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Platform Fees

Amazon FBA Fee Calculator UK (2026)

Amazon FBA UK has three stacked fee components: referral (8-15% of sale, by category), fulfilment (£1.93-£8.95 by size tier), and storage (£0.55-£0.79 per cubic foot per month, with Q4 premium). Plus 20% VAT on top for non-VAT-registered sellers. This calculator combines all of them.

Last verified: 25 April 2026 Source: Amazon UK seller pricing Next review: 25 October 2026
Inputs
Your wholesale cost per unit, including any inbound shipping to Amazon's warehouse.
Standard small parcel: ~0.05 ft³. Oversize: 0.5+ ft³. Used for monthly storage calc.
Tick if your product uses Amazon's oversize storage tier (lower per-cubic-foot rate).
For amortising the £25/month Professional plan cost across units.
VAT-registered sellers reclaim 20% VAT on Amazon fees. Non-registered absorb it as real cost.
Category —
Size tier —
Referral fee —
FBA fulfilment fee —
Storage fee (per unit per month) —
Selling plan cost (per unit) —
VAT on fees (if not registered) —
Total Amazon fees —
Effective fee % —
Profit per unit (after COGS) —
Profit margin % —
Margin health —
£25 home & kitchen item, £8 COGS, basic seller
£25 sale · £8 COGS · Home & Kitchen · Small parcel · Standard storage · Professional plan · 100 units/month · Not VAT-registered

Referral 15% × £25 = £3.75. Fulfilment £2.92. Storage 0.05ft³ × £0.55 = £0.028. Pro plan £25/100 = £0.25. Pre-VAT subtotal £6.95. Plus 20% VAT (not reclaimable) = £1.39. Total Amazon fees £8.34. Net after fees £16.66, minus £8 COGS = £8.66 profit per unit (34.7% margin). Healthy for FBA at this price point.

£15 toy, £4 COGS, Q4 storage
£15 sale · £4 COGS · Toys & Games · Small parcel · Q4 storage · Pro plan · 100 units/month · Not VAT-registered

Referral 15% × £15 = £2.25. Fulfilment £2.92. Q4 storage £0.05 × £0.79 = £0.04. Pro plan £0.25. Pre-VAT £5.46. VAT £1.09. Total fees £6.55 (43.7% of sale). Profit £4.45 per unit. Q4 storage premium adds ~£0.012 per unit on small items — negligible alone but stacks fast on slow-moving inventory.

£100 electronics, £40 COGS, VAT-registered
£100 sale · £40 COGS · Electronics (7% referral) · ≤9kg parcel · 0.10 ft³ · Pro plan · 50 units/month · VAT-registered

Electronics at 7% referral is far gentler than 15% standard: £100 × 7% = £7.00. Fulfilment £3.65 (heavier parcel tier). Storage £0.055. Pro plan £0.50 (only 50 units/month amortising the £25 monthly). Total fees £11.21 — VAT-registered, so VAT on Amazon fees is reclaimable (zero net cost). Profit £48.79/unit — 48.8% margin. Electronics’ lower referral compensates for higher COGS proportionally.

Amazon FBA UK is the highest-stake, most-complex marketplace for UK sellers. Three layered fees (referral + fulfilment + storage) plus optional plan costs plus VAT plus PPC ad spend create a margin maze where successful sellers operate on tight calculation. The calculator above unwinds the layers.

The three core fees

Referral fee (% of sale, by category): - Most categories: 15% - Electronics, Computers: 7% - Health & Household, Grocery: 8% - Jewellery: 20% (under £250) / 5% (above) - Watches: 15% (under £1,000) / 5% (above) - Beauty: 8% (under £10) / 15% (above) - Amazon Device Accessories: 45% (highest on platform)

Fulfilment fee (flat £ by size and weight): - Small envelope (≤80g): £1.93 - Standard parcel (≤500g): £2.92 - Heavy parcel (≤9kg): £3.65 - Standard parcel (≤12kg): £5.30 - Oversize - small (≤25kg): £8.95

Storage fee (£ per cubic foot per month): - Standard, Jan-Sep: £0.55 - Standard, Oct-Dec: £0.79 (45% premium for Q4 peak) - Oversize, Jan-Sep: £0.45 - Oversize, Oct-Dec: £0.65

Plus Selling Plan: Individual £0.75/unit (no monthly fee) OR Professional £25/month (no per-unit fee). Breakeven ~33 units/month.

