FBA cost manifest — Australia
Every DTC founder pricing into Amazon AU for the first time makes the same mistake: they run the P&L on retail price minus COGS. Amazon takes a cut at four separate points before that math is real. This is the full breakdown, plus a way to run it before you have your own product dimensions.
Before the tables — the shape of it. Every unit you sell gets hit by these, in this order, whether you notice them or not.
Charged as a percentage of the total sale price — item price plus shipping and gift wrap, not just the item. Amazon has kept these rates frozen since 2025.
| Category | Referral fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Video game consoles | 6% | Lowest standard rate on the schedule |
| Consumer electronics | 8% | Flat rate, no price break |
| Home & kitchen appliances | 8% | Flat rate |
| Beauty & health (≤$20) | 8% | Rate steps up above $20 — check the item's specific band before pricing |
| Computers | 8% / 6% | 8% on the first $150 of price, 6% above it |
| Automotive | 10% | Flat rate |
| Alcoholic beverages | 10% | Flat rate |
| Clothing (≤$20) / Pet products (≤$20) | 10–11% | Rate steps up above $20 |
| Electronics accessories | 13–15% | Most accessory SKUs land at the top of this band |
| Home & kitchen (general) | 15% | The default most DTC home/lifestyle brands fall into |
| Luggage | 15% | Flat rate |
| Media (books, DVD, music) | 15% | Plus a flat $1.00 closing fee per unit |
| Jewellery | 15% / 5% | 15% on the first $200 of price, 5% above it |
This is the fee most first-time sellers underestimate — it's driven by the size of the box Amazon has to move, not the value of what's inside it. A $60 candle in an oversize box can cost more to fulfil than a $60 jacket in an envelope.
| Size tier | Max dimensions | Max weight | Fee (AUD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small envelope | 20 × 15 × 1 cm | 75 g | $4.55 |
| Standard envelope | 33 × 23 × 2.5 cm | — | $4.58 – $5.61 |
| Large envelope | 33 × 23 × 5 cm | — | $6.78 – $8.29 |
| Standard parcel | 45 × 34 × 20 cm | 12 kg | $7.34 – $13.93 |
| Small oversize | 61 × 46 × 46 cm | — | $9.94 – $10.72 |
| Standard oversize | 105 × 60 × 60 cm | — | $12.30 – $16.43 |
| Large oversize | Over 105 × 60 × 60 cm | — | $14.71 – $24.00+ |
Charged monthly per cubic metre of space your inventory occupies in an Amazon fulfilment centre — sold or not. Rates roughly 40% higher across October–December for peak season.
| Period | Standard size | Oversize |
|---|---|---|
| January – September | $37.00 / m³ | $34.20 / m³ |
| October – December (peak) | $51.80 / m³ | $48.00 / m³ |
Stacks on top of standard storage once units sit past 271 days. Assessed on the 15th of each month.
| Days in storage | Surcharge |
|---|---|
| 271 – 300 days | $155 / m³ |
| 301 – 365 days | $175 – $185 / m³ |
| 366+ days | $370 / m³, or $0.12/unit — whichever is higher |
Loaded with a sample SKU so you can see the stack in action. Change any field and the margin below updates instantly — this is the same math from sections 01–03, just live.
On most first SKUs, Amazon's combined take lands close to the size of the entire product cost. That's normal for FBA — the number that matters before launch isn't the referral fee alone, it's this stack, all four fees, run against your real price.
You don't need a finished product or a warehouse quote to know if a SKU pencils out. You need one comparable listing already live on Amazon AU. Here's the method.
Go to Amazon.com.au and search the way your customer would — same core keywords, similar product type, similar rough size. You're not copying it, you're borrowing its shipping profile.
Example — searching a comparable product
Click into the listing, then look at your browser's address bar. Straight after /dp/ sits a 10-character code starting with B0 — that's the ASIN. It's also listed under "Product information" further down the page if you'd rather not touch the URL.
Example — ASIN highlighted in the URL
Open Amazon's FBA Revenue Calculator, search by that ASIN instead of building a listing from scratch. It auto-fills package dimensions, weight, and size tier straight from Amazon's own catalogue data.
Keep the borrowed dimensions and weight. Replace the price with what you intend to sell at, and replace the cost fields with your actual landed COGS. The calculator returns fulfilment fee, referral fee, and net proceeds instantly.
Run the same product through two other similar ASINs before you trust the number. One listing can have unusual packaging — three gives you a believable range instead of a single lucky or unlucky data point.
Next step
Reply to the message that sent you this guide with your product category and rough sale price — scalegloballywitheli will run the full four-fee stack against it and send back your real contribution margin.
Amazon updates rates a few times a year. Drop your email and we'll send the updated numbers when they change — no spam, unsubscribe any time.