Pricing your first KDP ebook: the $2.99 floor and why it exists

Amazon pays 70% only when your ebook is listed between $2.99 and $9.99. Outside that window you drop to 35%. That single rule shapes almost every indie pricing decision.

At $0.99 on the 35% plan you keep about 35 cents. At $2.99 on the 70% plan you keep roughly $1.80 after delivery cost. You need five times the volume at $0.99 to match it, and cheap pricing rarely produces five times the sales.

Above $9.99 the maths flips again. A $14.99 listing on the 35% plan pays about $5.25, which can beat $9.99 at 70% if your audience is professional and the book is genuinely reference material.

Run your own numbers before you list. The royalty calculator on this site takes thirty seconds and will change how you price your first title.