As of November 7, 2026, Amazon has published its 2027 United States fee schedule, and the headline number is small: fulfillment fees rise by an average of 19 cents per unit, about 0.8 percent of an average item's selling price, with most changes taking effect on January 15. The structural change is larger than the headline. From February 1, storage is priced by how long inventory sits, and the low inventory fee is judged on shipments in the four weeks either side of an assessment. For a category team, that turns fee planning into a category growth question rather than a cost negotiation.
The 2027 fee schedule in plain numbers
Nineteen cents, and 0.8 percent of price
Amazon's own framing is that the average increase works out to roughly 0.8 percent of an average item's selling price, and that some products will cost less to ship depending on size, type and price. Independent merchants account for more than 60 percent of sales in the store, so the change lands on a base that is not a niche. The number also arrives on top of an existing fuel and logistics surcharge, which stays in place, and on top of holiday season rates that run from October 15, 2026 to January 14, 2027. A unit that is already carrying a peak rate will absorb the new schedule from mid January.
Storage becomes a single age based rate
The storage change is the one that reshapes category behaviour. Combining the aged inventory surcharge into one monthly rate keyed to how long goods sit in the warehouse means the fee is no longer two separate signals, it is one continuous price on time. Amazon says sellers whose goods move within six months will pay the same or less, and those whose merchandise sits longer will pay more. For categories with long tail SKUs, seasonal colours or slow replenishment cycles, the message is that a wide assortment now carries a visible carrying cost per month rather than a threshold penalty.
What this does to category economics
Fee changes are usually read as a margin event. This one is better read as a signal about which categories the marketplace wants to reward. A schedule that cuts the cost of fast turns and raises the cost of slow ones favours categories with predictable replenishment and punishes those that use the warehouse as a cheap seasonal buffer. That is a category growth question, because the answer determines whether a brand expands a range or narrows it, and whether it holds inventory at the marketplace or upstream.
| Fee line | Position before the change | Position from 2027 | Category most exposed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fulfillment fee | Base rate plus fuel and logistics surcharge | Average 19 cents higher per unit, surcharge retained | Low ticket, high volume consumables |
| Monthly storage | Storage rate plus utilization surcharge plus aged inventory surcharge | One monthly rate by inventory age, utilization surcharge removed | Slow turning long tail and seasonal ranges |
| Low inventory fee | Assessed on historical inventory levels | Assessed on shipments four weeks either side of the assessment | Fast movers with lumpy replenishment |
| Promotions | Percentage based on promoted sales | Five dollar upfront plus 2 percent variable, capped at 2,000 dollars | Small brands testing promotions |
The 28 day supply test
Using shipments in the four weeks before and after an assessment is a genuine improvement for brands with seasonal peaks, because it distinguishes a product that regularly needs replenishing from one that had a single strong week. It also raises the bar on replenishment planning: a seller who ships in bulk once a quarter and then runs thin will be measured on the thin period, not on the bulk shipment. For a fast moving category, the practical requirement is a replenishment calendar that keeps at least 28 days of cover visible at every assessment date.
Repricing a category before January 15
The window between now and mid January is long enough to reprice a category properly and short enough that waiting until the rate cards publish is not a plan. The sequence below runs in the order that avoids rework: unit economics first, packaging second, replenishment third, price last. Doing it in the other order means recalculating everything twice.
- Rebuild unit margin for every SKU in the top eighty percent of revenue, using the new fulfillment rate, the retained surcharge and, where relevant, the holiday rate that runs to January 14.
- Flag bulky and heavy items separately, since dimensional weight is where the new schedule bites hardest and repacking is cheaper than repricing.
- Replenishment planning next: set a target of at least 28 days of cover at each assessment date, and move slow movers out of the marketplace warehouse rather than paying the age based rate.
- Only then adjust price, category by category, and check the new price against the marketplace's own buy box behaviour before publishing.
Two comparisons are worth keeping on the desk while this work runs. On a 30 dollar item in a home category, marketplace fees including fulfillment come to roughly 9.14 dollars, or about 30 percent, against about 1.17 dollars, or 3.9 percent, on a basic hosted storefront before postage. And the marketplace's own case for paying for fulfillment rests on delivery speed: purchase rates rise more than 20 percent when the promised wait drops from over four days to two, and can rise another 15 percent or more when it drops from two days to hours. A brand deciding where to hold stock is really choosing between those two numbers, fee per unit and conversion per delivery promise.
FAQ
How much are fulfillment fees rising?
An average of 19 cents per unit in the United States, about 0.8 percent of an average item's selling price, with most changes effective January 15, 2027.
What changes about storage?
From February 1, 2027 the utilization surcharge is removed and the aged inventory surcharge is folded into one monthly rate based on inventory age.
How is the low inventory fee assessed now?
On actual shipments in the four weeks before and after an assessment, testing whether a seller fell below 28 days of supply.
