What’s not in this planning KEEP
This sketch is referral / plan notes only. FBA is seller-entered — this page does not invent FBA size, dimensional weight, or storage-tier defaults. Ads/PPC, returns, inbound placement, and long-term storage are not in this sketch unless this leaf is specifically that fee.
Same numbers as our fee index CSV 2026-09-19 · seller-fee-index-2026-09-19.csv · Seller fee index + CSV (2026-09-19).
✓ Rates checked 2026-10-06 against sell.amazon.com/pricing
You keep
Keep $34.00 from a $40.00 handmade sale
Start Shopify — keep $96.80 on $100 · Shopify Basic keeps $96.80 on $100 · vs fees below
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I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post. Compensated as a Shopify affiliate.
Affiliate link · Planning only · Not affiliated with the platforms listed.
Official Handmade formula, planning only: keep = sale − Handmade referral you type − optional FBA/closing you type. Sale = item × qty + shipping you charged + gift wrap you charged. Referral = the greater of (sale × percent) or (per-unit floor × qty). Default is a $40 hand-thrown mug, qty 1, empty ship, empty wrap, official 15% and $0.30 floor, FBA empty. Change any field.
15% × $40.00 = $6.00 (above $0.30 floor). FBA empty = $0. Planning only — not a payout screenshot.
TL;DR
Amazon Handmade KEEP $85.00 on $100. Shopify Basic Payments keeps $96.80 on the same sale. Planning only. Own store: Shopify keeps $96.80 on $100 · Same numbers as fee index CSV 2026-09-19
Provenance · same-price baseline
This is an approved artisan checkout — the hand-thrown mug, the soldered ring, the leather card case you classified Handmade — not a generic Home & Kitchen ASIN and not a $0.20 Etsy listing ticket. Official Amazon Handmade copy (US program page, fetched 28 Aug 2026) is one cut: for every unit shipped, 15% or $0.30, whichever is greater. Listing the piece is free. The storefront is free. The Professional plan’s $39.99 / month is waived after a one-time first-month payment. You type the referral percent and the per-unit floor. Keep = sale − Handmade referral you type − optional FBA/closing you type. Empty FBA = $0 — the program page names FBA and prints no pick/pack dollars. That artisan stack is not Etsy’s $0.20 listing + 6.5% + country processing (different marketplace, not a vs-clone), and not the Etsy vs Amazon category-referral compare that uses the general Home & Kitchen row.
This fee page’s KEEP above vs Shopify Basic Payments keep $96.80 on $100. Own store: Shopify keeps $96.80 on $100
How much does selling on Amazon Handmade cost? The monthly Professional selling fee is waived when you sell on Handmade. You can create a storefront for free and you only pay referral fees when you make a sale. For every unit shipped, Handmade deducts a referral fee of 15% or $0.30, whichever is greater.
— Amazon Handmade, sell.amazon.com/programs/handmade, fetched 28 Aug 2026 (HTTP 200)
The Selling FAQ restates the percent without the floor sentence: “For each Handmade sale, there is a 15% referral fee.” Same fetch day, same company, two public pages. This card uses the program page’s fuller line — 15% or $0.30 — because that is the sentence that actually names the per-unit floor. Source: Selling with Amazon: FAQ.
That is one referral, not Etsy’s three-line stack. No $0.20 to publish the mug. No separate “payment processing” percent on Handmade HTML. Amazon already sits on the buyer’s card; the 15% is the named selling cut. Do not invent 2.9% + $0.30 on top of 15% because a blog did.
Artisan order: one $40 hand-thrown mug. Empty shipping. Empty gift wrap. Empty FBA. Official 15% or $0.30 per unit.
Amazon does not publish this $40 keep. The 15% and the $0.30 are official; the subtraction is ours. Source: Amazon Handmade program page. Type a different floor, include postage, or paste FBA when that is the settlement. Not a payout screenshot.
| Handmade sale | 15% raw | Published clamp | Keep (empty FBA) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1.50 enamel pin | $0.23 | $0.30 floor | $1.20 |
| $2.00 sticker | $0.30 | $0.30 (ties the floor) | $1.70 |
| $40 mug (default) | $6.00 | $6.00 (15% wins) | $34.00 |
| $40 + $6 ship you type = $46 | $6.90 | $6.90 (15% wins) | $39.10 |
| 2 × $1.50 pins | $0.45 | $0.60 ($0.30 × 2) | $2.40 |
$0.30 ÷ 0.15 = $2.00 is where 15% overtakes the published floor on a one-unit sale. Below $2 the mug is not a 15% story — it is a thirty-cent story. That is an enamel-pin problem, not a furniture consignment cliff. If your dashboard shows a higher floor, type it. We will not swap $0.30 for $1.00 because a blog quoted a JS-gated Seller Central article this fetch did not print.
The Handmade program page says “15% or $0.30” and “per unit shipped.” It does not reprint the shipping / gift-wrap sentence. Amazon’s public pricing page does, for referral fees in general:
For every item sold, you’ll pay a percentage of the total price or a minimum amount, whichever is greater. An item’s total price includes its list price, as well as shipping costs and any gift-wrapping charges.
— How much does it cost to sell on Amazon?, sell.amazon.com/pricing, fetched 28 Aug 2026 (HTTP 200), footnote 1
That category table still has no Handmade row. Jewelry on that table is 20% up to $250 then 5% — a different machine than Handmade’s flat 15% or $0.30. Home and Kitchen on that table is 15% with a $0.30 minimum, which looks like Handmade but is the generic storefront row the Etsy vs Amazon compare already uses. This page stays on the artisan program. Type shipping and wrap when they sat on the order. Empty = $0, not an invented postage table.
