[2024 Updates] Amazon Seller Fees
How Much Does It Cost to Sell on Amazon in 2024?
Aside from the usual increases, Amazon introduced a few completely new fees in 2023 that will take effect in 2024. Let’s cover these changes in Amazon seller fees so you’ll know how to adjust your prices accordingly.
Related Reading: How to Reduce Amazon FBA Fees: 10 Effective Strategies
2024 Changes in Amazon’s Product Size Tiers
To understand the fees better, it’s best to start with one of the most important changes introduced: the product size tiers. Starting January 5, 2024, these are the new tiers used:
| Product size tier | Greater of unit weight or dimensional weight | Longest side | Median side | Shortest side | Length + girth |
| Small standard-size | Up to 16 oz | Up to 15 inches | Up to 12 inches | Up to 0.75 inch | n/a |
| Large standard-size | Up to 20 lb | Up to 18 inches | Up to 14 inches | Up to 8 inches | n/a |
| Large bulky | Up to 50 lb | Up to 59 inches | Up to 33 inches | Up to 33 inches | Up to 130 inches |
| Extra-large 0 to 50 lb | Up to 50 lb | Extra-large exceeds 59 inches for the longest side, 33 inches for the median side, 33 inches for the shortest side, or 130 inches for length + girth, or the product’s greater of unit weight or dimensional weight exceeds 50 lb. | |||
| Extra-large 50+ to 70 lb | 50+ to 70 lb | ||||
| Extra-large 70+ to 150 lb | 70+ to 150 lb | ||||
| Extra-large 150+ lb | Over 150 lb | ||||
What Are the New Amazon Seller Fees That Will Take Effect in 2024?
Let’s start with the newly introduced seller fees. We’ll discuss what they are, how much they cost, and why Amazon decided to include them.
Inbound Placement Service Fee
| Quick Facts About Amazon’s Inbound Placement Service Fee | |
| Effectivity | March 1, 2024 |
| Coverage | Standard and Large Bulky-sized products |
| Not Covered | Large bulky sized products processed through AGL; Products sent through AWD |
| Rationale | To reflect the cost of distributing inventory to fulfillment centers close to customers |
| Amount | Varies (could be $0 for some sellers), but on average, it’s $0.27 per unit for standard-sized products and $1.58 per unit for Large Bulky-sized products |
The inbound placement service fee is charged to encourage sellers to send their inventory to multiple inbound locations. Amazon wants you to bring your inventory to as many locations as possible so that when an order is placed, there are readily available units nearby, making fulfillment easier and faster.
When you create your shipping plan and send your inventory to a single Receive Center or Fulfillment Center, you will have to pay the inbound placement service fee. This is what Amazon calls Premium Service.
However, you can get discounts (even up to 100%) if you send your inventory to multiple Receive or Fulfillment Centers. This is their Discounted Service. So it’s either you pay Amazon to do the distributing for you or you do it yourself.
You’ll see a cost estimate for each available inbound placement option when you create a shipping plan. The fee will be charged 45 days after your shipment is received.
However, for those of you who use Amazon Global Logistics, the inbound placement service fee doesn’t apply to large-bulky sized products.
