize every variable within their control. The percentage Amazon takes is not negotiable — but many of the factors that determine that percentage are.