Official footnote on the same Handmade page: Handmade requires a Professional selling plan, typically $39.99 per month. After a one-time first-month payment, the ongoing monthly fee is waived for approved Handmade sellers — Amazon’s copy calls that $480 per year. If you are still seeing $39.99 after approval, the FAQ says to contact Selling on Handmade support; the waiver is supposed to start after month one.
That $39.99 is a calendar charge, not a per-mug percent. This keep card will not amortize $39.99 / 12 / expected units into the $40 example. If month-one cash is what you are stress-testing, type it in the optional FBA/closing field for that sketch, or divide it yourself. Individual $0.99 per item is the other selling plan on the pricing page. Handmade’s own copy tells you to register as Professional. Do not blend $0.99 into this artisan default.
Handmade HTML: FBA “help[s] you save time so you can stay focused on your craft.” Custom / personalized pieces on the same page must be fulfilled by the seller and can’t be fulfilled through FBA. No pick/pack band, no cubic-foot storage, no 2026 size-tier table. Amazon’s pricing page points FBA estimates at the Revenue Calculator. Empty FBA on this card = $0. Type the Estimated fee per unit from Manage Inventory when that unit actually went FBA. Pasting a blog’s “small standard $3.22” would be inventing a mill this page refuses to be.
Closing fees: the pricing page prints $1.80 per media item (Books, DVD, Music, Software, Video) on top of that 15% referral. Handmade HTML does not. Empty closing = $0. Type 1.80 only if the settlement actually shows a closing line on this piece — we will not drop media closing onto a mug.
Official Handmade HTML we fetched does not print Illinois vs California, and does not say whether tax sits in the 15% base. Empty tax is not modeled. If your disbursement skims referral of a tax dollar you never keep, that is a dashboard line — paste the sale that actually settled, do not ask this page for Cook County.
Amazon Handmade is an application-gated artisan program with a waived Professional month and a single 15% / $0.30 referral. That is not:
Same ceramic on Etsy is a different fee machine. Open the Etsy page for that stack. This page stays on Handmade classification.
Keep $96.80 Shopify vs $85.00 Amazon Handmade on $40 — see Shopify fees
Gaps we will not paper over: Seller Central G201814220 table (HTTP 200, fee grid not in fetched HTML); a $1.00 Handmade minimum other sites quote from that article; FBA size/weight/storage dollars; 50-state sales tax; UK/EU Handmade percents the US program page does not print; amortizing $39.99 into the $40 mug as if it were a per-sale fee.
Per unit shipped: 15% or $0.30, whichever is greater. Listing and storefront free. Professional $39.99 waived after the first month for approved makers. Last checked 28 Aug 2026 from Amazon Handmade.
Program page: 15% or $0.30 per unit, no shipping sentence. Pricing page: referral total price includes shipping and gift wrap. Type postage when it sat on the order. Empty ship = $0 here.
Not printed on Handmade HTML. FBA is named as optional. Media $1.80 closing is a pricing-page media row, not this mug. Type the dashboard dollar. Empty = $0. Not a weight mill.
Planning, official default, empty ship, empty FBA: $40 − $6.00 − $0 = $34.00. Not a payout screenshot.
When 15% of that unit’s sale would be under $0.30 — below a $2.00 one-unit sale at the official 15%. Two cheap pins pay $0.30 each, not 15% of the pair.
No. Official copy waives it after month one. Month-one $39.99 is a calendar charge. Type it only if you are sketching that month’s cash.
No. Handmade HTML we fetched does not publish state rates. Empty tax is not modeled. Paste the settled sale if tax sat in the base.
The mistake is treating this page's displayed KEEP as a universal own-store number. For planning only, Shopify Basic Payments KEEP is $96.80 on $100 (2.9%+$0.30). Shopify fees. I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post. Compensated as a Shopify affiliate. This is a planning comparison, not a claim about this page's fee model.
That comparison skips own-store payment keep. For planning only, Shopify Basic Payments KEEP is $96.80 on $100 (2.9%+$0.30). Shopify fees. I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post. Compensated as a Shopify affiliate. This is a planning comparison, not a claim about Amazon's referral fee model. Official Amazon category referral math on this page is unchanged; no FBA size or storage fees invented here.
Use the seller fee index + CSV (2026-09-19) for same-input KEEP ladders, then compare ranker, break-even, and Shopify KEEP $96.80 on $100 for the own-store path. Planning only — before COGS, shipping, ads, taxes.
Yes when you use the Start Shopify link: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post. Compensated as a Shopify affiliate. The $96.80 on $100 figure is Shopify Basic Payments planning math (2.9% + $0.30) before COGS, shipping, ads, taxes, or the monthly plan. Use Shopify KEEP and the break-even tool to allocate plan cost.
Keep $96.80 Shopify vs $85.00 Amazon Handmade on $40 — see Shopify fees Open the profit calculator Open seller-fees hub — type your dashboard % Amazon Handmade KEEP $85.00 on $100 Etsy fees explained
Listing + 6.5% + processing on a different marketplace (not a vs-clone): Etsy seller fees explained. Same-SKU Etsy vs category Amazon referral (not this Handmade program): Etsy vs Amazon seller fees.
Shopify keep $96.80 Seller fees compare · $100 Seller fee index + CSV (2026-09-19) Break-even list price KEEP compare Shopify fees
I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post. Compensated as a Shopify affiliate.