Amazon Set to Make Updates to its 2020 Fee Structure Beginning as Early as February 18

Transitioning from 2019 into a new year and new decade, Amazon announced plans to alter elements of its fee structure in early 2020. This post aims to distill what you need to know and what it means for your business, but our experts are available if you still have additional questions. 

The forecasted changes have been grouped into three primary categories, each of which we will unpack for you below in helpful tables and charts along with the timetable for adjustment.

• FBA Fulfillment Fee Changes

• FBA Label Service, Removal Order, and Monthly Storage Fee Changes

• FBA Referral Fee Changes

For an overview of all 2020 US selling fee changes in detail from Amazon visit amazon.com/selling-fee-changes.

FBA Fulfillment Fee Changes 

Beginning on February 18th, Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) fee changes will take effect. The upcoming changes impact the following fulfillment fees:

Core FBA fulfillment fees changes (excluding clothing)

			Before Feb 18	Feb 18 and After
Amazon Size Tier	Shipping Weight	Packaging Weight	Fulfillment fee per unit*	Fulfillment fee per unit*
Small Standard	10 oz or less	4 oz	$2.41	$2.50
	10 to 16 oz		$2.48	$2.63
Large Standard	10 oz or less	4 oz	$3.19	$3.31
	10 to 16 oz		$3.28	$3.48
	1 to 2 lb	4 oz	$4.76	$4.90
	2 to 3 lb	4 oz	$5.26	$5.42
	3 to 21 lb	4 oz	$5.27 + $0.38/lb above first 3 lb	$5.42 + $0.38/lb above first 3 lb
Small  Oversize	71 lb or less	1 lb	$8.26 + $0.38/lb above first 2 lb	$8.26 + $0.38/lb above first 2 lb
Medium Oversize	151 lb or less	1 lb	$9.79 + $0.39/lb above first 2 lb	$11.37 + $0.39/lb above first 2 lb
Large Oversize	151 lb or less	1 lb	$75.78 + $0.79/lb above first 90 lb	$75.78 + $0.79/lb above first 90 lb
Special Oversize	N/A	1 lb	$137.32 + $0.91/lb above first 90 lb	$137.32 + $0.91/lb above first 90 lb

*Lithium batteries and items that contain or are sold with them incur an additional $0.11 per-unit fulfillment fee.

FBA fulfillment fees changes for clothing

Amazon will eliminate the $0.40 per-unit surcharge for clothing items and implement the following fee changes for clothing items in the Clothing & Accessories category.

			Before Feb 18	Feb 18 and After
Amazon Size Tier	Shipping Weight	Packaging Weight	Fulfillment fee per unit*	Fulfillment fee per unit*
Small FBA fulfillment fees Core FBA fulfillment fee changes (excluding clothing) standard	10 oz or less	4 oz	$2.81	$2.92
	10 to 16 oz		$2.88	$3.11
Large Standard	10 oz or less	4 oz	$3.59	$3.70
	10 to 16 oz		$3.68	$3.81
	1 to 2 lb	4 oz	$5.16	$5.35
	2 to 3 lb	4 oz	$5.66	$5.95
	3 lb to 21 lb	4 oz	$5.66 + $0.38/lb above first 3 lb	$5.95 + $0.38/lb above first 3 lb

*Lithium batteries and items that contain or are sold with them incur an additional $0.11 per-unit fulfillment fee.

Note: Oversize clothing tiers (small oversize, medium oversize, large oversize, and special oversize) will be charged the core FBA fulfillment fees. If this is overwhelming, it’s more important than ever to have a solid consultant for Amazon on your team. 

FBA fulfillment fees changes for dangerous goods

FBA has separate fulfillment fees for dangerous goods (also known as hazardous materials or hazmat) that require special handling and storage. The following are the fee adjustments for items sold through the FBA Dangerous Goods program.

			Before Feb 18	Feb 18 and After
Amazon Size Tier	Shipping Weight	Packaging Weight	Fulfillment fee per unit1	Fulfillment fee per unit1
Small Standard	10 oz or less	4 oz	$3.27	$3.43
	10 to 16 oz		$3.45	$3.64
Large Standard	10 oz or less	4 oz	$3.87	$4.06
	10 to 16 oz		$4.01	$4.23
	1 to 2 lb	4 oz	$5.23	$5.47
	2 to 3 lb	4 oz	$5.70	$5.86
	3 lb to 21 lb	4 oz	$5.70 + $0.38/lb above first 3 lb	$5.86 + $0.38/lb above first 3 lb
Small Oversize	71 lb or less	1 lb	$8.98 + $0.38/lb above first 2 lb	$8.98 + $0.38/lb above first 2 lb
Medium Oversize	151 lb or less	1 lb	$11.22 + $0.39/lb above first 2 lb	$11.22 + $0.39/lb above first 2 lb
Large Oversize	151 lb or less	1 lb	$87.14 + $0.79/lb above the first 90 lb	$87.14 + $0.79/lb above the first 90 lb
Special Oversize	N/A	1 lb	$157.12 + $0.91/ lb above the first 90 lb	$157.12 + $0.91/ lb above the first 90 lb

FBA Label Service, Removal and Disposal Order, and Monthly Storage Fee Changes

 

FBA label service fee changes

Starting on February 18th, Amazon will increase the fee for the optional FBA Label Service from $0.20 per unit to $0.30 per unit. For FBA Small and Light, the per-unit fee will be $0.10.

