Yes, Amazon FBA is a form of ecommerce. Specifically, it’s a fulfillment method that lets you sell physical products online through Amazon’s marketplace while Amazon handles the storage, packing, shipping, and customer service. You’re running an ecommerce business; Amazon is just doing the logistics for you.
That said, the question behind the question is usually bigger: how does FBA actually work, how does it differ from running your own online store, and is it worth it? Here’s what you need to know.
How Amazon FBA Works
FBA stands for Fulfillment by Amazon. “Fulfillment” means everything that happens after a customer clicks “buy”: storing the product, picking it off a shelf, packing it in a box, shipping it, and handling any returns. When you use FBA, Amazon does all of that for you in its network of warehouses across the country.
The process has a few core steps. First, you create a seller account on Amazon and register for FBA. Then you list the products you want to sell, choosing which ones Amazon will fulfill. You ship your inventory to Amazon’s fulfillment centers, where it sits on their shelves until someone orders it. When a sale comes in, Amazon’s team picks, packs, and ships the order directly to the customer. If that customer wants a return or has a question, Amazon’s customer service handles it too.
Your products also become eligible for Amazon Prime, which gives buyers fast, free shipping. That Prime badge can significantly boost sales because millions of shoppers filter their searches to show only Prime-eligible items.
Where FBA Fits in the Ecommerce Landscape
Ecommerce is simply selling products or services online. Within that broad category, there are different models. You can build your own standalone store using a platform like Shopify, sell through a marketplace like Amazon or eBay, or do both at the same time. FBA is one specific way to handle the logistics side of selling through Amazon’s marketplace.
Think of it this way: the ecommerce business is yours. You choose the products, set the prices, and decide your strategy. Amazon FBA is a service you pay for so you don’t have to rent warehouse space, hire staff to pack boxes, or negotiate shipping rates with carriers. It’s outsourced fulfillment, not a separate business model.
Some sellers use FBA for all their products. Others use it selectively, fulfilling some orders themselves (Amazon calls this Fulfillment by Merchant) and sending only certain items through FBA. You can also use FBA to fulfill orders from other sales channels, not just Amazon’s marketplace.
What FBA Costs
Amazon charges several categories of fees for FBA sellers, and understanding them is critical to knowing whether you’ll actually turn a profit.
- Referral fees: A commission Amazon takes on every sale, calculated as a percentage of the selling price. The rate varies by product category but typically falls between 8% and 15%.
- Fulfillment fees: Per-unit fees that cover picking, packing, and shipping. These vary based on the product’s size, weight, and price point. Lighter, smaller items cost less to fulfill. Products priced under $10 get a discounted rate, roughly $0.86 less than standard FBA fees on average.
- Monthly storage fees: Charged for the space your inventory occupies in Amazon’s warehouses. Rates go up during peak season (October through January) when warehouse space is at a premium.
- Low-inventory-level fee: If your stock drops below 28 days of supply relative to customer demand, Amazon charges an additional per-unit fee on standard-sized and bulky products. This encourages sellers to keep enough inventory on hand.
There are also situational charges. Starting in April 2026, Amazon is applying a 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge on top of fulfillment fees for US and Canadian sellers. Oversized items that exceed certain dimensions trigger extra handling surcharges. And if you sell products classified as dangerous goods (anything requiring special handling like aerosols or lithium batteries), you’ll pay higher fulfillment rates.
On the positive side, products certified under Amazon’s Ships in Product Packaging program, meaning items that can ship in their own box without additional Amazon packaging, get lower fulfillment fees.
FBA vs. Running Your Own Online Store
The biggest tradeoff with FBA is convenience versus control. With FBA, you get access to Amazon’s massive customer base, its trusted checkout process, and its logistics network. You don’t need to worry about packing tape, shipping labels, or warehouse leases. For many new sellers, that simplicity is the main appeal.
But you give up a lot. Amazon controls the look of your product listings, leaving you with very limited design flexibility. Building a recognizable brand is harder when your store looks like every other Amazon listing and sits alongside dozens of competitors selling similar products. You also have restricted access to customer data. On Amazon, you can’t easily collect email addresses, build a mailing list, or develop direct relationships with buyers the way you can on your own website.
With a standalone store on a platform like Shopify, you own the design, the branding, and the customer relationships. You can customize every detail of the shopping experience and collect feedback directly. The downside is that you’re responsible for driving your own traffic through advertising, social media, or search engine optimization, and you need to handle fulfillment yourself or hire a third-party logistics provider. Shopify doesn’t pack and ship your orders for you.
Many successful ecommerce sellers use both approaches. They sell on Amazon through FBA to reach the marketplace’s built-in audience, while also running a branded store to build long-term customer loyalty and keep more of the margin on each sale.
What You’re Really Building With FBA
If you sell through Amazon FBA, you are running an ecommerce business. You’re sourcing or manufacturing products, managing inventory levels, setting competitive prices, and marketing your listings. The fact that Amazon handles the shipping doesn’t change what you are: an online retailer.
What FBA does change is the barrier to entry. You don’t need a warehouse, a website, or a shipping department to get started. You need products, an Amazon seller account, and enough capital to cover inventory and fees. That accessibility is why FBA has become one of the most popular entry points into ecommerce for new entrepreneurs.
The key is running the numbers before you commit. Add up Amazon’s referral fees, fulfillment fees, storage fees, and any applicable surcharges, then subtract those from your expected selling price alongside your product cost. What’s left is your margin. If it’s healthy, FBA can be a straightforward way to run an ecommerce business without managing logistics. If fees eat too much of your profit, you may want to explore fulfilling orders yourself or selling through your own store instead.