Amazon FBA in Europe 2026: Fees, Pros, Cons and Alternatives
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Amazon FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) means you send your stock to Amazon's warehouses, and Amazon stores, packs and ships your orders and handles returns and customer service. In return, your offers carry the Prime badge. It sounds convenient, and often it is. Still, at byrd we are talking to more and more FBA sellers who want to rethink their logistics.
It is rarely one single problem. Usually several things add up: storage fees that almost double in autumn, capacity limits ahead of peak season, and stock that is missing elsewhere for your own shop and other marketplaces. In this article you'll learn what Amazon FBA costs in Europe in 2026, its pros and cons, and when an alternative such as FBM with a fulfillment partner pays off.
Last updated: October 2026
Key takeaways
- With FBA, Amazon takes care of storage, shipping, returns and customer service for Amazon orders. On top of selling fees, you pay fulfillment and storage fees.
- For 2026, Amazon lowered fulfillment fees for parcels on average, while monthly storage fees went up. From October to December, storing standard-size products costs about twice as much as during the rest of the year.
- Surcharges can apply if you hold too much stock for too long (storage utilisation, aged inventory). On the Pan-EU programme, a fee can also apply in selected categories if you hold too little.
- FBA works best for small, fast-selling products that sell mainly on Amazon.
- If you sell across several channels, have slow-moving or bulky products, or want your brand to show when customers unbox, FBM with a fulfillment partner is often the better choice. Prime is still possible through Seller Fulfilled Prime.
What is Amazon FBA?
Amazon FBA stands for Fulfillment by Amazon. You remain the seller and decide on prices, range and marketing. Amazon handles the logistics: storage in its fulfillment centres, picking, packing, shipping, returns and customer service for delivery questions. FBA offers are automatically eligible for Prime.
The counterpart is FBM (Fulfillment by Merchant). Here you store and ship yourself or through a fulfillment provider. For a direct comparison of the two models, see our article on FBA vs FBM.
How Amazon FBA works in 5 steps
- Create a seller account: You need an Amazon seller account, and for regular sales usually the Professional plan.
- Switch products to FBA: In Seller Central, you set your offers to Fulfilled by Amazon.
- Prepare your goods: Every unit needs a scannable barcode, and packaging and cartons must meet Amazon's prep and shipping requirements.
- Create a shipment and send it in: You create a shipment in Seller Central, print the carton labels and deliver to the assigned fulfillment centre.
- Amazon takes over: Once your stock is received, Amazon sells it with the Prime badge, ships it and processes returns.
Requirements and rules you should know
- Prep to Amazon's standards: Barcodes, labels and packaging must follow the guidelines. Mistakes lead to delays at check-in or extra costs.
- Capacity limits: Amazon limits how much stock you can send in. Especially ahead of Q4, this can slow your growth.
- Pan-European FBA: If Amazon stores your stock in several EU countries via Pan-EU, you need active offers in Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Since 3 September 2026 this also applies to the Netherlands, and from 26 February 2027 to Belgium (ChannelX).
How much does Amazon FBA cost in 2026?
Costs come in three blocks: selling fees (which also apply without FBA), FBA fulfillment fees per unit sold, and storage fees. Surcharges may be added depending on your stock levels. The figures below are taken from Amazon's European rate card, effective 1 February 2026, and the pricing page on sell.amazon.de, using Amazon.de as the example.
| Cost type | Amazon.de, 2026 | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Selling plan | Individual: €0.99 per item sold. Professional: €39 per month (both excl. VAT) | Always, also with FBM |
| Referral fee | Depends on category, mostly 8 to 15% of the sale price, minimum €0.30 per item | On every sale, also with FBM |
| FBA fulfillment fee | For example €2.52 for a small envelope up to 80 g, €3.42 for a standard parcel up to 400 g and €3.44 up to 900 g (local shipping within Germany only) | Per unit sold, depending on size and weight |
| Monthly storage fee | Standard size: €27.54 per m³ (January to September), €52.20 per m³ (October to December) | For the average volume of your stock in the warehouse |
| Storage utilisation surcharge | Applies if your stock covers more than 22 weeks of sales | When holding too much stock, for Professional sellers |
| Aged inventory surcharge | For stock stored longer than 241 days | For slow movers |
| Low-inventory-level fee | €0.18 to €0.67 per unit if stock covers less than 28 days (Pan-EU stock in selected categories in Germany, France, Italy and Spain) | When holding too little stock relative to demand |
For 2026, Amazon partly lowered its fees in Europe. According to Amazon, FBA fulfillment fees for parcels in Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK fell by €0.32 per unit on average. Low-Price FBA has applied to items up to €20 since January 2026, and referral fees dropped in some categories, for example from 15 to 8% for home products up to €20. At the same time, Amazon raised monthly storage fees and fees for returning stock to the seller.
