Amazon FBA private label

You order stock from a factory, ship it to Amazon's warehouses through Fulfillment by Amazon and list it as a third-party seller in a category such as Home and Kitchen.

Amazon keeps 15% in Home and Kitchen, and FBA charges $3.06 a unit for a small standard item of 2 oz or less; heavier items cost more. On an example $25 item with an assumed $7 landed cost, you'd keep about $11 a unit. At an assumed 15 minutes of work per unit, that is roughly $45 an hour before ads, storage, returns, the plan fee and the time spent finding and testing a product. Your price and pace will change it.

The catch is cash: private label takes spending before any sale, and unsold stock ties up capital. It suits people who can lose a first order. Skip it if you need money within weeks.

Amazon FBA fees: referral, fulfillment and storage

Amazon's referral fee varies by category and is charged as a percentage of the total price or a minimum, whichever is greater. FBA adds a fulfillment fee per unit, and it bills storage monthly on your daily average inventory, with extra charges for aged or high stock. You set the price. AMZ Prep, a third-party prep company, reports a 3.5% surcharge on fulfillment fees since April 17, 2026, which Amazon's public fee page doesn't show, so the $3.06 above may run slightly higher.

What Amazon FBA sellers actually earn

The profit data comes from a Jungle Scout survey of about 2,000 sellers in December 2023 and January 2024, a vendor-run, global, self-selected sample that includes prospective and former sellers. In it, 13% of small and mid-size sellers were not profitable, 57% had margins above 10% and 28% above 20%. The same survey reports 30% with lifetime profits over $50,000, a lifetime total among sellers still in business, not a yearly figure. The calculator assumes every unit sells, which a new listing may not do, and unsold units keep adding storage fees.

What it costs to start Amazon FBA

The biggest bills, stock, samples and product testing, have no published price, and startup spend in Jungle Scout's survey ranges widely.

Amazon Seller Central or Walmart Marketplace

• Amazon Seller Central if you're starting from scratch: registration needs a government ID, a bank account in your or your business's name, and proof of address dated within 180 days, and Amazon does not require an LLC. Fees and payouts are on the Seller Central platform page.
• Walmart Marketplace if you already sell online: it asks applicants for a history of marketplace or ecommerce success.

Getting shoppers to a brand-new listing

A new brand starts with no following and competes on price and reviews. The main tool a brand controls is Amazon Brand Registry. Enrollment needs an active registered or pending trademark, either a word mark or a design mark containing words, letters or numbers, and the trademark owner must submit the application. The brand name must be permanently affixed to the product or packaging in the enrollment images, and stickers or labels are not accepted. You can use Brand Registry without a selling account, but not A+ Content or Stores.

How to find a private label manufacturer

Start by asking each supplier for its minimum order quantity and a sample. Alibaba says the minimum order quantity is set by each supplier, and Shopify advises asking for it per variation and ordering samples before mass production.

Alibaba's Trade Assurance has limits:

• It holds your payment in escrow until you receive and confirm the product, and its money-back policy covers unshipped, missing, defective, incorrect or damaged orders.
• It protects only online orders paid through Alibaba.com, with a 30-day refund claim window after delivery.
• Coverage is judged against the quality and ship date terms in the order, so the order must define them.

Tariffs in 2026 and landed cost

A new Section 301 duty took effect July 24, 2026. EY's summary of the USTR action says it adds 10% or 12.5% on most imports from 60 economies including China, and freight firm Jieyi Logistics reports 12.5% for China. Check your product's rate with U.S. Customs and Border Protection before ordering.

Small shipments get no break. Duty-free entry for goods under $800 is suspended, the Court of International Trade held on August 13, 2026 that such goods remain dutiable, and the statutory end date is July 1, 2027.

Use landed cost when pricing: product, freight and duties together.

Registration, testing and approvals before you sell

Some products require Amazon's prior approval and some are not FBA-eligible. Business licenses and sales tax registration depend on your state and city, so check your state's business licensing and revenue agencies.

Children's products:

• Nearly all must be tested at a CPSC-accepted lab, and the responsible firm then issues a Children's Product Certificate. One product may need several tests, and a material change means retesting.
• Products designed mainly for children 12 and under are toys, and toys need a certificate citing 16 CFR part 1250 and ASTM F963.
• Small batch makers still need the certificate, though some tests may be relieved.

For supplements or other health products, the FTC requires competent and reliable scientific evidence behind health claims.

Taxes: the IRS has you deduct cost of goods sold on Schedule C and value inventory at the start and end of each year; see taxes on side income.

Risks: aged stock, suspensions and fake coaching

Stock that doesn't sell gets more expensive. Amazon's aged-inventory surcharges start at 181 days and reach $7.90 per cubic foot, or $0.35 per unit if greater, at 456 days and over, on top of monthly storage. Removal orders take up to 14 business days and carry fees, and automated settings can return or dispose of stock unsold for six months or more.

Amazon says policy or metric failures may lead to account deactivation or listing removal. Appeals go through Account Health under Reactivate your account and may need a questionnaire, documents and a Plan of Action.

Counterfeits of your product are your job to report: only rights owners can report IP violations, Brand Registry requires a trademark, and Amazon can't report on your behalf.

Who Amazon FBA private label suits

It fits you if:

• You can pay a supplier, a lab and freight before the first sale and absorb a failed first product.
• You're comfortable importing and working out duties per unit before you order.
• You can wait a long time between paying a supplier and being paid.

Skip it if:

• You want no inventory at all: print on demand makes each item after it sells, and affiliate marketing and micro-SaaS have no physical stock or tariffs.
• You want a smaller outlay and no importing: retail arbitrage skips the manufacturer.
• You'd rather avoid lab testing and certificates, which children's items need. The ecommerce category has other ways to sell your own products.

Your first week, step by step

1. Pick a category, check its referral fee on Amazon's pricing page, and check whether it needs prior approval.
2. Ask Alibaba suppliers for the minimum order quantity per variation and order samples before any bulk order.
3. Pay through Alibaba.com checkout so Trade Assurance applies, and write quality and ship date terms into the order.
4. If it's a children's product, book a CPSC-accepted lab test and issue the Children's Product Certificate before shipping.
5. File your trademark application and have the brand name printed on the product or packaging, not a sticker.
6. Register on Seller Central with your ID, a bank account and address proof, and pick a plan; fees are on the platform page.
7. Send the first batch to FBA and track how long it sits, since surcharges grow with age.