On the Amazon.in fee page read on 13 October 2026, 177 of 234 referral categories are 0% at a selling price of ₹1,000. Eight of those 177 still charge in a lower band, so 169 categories are 0% from the first rupee through ₹1,000. The higher category rate starts above ₹1,000. ₹1,001 is a different fee structure from a two-rupee increase.
Two charges move together. The referral percentage turns on, and the fixed closing fee steps up. On the Easy Ship card effective 7 September 2026, the closing fee is ₹48 from ₹501 to ₹1,000 and ₹79 above ₹1,000. Seller Flex steps by the same ₹31, from ₹38 to ₹69. Self Ship steps by ₹50, from ₹51 to ₹101. Fulfilment Centre closing is ₹30 in the ₹501–₹1,000 slab, then ₹55 or ₹75 depending on the fee group.
What ₹1,001 does to the profit you had at ₹999
Compare ₹999 at 0% referral with ₹1,001 at the category rate. Product GST is 18%. Fee GST is claimed, so it stays out of profit. Shipping does not change. The Easy Ship closing fee rises by ₹31. The extra revenue from two more rupees is about ₹1.69 after GST. The net result is a profit drop of about ₹29 plus the referral fee on ₹1,001. That drop does not depend on your product cost.
| Referral above ₹1,000 | Example rows | Profit given up at ₹1,001 |
|---|---|---|
| 2% | Solar panels; several health devices | about ₹49 |
| 5% | The step used by 8 of the zero-at-₹1,000 categories | about ₹79 |
| 8% | A common home and garden step | about ₹109 |
| 17% | Home decor products | about ₹199 |
| 24% | Apparel shorts | about ₹270 |
| 25% | Cases, covers, skins and screen guards | about ₹280 |
| 30% | Toy drones | about ₹330 |
A ₹1,001 listing in home decor gives up about ₹199 of contribution versus ₹999. In phone cases the gap is about ₹280. Adding a token amount above ₹1,000, and keeping the old margin in your head, prices the order as if the waiver were still there.
The price that restores a 15% margin
Start from a product that already earns a 15% contribution margin at ₹999. With 0% referral, 18% product GST and an Easy Ship closing fee of ₹48, that margin implies about ₹649 of other economic costs: product cost after purchase-GST credit, packaging and shipping. Profit is about ₹150. The prices below are the Easy Ship listings above ₹1,000 that get back to 15% after the referral fee and the ₹79 closing fee.
| Referral above ₹1,000 | Price that holds 15% | Increase over ₹999 |
|---|---|---|
| 2% | ₹1,074 | +₹75, about 7.5% |
| 4.5% | ₹1,115 | +₹116, about 11.6% |
| 5% | ₹1,124 | +₹125, about 12.5% |
| 8% | ₹1,179 | +₹180, about 18.0% |
| 12.5% | ₹1,271 | +₹272, about 27.2% |
| 17% | ₹1,380 | +₹381, about 38.1% |
| 20.5% | ₹1,478 | +₹479, about 48.0% |
| 22.5% | ₹1,540 | +₹541, about 54.2% |
| 24% | ₹1,591 | +₹592, about 59.3% |
| 25% | ₹1,626 | +₹627, about 62.8% |
| 28.5% | ₹1,764 | +₹765, about 76.6% |
| 30% | ₹1,831 | +₹832, about 83.3% |
Home decor at 17% needs about ₹1,380. A listing at ₹1,050 or ₹1,170 is still short of that 15% margin. Apparel shorts at 24% need about ₹1,591. Phone cases at 25% need about ₹1,626. Toy drones at 30% need about ₹1,831. A category that only steps to 2%, such as solar panels, needs about ₹1,074. The category name decides which row you are in. The low-commission blog lists the rows that stay under 5%.
These prices are higher than a same-slab comparison, because the closing fee jumped by ₹31 at the same moment the referral fee appeared. The percentage jumps in the referral-fee price-jump blog hold closing fee constant. Use this table when the decision is whether to cross ₹1,000.
Adding the commission to ₹999 leaves the margin short
A common shortcut is to take ₹999 and add the new referral percentage. For a 17% category that produces about ₹1,169. That price is still about ₹210 short of the ₹1,380 that restores a 15% margin, and it does not even restore the rupee profit.