| Size | Weight | FBA Inbound Placement Services | |
| Premium service | Discounted service | ||
| Send to a single location | Send to multiple locations | ||
| Small standard Max 15x12x0.75 inches | 16 oz or less | $0.21-$0.30 | Receive a discount up to 100% based on number of shipments and inbound locations |
| Large standard Max 18x14x8 inches | 12 oz or less | $0.23-$0.34 | |
| 12+ oz to 1.5 lb | $0.27-$0.41 | ||
| 1.5+ lb to 3 lb | $0.32-$0.49 | ||
| 3+ lb to 20 lb | $0.42-$0.68 | ||
| Size | Weight | FBA Inbound Placement Services | |
| Premium service | Discounted service | ||
| Send to a single location | Send to multiple locations | ||
| Large Bulky Size Max 59x33x33 inches | 5 lb or less | $2.16 to $2.67 | Receive a discount up to 100% based on number of shipments and inbound locations |
| 5+ lb to 12 lb | $2.55 to $3.15 | ||
| 12+ lb to 28 lb | $3.19 to $3.95 | ||
| 28+ lb to 42 lb | $4.13 to $5.11 | ||
| 42+ to 50 lb | $4.85 to $6.00 | ||
Low-Inventory-Level Fee
| Quick Facts About Amazon’s Low-Inventory-Level Fee | |
| Effectivity | April 1, 2024 |
| Coverage | Standard-sized products |
| Not applicable to | New professional sellers (for the first 365 days after the first inventory-received date)New-to-FBA parent products for the first 180 days after the first inventory-received date. Sellers need to be enrolled in FBA New Selection to get this benefit.Products that are auto-replenished by Amazon Warehousing and Distribution. |
| Rationale | To improve Amazon’s delivery speeds and its ability to distribute products across its network |
| Amount | $0.32 to $1.11, depending on the shipping weight and historical days of supply |
With Amazon, you’ll have to master the Goldilocks ratio. It can’t be too much (remember the storage utilization surcharge?) and it can’t be too little (because you’ll be charged the low-inventory-level fee).
As the name suggests, this fee is charged to encourage sellers to keep just enough inventory so you don’t run out when someone places an order.
This new fee will apply when when both the long-term historical days of supply (last 90 days) and short-term historical days of supply (last 30 days) are below 28 days. So when only one of them meets the requirement, the fee won’t be charged.
Here are Amazon’s low-level-inventory fees from April 1, 2024 onwards.
| Low-Inventory-Level Fees | ||||
| 2024 size tiers | Shipping weight | Low-inventory-level fee | ||
| 0-14 historical days of supply | 14-21 historical days of supply | 21-28 historical days of supply | ||
| Small standard | Up to 16oz | $0.89 | $0.63 | $0.32 |
| Large standard | Up to 3lb | $0.97 | $0.70 | $0.36 |
| Large standard | 3+lb to 20lb | $1.11 | $0.87 | $0.47 |
Expanded Returns Processing Fee
| Quick Facts About Amazon’s Returns Processing Fee | |
| Effectivity | June 1, 2024 |
| Coverage | Products that have the highest return rates relative to other products in their category |
| Not Covered | Apparel and shoes |
| Rationale | To address the operational costs of returns and reduce waste |
| Amount | Starts at $1.65 |
The returns processing fee has been expanded to high-return-rate products in all categories, excluding apparel and shoes (for these categories, a returns processing fee is charged for every return).
It’s understandable that Amazon doesn’t want products that get returned a lot because that may be indicative of customer dissatisfaction that would go against their Flywheel strategy. And while it can be argued that returns fraud is a real thing that should also be considered, the fee will be implemented in June 2024, and sellers will just have to deal with it.
Here’s how Amazon calculates how many units will be charged the returns processing fee:
- Determine the number of units sold on a certain month.
- Wait for 3 months and determine the number of units returned over that period.
- Determine the return rate threshold for that product category (Amazon will publish this on May 1, 2024).
- Multiply the threshold by the number of units sold for the month in question.
- If the number of returned items during the three-month period is bigger than the product in the previous number (the threshold), the excess units will be charged.
The fee will be charged between the 7th to 15th day of the third subsequent month. In our example for June 2024, the charge will be made between the 7th to 15th of September 2024.
