Amazon's 2023 European FBA Fees and Dimensional Weight

In brief: Amazon dimensional weight arrived in 2023: the European fee update announced on 19 January 2023 took effect on 1 March 2023. Most referral fees stayed the same, while FBA fees rose moderately. The bigger structural change: from 1 March, parcel size tiers — for Pan-European FBA, the European Fulfilment Network, Multi-Channel Fulfilment and customer returns processing fees — were set by the greater of unit weight or dimensional weight. Dimensional weight is length × width × height (cm) ÷ 5,000, in kilograms.

How dimensional weight worked from March 2023

Item type	Weight used from 1 March 2023
Parcels (all bands)	Greater of unit weight and dimensional weight
Oversize (small, standard, large)	Greater of unit weight and dimensional weight (since March 2022)
Envelopes, Small and Light, special oversize	Unit weight only

Loose packaging counted towards the measured size, so Amazon advised shrinking soft packaging — snug or vacuum-sealed bags, flaps taped down.

A worked example

A cushion weighs 0.6 kg but is packed in a 40 × 30 × 15 cm box. Its dimensional weight is 40 × 30 × 15 ÷ 5,000 = 3.6 kg, so from March 2023 it was charged as a 3.6 kg parcel rather than a 0.6 kg one. Vacuum-packing it to 30 × 25 × 10 cm would bring the dimensional weight down to 1.5 kg.

What happened next

From 2025 Amazon moved many categories back to unit weight only — see FBA parcel fees on unit weight.

What it means for your bookkeeping

• Bulky, light products got dearer. If FBA fees on certain SKUs jumped in March 2023, dimensional weight is the likely reason — worth checking before blaming the rate card.
• Packaging is a cost lever. Spending a little on tighter packaging can save more in fees; weigh both in your product margins.
• Returns fees too. Customer returns processing fees used the same size tiers, so returns of bulky items cost more.
• VAT: fees billed in 2023 used the reverse charge for UK VAT-registered sellers — see VAT on Amazon fees.

How TrueBooks helps

TrueBooks posts FBA, returns and MCF fees from every settlement to Xero with the right VAT for their date, and shows fee ratios by marketplace so size-tier changes stand out. See the Amazon Xero integration.