How Much Does It Cost to Start Amazon FBA?

One of the first questions every beginner asks about Amazon FBA is how much it actually costs to get started. The honest answer is: less than most people think — but more than zero. In this post we'll break down every cost involved so you can plan your budget with confidence before spending a penny.

The Main Costs to Know About

Starting Amazon FBA involves a handful of costs across a few different areas. Some are fixed, some are variable, and some are optional — especially when you're just starting out. Here's a full breakdown.

Cost	Approximate Amount	Required?
Amazon Seller Account	£25/mo	Required
Initial Stock	£500–£1,200	Required
Amazon FBA Fees	Deducted per sale	Required
Sourcing Software	£50–£100/mo	Optional
Printer & Labels	£50–£100 one-off	Required
Packaging Materials	£20–£50	Required

Breaking Each Cost Down

Amazon Seller Account — £25/month
To sell on Amazon you need a Professional seller account, which costs £25 per month plus VAT. This gives you access to FBA, unlimited listings, and all of Amazon's seller tools. There is a free Individual plan but it's limited and not suitable for FBA. The £25 is your first fixed cost.

Initial Stock — the biggest variable
This is where most of your budget goes. For online arbitrage you're buying products from retailers to resell on Amazon, so the amount you spend depends entirely on the deals you find and how many units you buy. Starting conservatively with a handful of deals is the sensible approach — you can always reinvest and scale once you're making returns.

Amazon FBA Fees — deducted automatically
Amazon charges two main fees for using FBA: a referral fee (a percentage of the sale price, typically 8–15% depending on category) and a fulfilment fee (based on the size and weight of the product). These are deducted from your sale proceeds automatically — you never pay them upfront. This is why running every product through an FBA calculator before buying is essential. Not sure what these terms mean? Check out our Amazon FBA glossary for a plain English breakdown.

Sourcing Software — optional but useful
Tools like Keepa help you analyse products before buying — checking price history, sales rank trends, and estimated monthly sales. You don't need these to start, but most serious sellers use at least one. Budget around £50–£100 per month once you're up and running and want to source more efficiently.

Printer & Labels — a one-off cost
Amazon requires specific labels on every product sent to their warehouse. A basic thermal label printer will do the job and costs around £50–£100. This is a one-off purchase rather than an ongoing expense.

Packaging Materials
Tape and boxes for protecting and shipping products to Amazon's warehouse. Boxes can often be sourced for free from local shops if needed, keeping this cost to a minimum.

So What's the Total?

When you add it all up, most beginners start Amazon FBA with a budget of between £750 and £1,500. Here's how that typically breaks down:

The majority of that budget goes on your first batch of stock. The rest covers your seller account, printer, labels, and packaging. Sourcing software is optional at the very start — many beginners hold off on this until they've made their first returns and have cash to reinvest.

Can You Start With Less?

Technically yes — but with caution. The less you start with, the fewer products you can test and the slower your learning curve. Starting too lean also means a single bad buy can wipe out your available capital before you've had a chance to learn from it. £750 gives you enough runway to make a few mistakes, learn, and still have capital left to continue.

Can You Start Amazon FBA for Free?

Technically there is no way to start Amazon FBA with zero money. You need stock to sell, and stock costs money. Even the most budget-conscious approach requires at minimum a seller account (£25/month) and enough capital to buy your first batch of products.

What you can minimise is everything around the stock. Boxes can be sourced free from local shops. Labels and a basic printer are a one-off cost. Sourcing software can wait until you've made your first returns. But the stock itself — that's non-negotiable.

If your budget is genuinely very tight, start with a smaller quantity of units on your first deal rather than skipping steps. A conservative first buy of 5–10 units on a proven product is far better than going all-in on something unproven with limited capital.

The Most Important Thing About Costs

The goal isn't to spend as little as possible — it's to spend wisely. Every pound you put into stock should be backed by research, not guesswork. That's the difference between Amazon FBA eating into your savings and turning into something that consistently makes you money.

The founder of The FBA Blueprint built a business generating over £2,000,000 in Amazon FBA sales by starting exactly this way — small, disciplined, and focused on learning the model before scaling. That same knowledge is available to you completely free inside our Discord community.