Low commission on Amazon.in is a price band for most categories, and a permanent rate for a few. The public referral table charges a percentage of the selling price, with no extra fixed referral rupee on these rows. The fixed fee on the order is the closing fee. On the current cards the lowest Easy Ship closing fee is ₹2.
That split matters for the comparison sellers actually need: a product at or under ₹1,000 with 0% referral, a product whose referral fee stays under 5%, and a product in a 17–30% category.
0% referral at or under ₹1,000
Of 234 categories on the fee page read on 13 October 2026, 169 are 0% at every price up to and including ₹1,000. The rate above ₹1,000 is then the category’s normal commission. Thirty-nine categories that are 0% at ₹1,000 step to 15% or more on the next rupee. The steep open rates include toy drones at 30%, phone cases, covers, skins and screen guards at 25%, apparel shorts at 24%, men’s T-shirts (except polos, tank tops and full-sleeve tops) at 23%, fashion jewellery at 22.5%, shirts at 21%, power banks and chargers at 20.5%, and cables and adapters at 20%.
Home decor products, the sample category in this calculator, are 0% through ₹1,000 and 17% above it. Cookware, tableware, glassware and several kitchen rows step to 12.5%. Many home and garden rows step to 8%.
The closing fee is still there. On Easy Ship, effective 7 September 2026, it is ₹2 up to ₹300, ₹23 from ₹301 to ₹500, ₹48 from ₹501 to ₹1,000, and ₹79 above ₹1,000. Seller Flex is ₹7, ₹13, ₹38 and ₹69 on those same slabs. Self Ship is ₹20, ₹26, ₹51 and ₹101. A ₹499 order in a 0% category is a low-commission order, and it still pays that closing fee.
Eight more categories are 0% at ₹1,000 and charged underneath. Mattresses are 25.5% up to ₹500. Office and gaming chairs are 16.5% up to ₹500. Movies and music are 6.5% up to ₹500. Guitars are 10% up to ₹500. Look the band up before treating every price under ₹1,000 as 0%. The bands are in the fee directory.
Categories that stay under 5% above ₹1,000
A referral fee that remains under 5% after ₹1,000 is uncommon. These are the rows whose every published tier is under 5%, plus the two near-misses sellers usually mean when they look for a low permanent rate.
| Category | Through ₹1,000 | Above ₹1,000 |
|---|---|---|
| E-mail gift cards | 0% | 0% at every price |
| School textbook bundles | 2% up to ₹250, then 3% | 4% to ₹1,500, then 4.5% |
| Online game services | 0% | 2% to ₹2,000, then 3% |
| Solar panels | 0% | 2% |
| Medical equipment, sexual wellness, adult incontinence, elderly care | 0% | 2% |
| Body-support wearables and soft aids | 0% | 2% |
| Regulated healthcare: menstrual cups, contact lenses, diagnostic kits, pain relief | 0% | 2% |
| Inverters and batteries | 0% | 4.5% |
| Small appliances | 0% | 4.5% until ₹5,000, then 8% |
| Books | 0% to ₹250, 2% to ₹500, 4% to ₹1,000 | 13.5%. Under 5% only through ₹1,000 |
Flat 5% is the next step down in cost, and it applies at every price, including well under ₹1,000. Mobile phones, refrigerators and consumable physical gift cards are 5% with no zero band. A phone priced at ₹799 pays 5%. A home-decor product at ₹799 in the zero band pays no referral fee. Same closing slab, different commission.
Several large electronics rows sit just above 5% at every price: laptops, televisions, projectors and the mid tablet band at 6%, landline phones and camera lenses under ₹1,000 at 7%, desktops and prescription medicines at 8%. Those rates are modest next to apparel, and they sit above the under-5% line.
What the gap is worth in the selling price
Hold a 15% contribution margin on an 18% GST product. Claim fee GST as input credit. Keep closing and shipping in one slab, so the only change is the referral percentage. The price increase versus a 0% listing, and versus a 5% listing, is:
| Referral fee | Versus a 0% product | Versus a 5% product |
|---|---|---|
| 2% | +3.0% | about 4.4% lower than the 5% price |
| 4.5% | +6.9% | about 0.8% lower than the 5% price |
| 5% | +7.7% | Same price |
| 17% | +32.2% | +22.8% |
| 22.5% | +47.6% | +37.0% |
| 24% | +52.5% | +41.5% |
| 25% | +55.9% | +44.7% |
| 30% | +75.5% | +62.9% |
Put rupees on a shared cost base of ₹400, which covers economic product cost, packaging, closing and shipping. The 15% price is about ₹574 at 0%, ₹590 at 2%, ₹613 at 4.5%, ₹618 at 5%, ₹758 at 17%, ₹874 at 24% and ₹894 at 25%.
The 2% solar-panel or health-device rate is close to the phone. Three percent of price separates them at this margin. The 17% home-decor rate sits well above that. The decor listing has to be about ₹140 above the phone, and about ₹184 above the 0% product, on this ₹400 cost base. Fashion jewellery at 22.5% and apparel shorts at 24% sit further up. Kindle accessories never get a low band. They are 25% at ₹499 and 25% at ₹4,990, so the +55.9% versus a 0% product applies under ₹1,000 as well as above it.
The arithmetic, the GST sensitivity, and the case where fee GST cannot be claimed are in the price-jump blog. Crossing ₹1,000 also steps the closing fee, so a product leaving the zero band needs the cliff prices rather than the same-slab percentages alone.
High referral fees that already apply under ₹1,000
Fifty-seven categories charge at a ₹1,000 price. The high end of that list is a warning against assuming the March 2026 expansion covers the catalogue. Warranty services are 10% up to ₹300, 29% from ₹301 to ₹500, and 30% above ₹500. Kindle accessories are 25% with no band. Entertainment collectibles are 17% above ₹300. USB flash drives are 16% at every price. OTC medicine is 12% up to ₹500 and 15% above that. Fragrance is 0% up to ₹500, 14% from ₹501 to ₹1,000, then 10% above ₹1,000, so the under-₹1,000 band is the expensive one.
Beauty, pet food, speakers, hard disks and several personal-care rows also charge between ₹300 and ₹1,000, often at 6.5% to 11.5%, and then step higher. A sunscreen at ₹700 is 9% on this schedule. A sunscreen at ₹499 is 0%. The ₹1,000 line is not the only line on the page.
How to compare a high-commission product with a low one
- Write down the referral rate at the price you will actually charge. A 0% quote that only exists under ₹1,000 cannot be used on a ₹1,499 listing.
- Use 0% as the benchmark only when the alternative product can stay inside a clean zero band. Use 2%, 4.5% or 5% when the alternative is solar, inverters, small appliances under ₹5,000, textbooks, or a phone.
- Raise the high-commission price by the table, then check whether that price still sits in the same closing-fee slab. If it crosses ₹1,000, recompute with the higher closing fee.
- Keep the product GST rate in the formula. A 5% GST product needs a smaller jump than an 18% GST product for the same referral fee.
- Add your return rate and advertising after the fee comparison. They stack on the commission. They do not replace it.
The calculator will take a target margin and return the listing price for the category you select. Use these tables to see, before that, how far a 17% or 25% category sits from a 0%, 2% or 5% one when the product cost is the same.