FBA removal order fee changes

On February 18th, Amazon will charge per-unit removal order fees by weight.

Removal Fee		Before Feb 18	Feb 18 and After
Size Tier	Shipping Weight	Removal fee per unit	Removal fee per unit
Standard-Size	0 to 0.5 lb	$0.50	$0.25
	0.5 to 1 lb	$0.50	$0.30
	1 to 2.0 lb	$0.50	$0.35
	More than 2 lb	$0.50	$0.40 + $0.20/lb above first 2 lb
Oversize and special handling items*	0 to 1.0 lb	$0.60	$0.60
	1 to 2.0 lb	$0.60	$0.70
	2.0 to 4.0 lb	$0.60	$0.90
	4.0 lb to 10.0 lb	$0.60	$1.45
	More than 10.0 lb	$0.60	$1.90 + $0.20/lb above first 10 lb

*Special handling items may include clothing, shoes, watches, jewelry, and dangerous goods. Special handling items will be included with oversize removal and disposal fees starting on February 18, 2020.

FBA disposal order fee changes

On February 18th, Amazon will charge per-unit disposal fees by weight.

Disposal Fee		Before Feb 18	Feb 18 and After
Size Tier	Shipping Weight	Disposal fee per unit	Disposal fee per unit
Standard-Size	0 to 0.5 lb	$0.15	$0.25
	0.5 to 1 lb	$0.15	$0.30
	1 to 2.0 lb	$0.15	$0.35
	More than 2 lb	$0.15	$0.40 + $0.20/lb above first 2 lb
Oversize and special handling items*	0 to 1.0 lb	$0.30	$0.60
	1 to 2.0 lb	$0.30	$0.70
	2.0 to 4.0 lb	$0.30	$0.90
	4.0 lb to 10.0 lb	$0.30	$1.45
	More than 10.0 lb	$0.30	$1.90 + $0.20/lb above first 10 lb

*Special handling items may include clothing, shoes, watches, jewelry, and dangerous goods. Special handling items will be included with oversize removal and disposal fees starting on February 18, 2020.

FBA storage fee changes

January to September monthly inventory storage fees will increase by $0.06 per cubic foot for standard-size items. This change will first be reflected in April 2020 charges for storage that occurs in March 2020. The current monthly storage fee schedule for oversize items will remain.

	Before March 1	After March 1
Month	Standard-Size	Standard-Size
January – September	$0.69 per cubic foot	$0.75 per cubic foot
October – December	$2.40 per cubic foot	$2.40 per cubic foot

 

FBA Referral Fee Changes

As many of you may already know Amazon elects to minimize its sellers’ up-front costs by charging referral fees when they make a sale. These referral fees are based on the total sales price which includes the item price and any shipping or gift wrap charges.

Starting on February 18, Amazon will put in place the following updates to its referral fee structure. 

• Shoes, Handbags and Sunglasses: Amazon will reduce the referral fee percentage from 18% to 15% for all products within this category with a total sales price above $75.00.

• Outdoor Furniture: Amazon will consolidate outdoor furniture into the “Furniture” category, which will reduce the referral fee percentage from 15% to 10% on any portion of the total sales price above $200.00.

• Personal Care Appliances: Amazon will consolidate personal care appliances into the “Health & Personal Care” category, which will lower the referral fee percentage for personal care appliances from 15% to 8% for items with a total sales price of $10.00 or less. Items with a total sales price above $10.00 for that category will remain at 15%.

• Activewear: All activewear clothing will be grouped into the “Clothing & Accessories” category and charged the corresponding referral fee percentage of 17%.

• Ring Accessories: Ring accessories will be consolidated in the “Amazon Device Accessories” category, which has a referral fee percentage of 45%.

• Amazon Business: Amazon will be discontinuing the tiered fee structure for Amazon Business and apply one referral fee rate per category regardless of price. Products above $1,000.00 will be charged the same referral fee rate that currently applies to products less than that in each category.’

Note in particular the decrease in the categories for shoes, handbags, and sunglasses, as well as personal care. Some of these may be Amazon gated categories wherein you’ll need additional verification in order to sell in them. These decreases in Amazon seller fees, especially at a high volume of sales, could set your business up to save considerably. 

With Change Comes Opportunity.

Change can be scary. But, if you’re prepared, change can become an opportunity. As Amazon evolves, your business and the strategy you deploy to utilize the marketplace needs to as well. 

If you’d like to have a conversation about any of the upcoming changes to better understand or learn from Amazon FBA consultants on how to adjust your business to capitalize, we’d be happy to chat.