2026 FBA Fee Increase: What Amazon Sellers Must Do Before Jan 15th 2026
January 15 Fee Increases Require Immediate Action
The Problem: You Have 36 Days to Adjust Pricing and Protect Margins
On January 15, 2026, Amazon’s FBA fees increase across the board:
- Standard-size items ($10–$50): +$0.08 average per unit
- Large items (over $50): +$0.31 average per unit
- New inbound defect fees: $0.32–$5.72 for shipment errors (up from $0.02–$0.07)
For a seller moving 2,000 units monthly at a $0.08 fee increase, that’s $160/month in margin erosion, $1,920 annually.
Multiply that across your catalog, and suddenly your 12% net margin is a 9% margin.
The fix requires immediate action:
Week 1 (Dec 8–15): Calculate Your Exact Impact
Don’t guess—run the numbers on your top 20 SKUs using Amazon’s FBA Revenue Calculator. For each product:
- Current FBA fee (pre-Jan 15)
- New FBA fee (post-Jan 15)
- Monthly unit velocity
- Total monthly impact (fee increase × velocity)
- Annual impact (monthly × 12)
Quick example:
- SKU: Kitchen organizer set
- Current FBA fee: $4.82
- New FBA fee: $4.90 (+$0.08)
- Monthly velocity: 800 units
- Monthly impact: $64
- Annual impact: $768
Now multiply this across 15–50 SKUs. For most sellers doing $50K+/month, that’s $2,000–$5,000 in annual margin erosion if you don’t adjust.
Week 2 (Dec 16–22): Test Pricing Adjustments
Small price increases (+3–5%) implemented gradually before January 15 let you gauge Buy Box impact without shocking customers. Waiting until January 15 means your competitors who moved early already have the data.
The cash flow connection: Adjusting pricing, running clearance promotions on low-margin SKUs, or shifting fulfillment strategies all require working capital. Sellers who can access their revenue same-day have 36 days to test and optimize. Sellers waiting on payouts have 22 days—and that’s if everything goes perfectly.
Week 3–5 (Dec 23–Jan 14): Optimize and Monitor
- Monitor Buy Box percentage after price adjustments
- Consider hybrid fulfillment for items where margin compression is severe
- For low-velocity, low-margin items: liquidate now or prepare removal orders
- Use the final weeks to fine-tune before fees take effect
Get same-day access to your revenue so you can test pricing adjustments this week, not next month.
