The Amazon pick and pack fee, also called its fulfillment fee, applies to the Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) program. This charge is a per-unit fee that helps Amazon cover costs and generate income when it sends your products to consumers.
The Amazon pick and pack fee changes significantly according to product category, size, and weight. All FBA fulfillment fees are charged to you, not your customer, as orders ship.
In this post, we look at some of the standard pick and pack fees Amazon charges and how you can optimize shipping costs.
How to calculate Amazon pick and pack fees
Amazon determines your FBA pick and pack fee based on four things:
- Product-size tiers
- Shipping weights
- Dimensional weights
- Fee categories.
How each factor impacts your pick and pack fee may vary across individual products. You may also have a monthly subscription fee depending on how many items you sell. Your pick and pack fees are additional to any monthly fees.
Let’s dive into the details.
Product-size tiers
The Amazon pick and pack fee is generally based on your product’s size. The size tiers are determined by the product type, weight, and dimensions. Amazon uses the measurements standard to your location, which means inches and pounds if you’re in the U.S.
Location may also impact inventory management and other Amazon FBA fees, so confirm the local fee structure for your specific location to be safe.
Take a look at this table of Amazon product tiers for the U.S., based on Amazon’s February 2024 update. It should help you identify your product’s size tier, but keep in mind that you’ll need to meet every requirement in each column.
For example, a large standard-size item meets all the following criteria when fully packaged:
- Unit weight is less than or equal to 20 pounds
- Longest side (length) is less than or equal to 18 inches
- Median side (width) is less than or equal to 14 inches
- Shortest side (height) is less than or equal to 8 inches.
Your Amazon FBA fees may also change based on product category labels. For example, there may be a different price calculation for standard-size apparel and standard-size non-apparel goods.
Shipping weights
In most cases, Amazon’s standard size tiers for weight look at the unit weight of your products to help determine shipping costs. The product size tier noted above impacts what shipping weight calculations you’ll use.
If goods are under 1 pound, then the weight is rounded up to the nearest ounce. If your product weighs more than 1 pound, Amazon rounds up to the nearest pound.
Fees for small standard, special oversize, and extra-large (150+ pounds) are calculated using only standard or unit weight, not dimensional weight, which we’ll discuss next.
Dimensional (DIM) weights
Amazon looks at the dimensions of your products to determine how much to charge you.
In some cases, looking at the dimensions leads to a shipping cost based on standard or unit weight. In other cases, products require the use of dimensional weight to determine shipping costs.
You can calculate dimensional (DIM) weight by measuring the length, width, and height of your product. Multiply these together and then divide that number by 139, which is a conversion factor set by Amazon. This final number will give you the DIM weight.
You get charged whichever number is higher between the standard and DIM weight. Take a look at the example below.
2024 Amazon DIM weight update
The 2024 DIM weight update introduced a large, bulky size tier and extra-large size tier. These replace the oversize size tiers.
An item is considered large and bulky when it is not small or large standard-sized and meets all of the following criteria when fully packaged:
- Greater of unit or dimensional weight is less than or equal to 50 pounds
- Longest side (length) is less than or equal to 59 inches
- Median side (width) is less than or equal to 33 inches
- Shortest side (height) is less than or equal to 33 inches
- Girth plus length is less than or equal to 130 inches.
If your items exceed the large bulky-size limit, they are considered extra-large. Extra-large items require special delivery options to accommodate size, weight, special handling requirements, and any other restrictions or demands.
Get more information and a DIM weight calculator from Red Stag here.
Fee categories
Amazon’s fee categories determine if your product will incur additional fulfillment fees in a couple of ways:
- Help you understand your product category so you can determine other fees, like size tiers. For example, apparel has its own set of tiers that are undergoing changes in 2024. You can find current apparel fees here, including product size tiers and fee updates for February and April 2024.
- You can also use these categories to determine if your products will have additional expenses. The company has special handling fees for specific items.
Understanding how product categories may impact price is especially important because your shipping product category may not align with your product category on the Amazon marketplace.
Amazon pick and pack fees rate cards
The marketplace publishes rate cards with FBA fulfillment fee tables to help you find the correct expense for each SKU. These rate cards can help you determine how to calculate pick and pack fees and total fulfillment costs.
What are Amazon’s pick and pack fees?
The Amazon pick rate changes over time just like other fulfillment process fees and is based on market conditions, including demand.
Fee tables are current as of early 2024, but Amazon indicates its FBA pick & pack fee will change during the year. At Red Stag Fulfillment, we find the tables are updated regularly. Bookmark this article to double-check FBA pick and pack pricing as your business evolves.
Based on Amazon’s published information as of this writing, here’s what you can expect:
When calculating fees for small standard, special oversize, and extra-large 150+ lbs, Amazon uses unit weight as the shipping weight. All other size tiers use unit or dimensional weight based on whichever is greater.
Multi-channel fulfillment fees
While Amazon’s charts can help you estimate charges, consider these additional details to help you understand Amazon pick and pack fees.
- You may have Amazon FBA seller fees when your products are on backorder.
- If you’re using Amazon for Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) orders, Amazon may charge significantly more for fulfillment.
- Some sellers may choose to block fulfillment services from Amazon Logistics because carrier restrictions don’t work for them. In those cases, sellers face a 5% surcharge.
This means if you run your business with Amazon’s MCF and need to use other carriers or options for your shipping process, you face a surcharge on every order.
Here’s an example directly from Amazon’s website:
At scale, the combined unit and surcharge fees shown in the example above can severely impact landed costs at a SKU level and across your business.
You may not be able to control how Amazon charges, but you can take steps to offset additional costs or save money on fulfillment.
Managing shipping costs
Many businesses simply can’t afford the uncertainty of unexpected Amazon pick and pack fees.
At Red Stag Fulfillment, we can help you manage or sidestep unpredictable or confusing storage fees, shipping fees, and other fulfillment center costs. And with our strategically located warehouses, you can reach 96% of U.S. homes in two days or less, backed by our guarantees.
Want FBA support? We can help you prep and deliver inventory to Amazon. Check out our complete Amazon fulfillment guide or reach out to get started.
An important note
Nothing in this article is meant to imply a legal relationship between Red Stag Fulfillment, LLC and and any company mentioned. Red Stag Fulfillment, LLC does not own any other company’s trademarks referenced or included in this article. Information gathered for this article came from a mix of publicly available news and websites, websites of the companies mentioned, and direct communication with named companies.
