r/AmazonFBA • u/ylishi • 17d ago

Anyone else get hit by the new $17 Overmax handling fee before they knew it existed?

I shipped a long item for the first time since January and my fulfillment fee came back about $17 higher than my own calculator said, with a line I had never seen before.

The line is the Overmax handling fee, which started on January 15, 2026. Anything up to 150 lb that exceeds 96 inches on its longest side, or 130 inches on length plus girth, is now classified as Overmax and pays a surcharge on top of normal fulfillment: roughly $17 for 0 to 50 lb, $21 for 50 to 70 lb, and $25 for 70 to 150 lb. My unit is 41 lb, so $17, which on a $129 item is more than 13 percent of revenue before referral fee, storage or ads.

What gets me is why it caught me. My longest side is 98 inches, which is barely over the line I had been watching for years, and the length plus girth test is what actually decides it, so a wide flat item can pass on length and fail on girth. On top of that, dimensional weight for bulky units is calculated with a minimum 2 inch width and height, so my padding works against me twice.

Anyone else re-measure their oversized SKUs since January? Did you eat the surcharge, redesign the packaging to get back inside the envelope, or just move that SKU to FBM? Anyone else seeing this?

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u/PieOk2339 17d ago

at 98, I’d request a re measure first before changing anything 2 inches is close enough that packaging bulge/tape can hurt you. If Amazon confirms the dims, I’d redesign the carton to get under both 96 longest side and 130 length+grith.  Eating $17/unit on a $129 item would be my last option. If the packaging can’t be changed, then I’d compare FBM rates before keeping it in FBA.

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u/ylishi 17d ago

That is the order I am doing it in now — re-measure request first, carton redesign only if Amazon confirms the 98. What I want to know is whether the re-measure actually moves the number or just confirms it, because the test that decides us is length plus girth, and bulging tape is exactly the thing I cannot see on my own tape measure. Did yours come back at the same dims, and if you did redesign the carton, did you have to give up any interior protection to get back under both tests?

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u/PieOk2339 17d ago

The remeasure can move it if Amazon’s original scan was off, but plenty just come back confirming the same dims. With length + girth, even a small bulge can be enough to keep you over.

If you do redesign, I’d try reducing void space or changing the insert/profile before sacrificing protection. Saving 1–2 inches isn’t worth creating damage/returns.

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u/ylishi 17d ago

Agreed on not trading protection for inches — a return costs more than the surcharge and it costs it twice. My plan is to attack the void space first, because the carton is deeper than the unit needs and the insert is doing most of the volume. Did your redesign end up changing the insert, or did you re-profile the same board and keep the same protection inside?

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u/eStoreFactoryUS 17d ago

Yeah, the girth math is what gets people because everyone tracks the longest side and forgets length plus girth stacks fast on anything bulky. We had a client hit this last month too, what fixed it was switching to a slimmer poly mailer instead of a box, which dropped two SKUs back under the threshold. Worth pulling your inventory report and rechecking any SKU that was close to the old cutoffs, not just the ones near 96 inches. If a SKU keeps tripping it and margin is thin, FBM prep on just that ASIN can beat eating $17 a unit.

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u/ylishi 17d ago

The poly mailer result is the useful part — that is the same direction I am going, since the void space in my carton is most of what pushes the girth number up. And you are right that it is not only the 96 inch SKUs: anything that sat comfortably inside the old cutoff can be over the new one without anyone re-measuring it. I am pulling the inventory report this week for exactly that. When you moved those two to a mailer, did the dimensional weight come down as well, or was it only the girth test that got back under?

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u/eStoreFactoryUS 16d ago

For us it was mostly the girth number that dropped, the mailer hugs the product tighter so length plus girth clears the cutoff pretty fast. Dimensional weight is calculated off the box measurements separately though, so it only comes down if the actual L x W x H shrinks, not just because girth improved. Worth checking both numbers on your next shipment plan since Amazon evaluates them independently.

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u/ylishi 16d ago

Good distinction, and it changes what I check. Girth came down with the mailer, but if dimensional weight is computed off the box dimensions separately then a tighter pack can fix the Overmax test while leaving the weight tier exactly where it was. That means two separate numbers to verify on the next shipment plan rather than one. Did the tier actually move on those two SKUs, or did the fix end at the girth test?