Amazon India Apparel Referral Fee Cut (September 2025): 15% to 11%, and What Replaced It

In early September 2025, ahead of the festive season, Amazon India was reported to cut the referral fee on apparel priced between ₹500 and ₹1,000 from 15% to 11%. That band has since been overtaken: Amazon's fee schedule now shows a 0% referral fee on products priced up to ₹1,000, effective 16 March 2026. This page records what the 2025 cut was, what is not confirmed about it, and what to price against today (as of 9 November 2026).

What did Amazon change on apparel in September 2025?

A Dhanam Online report dated 8 September 2025 says the fee on apparel priced ₹500 to ₹1,000 fell from 15% to 11%, and prescription drugs fell from 11% to 7%. It adds that referral fees were cut across "a range of product categories" without naming them.

The same report mentions a "Sell More Save More" programme that gives further fee relief as sales volumes grow, with no thresholds or amounts given. It also says Amazon India had about 1.7 million sellers at the time.

When did the cut take effect?

Not confirmed. The Dhanam report gives no effective date. Other coverage we saw was inconsistent: one outlet said reduced charges start on 1 September 2025, another said 9 September. Amazon publishes the dated rate card inside Seller Central and on its fee schedule, so if you need the exact date for an old settlement, check your fee history in Seller Central rather than relying on news.

What does Amazon charge on apparel now?

The current schedule is different. Amazon's fee schedule, revised effective 16 March 2026, sets the referral fee at 0% for items priced up to ₹1,000 and applies a percentage above ₹1,000. Amazon's March 2026 announcement describes this as zero referral fees on products priced under ₹1,000 across 1,800+ categories.

Rates above ₹1,000 vary by apparel subcategory. On the schedule page we read, examples included:

Our reading of that page was machine-extracted. Confirm your own subcategory on the live schedule before you price. The full explanation of the 2025 and 2026 waivers is in Amazon India zero referral fee explained, and categories are in zero referral fee categories.

What does this mean for a ₹799 kurta or T-shirt?

For example, take a ₹799 product. Under the reported September 2025 rate, an 11% referral fee would be ₹87.89 before GST. Under the current schedule, the referral fee on the same ₹799 item is ₹0. The saving on that line is the referral fee only. You still pay the other fees.

Amazon's glossary defines the selling fee as a combination of referral, weight handling, closing and other fees, and the 2026 release itself speaks of reduced "total fees" rather than no fees, so the other fees still count. Price at ₹1,001 and the percentage for your subcategory applies to the whole price, for instance 21% on a shirt, so ₹1,001 can leave you with less than ₹999. Check the schedule for how the band is applied to your listing before you rely on a price just above the line.

How does the September 2025 cut fit the earlier cuts?

It was one step in a run of fee cuts, each announced before a sales season. Amazon's April 2025 announcement, effective 7 April 2025, removed referral fees on over 1.2 crore products priced below ₹300 across 135+ categories, including apparel, shoes and fashion jewellery. The same release put the Easy Ship and Seller Flex national shipping rate at a flat ₹65 starting rate, down from ₹77, and says up to 90% saving on selling fees for the second unit in multi-unit orders. It also notes the previous round: in September 2024 fees fell by 3% to 12% across 59 categories.

So for apparel the sequence is: a 0% referral fee under ₹300 from April 2025, a reported 11% on ₹500 to ₹1,000 from September 2025, and 0% up to ₹1,000 from 16 March 2026. If you are reading an old agency blog that quotes 15% for a ₹799 T-shirt, it is out of date.

Which sellers should still care about the 11% figure?

Mostly those reconciling old statements. If you sold apparel between ₹500 and ₹1,000 in September to mid-March, your fee statements for that period show the rate that applied at the time. A seller disputing a charge from that window should pull the fee line from the settlement report in Seller Central and compare it with the 15% and 11% figures above, then raise a case with the order ID. We have not seen Amazon confirm a refund process for rate differences, so raise it only where the charged percentage does not match any band.

Should you change prices now?

Work through this in order.

1. Export your apparel ASINs with current selling price, subcategory and fulfilment method.
2. Mark every ASIN priced between ₹500 and ₹1,000. These were the ones affected in 2025 and are now at 0% referral fee.
3. For each, recompute the payout: price minus closing fee, weight handling or shipping fee, GST on fees, and your product, packaging and return costs.
4. For ASINs just above ₹1,000, compare payout at your current price with payout at ₹999. Consider a price that still keeps margin after discounts.
5. Re-check after any Amazon fee announcement. Amazon revised fees in September 2024, April 2025, September 2025 and March 2026, so rates have not stayed still.

Our guide to Amazon seller fees in India lists the other fee types. Easy Ship changes are in Amazon Easy Ship fee reduction.

What is still unclear?

• Whether the 11% band applied to every apparel subcategory in September 2025, or only some. Reports do not say.
• The exact start date, as above.
• How "Sell More Save More" works: thresholds, amounts and eligibility were not published in the reports we read.
• Whether future fee cuts will be tied to the festive season again. Amazon has not said.

This is general information, not tax or financial advice. Confirm GST treatment of fees with a chartered accountant.

FAQ

Did Amazon India cut the apparel referral fee in September 2025? Reports dated 8 September 2025 say Amazon cut the fee on apparel priced ₹500 to ₹1,000 from 15% to 11%. We could not open an Amazon page that states it, so treat it as reported. The band was later overtaken by the 0% rate on items up to ₹1,000.

Is the apparel referral fee 11% today? Not for items up to ₹1,000. Amazon's fee schedule, effective 16 March 2026, shows 0% referral fee up to ₹1,000. Above ₹1,000 the rate depends on the apparel subcategory, for example 16.5% for ethnic wear on the schedule we read.

Do I still pay fees on a ₹700 apparel item? Yes, just not the referral fee. Amazon's own glossary says the selling fee covers referral, weight handling, closing and other fees, and zero referral removes only the first. Work out the payout per SKU from your fee preview in Seller Central.

Did the cut apply to Amazon Bazaar? The reports do not mention Bazaar. Amazon Bazaar sells products up to ₹600 and Amazon's seller page says zero referral fee there. Read Amazon Bazaar fees for what is confirmed.

Where do I find the official apparel rate? Amazon publishes it on its fee schedule at sell.amazon.in/fees-and-pricing/fee-schedule and in Seller Central. Use the live page for the date you are pricing, since rates have changed several times.

Is "Sell More Save More" still running? We could not confirm. The 2025 report mentions it without terms. Ask Seller Support or check the programmes section of Seller Central.

What to do next

Re-price your ₹500 to ₹1,000 apparel against the current 0% band and your payout, not against the old 11%. If you want a second pair of eyes on a large apparel catalogue, Amazon account management from Blooprint, a Bengaluru e-commerce agency, covers fee reviews and repricing.