What is Amazon’s Monthly Subscription Fee for Sellers?
Amazon Professional selling plan is a monthly subscription service offering tools and perks. These include bulk listings, Amazon Marketplace Web Services (Amazon MWS), automated pricing tools, detailed business reports, the ability to set custom shipping rates, and the chance to achieve top placement on product detail pages.
How Much is Amazon Monthly Subscription Fee for Sellers
Professional plan
The Professional plan is tailored for those who sell more items and require advanced tools to manage their sales. This plan comes with a fixed monthly subscription fee of $39.99, but you don’t pay the $0.99 per-item fee that Individual sellers do. As a Professional seller, you’ll have access to features like bulk listings, Amazon Marketplace Web Services (Amazon MWS), automated pricing, advanced business reports, customizable shipping rates, and top placement on detail pages.
The Professional plan is billed monthly on the day of subscription. The fee structure is a single, fixed rate per month. Remember that regardless of the selling plan, referral fees vary based on the product category and are usually a percentage of the sale price.
Individual plan
The Individual plan is designed for sellers who plan to sell a small number of items per month with no monthly subscription fee. However, for every item sold, you’ll pay a $0.99 fee on top of the standard referral fees and fulfillment fees. It’s most suitable for occasional or seasonal sellers.
For sellers using the Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) service, additional FBA fulfillment fees and storage fees apply depending on the size and weight of the products and the duration of storage.
To start selling on Amazon, sign up, choose a selling plan, set up your payment method, and provide the required card information for billing. It’s important to keep track of your sales, fulfillment, and storage expenses to manage your overall costs and maximize your profits.
Other Amazon Seller Fees
- Fulfillment Fees: Based on the size and weight of the product. This covers the cost of storing your products in Amazon’s fulfillment centers and the picking, packing, and shipping orders.
- Storage Fees: Charged for storing products in Amazon’s warehouses. These fees can vary depending on the season (higher in October-December) and are based on stored products’ volume (in cubic feet).
- Referral Fees: A percentage of the sale price (varies by category) paid to Amazon whenever an item is sold. Think of it as a commission for selling on their platform.
- Subscription Fee: Only applicable if you’re on the Professional selling plan. It’s a monthly fee, but in return, you don’t pay a per-item fee for each sale.
- Aged inventory surcharge Storage Fees: Amazon may charge a fee if items have been in the warehouse for over 180 days. It’s an incentive to keep inventory moving and not occupying space indefinitely.
- Returns Processing Fees: If Amazon offers free return shipping on your product category and the item is returned, this fee is charged for the return.
- High-Volume Listing Fee: You might be charged this fee if you have many SKUs that aren’t selling.
- Removal Order Return Fee: If you want your unsold items back, Amazon charges a fee to return them to you.
Remember that your monthly subscription fee may vary if you sell across multiple countries or regions. However, merged accounts will only be charged once, ensuring that you don’t incur excessive costs.
Example of the Monthly Subscription Fee
When you start selling products on Amazon with a Professional selling plan, you are charged a monthly subscription fee of $39.99. For instance, if you enroll on January 15, you will be charged on that date, which will recur each month on the 15th. Let’s say you cancel your Professional selling plan on March 15; you will still be billed for that month, but there will be no further charges unless you re-enroll.
In contrast, the Individual selling plan has no monthly fee but a $0.99 fee per item sold. This plan suits sellers who plan to sell fewer than 50 items per month.
Apart from subscription fees, there are other expenses to consider as an Amazon seller, such as referral fees and fulfillment fees. Referral fees are typically a percentage of your product’s selling price and vary according to category. For fulfillment fees, Amazon provides two primary options: Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) and Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM).
With FBA, you ship your inventory to Amazon’s fulfillment centers. The fees for FBA include fulfillment fees, which encompass picking, packing, and shipping, as well as storage fees. FBA fees vary depending on the product dimensions, weight, and the time of year (higher storage fees during October- December).
On the other hand, with FBM, you are responsible for storing, packing, and shipping your products. In this case, fulfillment fees depend on your shipping method, packaging, and shipping carrier costs.
Before enrolling in a selling plan, ensure your payment method is updated with the correct card information to avoid delays or complications with your Amazon seller account.
To keep track of your Amazon fees, you can use the Payments – Transaction View by accessing it from your Seller Central account, showing you an overview of your transactions, including fees and charges.
Denes, with 20 years experience in logistics, holds a Logistics Manager degree from Budapest’s Logistics Association and has penned a thesis on mobile devices. Venturing into e-commerce, Denes specializes in Fulfilled By Amazon and passionately educates others about Amazon selling techniques.