Amazon Handmade Fees: What You Need to Know Before You Start Selling
“More freedom. Less fees. A better home for handmade.”
- Amy Lineberry
Amazon Handmade Fees: What You Need to Know Before You Start Selling
Running a handmade business is rewarding, but let’s be real—fees can make or break your profits. Materials, packaging, shipping, and time already eat into your margins. When you layer marketplace fees on top, your actual take-home can shrink faster than you’d like.
That’s why it’s so important to understand exactly what you’ll pay on Amazon Handmade before you dive in. The good news? Amazon Handmade keeps its fee structure refreshingly simple compared to other platforms like Etsy.
In this guide, we’ll break down:
What fees Amazon Handmade charges (and what they don’t).
How Amazon’s fees compare to Etsy.
The hidden costs you’ll want to factor in.
Why Amazon Handmade’s fee model is often better for growth.
By the end, you’ll know how to price your products with confidence and avoid fee-related surprises.
Why Marketplace Fees Matter for Handmade Sellers
Before we jump into numbers, let’s talk about why fees matter so much.
When you’re selling handmade goods, you’re not running a high-volume, low-margin business like big box retailers. Every expense—whether it’s a few cents for listing fees or a percentage for payment processing—directly impacts your profitability.
For example, say you sell a $25 handmade bracelet. If marketplace fees eat up $5 of that, you’re left with $20 before covering your materials, packaging, and labor. Suddenly, that bracelet doesn’t feel so profitable.
Fees aren’t inherently bad—they’re the cost of doing business on platforms that give you visibility and access to customers. But you need to know what you’re paying, how much it adds up to, and whether the platform gives you enough value in return.
The Basics: Amazon Handmade’s Referral Fees
At the core of Amazon Handmade’s fee structure is the referral fee. This is the percentage Amazon charges on every sale.
Range: Referral fees usually fall between 8% and 20% depending on the product category.
All Handmade Sellers: Amazon Handmade applies a flat 15% referral fee across every category — whether you sell jewelry, home goods, or accessories.
If you sell a $25 handmade candle in the Home category (15% referral fee), Amazon keeps $3.75. That’s it—no extra listing fee, no per-transaction processing fee.
This simplicity is one of the biggest perks of Amazon Handmade.
No Listing Fees or Renewal Fees
Unlike Etsy, Amazon Handmade does not charge for listing products. Your listing stays live until you decide to deactivate it—even if it’s sold out.
Etsy charges a $0.20 listing fee every four months per item, even if it doesn’t sell. Each time an item sells, the listing is considered "renewed", and the $0.20 fee is charged again.
Amazon Handmade: $0.00.
This might not sound like a huge difference at first, but if you have 200 active listings, that’s $40 every four months (or $120 a year) just to keep your Etsy shop online. With Amazon Handmade, you skip those recurring “nickel-and-dime” costs.
Professional Seller Account (Without the Monthly Fee)
Normally, Amazon sellers need a Professional Seller Account, which costs $39.99/month.
But here’s the win for Handmade sellers: Amazon waives the fee! (You will still need a Professional Seller Account to apply for Amazon Handmade.)
That means you get the benefits of a Professional account—like bulk listing tools and access to advertising—without the monthly subscription cost. For smaller shops, this alone can be a game-changer.
Optional Costs: Fulfillment Choices
Beyond the referral fee, your costs depend on how you choose to fulfill orders:
1. Seller Fulfilled (FBM)
You ship items yourself.
You pay for packaging and postage.
No additional Amazon fees beyond the referral fee.
This option gives you control, but it can also be time-consuming, especially if order volume grows.
2. Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA)
You send products to Amazon warehouses.
Amazon stores, packs, and ships your orders.
You pay storage and per-unit fulfillment fees.
📌 Example: For a small lightweight item like jewelry, FBA fees can be $3–$5 per unit. For larger, heavier items, fees go up.
While FBA adds costs, it can also increase conversion rates dramatically since customers trust Prime. Many Handmade sellers use a mix—keeping some items FBM and others FBA.
Quick Comparison With Etsy Fees
Etsy’s fee structure is more complicated than Amazon Handmade’s. Here’s what you’re looking at:
Listing Fee: $0.20 per item (every 4 months).
Transaction Fee: 6.5% on the total order (including shipping and gift wrap).
Payment Processing Fee: 3% + $0.25 per transaction (varies by country).
Optional Ads Fees: Etsy offsite ads can add 12–15% per sale if a customer buys after clicking an ad.
📌 Example:
On Etsy, selling a $25 item with $5 shipping costs you:
$0.20 listing fee
$1.95 transaction fee (6.5% of $30)
$1.00 payment processing fee (3% + $0.25)
Total = $3.15 (12.6%) before ads.
Amazon Handmade would charge $3.75 (15%). Slightly higher, but simpler and more predictable —and with no listing renewals. (And a larger marketplace with fewer sellers!!)
The Predictability Advantage
One of the hardest parts of selling on Etsy is that fees feel scattered. By the time you add listing renewals, processing, and ads, your profit margins may be slimmer than expected.
Amazon Handmade’s model is straightforward:
One referral fee per sale.
No hidden renewals.
No payment processing add-ons.
This makes it easier to forecast profits and price products correctly.
The Growth Potential With Prime
Here’s the real kicker: while Etsy caps your reach at people shopping on their site, Amazon Handmade plugs you into Amazon’s massive customer base.
If you use FBA, your products can become Prime-eligible. For many sellers, that’s when growth takes off. Customers searching for gifts, home goods, or accessories see your products right alongside big brands—and choose you because your handmade items stand out.
Even with higher fulfillment fees, the volume increase from Prime often outweighs the cost.
Key Takeaways
Amazon Handmade fees = referral fee flat 15%.
No listing or renewal fees.
No $39.99/month Professional Seller charge.
Fulfillment costs vary depending on FBM vs FBA.
Etsy’s fees may look lower at first glance but add up quickly with renewals, processing, and ads.
Amazon Handmade’s simplicity and access to Prime make it a strong choice for scaling.
Final Thoughts
If you’ve been frustrated by Etsy’s “death by a thousand cuts” approach to fees, Amazon Handmade may be a breath of fresh air. The referral fee is straightforward, predictable, and often easier to work into your pricing strategy.
Most importantly, Amazon Handmade gives you access to a much larger pool of customers, many of whom trust Amazon for quick, reliable delivery. Combine that with Prime eligibility through FBA, and you’ve got a platform that can help you grow well beyond what Etsy can offer.
👉 Want to see if Amazon Handmade is right for your shop? Download my free Getting Started Checklist for Amazon Handmade and take the first step today!
