Fees & reimbursements
Amazon announced a $0.08 fee increase for 2026. Then it added 3.5% on top of every fulfillment fee.
Since April 17, 2026 a 3.5% fuel and logistics-related surcharge applies to every US and Canada FBA fulfillment fee; MCF and Buy with Prime followed on May 2. Amazon puts the average at $0.17 per unit, with no end date. The mechanics, the compounding, and where to read your own figure.
3.5% of the fulfillment fee — avg $0.17/unit — since 17 Apr 2026
Key takeaways
- Amazon announced the surcharge on April 2, 2026 in Seller Central: 3.5% of the fulfillment fee, applied from April 17 to FBA in the US and Canada and to Remote Fulfillment with FBA from the US into Canada, Mexico and Brazil; from May 2 to Buy with Prime (US) and Multi-Channel Fulfillment (US and Canada).
- It is calculated on the fulfillment fee, not on the sale price and not on the referral fee. Amazon's own average is $0.17 per unit for US FBA; heavy and oversize items pay several times that.
- Amazon calls it temporary and has given no end date. Its precedent is the 5% fuel and inflation surcharge of April 2022, which was later folded into base rates rather than removed.
- It compounds with two 2026 changes: the January fee increase and the price-band structure (under $10 / $10–$50 / over $50). One repricing decision can move three numbers.
- It applies on top of the holiday peak fulfillment fee from October 15, 2026 to January 14, 2027, so the Q4 unit cost is base fee plus peak uplift, then times 1.035.
If you priced your 2026 catalog in January, you priced it against less than half the change. The January increase came with three months’ notice and wall-to-wall coverage. The surcharge came with fifteen days’ notice. For most sellers it is the bigger number.
01What Amazon announced
The Seller Central announcement of April 2, 2026 states the terms directly. Elevated fuel and logistics costs across the industry; a temporary surcharge, as other major carriers apply, to recover part of the increase; calculated on fulfillment fees, not on item price.
| Effective | Program | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| April 17, 2026 | Fulfillment by Amazon | US and Canada |
| April 17, 2026 | Remote Fulfillment with FBA | US into Canada, Mexico and Brazil |
| May 2, 2026 | Buy with Prime | US |
| May 2, 2026 | Multi-Channel Fulfillment | US and Canada |
Amazon’s stated average impact is $0.17 per unit for US FBA. That average, like January’s $0.08, is a mean across a catalog nothing like yours. The Revenue Calculator, the Profit Analytics dashboard and the Fee and Economics Preview report were all updated to show the surcharge per unit and across your whole account.
What triggered it was the spring 2026 oil shock: the Iran conflict closed most transit through the Strait of Hormuz and crude moved from roughly $60 a barrel in early February to over $110 by early April. UPS and FedEx had already raised their fuel surcharges. Amazon’s line is that 3.5% is lower than the carriers’; sellers’ line, visible in the replies to the announcement, is that surcharges get renamed rather than removed. The 2022 precedent supports the sellers.
02Why a percentage is a different animal
A flat per-unit increase is regressive against price: eight cents matters on a $6 item and disappears on a $60 one. A percentage of the fulfillment fee is the opposite. It scales with the fee, and the fee scales with size and weight.
| Unit | Fulfillment fee | 3.5% surcharge | With the January +$0.08 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small standard, light | $3.50 | $0.12 | $0.20 |
| Standard, 2 lb | $5.60 | $0.20 | $0.28 |
| Large standard, heavy | $9.00 | $0.32 | $0.40 |
| Oversize | $18.00 | $0.63 | $0.71 |
Illustrative fees, to show the shape. The seller who read the January announcement and added eight cents to every SKU is under-forecasting by nine times on the oversize end. Nobody is over-forecasting.
03The compounding
Since January 2026 the selling price is an input to the FBA fulfillment fee through three bands: under $10, $10 to $50, and above $50. The surcharge is a percentage of that fee. So a price change now moves your fulfillment cost twice — once by crossing a band, again through the percentage on the new fee.
Raise a $49 item to $52 to protect margin and you may cross into the upper band, take a larger fulfillment fee, and take a larger surcharge on it. Discount a $10.49 item to $9.99 and it drops into Low-Price FBA rates, which average $0.86 lower — and the surcharge shrinks with the fee. A repricer that treats fulfillment cost as a constant stopped describing the platform in January.
