00:00
Welcome to the deep dive. So if you, an Amazon seller in 2025, you might be asking yourself where all the profits seem to be going.

00:09
It's a common question. Definitely.

00:11
Yeah. So today we're going to tackle that. We're looking at Amazon's fee structure based on a pretty detailed article outlining it all.

00:19
And the goal really is to make sense of it. It can seem overwhelming.

00:22
Exactly. Cut through that complexity, see how these fees hit your button, bottom line, and, you know, figure out how to actually manage them better.

00:29
Because just knowing your sales isn't enough.

00:31
Right.

00:32
You need the cost side of the equation to make smart moves.

00:35
Okay, so let's look at the overview. The article breaks fees down into a few main buckets. You've got subscriptions, referral fees, fulfillment fees. That's the big one if you're using fba.

00:46
Storage fees, also tied to FBA mostly, and then a kind of miscellaneous category of other service fees.

00:52
And visually, it's pretty stark. FBA fees apparently make up something like 70% of the total pie for many sellers.

01:00
Yeah, that definitely grabs your attention.

01:01
Followed by those additional fees at around 11%, then referral fees at 9%.

01:06
And the basic seller account fee is smaller, like 3% with shipping around 7%.

01:12
So while you might focus on that monthly subscription fee, which we should talk about. Right, but the real heavy hitters, cost wise, seem to be fulfillment and storage, especially for FBA users. That's where optimization could really pay off.

01:24
Absolutely. So that subscription, two main types, right?

01:27
Yeah, individual and professional. Individual is 99 cents per item you sell. No monthly fee, though.

01:34
And professional is a flat $39.99 a month, but no per item fee.

01:39
So the calculation is pretty straightforward.

01:41
It is if you're selling more than 40 items a month consistently. That professional plan just makes more sense financially.

01:48
Saves you money on fees, and you get access to more reports and tools.

01:52
Generally, which can be crucial for scaling up.

01:54
Okay, moving on to referral fees. This is basically Amazon's commission.

01:57
They're cut for letting you sell on their platform. It's a percentage of the total sales.

02:01
Price, and that includes the item price, shipping costs, even gift wrapping charges.

02:06
Right. And the percentage isn't fixed. It. It varies quite a bit by category.

02:11
The article mentions a typical range, like 6%, maybe up to 45%.

02:15
Exactly. For 2025, it looks like a lot of categories are sitting around 15%, but.

02:19
Some are outliers, like, what was it? Amazon? Device Accessories.

02:22
Yeah, that one can be as high as 45%. So the message is clear. Check your specific category. Don't just assume 15%.

02:29
Definitely. Okay, let's unpack. Fulfillment by Amazon FBA. This is super popular. Amazon handles the storage, the packing, shipping.

02:37
Customer service too, for fulfillment issues.

02:39
It's convenient, no doubt, but convenience has a cost one. What are we looking at for FBA fees?

02:44
Well, the main ones are the fulfillment fees themselves. These are charged per unit based on, you know, size and weight.

02:49
And the 2025 examples given are for standard size items. Maybe $2.55 per unit.

02:56
Somewhere in that range. Yeah. But for oversized items, it's a much wider spread. Like $8 on the low end, but potentially up to $150 per unit.

03:04
Wow, $150 per unit. That's for really large or heavy stuff, presumably.

03:09
Exactly. Think furniture or large appliances. That high end reflects the significant cost of handling and shipping those items. Sellers need to be really aware of that if they're in the oversized game.

03:20
Good point. And there's also something called inbound placement service fees.

03:25
Right. This is a fee you might pay for sending your inventory basically to a single recommended fulfillment center, rather than splitting it up yourself.

03:32
Okay, but the article notes a change for 2025. A reduction for some items.

03:38
Yeah, specifically for large, bulky items, where you manage to keep your shipment splits minimal. They're saying an average reduction of about $0.58 per unit.

03:48
Interesting. So Amazon's maybe incentivizing simpler inbound logistics for those bigger items.

03:53
Seems like it. It's a balancing act. Potentially lower fees if you follow their preferred placement.

03:57
All right, what about storage? Keeping your stuff in their warehouses isn't free.

04:01
Definitely not. It's charged monthly based on the cubic footage your inventory takes up.

04:05
And it changes during the year, doesn't it?

04:07
Big time. For standard size, the example for 2025 is $0.75 per cubic foot from January through September, but then October to December, the peak season, it jumps to $2.40 per cubic foot.

04:20
Ouch. More than triple. That really highlights the need to manage inventory. Especially before Q4.

04:25
Absolutely. You don't want stuff just sitting there racking up those higher fees.

04:29
And speaking of stuff sitting there, the aged inventory surcharge. What's that about?

04:35
Yeah, if your inventory has been in a fulfillment center for over 365 days a full year, you get hit with an extra charge.

04:41
How much extra?

04:42
As of 25, it's the greater of either $1.50 per cubic foot on top of the regular monthly fee or $0.15 per unit.

04:52
So Amazon really Doesn't want you using their warehouses for long term storage of sleep slow moving goods.

04:58
Not at all. It's a clear signal to keep your inventory turning over.

05:01
Okay. Besides those main ones, there are some additional fees mentioned. Like what?

05:05
Things like removal and disposal fees. If you need Amazon to get rid of inventory or send it backto you, there's a per item cost.

05:10
Makes sense.

05:11
Also returns, processing fees. These apply mainly to categories like apparel and footwear where returns are common. You essentially pay the fulfillment fee again when an item is returned.

05:22
Right. Handling the return isn't free for them either.

05:25
And one more for the really big sellers, a high volume lifting fee. If you have over 100,000 active ASNs unique product identifiers, you might pay a small fee per as per month.

05:38
Okay, that probably doesn't affect most sellers, but good to know it exists.

05:41
Yeah, it's more for the enterprise level folks.

05:43
So faced with all these potential costs, what can sellers actually do? What are the strategies?

05:48
Well, number one is definitely optimizing inventory management. Avoid those long term fees. Keep stock lean but sufficient.

05:55
Use the tools Amazon provides.

05:57
Absolutely. The fee preview tool, the revenue calculators. Use them before you commit to a product to understand the potential costs and think about fulfillment. Yeah. Constantly evaluate FBA versus FBM fulfilled by merchant. Is FBA always the most cost effective for your specific products and margins? Maybe not.

06:15
Monitor your products too. Right. See what's selling, what's not.

06:18
Definitely address those slow movers before they become aged. Inventory problems. Yeah. Andjust stay informed. Amazon updates fees pretty regularly.

06:27
You have to keep up. Okay, so wrapping up, we've got subscription referral, FBA fulfillment storage, and then those extra service fees.

06:36
It's a lot to track, but understanding each piece is just crucial for a profitability on Amazon in 2025.

06:43
Being proactive, staying informed sounds like the key message.

06:46
It really is. You can't just set it and forget it with Amazon fees.

06:49
So hopefully this deep dive gives you, the listener, a clearer map of Amazon's 2025 fee structure. You can see where the costs lie and hopefully make some smarter decisions.

07:00
Make those informed choices.

07:01
Which leads to our final thought for you. Now that you have this overview, what specific adjustments might you consider making to your Amazon strategy? Something to chew on. Thanks for joining us on the Deep dive.