Why do my Amazon FBA fees increase when I raise my price in the UK?
A higher selling price can leave you with less money. Crossing £10 or £20 can change both the referral percentage and the fulfilment fee. Here is how to find the threshold for your product, compare both prices and work out when an increase pays.
The short answer
Your Amazon FBA fees can increase when you raise your price because you cross a Low-Price FBA eligibility threshold. In some categories, the referral fee percentage also increases at a price boundary. Both changes can happen on the same penny, costing more than the extra revenue.
First separate the fulfilment charge from Amazon's referral commission. Then compare the same product at both prices, with the same costs and VAT treatment. A rise in the cash value of commission is normal; a change in the percentage or fulfilment band is what creates the sudden jump.
Does your product have a £10 or £20 threshold?
Low-Price FBA: category and physical eligibility both matter
From 5 January 2026, most categories have a £20 price ceiling. Seven category groups retain £10. Prices include VAT and the limit is inclusive: £20 qualifies on price where £20.01 does not. See Amazon's Low-Price FBA eligibility FAQ.
| Category group | Price ceiling |
|---|---|
| Most categories outside the exceptions below | £20 |
| Beauty, Health & Personal Care; Business, Industrial and Scientific Supplies; Office Products; Grocery and Gourmet; Books; Amazon Device Accessories; Kitchen | £10 |
The expanded programme's eligibility FAQ also specifies maximum dimensions of 35 × 25 × 12 cm and weight of 400 g. Price alone is insufficient: check the applicable size and weight tier for your ASIN. The same Amazon page still has a general £10 statement in its switching FAQ; use its dated eligibility section and your product's current fee estimate to resolve the difference.
Referral fees: a separate set of boundaries
For these two examples, the higher percentage applies to the whole selling price, not just the amount above the threshold. Check the fee category Amazon assigns, rather than inferring it from a product's shop category. Amazon's UK referral fee schedule distinguishes whole-price bands from categories with marginal rates.
| Fee category | At or below the boundary | Above it |
|---|---|---|
| Beauty, Health and Personal Care | 8% up to £10 | 15% |
| Home Products | 8% up to £20 | 15% |
Do not transfer one category's rule to another. Kitchen, for example, has a different referral schedule from Home Products. Other categories can have additional boundaries, including £15 for Clothing and Accessories.
Worked examples: when a higher price leaves less money
£9.99 versus £10.99: both fees move
Consider a hypothetical standard-rated Beauty, Health and Personal Care item, packed at 15 × 10 × 1 cm and 20 g. Assume a UK-established seller on the Professional plan, stock cost of £3 and prep/inbound cost of £0.20 per unit, both excluding 20% VAT. There are no discounts or fee incentives.
For this illustration only, fulfilment is £1.50 below the threshold and £1.90 above it, excluding VAT and the digital services fee but already including any fuel surcharge. These are assumed inputs, not quoted Amazon rate-card charges. Replace them with estimates for your own product.
The example applies a 2% digital services fee to referral plus fulfilment charges, consistent with Amazon's UK-established seller example. The VAT-registered calculation assumes full recovery of input VAT.
| Per unit | £9.99 price | £10.99 price |
|---|---|---|
| Sales revenue excluding output VAT | £8.33 | £9.16 |
| Referral fee | £0.80 (8%) | £1.65 (15%) |
| Assumed fulfilment charge | £1.50 | £1.90 |
| Digital services fee | £0.05 | £0.07 |
| Stock plus prep/inbound cost | £3.20 | £3.20 |
| Contribution after these costs | £2.78 | £2.34 |
The £1 increase leaves about 44p less per sale. Contribution here is the money left after the listed costs, before storage, returns, ads, subscriptions, other overheads and profit taxes. Calculations retain unrounded values until the result; displayed lines and Amazon's transaction rounding may differ by a penny.
£20 versus £20.01: isolate the referral jump
For Home Products, the published referral rates alone give this comparison. This table deliberately isolates commission; the balance is not profit and has not had VAT, fulfilment, digital services fees or stock costs subtracted.
| Per unit | £20 price | £20.01 price |
|---|---|---|
| Referral fee | £1.60 (8%) | £3.00 (15%) |
| Price less referral fee only | £18.40 | £17.01 |
One extra penny of revenue leaves roughly £1.39 less after commission. If the product also loses Low-Price FBA eligibility, its fulfilment charge changes too. Measure both effects before choosing the new price.