Example: what one carton costs in Amazon's warehouse
A carton measuring 60 x 40 x 40 cm has a volume of 0.096 m³. Filled with standard-size products, it costs in storage fees on Amazon.de:
- January to September: 0.096 m³ x €27.54 = about €2.64 per month
- October to December: 0.096 m³ x €52.20 = about €5.01 per month
For a product that sells quickly, this hardly matters. If the same stock sits for six months or longer, storage fees and possible surcharges eat a noticeable share of your margin. What counts is not the single fee but how fast your products turn over.
Advantages of Amazon FBA
- Prime badge without your own logistics: FBA offers are automatically Prime-eligible, which is a buying criterion for many customers.
- No warehouse or shipping team: Storage, packing, shipping and returns run through Amazon.
- Customer service for delivery questions: Amazon answers questions about delivery and returns.
- European reach: With FBA Europe you can serve customers in other EU countries without building your own warehouses there.
- Predictable for small fast sellers: For light products with high sell-through, the cost per unit is often low.
Disadvantages of Amazon FBA
- Storage costs grow over time: Slow-moving stock becomes expensive, especially in Q4 and when aged inventory or storage utilisation surcharges kick in.
- Tight inventory planning: Too much stock triggers surcharges, too little risks stockouts and lost rankings. Getting the balance right takes constant attention.
- Capacity limits: Amazon decides how much stock you may send in. Ahead of peak periods this can cause bottlenecks.
- Stock is tied to Amazon: Inventory in Amazon's warehouse is not readily available for your own shop or other marketplaces. Many sellers therefore keep a second stock.
- Little branding: Your customers receive an Amazon parcel. Your own packaging, inserts or a special unboxing are not possible.
- Strict inbound rules: Prep, labelling and carton requirements take time, and mistakes lead to delays or extra costs.
- Dependence on Amazon's rules: Fees, programmes and requirements change regularly.
Who is Amazon FBA still worth it for in 2026?
FBA is not on its way out. For certain products and business models it fits very well, for others it becomes more expensive and less flexible as the range grows:
| FBA tends to fit if … | An alternative tends to fit if … |
|---|---|
| You sell mainly on Amazon | You also run your own shop and sell on other marketplaces |
| Your products are small, light and fast-selling | You have bulky, heavy or slow-moving products |
| You can match stock closely to demand | You have seasonal products or long replenishment times |
| Branding at unboxing doesn't matter much | Packaging and inserts are part of your brand |
| You don't need B2B or retail deliveries from the same stock | You want to supply consumers, retailers and Amazon from one stock |
Alternatives to Amazon FBA
FBM with a fulfillment partner
With FBM you keep selling on Amazon, but a fulfillment partner ships the orders from its warehouse. Your stock sits in one place and is available to every channel: Amazon, your own shop and other marketplaces. You choose the packaging and carriers. Without the Prime badge, competitive delivery times and shipping costs matter all the more. How Amazon's FBM Ship+ programme fits in is explained in our article on Amazon FBM Ship+.
FBM from your own warehouse
For small volumes you can ship yourself. As order numbers grow, so do staff, space and packaging effort, and delivery times become harder to keep. What to look for when choosing a provider is covered in our guide to choosing a fulfillment provider.
Seller Fulfilled Prime
With Seller Fulfilled Prime you get the Prime badge without sending stock to Amazon. The bar is high. On Amazon.de, for example, Amazon requires an on-time delivery rate of at least 90%, valid tracking for at least 99% of shipments and a cancellation rate of no more than 0.5%. You must also offer Prime members free shipping and free returns. Since 7 September 2026, stricter delivery-speed targets apply in Germany for standard-size items: 15% of shipments must arrive within one day (previously 10%), 50% within two days (previously 45%) and 80% within four days (Amazon Seller Forum).
