Free tool
Simulate commission referral fees, closing charges, and net seller payouts across Amazon, Flipkart, and digital marketplaces.
FBA, shipping subsidy, ads allocated to the order
Marketplace Deductions = Referral Fee + Fixed Closing Fee + FBA/Pick & Pack Fee + Payment Collection Fee. Net Payout = Selling Price − Marketplace Deductions.
An electronic accessory sells on Amazon for $40.00. Referral commission is 15% ($6.00), closing fee is $1.80, and FBA fulfillment fee is $4.20 ($12.00 total fees). Net seller payout = $40.00 − $12.00 = $28.00 (a 30% total marketplace take rate).
Selling on major marketplaces (Amazon, Walmart, Flipkart) grants immediate access to millions of high-intent shoppers, but requires navigating complex fee structures. A seller's gross payout is subjected to referral commissions (typically 6% to 20% depending on category), fixed closing fees per item tier, payment gateway fees, and warehousing fulfillment charges.
Choosing FBA grants Prime badge status and lifts conversion, but incurs pick-and-pack fulfillment fees, monthly inventory storage charges, and aged inventory surcharges. Bulky, heavy, or slow-moving items often suffer severe fee erosion under FBA, making third-party merchant fulfillment (FBM) or hybrid logistics more profitable.
While selling on your own direct-to-consumer website eliminates 15% marketplace referral commissions, you must absorb customer acquisition ad spend (CAC). Comparing channel contribution margin after all fees, ad costs, and return rates reveals which channel generates higher true operating profit for each SKU.
A referral fee is a percentage commission charged by Amazon on the total gross sales price (including product price, shipping fees, and gift wrap). Percentages vary by product category, ranging from 8% for consumer electronics to 17% for clothing and accessories.
Marketplaces bill monthly storage fees based on the cubic volume your inventory occupies in their fulfillment centers. During Q4 peak holiday months (October–December), storage rates increase dramatically, and aged inventory (held over 180 to 270 days) incurs heavy punitive surcharges.
When a customer is refunded, the marketplace typically refunds the referral fee back to the seller, minus a small administrative refund processing fee (usually 20% of the referral fee or $5.00, whichever is less).
Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands ad spend can be deducted directly from your marketplace disbursement balance. Sellers must monitor Total ACOS (TACOS) to ensure ad spend does not consume net seller disbursements.
Calculate gross profit, net profit margin, and contribution percentage from revenue and cost to evaluate catalog pricing and channel viability.
Determine the exact retail selling price needed to achieve a target gross profit margin percentage based on landed unit costs.
Calculate volumetric dimensional weight, billable freight charges, and packaging overhead for courier and postal shipments.
Start an online store from offer and unit economics through platform, catalog, payments, shipping and a launch checklist — without treating legal registration as a how-to.
Build product pages that shoppers and search engines can use: media, specs, shipping and returns, related products, and SEO working with conversion — without invented reviews.
D2C, marketplaces, wholesale, subscriptions and dropshipping differ in margin, inventory risk and ops load. Compare the economics before you pick a model.
Gross, contribution and net margin answer different questions. Channel fees, shipping and returns sit between list price and cash. Worked numbers included.
Markup is the add-on over cost. Margin is profit as a share of selling price. Mixing them up is a common pricing error. Formulas and a conversion table.
Before you launch, lock the offer, suppliers, margin, photos, policies and support. A practical checklist for opening a store—not a platform sales pitch.