Changes in FBA Fulfillment Fees in 2024
Aside from the new fees, there are also the usual changes in FBA fees. Unlike previous years, the FBA changes in 2024 are quite complicated. Because Amazon is going to change the size tiers (they’re implementing new intervals) there are three periods you have to consider:
| January 15, 2024 to February 4, 2024 | Implementation of 2024 fulfillment fees using the old size tiers |
| February 5, 2024 to April 14, 2024 | Implementation of new size tiers |
| April 15, 2024 onwards | FBA fulfillment fee rates will be reduced for standard-sized and large bulky-sized products |
Here are the 2024 FBA fulfillment fees for non-apparel products sourced from Amazon:
| FBA Fulfillment Fees (excluding Apparel) | ||||||
| Size tier | Shipping weight | 2024 fulfillment fee (January 15, 2024 to February 4, 2024) | Size tier | Shipping weight | 2024 fulfillment fee (February 5, 2024 to April 14, 2024) | 2024 fulfillment fee (Starting April 15, 2024) |
| Small standard | 4 oz or less | $3.22 | Small standard | 2 oz or less | $3.22 | $3.06 |
| 2+ to 4 oz | $3.31 | $3.15 | ||||
| 4+ to 8 oz | $3.40 | 4+ to 6 oz | $3.40 | $3.24 | ||
| 6+ to 8 oz | $3.49 | $3.33 | ||||
| 8+ to 12 oz | $3.58 | 8+ to 10 oz | $3.58 | $3.43 | ||
| 10+ to 12 oz | $3.68 | $3.53 | ||||
| 12+ to 16 oz | $3.77 | 12+ to 14 oz | $3.77 | $3.60 | ||
| 14+ to 16 oz | $3.82 | $3.65 | ||||
| Large standard | 4 oz or less | $3.86 | Large standard | 4 oz or less | $3.86 | $3.68 |
| 4+ to 8 oz | $4.08 | 4+ to 8 oz | $4.08 | $3.90 | ||
| 8+ to 12 oz | $4.24 | 8+ to 12 oz | $4.32 | $4.15 | ||
| 12+ to 16 oz | $4.75 | 12+ to 16 oz | $4.75 | $4.55 | ||
| 1+ to 1.5 lb | $5.40 | 1+ to 1.25 lb | $5.19 | $4.99 | ||
| 1.25+ to 1.5 lb | $5.57 | $5.37 | ||||
| 1.5+ to 2 lb | $5.69 | 1.5+ to 1.75 lb | $5.75 | $5.52 | ||
| 1.75+ to 2 lb | $6.00 | $5.77 | ||||
| 2+ to 2.5 lb | $6.10 | 2+ to 2.25 lb | $6.10 | $5.87 | ||
| 2.25+ to 2.5 lb | $6.28 | $6.05 | ||||
| 2.5+ to 3 lb | $6.39 | 2.5+ to 2.75 lb | $6.45 | $6.21 | ||
| 2.75+ to 3 lb | $6.86 | $6.62 | ||||
| 3+ lb to 20 lb | $7.17 + $0.16 per half-lb interval above first 3 lb | 3+ lb to 20 lb | $7.25 + $0.08 per 4 oz interval above first 3 lb | $6.92 + $0.08 per 4 oz interval above first 3 lb | ||
Changes in Amazon Surcharges in 2024
Let’s talk about surcharges. There are two main changes under this category: storage utilization surcharge and aged inventory surcharge.
Storage Utilization Surcharge
| Quick Facts About Amazon’s Storage Utilization Surcharge | |
| Effectivity | April 1, 2024 |
| Coverage | Professional sellers with a storage utilization ratio above 22 weeks |
| Not covered | – Inventory aged between 0 and 30 days – New sellersSellers with less than 25 cubic feet daily volume |
| Amount | $0.56 to $1.19 |
The storage utilization surcharge is charged on top of the base monthly inventory storage fee. As you can see from the tables below, the surcharge doesn’t apply to inventory aged less than 26 weeks and to new sellers (those who sent their first shipment to a fulfillment center less than 52 weeks ago).
After April 1, 2024, the tiers become more granular. It’s still a fee on top of a fee, so it’s not really desirable. But this more granular tier can be advantageous to sellers because it allows them to pay lower fees in the moment before their inventory jumps to the next tier.