Plus 20% VAT on all fees if you’re not VAT-registered.

Margin maths reality check

For a £20 product: - Referral 15%: £3.00 - Fulfilment small parcel: £2.92 - Storage (0.05 ft³, standard): £0.03 - Pro plan (100/month): £0.25 - Subtotal: £6.20 - VAT (if not VAT-registered): £1.24 - Total Amazon fees: £7.44 - Pre-COGS take: £12.56 (62.8% retention)

For COGS of £6, profit is £6.56 — 32.8% margin. That’s the FBA reality at this price point: ~30-35% margin is the achievable healthy range for sub-£25 items.

When FBA stops making sense

Below £8-10 retail, FBA fees consume too much margin to compete. Books, low-priced media, sub-£10 accessories: consider Amazon MFN (Merchant Fulfilled — you pack and ship). MFN saves the £2-£3 fulfilment fee per unit, allowing competitive pricing on slim-margin items. The trade-off: no Prime badge, slower delivery, and you handle returns directly.

Above £100 retail with low referral rate (Electronics, Computers): FBA economics are excellent. £100 × 7% = £7 referral; even with fulfilment + storage the Amazon take is ~10-12% of sale price. These are FBA’s sweet spots.

VAT — the silent killer for non-registered sellers

Non-VAT-registered sellers pay 20% VAT on Amazon’s fees as a real cost. For a seller doing £8/unit in fees, that’s £1.60 of unrecoverable VAT per unit. Stack across 100 units/month and £160/month leaks straight to HMRC.

VAT-registered sellers reclaim this. Above £500/month of Amazon fees, voluntary VAT registration is usually positive — even before the £90k threshold. Use the VAT calculator to model your specific case.

What the calculator excludes

  • Returns (5-15% typical, eat 1-3pp of margin)
  • PPC ad spend (£100-£500/month minimum to stay competitive)
  • Long-Term Storage Fees (items > 365 days)
  • Inbound Placement Service (~£0.30/unit for distributed inbound)
  • FBA Small & Light (slightly different fee schedule for sub-£11 items)
  • Sale-side VAT on the customer transaction (handled separately)

For combined PPC + FBA profitability, run ROAS calculator on your ad spend, then subtract from this calculator’s profit per unit. For tax treatment, FBA fees are fully deductible — see the side hustle tax calculator.

Common mistakes
  • Forgetting VAT on fees if not VAT-registered. Amazon adds 20% VAT to all fees for UK sellers. VAT-registered sellers reclaim it (zero net cost). Non-VAT-registered absorb it as real cost — adds 20% to your effective Amazon fee burden. £8 of fees becomes £9.60 real cost. Below £90k turnover (the VAT threshold) registration is voluntary; consider voluntary registration once Amazon fees + Stripe + supplier VAT exceed ~£500/month of recoverable input VAT.
  • Ignoring Q4 storage premium. October-December storage rates are ~45% higher (£0.79 vs £0.55 per cubic foot per month for standard tier). For small items this is negligible per unit but stacks fast on slow-moving inventory or large catalogues. Plan inventory clearance into Q3 to avoid Q4 storage charges.
  • Choosing Individual plan past breakeven. Individual plan (£0.75/unit, no monthly fee) makes sense below ~33 units/month. Above that, Professional plan (£25/month, no per-unit fee) is cheaper. Calculator above shows the per-unit amortised cost — compare to the £0.75/unit Individual rate.
  • Forgetting tiered referrals. Beauty under £10 is 8% (lower); above £10 jumps to 15%. Jewellery is 20% under £250, 5% above (rewards higher-priced items). Watches similar — 15% under £1000, 5% above. The calculator handles tiering automatically.
  • Using FBA for low-margin products without checking. Books at 15% referral, low retail price, fulfilment fee £2.05+ — profitability is marginal. £8 paperback × 15% = £1.20 referral + £2.05 fulfilment + storage = £3.50+ in fees. Below £8 retail price, FBA is rarely worth it for new books. Consider Amazon Merchant Fulfilled (you ship) for low-priced items.
  • Not factoring returns. FBA’s ‘free returns’ is paid by you. Returned items: you eat the fulfilment fee both directions, the referral fee on the original sale, and either reprocessing or destruction costs. Average 5-15% return rates eat 1-3pp of margin. Calculator shows pre-return profit; reduce by your category’s return rate for realistic numbers.
  • Skipping the Long-Term Storage Fee. Items in Amazon’s warehouse over 365 days incur additional Long-Term Storage Fees (~£170 per cubic metre). Slow-moving inventory bleeds money invisibly. Use Amazon’s Inventory Performance Index dashboard; aim for >400 IPI score.
What this calculator doesn't cover
  • Doesn’t include VAT on the sale itself (only on fees). Sale-side VAT modelling depends on whether you’re VAT-registered, threshold status, and customer location. See the VAT calculator for that.
  • Doesn’t model returns / chargebacks / removal fees / disposal fees.
  • Doesn’t include Long-Term Storage Fee (items > 365 days in warehouse: ~£170/m³).
  • Doesn’t include Inbound Placement Service fee (~£0.30/unit when shipping to multiple Amazon FCs vs single).
  • Tiered referrals modelled for Beauty, Jewellery, Watches, Grocery — not all sub-categories.
  • FBA Small & Light programme not modelled (slightly different fulfilment rates for sub-£11 items).
  • Doesn’t include Sponsored Products / Amazon PPC ad spend.
  • International FBA (FBA UK to FBA EU/US) not modelled.

