Amazon has set its 2026 peak fulfillment fees for third-party sellers, adding an average $0.32 per unit on every shipment that leaves its warehouses from October 15 through January 14.
The average matches last year’s peak surcharge. But it lands on top of the 3.5% fuel and logistics fee Amazon added earlier this year. The all-in cost of fulfilling a holiday order through FBA climbs again.
How it works: The peak rate is triggered by ship date, not order date. Any FBA shipment leaving a fulfillment center on or after October 15 gets the higher rate through January 14, according to Amazon's Seller Central announcement.
The surcharge also applies to Multi-Channel Fulfillment, Remote Fulfillment, and Buy with Prime, so sellers who use Amazon's network for off-Amazon orders pay it too.
The rates: The average increase of $0.32 covers a wide range of fees. The increase scales with size. Small-standard items rise about $0.20 a unit, while bulky and oversize items jump $1 to more than $4. A seller's real exposure depends entirely on what they ship.
The stack: Amazon’s 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge, introduced earlier this year, stays live alongside the peak fee. Asked when the surcharge would come off, an Amazon representative said it would stay in effect until further notice.
The charges compound fast. A seller moving 1,000 small-standard units a day pays roughly $91,000 more a year from the base fee increase and fuel surcharge combined.
Inventory timing: Amazon is urging sellers to send inventory before the peak period begins. “The sooner your products are in the network, the easier it is for them to reach customers during peak demand,” Amazon said. The company advised sellers to have stock in by October. It warned that fulfillment center capacity tightens in November and December as it shifts focus to processing customer orders.
UPS and FedEx run the same model every Q4. They raise base rates and then add a temporary peak surcharge. UPS is doing it while shrinking its network, having closed daily operations at 93 buildings and cut about 34,000 jobs. Amazon is doing it while expanding its network and charging higher fees to the FBA sellers locked into it.
