As of November 6, 2026, the practical question for marketplace sellers is no longer whether Amazon's 2027 fee changes raise costs, but which SKUs they reprice first. Amazon announced the changes on November 5: US fulfilment fees rise by an average of $0.19 per unit from January 15, 2027, roughly 0.8% of the average item's selling price, while the storage structure and the low-inventory-level fee are rebuilt on February 1. The average is a headline; the spread across a catalogue is the operating problem, and it lands on the same SKUs that price monitoring already flags as thin-margin.
Two dates, and the second one moves more money
Two numbers frame the size of the change. The 2026 increase averaged $0.08 per unit, so the 2027 step is more than twice as large. And Amazon's own framing puts independent sellers at more than 60% of sales in its store, which means the fee reset is not a marginal adjustment for a few large accounts but a change in the unit economics of the majority of the catalogue.
The February changes matter more for inventory than for price. Removing the storage utilisation surcharge makes it cheaper to build stock ahead of a peak, while folding the aged inventory surcharge into a single age-based rate makes it more expensive to sit on stock that does not turn. In effect Amazon has replaced a space-based signal with a time-based one, and the sellers who lose are the ones holding seasonal leftovers into the following quarter.
The 28-day floor changes what counts as a shortage
Until February 1, 2027, the low-inventory-level fee is assessed on trailing 30-day and 90-day sales. After that date it applies only when a product falls below 28 days of supply, and Amazon measures that supply on actual shipments in the four weeks before and the four weeks after the assessment date. The intent, as Amazon describes it, is to stop charging sellers for a demand spike or for an end-of-life SKU that is being deliberately run down.
For a brand running price monitoring across several marketplaces, this is where the two disciplines meet. A SKU that drops below the floor is usually the SKU whose marketplace price has drifted, because a competitor undercut it, a coupon stacked on top of a promotion, or a reseller listed it below the agreed band. The fee is the symptom; the price gap is the cause.
That is also why repricing should be done SKU by SKU rather than across a category. Amazon says some fees rise and some fall depending on size, weight and price, so a blanket 2% price increase over-corrects on the SKUs whose fee went down and under-corrects on the ones that jumped. The dashboard Amazon added shows the per-product impact, and it is the only defensible starting point.
What a seller should do before January 15
| Change | Effective date | What it means for a SKU |
|---|---|---|
| Fulfilment fee up by $0.19 per unit on average | January 15, 2027 | Recheck the contribution margin of every line priced under $25 |
| Fuel and logistics surcharge at 3.5% | Unchanged | Keep the surcharge in the 2027 cost model, not as a temporary line |
| Buy X, Get Y adds $5 upfront and 2% variable, capped at $2,000 | January 15, 2027 | Recalculate the cost of promotion mechanics before the calendar is locked |
| Storage utilisation surcharge removed; aged inventory merged into one age-based rate | February 1, 2027 | Decide which slow movers to clear before the six-month line |
| Low-inventory-level fee applies only below 28 days of supply | February 1, 2027 | Set a replenishment cadence that keeps each line above the floor |
Reprice the SKUs where cents decide the margin
Pull the fee change for every SKU, sort by the largest per-unit increase, and reprice only the lines where the new fee pushes contribution margin under the floor the brand has set. On a $25 item, $0.19 is 0.76% of revenue; on a $9 item it is 2.1%, which is the difference between a viable line and a line that should be delisted.
Keep the repricing record alongside the marketplace price history. If a brand later has to explain a price change to a retail partner or a distributor, a dated file that shows the fee change, the old price, the new price and the margin effect is the difference between a negotiation and an accusation.
Clear aged stock before the storage rule changes
Inventory that sells within six months will cost the same or less to store from February, and inventory that sits longer will cost more. That makes the first quarter purchase order the decisive document: anything ordered now that cannot turn before the six-month line should be held outside Amazon rather than shipped in to save on inbound.
The low-inventory change points the same way from the other side. A brand that keeps a buffer outside the marketplace can replenish on a steady cadence and stay above 28 days of supply without overfilling, which is exactly the position the new rules reward.
Building the check into the monthly cycle
None of this requires new software. It requires one file per month, joined on SKU, with a named owner for the decision. The sellers who get hurt by a fee reset are rarely the ones who missed the announcement; they are the ones who repriced by category average and never checked which lines actually moved.
FAQ
How much do Amazon fulfilment fees rise in 2027?
Amazon announced on November 5, 2026 that US fulfilment fees rise by an average of $0.19 per unit from January 15, 2027, which it puts at about 0.8% of the average item's selling price. The average hides a spread: some products pay more and some less, depending on size, weight and price, so the number that matters is the one on your own catalogue.
What changes on February 1, 2027?
Three things. The storage utilisation surcharge is removed, the aged inventory surcharge is folded into a single age-based monthly storage rate, and the low-inventory-level fee applies only when a product falls below 28 days of supply, measured on actual shipments in the four weeks before and after the assessment date.
Does the fuel and logistics surcharge change?
No. The 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge added in April 2026 stays at its current level, and Amazon says it will keep reviewing it. For planning purposes that means the surcharge should stay in the 2027 cost model rather than being treated as a temporary line.
Sources
- Nova: Amazon 2027 FBA fee changes, $0.19 more per unit from January 15 — effective dates, surcharge status and the low-inventory rule change.
- ReplenishRadar: 28 days is the floor — the 2026 comparison, the six-month storage line and the volume maths.
- Tactical Logistic: what moves on January 15 and February 1 — the three-date summary and the practical checklist.
- PYMNTS: Amazon raises seller fees — the 60% independent-seller share and delivery-promise conversion data.
