Amazon Agency Cost Calculator: Four Pricing Models Against an In-House Hire
Enter your monthly sales, ad spend and SKU count. The calculator shows what an agency costs a month, a year and as a share of sales under four pricing models, next to the loaded cost of one hire. Every default is an example you can change.
Short answer
At $100,000 a month in sales and $15,000 in ad spend (an example), an agency charging 5% of sales costs $5,000 a month. 15% of ad spend costs $2,250, a $3,000 retainer costs $3,000, and Evolve Media Agency's published PPC management costs $1,995. A $78,000 in-house hire, loaded at the federal 1.43 employer cost ratio, costs about $9,295. Change any number below to see your own.
What Would an Agency Cost You Under Each Pricing Model?
Results update as you type. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.
Your numbers
All channels the agency would touch.
What Amazon bills you for ads.
Products you sell, counting each variation.
Assumptions (examples, edit any)
Monthly minimum on the percent of spend model.
Monthly.
Yearly base pay.
BLS June 2026: 1.43.
What each model costs
Percent of sales
$5,000
a month
Yearly$60,000
Share of sales5.0%
Per SKU a month$417
Grows with your sales, whether or not the agency caused the growth.
Percent of ad spend
$2,250
a month
Yearly$27,000
Share of sales2.3%
Per SKU a month$188
15% of spend is at or above the floor, so the percentage applies.
Flat retainer
$3,000
a month
Yearly$36,000
Share of sales3.0%
Per SKU a month$250
Fixed each month. Ask how many hours it buys.
Evolve PPC management
$1,995
a month
Yearly$23,940
Share of sales2.0%
Per SKU a month$166
PPC Management Plus: up to $50,000 in spend, 20 hours a month. PPC only.
In-house hire
$9,295
a month
Yearly$111,540
Share of sales9.3%
Per SKU a month$775
One person, before recruiting, equipment and software.
At these numbers the lowest monthly cost is Evolve PPC management at $1,995 and the highest is the in-house hire at $9,295. The lines buy different work, so read the notes on each card before you compare them.
The formulas, in plain words
Percent of sales: monthly sales x fee %.
Percent of ad spend: ad spend x fee %, or the floor if that is higher.
Flat retainer: the same amount every month, whatever your sales or spend.
Evolve PPC management: $995 a month if ad spend is $10,000 or less, $1,995 if it is $50,000 or less, and quoted by hours above $50,000.
In-house hire: salary x multiplier / 12 for the month.
Every line: yearly is monthly x 12; share of sales is monthly cost / monthly sales; per SKU is monthly cost / SKU count. The bar shows each cost against the highest one.
Every Default, and Whether a Source Backs It
The defaults are examples, not market averages. No one publishes a reliable average agency fee, so we used round numbers and name the source behind each.
The Five Lines Do Not Buy the Same Work
A lower number is not automatically the better deal. Check what each line covers before you compare them.
Percent of sales usually means full service
Agencies that charge on sales tend to run the whole account. The fee rises with sales, including sales the agency did not cause, like a seasonal spike.
Percent of ad spend rewards a bigger budget
The fee grows with spend, whether or not profit does. Ask what happens when the right move is to cut spend. The floor means small accounts pay more than the headline rate.
A flat retainer is easy to budget
You know the bill in advance. Ask how many hours it buys and what happens in a launch month, and get the answer in writing.
Our line covers PPC only
Our $995 and $1,995 fees buy Sponsored ads management for a set number of hours. They do not include listing copy, photos or video, which we sell as separate fixed-price projects. Compare it with other PPC-only quotes, not with a full-service retainer.
An in-house hire is one person
One salary buys one set of skills and no cover for vacations. Most hires still need software and outside creative work, so the loaded number here is the floor of what a hire costs.
Per SKU shows what each product carries
If a few products earn most of your sales, the per-SKU cost on the rest can exceed what they make. That is a reason to narrow the scope.
When None of These Lines Is Worth Paying Yet
Every line is over 10% of your sales
If even the cheapest line is above about 10% of sales, fix the listing and run a small Sponsored Products account yourself first.
Your ad spend is under $1,000 a month
That is below our minimum and most published floors. A $1,500 floor on $800 of spend is almost double the spend. Use software until spend grows.
Your listing converts poorly
Every model sends traffic to the same product page. If the main image, bullets, price and reviews are weak, the first dollar belongs to the listing.
You cannot say what the money should do
Write the results you want and the number you will judge them by. Without that, you cannot tell whether any fee paid off.
Who Built This and What to Read Next
Evolve Media Agency is a three-person ecommerce content and growth agency in Colorado, founded in 2017 by Ian Smith. It works with Amazon, Shopify and TikTok Shop brands doing roughly $1M to $10M a year, sells fixed-price projects and flat monthly fees with no long-term contract, publishes its prices on its site (see the pricing page and each service page), and is paid 100% upfront with no net terms. We built this calculator because the first question on most of our calls is what an agency should cost. The math runs in your browser and nothing is stored.
Ian Smith
Founder, Evolve Media Agency
Ian has run Evolve Media Agency since 2017 and has spent more than a decade in ecommerce, building and selling his own brands and producing listing content, video and ads for Amazon, Shopify and TikTok Shop brands. He writes every page on this site himself and the prices quoted for Evolve are the prices you pay.
Agency Cost Calculator Questions
How much does an Amazon agency cost a month?
Is it cheaper to hire in-house or use an agency?
What is a loaded salary?
Why does the calculator use 1.43 and not 1.25 to 1.30?
What percentage of ad spend do Amazon agencies charge?
Do agencies charge a percentage of total sales?
What does Evolve Media Agency charge for PPC?
Does this calculator save my numbers?
Bring Your Numbers to a Free Call
Book a free 30-minute call with your monthly sales, ad spend and the quotes you have. We will tell you which pricing model fits your account, whether our $995 or $1,995 PPC plan covers the work, and when you are better off with software or a hire.