Amazon.ae Referral Fees by Category in 2026: Percentages, Price Tiers and Minimum Fees

Amazon.ae charges a referral fee on every item you sell, and the rate depends on the category: most are between 5% and 15%, with Jewelry at 16% up to AED 1,000, with a minimum fee of AED 1 per item in nearly every category. Some categories change rate at a price point, for example Beauty is 8% when the total price is AED 50 or less and 15% above it. All fees on the page are shown without VAT, and Amazon adds VAT on top. The full table is below, read from Amazon's pricing page in October 2026.

What is the Amazon.ae referral fee in each category?

Rates are a percentage of the total price, which Amazon defines as the item price plus shipping cost and any gift-wrapping charges, and you pay that percentage or the category minimum, whichever is greater. The AED 50 splits are worded as "total sales price", so shipping you charge counts towards the threshold.

Every row above comes from the Amazon.ae pricing page. Amazon changes these tables without warning, so treat the page as the final word and check it on the day you price a product.

How do the AED 50 splits change what you earn?

The split categories behave like a cliff. In Beauty, an item at AED 49 pays 8% and an item at AED 51 pays 15%. So the AED 51 item can leave you with less money than the AED 49 one.

Illustrative example, using only the published rates and ignoring VAT, FBA and ad costs:

Serum B sells for AED 2 more and leaves AED 1.73 less. If your cost and competitor prices allow it, pricing at or just under AED 50 is worth testing. Remember that the threshold uses the total sales price, including any shipping charge: an AED 45 item with AED 10 shipping is on the 15% side. Whether it works also depends on what shoppers will pay.

The same cliff exists at AED 250 for Electronics Accessories, AED 750 for Furniture and AED 1,000 for Jewelry, but in those three categories the rate falls above the threshold, so a higher price is not penalised.

What is the minimum referral fee and when does it matter?

The minimum fee is AED 1 per item in almost every category. Grocery and Pet Products show AED 0. The minimum bites on cheap items: at 8% the percentage only exceeds AED 1 once the item costs more than AED 12.50. Below that price, you pay AED 1 whatever the percentage says. For an AED 8 accessory in a 15% category, 15% is AED 1.20, so the percentage applies; for an AED 5 item, 15% is AED 0.75 and you pay AED 1, an effective 20%.

What does Amazon.ae charge besides the referral fee?

Referral fees are one line in your unit economics. The pricing page also shows other charges, as of October 2026:

• Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA). A flat fee per unit by size and weight, starting from AED 7.5 per unit, plus storage at AED 2 per cubic foot per month. See Amazon.ae FBA fees for the size tiers.
• Easy Ship. Starts at AED 14 per shipment, varying by size. See the Easy Ship glossary entry.
• Subscription. The page says Professional accounts have no monthly subscription fee "for a limited time only" and does not publish an AED amount or an end date. Ask Amazon seller support what applies when the offer ends.
• Advertising. Cost-per-click and auction-based, with no price list. Amazon recommends a minimum daily budget of AED 40 for Sponsored Products in the UAE, and accounts with a Dubai Trade License can claim up to AED 2,000 cashback on ad spend from 1 January to 31 December 2026. See the Amazon.ae PPC guide.

For one view of all of these, read Amazon.ae seller fees and run your own numbers in the Amazon.ae FBA calculator.

Does VAT apply to Amazon.ae referral fees?

Amazon says it adds VAT to every fee on the page. If you are VAT registered, you can normally recover input VAT on fees, so the VAT is not a cost to you. If you are not registered, it is. The registration threshold is AED 375,000 of taxable supplies and imports in 12 months, with voluntary registration allowed from AED 187,500. We cover the mechanics in VAT on Amazon.ae and noon fees and UAE VAT registration for sellers. This is general information, not tax advice; confirm your position with the Federal Tax Authority or a registered tax agent.

Worked example: a perfume and a kitchen item

Illustrative inputs, referral fee only. Both items are sold by the seller in the UAE.

The perfume FBA discount is real, but at AED 200 the AED 4 saving is small next to the FBA fulfilment fee, which the page says starts from AED 7.5 per unit, so compare both before choosing FBA. List each product in the category that matches what it is, not the one with the lower rate. Some categories also need approval before you can list; see Amazon.ae category approval.

How do you find your real margin?

1. Take your landed cost per unit in AED, including freight, duty and packaging.
2. Add the referral fee at the rate for your category and price.
3. Add the fulfilment fee (FBA, Easy Ship or your own courier).
4. Add storage and an advertising allowance per unit sold.
5. Treat VAT as neutral only if you are registered.
6. Check what is left against the price you can charge.

If the number is thin, the lever is usually price tier or category choice before anything else. The wider view is in how to sell on Amazon.ae.

FAQ

What is the referral fee on Amazon.ae? It is a percentage of each item's total price, charged when you sell. The rate depends on the category and is mostly between 5% and 15% (16% for Jewelry up to AED 1,000), with an AED 1 minimum per item in nearly every category.

Which Amazon.ae category has the lowest referral fee? Among the standard rates on the page, Gift Cards, Home Entertainment and Mobile Phones are 5%, and Consumer Electronics is 7%. Grocery is 5% up to AED 50 and Jewelry and Watches fall to 5% above their thresholds.

Is the referral fee charged on shipping? Yes. Amazon's pricing page says the percentage applies to the total price, including the item price, shipping cost and any gift-wrapping charges. The AED 50 splits use the same total sales price, so a shipping charge can push an item over the threshold.

Does Amazon.ae charge a monthly fee? The page says Professional accounts have no monthly subscription fee for a limited time and gives no AED figure or end date, so a fee may apply later. Amazon does not publish it on the pricing page.

Are referral fees lower on FBA? Only for Perfumes, where the page shows 15% with 13% for FBA. For the other categories shown, the same rate applies. FBA has its own fulfilment fee on top.

Do referral fees include VAT? No. Amazon states that the fees on its pricing page are shown excluding VAT and that it adds VAT on top of every listed fee. If you are VAT registered you can normally recover that input VAT; if you are not, it is a real extra cost.

Do the LG, Xiaomi and Lego promotional rates still apply? The page lists them for 12 September 2024 to 31 August 2025, which has passed, so do not plan around them.

What to do next

Pick three candidate products, price each against the table, and check which side of an AED 50 or AED 250 line they land on. When you want the catalogue, ads and fees run for you, Blooprint's Amazon.ae account management covers that, and catalogue and listing optimisation covers the listing side.