The seller generated $23,199.61 in gross product sales. A transaction-level review identified $16,396.62 in net Amazon-related fees and shipping charges. After the remaining credits, refunds, and adjustments were reconciled, the operating subtotal was $7,101.64 before inventory costs.
Amazon also recorded $7,474.85 in transfers excluding a micro-deposit. Why did that differ from operating activity, and what had the inventory cost? Answering those questions meant following the transactions beyond the sales total.
1. Sales created activity. They did not establish profit.
The seller generated $23,199.61 in gross product sales across the reporting period. An order total can look like progress, but it does not show what remains after refunds, fulfillment, storage, shipping, and the inventory itself.
Gross product sales were $13,569.41 in 2023, $9,600.80 in 2024, and $29.40 in 2025. This seller’s sales declined across the reporting period; the investigation concerns profitability visibility rather than a growth claim.
2. Follow the money through the ledger.
We compared every CSV transaction row with the accompanying reconciled workbook and independently recalculated the totals. The 2,500 records include orders, refunds, service and inventory charges, adjustments, shipping services, and transfers. These categories describe different things and cannot all be treated as sales or expenses.
Running balance: $22,381.85
Running balance: $23,850.38
Running balance: $23,289.09
Running balance: $6,892.47
Running balance: $7,101.64
Reconciled report activity · not verified profit
The bridge closes at $7,101.64 before inventory costs. This is report operating activity excluding transfers and net-zero marketplace tax, not verified accounting profit. The $209.17 positive adjustment/debt grouping is not product revenue or proof of a recovery achieved by Nazam LLC.
3. Small fee categories accumulate.
Net selling fees were $6,850.05 and net FBA fulfillment fees were $7,355.79. Another $2,190.78 in inventory, service, and shipping charges brings the combined total to $16,396.62. Credits and reversals are netted within these amounts.
See the $2,190.78 service and shipping detail
| Category | USD |
|---|---|
| Carrier shipment | $334.20 |
| Inbound placement | $28.59 |
| Long-term storage | $393.02 |
| Disposal | $42.33 |
| Removal return | $1.04 |
| Monthly storage | $282.18 |
| Return postage | $26.72 |
| Shipping labels | $375.88 |
| Subscription | $660.87 |
| Service-row adjustment charges | $45.95 |
Monthly and long-term storage alone totaled $675.20. These are historical ledger labels and amounts, not today’s fee schedule. Legitimate, disclosed fees can still be overlooked in a seller’s pricing decisions. This investigation does not establish that Amazon charged incorrectly. A selling-fee column also does not independently isolate every referral or closing fee; finer analysis requires the supporting fee reports.
4. Tax, transfers, and profit answer different questions.
The source shows $1,491.76 in collected marketplace sales tax and an equal $1,491.76 withheld. They offset to zero in seller cashflow; counting the withholding again as an operating expense would distort the result.
The transfer ledger totals $7,474.86, including a $0.01 micro-deposit. Excluding it leaves $7,474.85. Transfers move cash out of the marketplace ledger; they are neither new revenue nor another operating expense.
Operating activity covers the transactions in this report. A transfer can also reflect settlement timing, opening balances, reserves, or other ledger movements. Those are possible explanations to investigate, not established causes here. The difference is $373.22 including the micro-deposit, or $373.21 excluding it. Settlement statements, opening balances, and independent bank records are needed to explain the difference and confirm receipt.
5. Inventory costs reopened the profit question.
After the transaction reconciliation, the books themselves raised the next question: what had the seller paid to acquire them? The workbook uses historical book MSRP research, where available, and other assumed list prices to reconstruct a possible purchase cost. MSRP is a suggested list price, not a supplier invoice.
- Match the book and period. Identify the title, ISBN, edition, and relevant year before choosing a list-price reference.
- Separate the price evidence. Keep period-specific historical references distinct from prices carried forward provisionally.
- Apply the assumed wholesale discount. A 50% discount means an estimated buying price of half the assumed MSRP. This is a modeling assumption, not a verified supplier discount.
- Multiply by ordered units. The workbook applies that assumed unit cost to units ordered, preserving half-cent values until the total is rounded. Recalculating the method produces a provisional $12,436.61.
Ordered units are not necessarily units ultimately sold or costs attributable to this reporting period. Actual supplier invoices, returned stock, and beginning and ending inventory are still needed. Cost of goods sold across all inventory remains unverified.
The workbook distinguishes a $2,502.50 subset tied to historical list-price references from $9,934.11 based on other provisional prices. Its historical research cites a 2024 distributor catalog; that is not a purchase invoice or independent proof of publisher pricing. We could not re-fetch the cited catalog during this review. Confirm the ISBN, edition, purchase date, actual supplier invoice, returns, and remaining stock before treating any reconstructed amount as cost of goods sold.
6. Turn the reconciliation into SKU-level decisions.
The useful outcome is a clearer investigation path: confirm actual acquisition costs first; reconcile settlement movements to bank evidence; investigate storage and aged stock; match returns to refunds and reimbursements; then calculate each SKU’s margin after its attributable costs. Shared subscriptions and other account-level costs need a stated allocation method.
That work can guide repricing, replenishment, fulfillment choices, and which products deserve more attention. These are proposed next steps, not verified interventions or achieved results for this seller.
7. A repeatable profitability review.
Nazam LLC’s Amazon Seller Profitability & Fee Audit starts with the seller’s decision and evidence. The review provides a reconciliation, an evidence-backed cost breakdown, and a prioritized action plan. Where data supports it, the outputs include SKU-level economics; missing purchase costs remain explicit. Any reimbursement request or operational change needs a separate agreed scope and approval.
- Settlement reconciliation: connect report activity, payout entries, and supplied bank evidence; list unresolved differences.
- Fee analysis: separate selling, fulfillment, shipping, storage, and return-related costs without counting them twice.
- SKU-level economics where supported: show contribution and margin using verified inputs and stated shared-cost allocations.
- Inventory-cost verification: match invoices and stock movements; distinguish supported costs from provisional reconstruction.
- A prioritized action plan: identify what to verify or change next, with evidence gaps and seller approval requirements visible.
For the wider explanation, read Why Amazon Sellers Can Lose Money Even When Sales Are Growing. This case uses Amazon data only and establishes no Walmart-specific results.
Evidence and privacy
Sources: the original Amazon Custom Unified Transaction CSV for January 1, 2023–December 31, 2025 and its accompanying reconciled historical book-cost workbook. Aggregate arithmetic was independently checked on October 15, 2026. Raw files remain private; seller identity, account details, order identifiers, addresses, and identifiable transaction rows are omitted.
This page reports an analytical finding, not a testimonial, certified assurance engagement, or claim of seller endorsement. Amazon’s fee-estimation guidance explains the role of estimates; historical results here come from the seller’s ledger.