US FBA pricing moved three times this year, and the changes pile up: the January rate card raised most fees, April added a fuel surcharge with no announced end date, and since October 15 the holiday peak table is live until January 14. Each step looks small on a single unit and stops looking small across a Q4 shipment.
January 15: a new rate card, not just a price bump
Fulfillment fees rose an average of $0.08 per unit, but the interesting part is the structure. Standard-size fees carry three price bands now: under $10 sits on its own discounted schedule (about $0.86 below the rest), items at exactly $10 or $50 belong to the $10–$50 band, and items over $50 absorbed the biggest increases, up to $0.51 on small standard sizes. On the same day, large bulky split into small bulky and large bulky, and bulky fees went down: the small bulky base fell from $8.84 to $6.78. Low-inventory fees moved from parent ASINs to individual FNSKUs, so every variant needs its own coverage.
April 17: 3.5%, charged on the fee and still running
A fuel and logistics surcharge of 3.5% applies to US and Canada fulfillment fees from April 17, extended to MCF and Buy with Prime on May 2, at 1.5% in Europe. It is charged on the fulfillment fee, not the sale price, which works out to about $0.17 per unit for the average US order and more for bulky items. Amazon has not announced an end date, so any pricing model built this year should treat it as permanent until told otherwise.
October 15: peak rates stack on top
Holiday peak fulfillment fees run October 15 through January 14, averaging $0.32 more per unit, and the 3.5% surcharge applies on top of the peak table as well. The spread across size tiers is wide: a small standard phone case goes from $2.49 to $2.68, a large standard T-shirt from $6.14 to $6.53, a small bulky crib from $10.21 to $11.25, and a 50-to-70-pound oversize TV from $48.57 to $51.38. Multiply any of those by a Q4 sales forecast and the number stops being an average.
The rule sellers trip over: outbound date decides
Fulfillment fees are calculated when units leave the fulfillment center, not when the buyer orders. An order placed in September that ships on October 15 bills at peak rates, and a return does not refund the peak portion. Sending inventory earlier does not lock in off-peak fees either -- the trigger is always the ship date.
Pricing Q4 without redoing the spreadsheet by hand
The FBA fee calculator carries the full 2026 tables -- non-apparel, apparel and hazmat, all three price bands, both seasons -- plus the referral fee schedule and the surcharge line. Enter a SKU once and you get its off-peak and peak cost side by side, which is the comparison that pricing decisions actually need. A few habits make it faster: check the biggest units first (absolute increases scale with size), keep dimensional weight in mind for anything boxy, and re-check every SKU that sits near a fee boundary -- a package half an inch over a size tier line can cost more than the discount you just negotiated.
Storage, inbound placement and return processing fees are outside both the rate card and the calculator; budget them separately. And mark January 15 in the calendar: peak rates revert, but January also tends to bring the next rate card, so the numbers get a fresh check then.