This calculator was manually reviewed to confirm current platform fees, plan details, and assumptions as of September 2026.
Platforms may update pricing or terms at any time.
FBA can look easier. FBM can look cheaper. Neither matters if the margin does not survive the full cost of fulfillment. Compare both methods using your actual shipping, storage, prep, labor, and selling-plan costs. Then see which method keeps more profit, whether the margin is healthy, and whether the difference is large enough to influence the decision.
Most calculators give you two totals. This one tells you which method wins, whether the margin is healthy, and when the difference is too small to settle the decision.
Compare your FBA and FBM profit
Compare what you actually keep after Amazon fees, fulfillment, shipping, prep, and selling-plan costs. A cheaper fulfillment fee is useful. A healthier final margin is the decision.
Product and account
Enter the numbers that apply to both fulfillment methods.
Fulfilled by Amazon
Amazon stores, picks, packs, and ships customer orders.
Fulfilled by Merchant
You store, pick, pack, and ship customer orders.
What the numbers are saying
Estimate only. This comparison does not include advertising, returns, refunds, taxes, aged-inventory charges, low-inventory fees, or changes in Amazon’s fee schedule. Verify current fees for the product’s category, size tier, season, and marketplace before making an inventory decision.
Check the full profit picture
FBA may beat FBM. The product can still be too thin.
You have compared the fulfillment costs. Now check whether the product still makes sense after Amazon fees, product cost, fulfillment, and advertising are included. A winning fulfillment method does not rescue a SKU that cannot afford customer acquisition.
Not sure the referral fee rate is correct? Check Amazon selling fees.
How to read your FBA vs FBM result
The method with the higher estimated profit is the mathematical winner, but the size of the difference matters. A small profit gap may not justify changing how you fulfill orders once delivery speed, inventory control, available storage, and the time required to pack orders are considered. A larger gap deserves more attention, especially when it remains meaningful at your expected monthly sales volume.
This calculator separates costs that are often blurred together. FBA includes Amazon fulfillment, allocated storage, inbound shipping, and prep or labeling. FBM includes customer-paid shipping, postage, packaging, labor, and allocated storage. It also accounts for your Amazon selling plan and calculates the FBM referral fee using the total amount paid by the customer, including shipping charged.
Neither result includes advertising, returns, refunds, taxes, or every specialized Amazon inventory charge. Treat the result as a fulfillment comparison, not a promise that the product itself is healthy. That is why the next step points to the broader Amazon Profit Calculator.
Worked example
When FBA keeps more profit
A product sells for $24.99, costs $7.50, and has a 15% referral fee. The seller uses the Professional plan and expects to sell 150 units per month.
| Result | FBA | FBM |
|---|---|---|
| Fulfillment and logistics | $6.50 | $8.60 |
| Profit per unit | $6.97 | $4.87 |
| Profit margin | 27.9% | 19.5% |
| Monthly profit | $1,046.23 | $731.23 |
In this example, FBA keeps $2.10 more per unit. At 150 units, that becomes a $315 monthly difference. FBA is not winning because Amazon is feeling unusually charitable. Its fulfillment, storage, inbound shipping, and prep costs are simply lower than the postage, packaging, and labor entered for FBM.
That does not make FBA the automatic choice for every product. A different shipping rate, customer-paid shipping charge, storage pattern, or labor cost could change the result. The point is to test the SKU you actually sell, not crown one fulfillment method for the entire internet.
Amazon FBA vs FBM Profit FAQs
What is the difference between Amazon FBA and FBM?
With Fulfilled by Amazon, you send inventory to Amazon and pay Amazon to store it, pick and pack orders, ship them, and handle much of the customer-service work.
With Fulfilled by Merchant, you keep control of the inventory and fulfill each order yourself or through another warehouse. That usually means more responsibility for storage, packaging, postage, delivery performance, and customer service.
Neither method is automatically better. FBA buys convenience and access to Amazon’s fulfillment network. FBM gives you more control. The useful question is what each option costs for this particular product.
Is FBA or FBM usually more profitable?
There is no universal winner. FBA can be more profitable when Amazon’s fulfillment fee is lower than your postage, packaging, labor, and storage costs. FBM can win when you can fulfill efficiently, negotiate good shipping rates, or avoid expensive FBA fees for bulky or slow-moving products.
The size of the difference matters too. If one method wins by only a few cents, fulfillment capacity and delivery expectations may settle the decision. If the difference is several dollars per unit, the math deserves considerably more attention.
Does the FBA fulfillment fee include inbound shipping to Amazon?
No. The FBA fulfillment fee covers Amazon’s work after a customer places an order. It does not generally include what you pay to send inventory into Amazon’s fulfillment network.
That inbound shipping cost is easy to overlook because it happens before the sale. It is still a real product cost, so this calculator includes it separately.
Should FBA prep and labeling be included separately?
Yes, when they create an additional cost. FBA inventory may need labels, polybags, protective packaging, bundling, or other preparation before Amazon will accept it. You may pay Amazon, a prep center, your supplier, or your own staff to do that work.
If preparation is already included in the product cost you entered, do not add it again. Amazon has enough ways to collect fees without us accidentally inventing duplicates.
How should I estimate storage cost per unit sold?
Start with the monthly storage cost attributable to the product and divide it by the number of units you expect to sell during that month.
For example, if storing the inventory costs about $45 for the month and you expect to sell 100 units, enter $0.45 per sold unit. If sales or inventory levels vary considerably, use a conservative average rather than your best-ever month. Slow inventory has a habit of making optimistic storage estimates look silly.
Does Amazon charge a referral fee on shipping paid by the customer?
Yes. For seller-fulfilled orders, Amazon generally calculates the referral fee using the total sales price paid by the customer, including the item price and delivery charges, but excluding taxes calculated through Amazon’s tax services.
That is why this calculator treats “shipping charged to the customer” as revenue and includes it in the FBM referral-fee calculation. Charging $6 for shipping does not mean you keep the full $6.
Does the Individual or Professional selling plan change the comparison?
The selling plan changes the profit you keep under both methods. It does not normally change the profit gap between FBA and FBM because the same plan cost applies to either fulfillment method.
Amazon currently charges $0.99 per item sold for the Individual plan and $39.99 per month for the Professional plan. On plan fees alone, Professional becomes cheaper at about 41 total Amazon sales per month. The calculator uses total account volume to allocate the Professional fee because assigning the entire monthly subscription to one product would distort its profit.
The Professional plan also includes additional tools and selling features, so the lowest fee is not always the only reason to choose it.
Can I use both FBA and FBM for the same product?
Yes. You can use FBA for some products and fulfill others yourself. Some sellers also maintain separate FBA and FBM offers for the same product so they have a backup when FBA inventory runs low or one method becomes temporarily less practical.
Using both can add resilience, but it also adds inventory and listing complexity. Keep the costs and available quantities for each fulfillment method clearly separated. Otherwise, the comparison gets muddy rather quickly.
What costs are not included in this calculator?
The calculator does not automatically include advertising, returns, refunds, taxes, aged-inventory charges, low-inventory fees, removal fees, or every specialized Amazon charge. You can place certain known per-unit expenses in the “other cost” fields, but this is still an estimate.
Use the result to compare fulfillment methods under the same product assumptions. Before ordering inventory or changing fulfillment, verify the current fees for your category, product size, season, and marketplace. A calculator can organize the math. It cannot stop Amazon from changing the fee schedule