How much does Amazon (US) charge on a $500 sale?

$75.99, which is 15.2% of the sale. It is made up of $75.00 (referral fee) + $0.99 (per-order fee) = $75.99 in total.

How do Amazon (US) fees change with the sale price?

They fall as a percentage. Here is the same item at four price points: $20 → 20.0%, $50 → 17.0%, $100 → 16.0%, $500 → 15.2%. The fixed part of the fee is the same amount on every one of them.

Is selling a $500 item on Amazon (US) worth it?

That depends on your costs, not the fee rate. Subtract $75.99 from $500 and you have $424.01 to cover postage, packaging and what you paid for the item. The calculator above shows that split.

Amazon (US) Fees on a $500 Sale

At $500 the flat charges barely register: $0.99 of $75.99 in total fees — about 1% — so the effective rate (15.2%) sits close to the published percentage. At this price the percentage rate, not the per-order charge, is what sets your margin.

Short answer

On a $500 sale, Amazon (US) takes $75.99 — $75.00 (referral fee) + $0.99 (per-order fee) = $75.99 in total. That is a 15.2% effective rate and $424.01 reaches your account.

Your numbers

Item sale price

Shipping the buyer pays

What your label costs

What you paid for the item

Fee breakdown

Referral fee · Most categories15% × $500.00−$75.00
Per-order fee · Individual plan · per item sold$0.99−$0.99

Total fees$75.99

What Amazon (US) charges on $500

At this price the fees break down as $75.00 (referral fee) + $0.99 (per-order fee) = $75.99 in total. The payout is $424.01, which is 15.2% of the sale going to the platform.

Individual selling plan, fulfilled by the seller, so no FBA fee. On the Professional plan the $0.99 per-item charge is replaced by $39.99 a month.

Across the other marketplaces at $500, the same sale costs Poshmark $100.00 and Amazon (US) $75.99, a spread of $100.00 to $75.99. The platform choice moves more money than most sellers expect at this price.

The same platform across four price points

Fixed per-order fees matter more the cheaper the item is, because they are a flat charge rather than a percentage. Read the effective rate column, not the headline rate.

eBay (US): $20 → 15.6%, $50 → 14.4%, $100 → 14.0%, $500 → 13.7%.

Etsy: $20 → 11.8%, $50 → 10.4%, $100 → 9.9%, $500 → 9.6%.

Rate table

Most categories	15%
Home & kitchen	15%
Consumer electronics & computers	8%
Electronics accessories	15% up to $100.00, then 8%
Clothing & accessories	5% up to $15.00, 10% to $20.00, then 17%
Beauty, health & personal care	8% up to $10.00, then 15%
Baby products	8% up to $10.00, then 15%
Grocery & gourmet food	8% up to $15.00, then 15%
Toys & games	15%
Sports & outdoors	15%
Pet supplies	15%
Books	15%
Jewelry	20% up to $250.00, then 5%
Compact appliances	15% up to $300.00, then 8%
Full-size appliances	8%
Automotive & powersports	12%
Amazon device accessories	45%
Minimum referral feeper item — charged whenever the category percentage rounds below it. Grocery, media and video games print "--" instead: they carry no minimum	$0.30
Media closing feebooks, DVD, music, software, video and video games only — charged on top of the referral fee, whether Amazon or you ship the order	$1.80 per item
Individual selling planno monthly fee; no Buy Box or advertising access	$0.99 per item sold
Professional selling planbecomes the cheaper plan at roughly 40 sales a month	$39.99 per month
FBA fulfilmentthe fee you actually pay is the one in your Seller Central fee preview	by size tier and weight
FBA fuel & logistics surchargein effect since 17 April 2026	3.5% of the fulfilment fee
FBA storageroughly $0.87 per cubic foot in Jan–Sep, $2.40 in Oct–Dec	monthly, by volume
AdvertisingSponsored Products is a budget you set; many sellers spend 10–15% of revenue on it	not a published fee

Source: the marketplace's own fee page
Rates last verified: 2026-10-14

Formula

5%–45% referral fee by category applied to the $500 sale, plus any fixed per-order fee

What each term means

referral fee: 15.0% × $500.00
per-order fee: $0.99

Assumptions

US marketplace, USD, a $500 sale, buyer pays no shipping.
Rates are the current published rates; the verification date is shown at the bottom of this page.
Postage, item cost and packaging are excluded from the fee calculation and shown only in the profit line.
Advertising is a budget you set, not a published fee, so it is not included here.

Worked examples

The same item listed at $20

Buyer pays: $20.00
Total fees: $3.99
Effective rate: 20.0%
Net profit: $8.01

Fee breakdown

Referral fee · Most categories15% × $20.00−$3.00
Per-order fee · Individual plan · per item sold$0.99−$0.99

Total fees$3.99

$3.99 in fees — a 20.0% effective rate, higher than at $500 because the fixed fee is spread over a smaller sale.

The same item listed at $50

Buyer pays: $50.00
Total fees: $8.49
Effective rate: 17.0%
Net profit: $21.51

Fee breakdown

Referral fee · Most categories15% × $50.00−$7.50
Per-order fee · Individual plan · per item sold$0.99−$0.99

Total fees$8.49

$8.49 in fees — a 17.0% effective rate, higher than at $500 because the fixed fee is spread over a smaller sale.

The same item listed at $100

Buyer pays: $100.00
Total fees: $15.99
Effective rate: 16.0%
Net profit: $44.01

Fee breakdown

Referral fee · Most categories15% × $100.00−$15.00
Per-order fee · Individual plan · per item sold$0.99−$0.99

Total fees$15.99

$15.99 in fees — a 16.0% effective rate, higher than at $500 because the fixed fee is spread over a smaller sale.

Every figure above is computed from the rate schedule on this page for Amazon (US), using the same engine as the calculator — not typed in by hand.

Common mistakes

Pricing from the $500 headline rate

The percentage is only part of it. At $500 the fixed charges are $0.99 — 1% of the total fee. Take that off the top before deciding whether the item is worth listing.

Assuming the fee rate is the same at every price

It is not, because a fixed fee exists. On Amazon (US) the effective rate moves between price points: the fixed charge is a flat amount, not a percentage of the sale, so it weighs 1% of the total fee here and less on a larger sale.

Questions

How much does Amazon (US) charge on a $500 sale?: $75.99, which is 15.2% of the sale. It is made up of $75.00 (referral fee) + $0.99 (per-order fee) = $75.99 in total.
How do Amazon (US) fees change with the sale price?: They fall as a percentage. Here is the same item at four price points: $20 → 20.0%, $50 → 17.0%, $100 → 16.0%, $500 → 15.2%. The fixed part of the fee is the same amount on every one of them.
Is selling a $500 item on Amazon (US) worth it?: That depends on your costs, not the fee rate. Subtract $75.99 from $500 and you have $424.01 to cover postage, packaging and what you paid for the item. The calculator above shows that split.

Related calculators

These calculators apply published marketplace fee schedules. They are general information tools, not tax, legal, accounting or financial advice — check your own payout statement and speak to a qualified professional where it matters.

Amazon (US) — 5%–45% referral fee by category. Rates last verified: 2026-10-14. the marketplace's own fee page.