Selling on Amazon via Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is an excellent way to scale an e-commerce business, but the fee structure can be complex. To accurately determine if a product is viable, you must look beyond the gross selling price and account for every nickel and dime that Amazon deducts.
Key Factors in FBA Calculations
Referral Fees: This is Amazon's "commission" for selling on their platform. For most categories, this is 15% of the total selling price.
Fulfillment Fees: This covers the picking, packing, and shipping of your orders to customers. It is based on the weight and dimensions of your product.
Storage Fees: Amazon charges for the space your inventory occupies in their warehouses. Note that these fees increase significantly during the Q4 holiday season.
COGS (Cost of Goods Sold): This is what you pay your manufacturer for the product. Accurate COGS is the foundation of ROI calculation.
How to Use This Calculator
To get the most accurate result, follow these steps:
Enter your Selling Price: This is the price the customer sees on the listing.
Input Manufacturing Costs: Include the cost of the item plus any packaging.
Calculate Inbound Shipping: Estimate how much it costs to ship one single unit from your supplier (or your warehouse) to Amazon's fulfillment centers.
Factor in PPC: Advertising is often necessary. Divide your monthly ad spend by the number of units sold to get a per-unit PPC cost.
Example Calculation
Imagine you sell a yoga mat for $40.00. Your manufacturing cost is $10.00. Amazon takes a 15% referral fee ($6.00) and charges an FBA fee of $7.50. Shipping to Amazon costs $1.50 per unit. Your PPC spend averages $4.00 per sale.
Total Costs: $10 + $6 + $7.50 + $1.50 + $4 = $29.00. Net Profit: $11.00 Profit Margin: 27.5%
function calculateFBAProfit() {
var price = parseFloat(document.getElementById('sellingPrice').value) || 0;
var cogs = parseFloat(document.getElementById('productCost').value) || 0;
var shipToAmz = parseFloat(document.getElementById('shippingToAmazon').value) || 0;
var referralPercent = parseFloat(document.getElementById('referralFee').value) || 0;
var fbaFee = parseFloat(document.getElementById('fulfillmentFee').value) || 0;
var storage = parseFloat(document.getElementById('storageFee').value) || 0;
var ppc = parseFloat(document.getElementById('ppcCost').value) || 0;
var misc = parseFloat(document.getElementById('otherCosts').value) || 0;
if (price 0 ? (netProfit / cogs) * 100 : 0;
// Display Results
document.getElementById('fba-results').style.display = 'block';
document.getElementById('resTotalFees').innerHTML = '$' + totalAmzFees.toFixed(2);
document.getElementById('resTotalCost').innerHTML = '$' + totalExpenses.toFixed(2);
var profitEl = document.getElementById('resNetProfit');
profitEl.innerHTML = '$' + netProfit.toFixed(2);
if (netProfit >= 0) {
profitEl.className = 'result-value profit-positive';
} else {
profitEl.className = 'result-value profit-negative';
}
document.getElementById('resMargin').innerHTML = margin.toFixed(2) + '%';
document.getElementById('resROI').innerHTML = roi.toFixed(2) + '%';
// Smooth scroll to results
document.getElementById('fba-results').scrollIntoView({ behavior: 'smooth', block: 'nearest' });
}