From October 15 the stack has a fourth layer. The holiday peak fulfillment fee adds an average $0.32 per unit and Amazon has confirmed the 3.5% applies on top of it:
Q4 unit fulfillment cost = (base 2026 fee + peak uplift) × 1.03504Where to read your own figure
Seller Central > Reports > Fulfillment > Payments > Fee Preview — the fulfillment fee per FNSKU at current rates, surcharge included. Export the CSV and sort by fulfillment fee descending; the top of that list is where the surcharge costs most.
Seller Central > Reports > Payments > Transaction View — filter Service fee and look for the surcharge line on shipped orders since April 17. Ninety days of this is your actual exposure, not an estimate.
Seller Central > Growth > Profit Analytics — per-product unit economics with the fee lines separated.
05What to do about it
- Recalculate on the fee, not on the announcement. Pull actual fulfillment fees for your top SKUs and multiply by 1.035. Do not add $0.17 to everything.
- Split “Amazon fees” into lines in your accounts. Referral, fulfillment, surcharge, placement, storage and returns now move independently and on different dates. A combined line hides which one broke the margin.
- Re-check the repricing floor on SKUs near $10 and $50. They are where band crossing and the percentage compound.
- Model the heavy end separately. A percentage concentrates cost in the SKUs that were already marginal. For bulky items, run the FBA versus FBM break-even properly this year instead of assuming FBA wins on convenience.
- Budget for it to stay. Treat the surcharge as permanent until Amazon’s January 2027 fee update says otherwise, and expect it to reappear as base rate rather than disappear.
Run it on your own figures. The margin and break-even calculator takes price, cost of goods, referral rate, fulfillment fee, returns and ad spend and returns net profit per unit, net margin and the maximum ACOS the product can carry. Nothing is stored and nothing leaves your browser.
Open Fee Preview, sort by fulfillment fee, and multiply the top ten by 0.035. That is your monthly surcharge on the SKUs that matter — and the number to argue with when you set Q4 prices.
Frequently asked
What is the surcharge calculated on?
The fulfillment fee only — not the sale price and not the referral fee. Amazon states this explicitly in the April 2, 2026 announcement. Its stated average is $0.17 per unit for US FBA.
When did it start, and for which programs?
April 17, 2026 for FBA in the US and Canada and Remote Fulfillment with FBA from the US to Canada, Mexico and Brazil; May 2, 2026 for Buy with Prime in the US and Multi-Channel Fulfillment in the US and Canada.
Does it replace the January increase?
No. The January change altered the fulfillment fee itself; the surcharge is 3.5% of the resulting fee. They compound.
Does it apply during the holiday peak?
Yes. Amazon's July 2026 holiday announcement confirms the 3.5% surcharge applies on top of holiday peak fulfillment fees from October 15, 2026 to January 14, 2027.
When does it end?
Amazon describes it as temporary and has given no end date. Asked directly on the announcement thread, Amazon said it continues until further notice. The 2022 fuel and inflation surcharge was folded into base rates at the following annual update rather than removed.
How do I see what I am actually being charged?
The Fee Preview report under Reports, Fulfillment shows the per-FNSKU fulfillment fee at current rates; the Transaction View shows the surcharge on orders already shipped.
Sources
- Fuel and logistics-related surcharge: FBA, MCF, and BWP in US and CA (3.5% on fulfillment fees; April 17 and May 2, 2026 effective dates; calculated on fulfillment fees, not sale price), Amazon Seller Central, Seller Forums announcement, April 2, 2026 Primary source accessed 2026-09-04
- Holiday 2026: same fees, same eligibility, earlier deadlines (3.5% surcharge applies on top of holiday peak fulfillment fees), Amazon Seller Central, Seller Forums announcement, July 7, 2026 Primary source accessed 2026-09-04
- Update to U.S. Referral and Fulfillment by Amazon fees for 2026 (January increase averaging $0.08 per unit), Amazon Selling Partner Services Primary source accessed 2026-09-04
- Amazon to add 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge for sellers as Iran war drives up energy prices, CNBC Secondary accessed 2026-09-04
- Amazon to add fuel and logistics surcharges ($0.17 per unit average; tools updated; seller reaction on the forum thread), Digital Commerce 360 Secondary accessed 2026-09-04
- Amazon to apply 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge on fulfillment (2022 precedent: 5% fuel and inflation surcharge), Supply Chain Dive Secondary accessed 2026-09-04
Published August 8, 2026 · sources re-verified September 4, 2026. Marketplace fees and software pricing change often — verify anything material against the marketplace's own documentation before acting on it. Corrections: contact@fbatactics.com.
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