Alibaba to Amazon Profit Calculator

Unit Cost (FOB)

Alibaba price per unit

= $4.50

FOB (Free on Board) price — what you pay the supplier per unit before shipping or duties.

Shipping Cost per Unit

Weight × Rate per kg

0.5 kg × $3.00/kg

= $1.50

Sea Freight (~$3/kg · 25-40 days). Sea freight is cheapest but slowest; express is fastest but rarely economical for low-value goods.

Customs Duty

Duty = CIF Value × Duty Rate

($4.50 + $1.50) × 3.4%

= $0.20

Customs duty applies to the CIF value (Cost + Insurance + Freight). Check your HTS code at hts.usitc.gov for exact rates.

Prep & Inspection Fees

Prep per unit + Inspection ÷ MOQ

$0.50 + $150.00 ÷ 200

= $1.25

FBA prep (labeling, poly-bagging) can be done by a 3PL or yourself. QC inspection (~$150–$300 one-time) catches defects before they reach Amazon customers.

Landed Cost per Unit

Unit Cost + Shipping + Duty + Prep + Inspection

$4.50 + $1.50 + $0.20 + $0.50 + $0.75

= $7.45

Your true cost to get one unit into FBA. Everything above this is Amazon's take and your margin.

Amazon Referral Fee

Sale Price × Referral %

$24.99 × 15.0%

= $3.75

Referral fees range from 6% (computers) to 45% (Amazon device accessories). Most categories fall between 8–15%.

FBA Fulfillment Fee

Flat fee per unit (size tier)

= $3.22

Covers pick-and-pack, shipping, and customer service. Size up your product dimensions carefully — moving from small standard to large standard adds ~$1.50+.

Total Amazon Fees

Referral Fee + FBA Fee

$3.75 + $3.22

= $6.97

As a rule of thumb, Amazon takes 25–35% of your sale price across all fees. Keep this ratio in mind when pricing.

Net Profit per Unit

Sale Price − Landed Cost − Amazon Fees

$24.99 − $7.45 − $6.97

= $10.57

Your take-home per unit after all costs. Healthy FBA products typically show $3–$10+ net profit depending on price point.

Net Margin

Net Profit ÷ Sale Price × 100

$10.57 ÷ $24.99 × 100

= 42.3%

Target 20%+ net margin for a sustainable FBA business. Below 15% leaves little cushion for PPC, returns, or price competition.

ROI on Landed Cost

Net Profit ÷ Landed Cost × 100

$10.57 ÷ $7.45 × 100

= 141.8%

ROI measures how efficiently your capital is working. 50%+ is strong; 25–50% is viable; below 25% is risky given Amazon fee volatility.

MOQ Investment & Payback

Landed Cost × MOQ units to recoup

$7.45 × 200 = $1,490.80; recoup after 142 units sold

= $2,113.50 total profit at MOQ

Units to recoup is your payback threshold — the number of units you must sell to recover your full MOQ investment.