Amazon charges a referral fee on every sale, and on amazon.com it is 15% of the total price for most categories, with a minimum of $0.30 per item. Some categories pay less (Consumer Electronics 8%) and several use price tiers (Clothing, Beauty, Baby, Furniture). The fee is taken from the total price the customer pays for the item, including shipping and gift wrapping, so it is bigger than the shelf price suggests.
The figures below come from the US fee table on Amazon's official selling plans and fees page, checked on 2 November 2026. Amazon changes fees from time to time, so confirm the current table before you commit to a product. UK and German marketplaces publish their own tables, which differ from the US ones.
How the referral fee works
Amazon's wording is: for every item sold, you pay a percentage of the total price or a minimum amount, whichever is greater. Two details matter for your margin:
- The base includes shipping and gift wrap. If you sell a $30 item and the customer pays $5 shipping, the fee is calculated on $35, not $30.
- The minimum is $0.30 per item in most categories. On a $1 item, 15% would be $0.15, so you pay $0.30 instead (30% of the price).
Separately, a Professional selling account costs $39.99 per month plus selling fees, while the Individual plan charges $0.99 per item sold. If you expect to sell more than about 40 units a month, Professional is cheaper: 40 items at $0.99 is $39.60, and 41 items is already above $39.99. Fulfilment (FBA) fees are a different charge and are not covered here; see how to calculate Amazon FBA profit in the US, UK and Germany.
Referral fee rates for popular US categories
| Category | Referral fee | Minimum |
|---|---|---|
| Home and Kitchen | 15% | $0.30 |
| Sports and Outdoors | 15% | $0.30 |
| Toys and Games | 15% | $0.30 |
| Pet Supplies | 15% (22% for veterinary diets) | $0.30 |
| Lawn and Garden | 15% | $0.30 |
| Consumer Electronics | 8% | $0.30 |
| Electronics Accessories | 15% up to $100 of the price, 8% above $100 | $0.30 |
| Clothing and Accessories | 5% up to $15; 10% from $15.01 to $20; 17% above $20 | $0.30 |
| Beauty, Health and Personal Care | 8% up to $10; 15% above $10 | $0.30 |
| Baby Products | 8% up to $10; 15% above $10 | $0.30 |
| Furniture | 15% up to $200; 10% above | $0.30 |
| Everything Else | 15% | $0.30 |
Worked examples
Flat 15% category (Home and Kitchen). A kitchen organiser sells for $30 with free shipping. Referral fee: 15% × $30 = $4.50. You keep $25.50 before fulfilment, product cost and ads.
Shipping is part of the base. The same organiser sold with $5 customer-paid shipping: 15% × $35 = $5.25.
Clothing price cliff. At $20.00 the fee is 10%, which is $2.00. At $20.01 the rate becomes 17%, which is about $3.40. Raising the price by one cent costs you roughly $1.40 per unit. Whether the tiering applies to the whole price or only a portion is stated in Amazon's table per category, so read the footnote for your exact category. For clothing, the table describes the rate by the product's total sales price. A $25 shirt pays 17% × $25 = $4.25.
Tiered Beauty product. A $9 item pays 8% = $0.72. A $12 item pays 15% = $1.80, which is 2.5 times as much for a $3 higher price.
Split rate in Electronics Accessories. A $150 accessory pays 15% on the first $100 ($15.00) and 8% on the remaining $50 ($4.00), a total of $19.00, or about 12.7% of the price.
The minimum on cheap items. A $1.50 item at 15% would be $0.225, so you pay $0.30, which is 20% of the price.
What this means for product choice
Referral fees are rarely the cost that sinks a product, but they decide the shape of your price. Three practical rules:
- Price just below a tier boundary when the market allows. In Clothing, $19.99 is far cheaper in fees than $20.01. In Beauty and Baby, staying at or below $10 means 8% instead of 15%.
- Avoid very cheap items. The $0.30 minimum plus fulfilment fees take a large share of a low price.
- Put the real rate into your margin model, not a flat 15%. A flat guess is wrong for Electronics, Clothing and Beauty in both directions.
Feed the referral fee into your full per-unit calculation alongside product cost, freight and duty (landed cost explained) and into your advertising limit (break-even ROAS).
Checking this before you order stock
Ecomtoro's product research puts a candidate product's Amazon price, category and competitor listings next to your cost assumptions, so you can see which fee tier a realistic selling price lands in before you place an order. You can try it at ecomtoro.com. Whichever tool you use, run the numbers with the exact category and price you plan to list at.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Amazon referral fee?
It is a percentage of the item's total price (including shipping and gift wrapping) that Amazon keeps on each sale, or a minimum amount, whichever is greater. On amazon.com the percentage is 15% in most categories, with a $0.30 minimum per item.
Is the referral fee the same as the FBA fee?
No. The referral fee is Amazon's commission for selling on the marketplace and applies whether you ship the item yourself or use Fulfilment by Amazon. The FBA fee pays for storage, picking, packing and delivery, and depends on size and weight. You pay both if you use FBA.
Which Amazon categories have the lowest referral fee?
In the US table, Consumer Electronics is 8%. Clothing items priced at $15 or less pay 5%, and Beauty, Health and Baby items priced at $10 or less pay 8%. These low rates apply only to the stated price bands.
Do UK and German Amazon sellers pay the same referral fees?
Not necessarily. Amazon.co.uk and amazon.de publish their own fee tables in local currency, with their own category rates and minimums. Check the table for each marketplace you sell on rather than reusing the US figures.
Can I avoid Amazon referral fees?
Not on Amazon itself; the fee is charged on every sale. You can lower the effective rate by choosing categories and price points with lower tiers, and you can compare it with selling on your own store, where card processing fees apply instead.
