Amazon FBA Fees and Storage Fees in 2026: What You Pay This Q4 and How to Cut It

TL;DR

• 2026 FBA fulfillment fees rose by an average of $0.08 per unit on January 15, 2026, and a 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge has been added on top since April 17, 2026.
• Holiday peak fulfillment fees apply from October 15, 2026 to January 14, 2027. A 10 oz, $10 to $50 large standard item pays $4.48 instead of $4.20, before the surcharge.
• Monthly storage for standard-size items is $0.78 per cubic foot January to September and $2.40 October to December, about 3x more. Oversize goes from $0.56 to $1.40.
• Aged inventory surcharge starts at 181 days and is assessed on the 15th of each month. A removal or disposal order submitted by 11:59 PM PT on the 14th avoids that month's charge.
• Don't starve your stock to dodge storage. For a fast seller, the low-inventory-level fee (up to $0.97 per unit for large standard) usually costs more than the extra storage.

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The Real Question: What Am I Actually Paying Amazon Per Unit This Q4?

Most fee guides list Amazon's rates and stop there. What sellers actually ask in November is narrower: what does one unit cost me right now, with peak rates, the surcharge and Q4 storage all stacked up, and what should I do about the inventory that won't sell before January?

This guide answers both, using only Amazon's own rate cards. You'll get every 2026 FBA fee that changed, one product worked through end to end, and a short plan for the dates that decide your Q4 storage bill.

What Changed in 2026

Amazon announced its 2026 US fee changes in its Selling Partners news. The headline: FBA fulfillment fees rose by an average of $0.08 per unit sold, which Amazon put at less than 0.5% of an average item's selling price. Amazon said there would be no new FBA fee types in 2026. Here's everything that moved during the year:

Amazon calls the 3.5% surcharge temporary but hasn't given an end date.

Every 2026 FBA Fee, Explained

FBA Fulfillment Fees

The fulfillment fee is charged per unit when the order ships. It depends on size tier, shipping weight and price band (under $10, $10 to $50, over $50). A sample of Amazon's 2026 rates (non-apparel, before the 3.5% surcharge):

Two details catch sellers out. First, the fee applies when the unit ships, not when it's ordered: an order placed before October 15 that ships after it pays peak rates. Second, large standard and bulky items are charged on the greater of unit weight or dimensional weight (length x width x height divided by 139). Small standard uses unit weight only.

Monthly Storage Fees

Storage is charged per cubic foot on your daily average volume, billed between the 7th and 15th of the following month.

Larger sellers can also pay a storage utilization surcharge on inventory older than 30 days. It applies only if you have a Professional account, your first FBA shipment was more than 365 days ago, you store 25 cubic feet or more per size tier on average, and your storage utilization ratio (inventory volume divided by shipped volume over 13 weeks) is above 22 weeks. For standard size it ranges from $0.44 per cubic foot (22 to 28 weeks) to $1.88 (52+ weeks), so the top peak rate reaches $4.28. You can see your ratio on the FBA Dashboard.

Aged Inventory Surcharge

Formerly the long-term storage fee, the aged inventory surcharge applies to units in the network for 181 days or more. Amazon takes an inventory snapshot on the 15th of each month and charges between the 18th and 22nd. Age is counted first in, first out across the whole network.

*Clothing, shoes, bags, jewelry and watches are excluded from the 181 to 270 day tiers.

This is charged on top of monthly storage. Note the jump at 271 days: the rate more than triples.

Low-Inventory-Level Fee

Amazon adds this fee to the fulfillment fee on every shipped unit when both your 30-day and 90-day historical days of supply are below 28 days. Since January 15, 2026 it's measured per FNSKU.

It doesn't apply to new Professional sellers for their first 365 days, products that sold fewer than 20 units in the past 7 days, SKUs mostly auto-replenished from Amazon Warehousing and Distribution, eligible FBA New Selection products, or Grocery.

Returns Processing Fee

For apparel and shoes, every customer return is charged. For everything else, the fee only applies to returned units above your category's return rate threshold (for example 8.1% for Home and Kitchen, 5.5% for Beauty, Health and Personal Care, 4.7% for Toys and Games), measured over the shipment month and the next two months. Products that ship fewer than 25 units in a month are exempt. Rates for non-apparel start at $1.78 per unit for small standard items.

Inbound Placement Fee

When you send inventory to a single location (minimal shipment splits), Amazon charges a placement fee 45 days after the shipment is received: $0.14 to $0.32 per unit for small standard and $0.20 to $1.90 for large standard in 2026, depending on weight and inbound region. Amazon-optimized splits (five or more locations, with at least five identical cartons or pallets per item) have no placement fee. New sellers get $400 in placement fee credits if they ship within 90 days of listing.

Removal, Disposal and Liquidation

A removal or disposal order costs $0.84 per unit for standard-size items up to 0.5 lb, $1.53 for 0.5 to 1 lb, and $2.27 for 1 to 2 lb. Liquidation costs a 15% referral fee on the recovery value plus a processing fee from $0.25 per unit.

Worked Example: One Product Through Q4

Here's one hypothetical product, priced from Amazon's own 2026 rate cards. You can run your own numbers in our Amazon FBA fee calculator and the Amazon unit economics calculator.

