How to Calculate FBA Profit for Clothing (When 25% of Units Come Back)
Clothing FBA profit is decided by returns, not by Amazon's fee schedule. One in four garments comes back, and each refund reverses the referral, fulfillment and processing on that unit — so a spreadsheet that ignores the 20–30% apparel return rate will show you a profitable product that actually loses money.
The referral tiers first
Selling price
Rate
Referral fee
Up to $15.00
5%
$0.75
$15.01 – $20.00
10%
$2.00
Above $20.00
17%
$4.25 (at $25)
Two boundaries flip the fee on the whole price: $15 ($14.99 → $0.75, $15.00 → $1.50) and $20 ($19.99 → $2.00, $20.01 → $3.40). Pricing within a cent of either needs a deliberate reason.
The $25 garment, return model included
6 oz apparel item, 8 × 6 × 1 in box, $6 landed cost, 10% ads:
The return line ($3.58) nearly matches the referral fee and beats fulfillment. Apparel's margin killer is not Amazon's fee schedule — it is the 25% refund rate, versus 5–8% for home products.
How the per-unit return model works
Assume the category rate — 20–30% for apparel, start at 25%.
Price the loss per return: refunded referral + fulfillment + processing, times the return rate, spread over every unit sold.
Treat it as a permanent fee line, not a surprise — it belongs in break-even, which is why the $25 example already shows $18.00.
Watch the lever: cutting returns from 25% to 15% adds about $1.40 of net per unit. Accurate size charts with model measurements and real-body photos do more than any coupon — fit uncertainty is the whole reason apparel refunds at three to five times the home-category rate.
Model the packed-box weight, not the flat garment. Apparel bills the greater of actual and dimensional weight; a 10 oz tee bagged in a loose 12 × 10 × 4 in box bills at 3.45 lb and pays a higher band than the tight-packed version — fold it small before you lock the dimensions.
Packing warning: a 10 oz tee in a 12 × 10 × 4 in box is 480 ÷ 139 = 3.45 lb billable — roughly $2.70 more fulfillment than the tight-pack version. Fold it small. See the clothing fee guide for the full size-run breakdown.
Model your garment against the return rate
Pick the clothing category — the calculator applies the 5%/10%/17% tiers and amortizes the 25% category return rate automatically:
How much do returns cost per unit in clothing FBA?
On a 25% return rate, return amortization is about $3.58 per unit on a $25 garment — nearly the whole $4.25 referral fee and more than fulfillment. Each return refunds referral plus fulfillment plus processing, and at apparel's 20–30% rate that line decides whether the SKU is profitable at all.