KDP ebook royalties: the 35% and 70% options

How each option is calculated

The 35% option pays 35% of the list price without VAT on every sale, in every territory, with no delivery cost. The 70% option pays 70% of the list price without VAT minus a delivery cost, but only on sales to customers in the 70% territories listed on Amazon’s Digital Book Pricing Page (including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and 33 other countries and territories). Sales to customers elsewhere fall back to 35%.

List price limits on Amazon.com

On the 35% option the US minimum 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 maximum. On the 70% option the price must sit between $2.99 and $12.99. Each marketplace has its own band; for example the UK band is £1.77 to £12.99 and the euro band is €2.69 to €12.99.

Worked example

A $4.99 ebook with a 2 MB file sold to a US customer at 0% VAT:

• 70% option: delivery cost is 2 × $0.15 = $0.30, so 0.70 × ($4.99 − $0.30) = $3.28.
• 35% option: 0.35 × $4.99 = $1.75.

Delivery is charged per MB of the file, rounded up to the nearest kilobyte, so image-heavy books lose more of the 70% rate.

Exceptions and common mistakes

• In Brazil, Japan, Mexico and India the 70% rate requires KDP Select enrollment and a price inside that marketplace’s 70% band.
• Books that are primarily public domain content only qualify for 35%.
• If Amazon price-matches your book below the 70% minimum, that sale earns 35%. If a free promotion elsewhere is matched, the royalty during that promotion is zero.
• If your book stops meeting the 70% requirements, Amazon can recalculate past royalties at 35%.

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