Overview

Every product listed on Amazon is assigned to a fee category, which plays a central role in determining the various fees sellers pay. Understanding how these categories work is essential for accurately forecasting costs and maintaining healthy profit margins on your Amazon business.

Key Points / What Sellers Need to Know

• Fee categories classify products by type — Amazon groups items into fee categories based on what kind of product they are. These categories serve as the foundation for calculating multiple seller fees.
• Each ASIN belongs to exactly one fee category — Every product in Amazon's catalog is assigned to a single fee category. There is no overlap; a product cannot belong to multiple categories simultaneously.
• Multiple fee types rely on these categories — Referral fees, closing fees, FBA fulfillment fees, and FBA returns processing fees all use fee categories as part of their calculation, among other fee types.
• Categories are based on product type, not seller choice — Amazon determines the fee category based on the nature of the product itself. For example, dollhouses, building blocks, and play kitchens all fall under the same Toys fee category regardless of who sells them.
• Fee rates vary significantly between categories — Different fee categories carry different referral fee percentages and fulfillment cost structures, making category assignment a meaningful factor in your per-unit economics.

How Fee Categories Work

Amazon's fee category system groups products into broad classifications based on what the item is. When you list a product, Amazon assigns it to the appropriate fee category based on its product type within the catalog. This assignment is not arbitrary — it follows Amazon's internal classification logic, which maps specific product types to predefined categories. All ASINs of a given product type will share the same fee category. For instance, whether you sell a wooden dollhouse or a plastic building block set, both fall under the same category because they are classified as similar product types. This standardized approach ensures consistent fee treatment across the marketplace.