How much does it cost to open a store on Amazon? A summary of Amazon platform fees

To know how much profit you can make on the Amazon platform, first we must be clear about all the expenses of opening a store. Only by taking the costs into account when setting the price can we know how much you can earn. I have compiled a guide to the costs of opening a store on Amazon, which novices can learn about.

1. Amazon Selling Program Fees

When a seller signs up for a Seller Central account, Amazon operators can choose from one of two different selling plans Amazon offers.

Your options include the Individual Plan: $0.99 per item sold (for those who sell 40 or fewer products per month); the Professional Plan: $39.99 per month (on Amazon US) with no limit on the number of products.

If sellers plan to expand their business on Amazon, then they should definitely choose the Professional Seller Plan as an Amazon operator.

2. Amazon platform referral fee

Think of it as a fee for listing and selling your products in Amazon’s store. The referral fee applies to every item you sell on Amazon and is calculated as a percentage of the sales price or a minimum amount (whichever is greater).

Referral fees vary by product category, but for most categories, the referral fee is 15%. The minimum amount fee is $1 for almost every category, with a few exceptions - the minimum amount for watches and jewelry is $2, and a few categories do not have an applicable minimum amount or a strict sales commission percentage to determine the fee.

Variable Settlement Costs

Variable settlement costs, also known as variable costs, refer to cost items in total costs that change with changes in output.

This fee only applies to media products such as books, music, videos, DVDs, video games, consoles and software.

Amazon's latest fee schedule stipulates that any item sold in the media category will be charged a closing fee of $1.80.

4. FBA delivery fees

If Amazon chooses to use FBA to fulfill your orders, you need to understand all the FBA fees, as well as when and why these fees are incurred, and factor them into your business planning (you can use the Amazon FBA calculator to help you calculate).

This fee is based on the size and weight of your product. Amazon has two size tiers, standard size and oversized products. This fee includes the labor costs associated with order picking, packaging, shipping to customers, customer service, etc.

5. Monthly storage fee

Amazon charges all FBA sellers monthly storage fees. These fees are calculated based on the amount of storage space (in cubic feet) your products require. During the peak season from October to December, storage fees can rise significantly due to limited warehouse storage space.

Recommended reading:

What information do I need to open a cross-border e-commerce store on Amazon? The process of opening a store on Amazon

Are Amazon's self-operated products genuine? Why are Amazon's self-operated products cheaper?

How to do cross-border e-commerce on Amazon? How to open a store on it?