How VAT changes the comparison
For a standard-rated sale, a registered seller's revenue excluding VAT is the VAT-inclusive price divided by 1.2. Input VAT that is recoverable does not belong in the expense figure. A non-registered seller does not deduct output VAT, but bears VAT charged on stock and fees. See HMRC's VAT calculation guidance and input VAT rules.
Using the same assumed stock, prep and fee inputs from the £9.99 example, with 20% VAT on all those costs, the non-registered seller keeps approximately £3.34 at £9.99 and £2.81 at £10.99 before the excluded costs. The higher price still performs worse. Zero-rated products, partial VAT recovery and the Flat Rate Scheme need their own calculation.
What higher price restores your original profit?
Compare the new contribution with the old contribution, rather than merely checking that the new price is above break-even. In our VAT-registered £9.99 example, the higher-price band has this calculation, where P is the customer's price:
Set this equal to the original unrounded contribution of £2.779816. The result is approximately £11.64.
Under those assumptions, £10.99 earns less than £9.99; around £11.64 restores the original contribution per sale. That is not a recommended selling price: fees and rounding vary, and a price that earns more per unit can still earn less per month if fewer units sell. Check demand and Buy Box competitiveness too.
For your own product, use fresh estimates at each candidate price, include the costs this example excludes and test the full permitted repricing range. A minimum price alone does not guarantee that every higher price is more profitable. A fee boundary can create a worse-performing interval inside your limits.
What to check if your price has not changed
- Size, weight and fee category: compare Amazon's stored measurements and classification with the packed unit. A remeasurement can move it into a different tier.
- Incentives and discounts: check whether a fee credit ended or the estimate includes benefits your next order will not receive.
- Fuel surcharge: the UK surcharge is 1.5% of fulfilment fees from 17 April 2026. Amazon says its estimates were updated to include it; do not add it again to an inclusive figure. Amazon's surcharge announcement.
- Like-for-like figures: compare the same marketplace, VAT basis and fee components. Use transaction detail to check an actual charge against an estimate.
Compare your prices, then set a suitable repricing range
- Check one product. Open Eve's free UK FBA calculator. Enter the category, packed dimensions, weight, costs and VAT position, or look up an ASIN. Compare both prices and read any estimate or coverage warnings.
- Keep costs current. Catalogue stores costs against your SKUs, including CSV import, so a changed supplier price does not get forgotten.
- Review what happened. Performance breaks down actual order fees and costs per SKU. Its figures exclude VAT and advertising; account for those separately.
- Choose the range deliberately. Repricing works within your minimum and maximum and logs its decisions. It does not promise to detect or avoid fee thresholds automatically. Validate the range before assigning a strategy.
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Common questions
Does £20 qualify, or must I price at £19.99?
The £20 price ceiling is inclusive for eligible categories. £20 can qualify on price; £20.01 is above it. The product must still meet the other eligibility requirements, and some categories retain a £10 ceiling.
Does the higher referral rate apply only to the extra penny?
For the Beauty, Health and Personal Care and Home Products examples on this page, it applies to the whole selling price. Other categories use marginal rates on portions of the price, so check your assigned fee category.
Should I always stay below a fee threshold?
No. A sufficiently higher price can recover the additional fees. Compare contribution per unit and expected sales at each price, including costs beyond Amazon's per-sale charges. A threshold is a calculation checkpoint, not a universal price recommendation.
Can Eve automatically avoid every fee threshold?
Eve enforces the minimum and maximum you set and records its repricing decisions. It does not promise automatic fee-threshold avoidance. Check the relevant fees and profitability across your chosen range before enabling a strategy.
Sources and calculation assumptions
Checked 8 September 2026: Amazon's UK referral schedule, Low-Price FBA eligibility, digital services fee example, March 2026 digital services update and fuel surcharge announcement; HMRC's VAT guidance. Examples are original illustrations, not live ASIN quotes. Fulfilment charges of £1.50 and £1.90 are assumptions; the referral percentages are published rates. Refresh the inputs against Seller Central before changing a live price.