Frequently asked questions

What's a healthy FBA margin?

30%+ profit margin is healthy. 20-30% is acceptable but vulnerable to fee changes. Below 20% is risky — returns alone (5-15% typical) plus PPC ad spend (£100-£500/month minimum to stay competitive) eat the margin fast. Below 10%: rethink the product or move off FBA.

Is FBA worth it for low-volume sellers?

Below ~30 units/month, Amazon Merchant Fulfilled (you ship from home/office) often beats FBA. Saves the £25/month Professional plan, fulfilment fee per unit, and storage. The £25/month plan amortised over 30 units is £0.83/unit — close to the Individual plan’s £0.75/unit. Below 33 units/month, Individual + MFN is typically the right choice.

How does the Q4 storage premium work?

October 1 - December 31 storage rates are ~45% higher (£0.79 vs £0.55 per cubic foot per month for standard tier). Amazon designed this to push sellers to clear out before peak season. For small items the per-unit impact is small (~£0.01-£0.05/unit/month) but for slow-moving inventory or large parcels it adds up fast. Plan clearance into Q3.

Should I be VAT-registered on Amazon FBA?

Required above £90k turnover (UK VAT threshold). Below that, voluntary. Voluntary registration becomes worthwhile when Amazon fees + supplier VAT + Stripe fees exceed ~£500/month of recoverable input VAT. The downside: you must charge 20% VAT on sales (Amazon collects this for you and remits it), making your effective consumer price 20% higher unless you absorb the VAT in your margin. For UK-only B2C businesses below the threshold, voluntary registration is usually a wash; for B2B sellers (where buyers reclaim VAT) it’s nearly always positive.

Why is Electronics' referral fee 7% but Home & Kitchen 15%?

Amazon’s referral fees reflect the category’s competitive positioning and supplier dynamics. Electronics has thinner industry margins so Amazon takes less. Beauty/Jewellery have higher gross margins so Amazon takes more. Books, DVDs, Music: 15% — lots of competition, low barrier to entry. Amazon Device Accessories: 45% (highest fee on the platform — only sensible for accessories pegged to Amazon’s own ecosystem).

Are FBA fees deductible against tax?

Yes — fully deductible against UK trading income. Track separately from cost of goods. Amazon Seller Central provides downloadable transaction reports and fee summaries for accounting. See side hustle tax calculator for the full picture.

What about Amazon Sponsored Products (PPC)?

Not modelled here. PPC is critical for competitive listings — typical ACOS (Advertising Cost of Sales) is 10-30% of revenue for established products. New listings often need higher ACOS (40-60%) for first 90 days to build review volume and ranking. Use the ROAS calculator for the ad-spend side; combine with this calculator’s profit-per-unit for full margin view including PPC.

About this calculator. Maintained by Jordan — a UK seller and creator who actually uses these platforms (Etsy, eBay, Vinted, DistroKid). Built to be accurate, mobile-fast, and honest about its limits. Spot a bug? Email hello@payoutmath.co.uk.