This is what you pay the automation company to run the store. It usually comes in two parts. A setup fee covers account setup, business documents, product research and the first listings. A monthly management fee covers daily operations, stock planning, listing updates, customer messages and account health.
Prices vary widely. Some agencies charge a flat monthly fee with no large upfront payment. Others ask for tens of thousands of dollars upfront, which is the pricing seen in several FTC cases against automation companies.
At AmzWave the setup fee is [AmzWave setup fee] and management is [AmzWave monthly fee], with the scope written into the contract. Full details are on our Amazon automation services page.
If an agency offers a profit share, ask how “profit” is calculated and when the share ends.
Amazon seller fees
Amazon charges every seller, whether or not an agency is involved. These figures are from Amazon’s pricing page:
Fee | Cost |
Professional plan | $39.99 a month |
Individual plan | $0.99 per item sold |
Referral fee | 8% to 20% of the price in most categories (Home and Kitchen is 15%) |
Media closing fee | $1.80 per item (books, music, DVDs, software, video) |
Most categories also have a $0.30 minimum referral fee. The Professional plan pays for itself once you sell about 40 items a month, because 40 × $0.99 is roughly the $39.99 monthly fee. FBA fulfilment and storage fees depend on each product’s size and weight, so check them in Amazon’s Revenue Calculator.
Inventory
This is usually the biggest number, and it depends on your business model.
- Wholesale FBA: you buy branded stock from authorised distributors and need enough cash to reorder before your first payouts arrive.
- Private label: you pay for samples, a first production run, packaging, freight and duty. It needs the most cash and takes longest to pay back.
- Dropshipping or FBM: you hold little or no stock. It’s cheapest to start, but margins are thin and Amazon’s dropshipping policy limits how it can be done.
We compare the three models in how Amazon automation works.
Software
Most managed stores use a repricer, a product research tool and a profit dashboard. Ask your agency which tools are included in their fee and which you pay for yourself. Monthly subscriptions are easy to miss and they add up over a year.
Advertising
Most new listings need Amazon sponsored ads in the first months to get seen. Private label usually needs the biggest ad budget, because a new brand has no reviews or sales history yet. Budget ad spend as its own monthly line, not something paid for out of profit.
A worked example: profit on one unit
These are example numbers to show the maths, not a forecast. Swap in your own product’s figures.
- Sale price: $30.00
- Referral fee at 15%: −$4.50
- FBA fulfilment fee (example): −$6.00
- Landed product cost (example): −$9.00
- Ad spend per unit (example): −$4.00
- Profit before agency and software fees: $6.50
At $6.50 a unit, an example agency fee of $1,500 a month takes about 231 sales a month to cover before you make anything. Run that sum before you sign with anyone.
How to build your first-year budget
Ask any agency for a first-year total split into these lines:
- Setup fee
- Monthly management fee × 12
- Amazon Professional plan, $39.99 × 12 = $479.88
- Opening inventory plus one reorder
- Software × 12
- Advertising × 12
- A cash buffer for returns, storage fees and slow months
If an agency can’t give you this breakdown, take that as a warning. Our 12 questions to ask before you hire an ecommerce automation agency covers what else to ask, and is Amazon automation legit lists the pricing red flags.
Get an itemised quote
Tell us your budget and timeline, and we’ll send a first-year breakdown using the seven lines above, with the model we’d pick for you and why.
Frequently Asked Questions
Agency fees vary from flat monthly fees to large upfront packages. On top of that you pay Amazon's $39.99 Professional plan, referral fees on each sale, software and ads.
It depends on the model. Dropshipping needs the least and private label the most. Ask for an itemised first-year total rather than a single starting price.
Only if the store's profit per unit can cover them. Use the worked example above to find how many sales a month you need to break even.
Yes. Amazon charges referral fees, FBA fees and the Professional plan to your account, whoever manages it.
Large upfront fees show up again and again in FTC cases against automation companies. A big fee before you've seen any plan for your account is a warning sign, not a mark of quality.