The storage utilization ratio is calculated on the last day of the month. So if you have stored inventory in May 2024, the storage utilization ratio is calculated on May 31, 2024 with the surcharge being applied in June 2024.
Aged Inventory Surcharge
| Quick Facts About Amazon’s Aged Inventory Surcharge | |
| Effectivity | February 15, 2024 |
| Changes | Fees for inventory stored between 271 to 365 days will increase |
| Amount | $1.65 to $1.7 per cubic foot |
Starting February 15, 2024, Amazon will increase the aged inventory surcharge for those items stored between 271 to 365 days. Meanwhile, the rest of the rates are unchanged.
Other Fee Changes
Monthly Storage Fees
We talked about storage fees earlier, but focused on the surcharge. For the base monthly storage fees, there aren’t that many changes. There’s just a slight drop for standard-size items during January to September.
| 2024 Amazon Monthly Storage Fees (after April 1, 2024) | ||
| Month | Standard-Size | Large Bulky / Extra Large |
| January to September | $0.78 / cubic foot (from $0.87) | $0.56 / cubic foot (unchanged) |
| October to December | $2.40 / cubic foot (unchanged) | $1.40 / cubic foot (unchanged) |
Inbound Defect Fee
| Quick Facts About Amazon’s Inbound Defect Fee | |
| Effectivity | March 1, 2024 |
| Coverage | Misrouted or abandoned shipments |
| Rationale | To address the additional cost to re-direct, receive, and process shipments |
| Amount | $0.02 to $0.07 per unit |
The inbound defect fee is charged for misrouted or abandoned shipments. A misrouted shipment is one that is sent to a different fulfillment center than the one listed in your shipping plan. On the other hand, an abandoned shipment is any of the following:
- Domestic shipments that don't arrive within 45 days of shipment creation
- International shipments that don't arrive within 75 days of shipment creation, and
- Shipments that don’t arrive at Amazon’s facilities within 30 days of the first shipment in a multiple destination shipping plan
| Product size tier | Weight | Inbound defect fees amount | |
| Shipments delivered to the wrong location | Deleted and abandoned shipments | ||
| Small standard Max 15 x 12 x 0.75 inches | 16 oz or less | $0.04 | $0.02 |
| Large standard Max 18 x 14 x 8 inches | 12 or less oz | $0.04 | $0.02 |
| 12+ oz to 1.5 lb | $0.05 | $0.02 | |
| 1.5+ lb to 3 lb | $0.06 | $0.03 | |
| 3+ lb to 20 lb | $0.07 | $0.04 | |
How Can Amazon Sellers Cope with Seller Fee Changes?
Use the Discounted Service to reduce inbound placement service fees. You can get discounts from this new fee if you send your inventory to multiple inbound locations. Note also that Amazon stated that the fees are generally lower for locations outside the West.
Use AWD. Take advantage of the Amazon Warehousing and Distribution program. Sellers can save not only on FBA fees, but are also not required to pay inbound placement service fees and low-inventory-level fee.
Make sure your measurements are correct. Most of these fees are charged based on your products weight and dimensions. Sometimes, Amazon does make a mistake in assessing your product’s measurements.
Maintaining more than four weeks of inventory relative to sales. If you’re not using AWD, keep your inventory within Amazon’s sweet spot by managing your inventory well.
Plan your shipments accordingly. It’s not that easy to achieve just-in-time inventory. You have to consider several factors and things can go wrong and are out of your control, but prepare as much as you can anyway.
Follow Amazon’s policies. To avoid misrouted or abandoned shipments, make sure you’re following FBA policies, Amazon’s Terms of Service, and packaging and prep requirements.
For more tips and strategies on how to reduce your seller fees and increase your revenue as an Amazon seller, consider being part of EcomCrew Premium. We have a live Q&A every week where we give you the latest in e-commerce and answer your business-related questions.