Hybrid: combine FBA and FBM
Many sellers run both: fast sellers stay in FBA, the rest goes through FBM. A fulfillment partner can also act as a buffer warehouse and replenish FBA regularly. That way you keep only as much stock at Amazon as you need and avoid costly storage time. If FBA stock runs out, you can fulfil orders via FBM at short notice.
Switching from FBA to a fulfillment partner: how to do it
A switch doesn't have to change everything at once. A step-by-step approach works best:
- Analyse your range: For each product, look at sell-through, storage time and FBA costs. This shows which items should stay in FBA and which run cheaper elsewhere.
- Connect your fulfillment partner: Link Seller Central and your other channels to the partner so orders and stock levels sync automatically.
- Move your stock: Send new stock directly to the partner. Pull existing stock out of Amazon's warehouse with a removal order. Amazon charges a fee per unit for this.
- Adjust your shipping settings: Set handling time and delivery promises in Seller Central so they match your partner's cut-off times and transit times.
- Start with one product group: Test the process with part of your range, check delivery times and customer feedback, then roll it out.
Amazon FBM, FBM Ship+ and pre-FBA with byrd
byrd takes care of the logistics for your Amazon orders, while you keep the decisions and full visibility. Seller Central is connected directly, so orders and stock levels sync automatically. byrd usually picks, packs and ships your FBM orders the same day, in your own packaging if you like. byrd also supports FBM Ship+, Amazon's programme that sets FBM delivery promises automatically and is currently open to selected sellers. Find out more on our page for Amazon sellers.
If some products need the Prime badge, combine FBM with FBA: byrd prepares your goods in line with Amazon's guidelines and delivers them to Amazon's fulfillment centres, with the byrd warehouse acting as a buffer. The same stock also serves your own shop and other marketplaces, from warehouses in Germany, Austria, France, Poland and the UK.
Checklist: how a pre-FBA shipment with byrd works
- Already created the shipment in Seller Central? Choose “Amazon Pre-FBA (Announced)” when creating the order and add the FBA reference, PO number, destination Amazon warehouse address and carton labels right away.
- Not created yet? Choose “Amazon Pre-FBA (Unannounced)” and add the Amazon details once byrd has packed the goods. This works for parcel shipments.
- Get your labels right: Amazon labels in 4 x 6 inch format (10.2 x 15.2 cm), one label per page.
- Release the order: You release pre-FBA orders manually in the byrd dashboard and, if you use several locations, pick the warehouse.
- Fill in missing details: If the shipment shows “Label required”, add the Amazon details. byrd then applies the labels and the shipment moves to pickup.
Our support article on the Amazon pre-FBA process for B2B shipments covers every step in detail.
FAQ about Amazon FBA
What is Amazon FBA in simple terms?
Amazon FBA means Amazon stores, packs and ships your products and handles returns. You keep selling yourself, and your offers get the Prime badge.
How much does Amazon FBA cost in 2026?
On Amazon.de, besides the selling plan (Professional: €39 per month excl. VAT) and referral fees, you pay a fulfillment fee per unit, for example €3.42 for a standard parcel up to 400 g, and storage fees from €27.54 per m³ per month. Surcharges may apply depending on your stock.
Is Amazon FBA still worth it in 2026?
For small, fast-selling products that sell mainly on Amazon, often yes. For slow-moving or bulky stock, and when selling across several channels, FBM with a fulfillment partner is often cheaper and more flexible.
Can I get the Prime badge without FBA?
Yes, through Seller Fulfilled Prime. You have to meet Amazon's performance requirements continuously, including on-time delivery, tracking, cancellation rate and delivery speed.
Can I use FBA and FBM at the same time?
Yes. You can decide per product whether it ships via FBA or FBM. Many sellers keep fast sellers in FBA and ship the rest via a fulfillment partner that can also replenish FBA.
How do I get my stock out of Amazon's warehouse?
With a removal order in Seller Central. Amazon then ships the stock to an address you specify, for example your fulfillment partner. A fee per unit applies.