The product: a $24.99 kitchen gadget in Home and Kitchen (15% referral fee), 10 oz, packaged at 8 x 6 x 2 inches.

• Size tier: large standard (it's thicker than the 0.75-inch small standard limit).
• Shipping weight: dimensional weight is 96 cubic inches divided by 139 = 0.69 lb (about 11 oz), which beats the 10 oz unit weight, so the 8+ to 12 oz band applies.
• Volume: 96 / 1,728 = 0.056 cubic feet.

Storage per unit looks tiny. It isn't when you multiply it out: 2,000 units sitting through November cost about $267 in storage, against about $87 in September. And if 200 of those units are still there at 271 days, the aged surcharge adds about $61 a month on top.

Your Q4 Fee Plan: Storage, Low Stock and the January Cleanup

This is where most of the money is, and it comes down to three decisions.

1. Keep Four Weeks of Supply on Fast Sellers

It's tempting to ship in small batches to keep Q4 storage down. On a fast seller, that backfires. Take the product above selling 50 units a day:

• One extra week of cover is about 350 more units on hand. At $2.40 per cubic foot, that's about $47 a month in storage.
• Dropping under 14 days of supply adds the low-inventory-level fee to every unit shipped: $0.97 x 1,500 units a month is about $1,455. Even the lowest tier (21 to 28 days, $0.36) is about $540.

So for anything selling more than 20 units a week, aim to stay above 28 days of supply through the holidays. Check the low-inventory-level fee column in FBA Inventory.

2. Clear Aged Stock Before the 15th

The aged inventory surcharge is assessed on the 15th of each month. Amazon's rule: a removal or disposal order submitted by 11:59 PM PT on the 14th avoids that month's surcharge, even if the units haven't physically left yet. The dates that matter this season:

In FBA Inventory, filter by age to see which ASINs will cross 181 days (or the 271-day jump) within 60 days.

3. Pick Sell, Remove or Dispose by the Math

For each aged ASIN, compare one month of surcharge with a one-time exit cost:

• Sell it down: an Amazon Outlet deal (minimum 20% off) moves units without a fee for leaving.
• Remove or dispose: our example product costs $1.53 per unit to remove. That's about five months of the $0.30 surcharge at 271 days, so if it won't sell by spring, removing it now is cheaper.
• Liquidate: you get some money back, minus 15% and a processing fee of $0.30 per unit for a 10 oz item.

If you'd rather have someone run this every month, our Amazon account management team handles inventory planning and removals for brands on FBA. Still weighing whether FBA is worth it for a slow mover? See our FBA vs FBM comparison. Pricing Black Friday deals on peak fees is covered in our Amazon Q4 2026 deadlines guide.

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FAQ

How much are Amazon FBA fees in 2026?

FBA fulfillment fees start at $3.32 per unit for a small standard item of 2 oz or less priced $10 to $50 (non-peak), plus the 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge. During holiday peak (October 15, 2026 to January 14, 2027) the same item is $3.51. Storage, referral and other fees come on top.

How much did Amazon FBA fees increase in 2026?

By an average of $0.08 per unit from January 15, 2026, according to Amazon. Then a 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge was added from April 17, 2026, which Amazon estimates at about $0.17 per unit on average in the US.

What are Amazon storage fees in Q4?

From October to December, standard-size storage is $2.40 per cubic foot per month and oversize is $1.40, compared with $0.78 and $0.56 the rest of the year. Sellers with a high storage utilization ratio pay a surcharge on top.

When does the aged inventory surcharge start?

At 181 days in Amazon's fulfillment network. It's assessed on the 15th of every month, starting at $0.50 per cubic foot and rising to $7.90 per cubic foot (or $0.35 per unit) at 456 days.

How do I avoid the low inventory fee on Amazon?

Keep both your 30-day and 90-day historical days of supply at 28 days or more. The fee doesn't apply to products that sold fewer than 20 units in the past 7 days, or to new Professional sellers in their first year.

When do Amazon peak fulfillment fees end?

January 14, 2027. Non-peak rates return on January 15, 2027. Fees are based on when the unit ships, not when it was ordered.

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Bottom Line

The 2026 fee increases were small per unit. Q4 is where the bill grows: peak fulfillment rates, triple storage and the aged inventory surcharge all land at once. Keep fast sellers above four weeks of supply, clear aged stock before the 14th, and check every slow mover against its exit cost before January 15.

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Sources

• Amazon Seller Central, 2026 US FBA fulfillment fee changes (login required)
• Amazon Seller Central, FBA fulfillment fee (login required)
• Amazon Seller Central, Monthly inventory storage fees (login required)
• Amazon Seller Central, Aged inventory surcharge (login required)
• Amazon Seller Central, Low-inventory-level fee (login required)
• Amazon Seller Central, 2026 returns processing fee changes (login required)
• Amazon Seller Central, FBA inbound placement service fee (login required)
• Amazon Seller Central, 2026 FBA removal, disposal and liquidation order fee changes (login required)
• Amazon Selling Partners, Update to U.S. referral and Fulfillment by Amazon fees for 2026
• Amazon Seller Forums (News_Amazon), fuel and logistics surcharge announcement
• Amazon, Selling on Amazon pricing (referral fee for Home and Kitchen: 15%)