KDP ebook pricing rules: minimum, maximum and price matching

How the price band works

Your list price must fall inside the band for the royalty option you pick. On the 35% option, the US floor depends on file size: $0.99 under 3 MB, $1.99 from 3 MB to under 10 MB, and $2.99 at 10 MB or more, with a $200 ceiling. On the 70% option the US band is $2.99 to $12.99 regardless of file size. The $12.99 ceiling took effect on July 7, 2026, replacing the $9.99 cap Amazon says had been in place since 2007. Nobody was required to reprice.

The print edition rule

If you choose 70%, the Digital Book Pricing Page requires your ebook list price to be at least 20% below the Amazon list price of any physical edition. A paperback listed at $14.99 therefore caps the 70% ebook at $11.99, even though the band itself allows $12.99.

Price matching

Amazon sets the retail price and may sell your ebook below your list price to match a third party’s price for any digital or physical edition, or Amazon’s own price for a print edition. On the 70% option, royalties are then calculated on the lower sale price. If you make the book free elsewhere, Amazon may match that too, and the royalty during that period is zero.

Worked example

A 4 MB ebook on the 35% option needs a US list price of at least $1.99. Moving it to 70% requires at least $2.99 and no more than $12.99, or 20% below the paperback, whichever is lower.

Common mistakes

• Expecting the detail page to show your list price: Amazon sets the retail price. On the 35% option royalties stay based on your list price; on the 70% option they follow the actual sale price.
• Setting different EU prices per store: customers who can buy from several EU stores get the lowest of them.
• Forgetting fixed price laws: in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany and Greece the ebook price must match across retailers.

Amazon changes these rules; the linked KDP help pages are the authority.