The rupee profit at ₹999 in the example above is about ₹150. On Easy Ship, the price that earns that same ₹150 again is lower than the 15% price, because a 15% margin on a higher listing is a larger rupee profit. Restoring the ₹150 takes about ₹1,061 at 2%, ₹1,101 at 5%, ₹1,144 at 8%, ₹1,215 at 12.5%, ₹1,295 at 17%, ₹1,445 at 24%, ₹1,469 at 25% and ₹1,603 at 30%. This rupee figure does not depend on product cost. The 15% table does, because the starting margin does.
₹1,169 in a 17% category, with the ₹79 closing fee, still earns about ₹86 less than ₹999 did. The shortcut adds the fee once, on the old price. Amazon charges it on the new price, GST still comes out, and the closing fee has already stepped up by ₹31.
Seller Flex, Self Ship and Fulfilment Centre
Seller Flex has the same ₹31 closing step as Easy Ship, so the Easy Ship restore prices above are the Seller Flex prices as well, when the weight fee does not change. Self Ship’s closing step is ₹50. For the same 15% margin at ₹999, Self Ship needs about ₹1,153 at 5% referral, about ₹1,416 at 17%, and about ₹1,669 at 25%.
Fulfilment Centre closing goes from ₹30 to ₹55 in one group and to ₹75 in the other. The 15% restore on a +₹25 step is a little under the Easy Ship prices. A +₹45 step lands close to Easy Ship, because ₹45 is near the ₹31 Easy Ship step plus the different starting closing fee. Pick-and-pack and weight handling still have to be added for a Fulfilment Centre SKU. Use the calculator for that order. The cliff itself is the referral rate plus the closing step.
| Channel | Closing step | At 5% | At 17% | At 25% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easy Ship | ₹48 to ₹79 | ₹1,101 | ₹1,295 | ₹1,469 |
| Seller Flex | ₹38 to ₹69 | ₹1,101 | ₹1,295 | ₹1,469 |
| Self Ship | ₹51 to ₹101 | ₹1,124 | ₹1,323 | ₹1,501 |
| Fulfilment Centre, +₹25 | ₹30 to ₹55 | ₹1,093 | ₹1,287 | ₹1,459 |
| Fulfilment Centre, +₹45 | ₹30 to ₹75 | ₹1,118 | ₹1,316 | ₹1,492 |
Categories that still charge at ₹1,000
Fifty-seven categories still charge a referral fee at ₹1,000. Mobile phones, refrigerators and consumable physical gift cards are 5% at every price. Kindle accessories are 25% at every price. USB flash drives are 16%. Laptops, televisions, projectors and tablets in their mid band are 6%. Desktops are 8%. Warranty services are 30% above ₹500. There is no ₹999 trick on those rows: the fee is already in the price.
Eight categories are 0% at ₹1,000 and charged below it. Mattresses are 25.5% up to ₹500, then 0% through ₹1,000, then 16% above ₹1,000. Movies, music, guitars, keyboards and some other instrument rows have the same shape at lower rates. A ₹499 mattress is 25.5%. A ₹999 mattress is 0%.
E-mail gift cards are 0% with no upper price on this schedule. A physical product still follows its own category row. For those rows, the 0% rate is a band, the band includes ₹1,000, and it stops there.
What to do with a price near ₹1,000
- If the honest market price is ₹999 or below in one of the 169 clean categories, the 0% rate is part of the margin. Price the SKU inside the band on purpose.
- If the product only sells above ₹1,000, solve the price at the real rate. For a 15% target coming off ₹999, use the restore table, then add your ads and returns.
- If a competitor is at ₹1,099 in a 17% or 25% category, check whether ₹999 beats that listing on contribution. In the examples above, it does, until your price reaches the restore row.
- Re-check the category. Car cradles, lens kits and tablet cases are 5% from ₹301 to ₹1,000 and 28.5% above ₹1,000. The cliff there is one of the steepest on the page.
Run the SKU through the profit calculator at ₹999 and at the candidate price above ₹1,000. The fee directory lists every category band.