📚 Amazon KDP Hardcover Calculator
Hardcover Printing Cost Calculator (Amazon KDP) – Accurate Cost & Pricing Guide
When you publish a hardcover book through Amazon KDP, the book is printed on demand. This means Amazon prints a copy only when a customer places an order. As an author, you don’t need to pay anything upfront, store inventory, or manage shipping. Instead, Amazon deducts the printing cost from your royalty after each sale.
While this system is convenient, understanding hardcover printing costs is critical. A small mistake in page count, trim size, or pricing can significantly reduce your earnings or even prevent Amazon from accepting your list price.
Our Amazon KDP Hardcover Printing Cost Calculator is designed to remove that confusion and help you make confident pricing decisions.
How Amazon KDP Calculates Hardcover Printing Cost
Hardcover printing costs are not fixed. They change based on several factors, including the trim size, page count, ink type, and the Amazon marketplace where the book is ordered.
Amazon uses a simple but strict formula to calculate printing cost:
Printing Cost = Fixed Cost + (Page Count × Per-Page Cost)
This calculation happens automatically inside KDP and is shown in the Rights & Pricing section during setup. However, Amazon does not clearly explain how each number is derived. That’s where our calculator becomes useful.
Example: Hardcover Printing Cost Calculation
If you publish a 300-page hardcover book with black ink, regular trim size, and sell it on Amazon.com, the calculation looks like this:
- Fixed cost: $5.65
- Per-page cost: $0.012
- Page count: 300
$5.65 + (300 × $0.012) = $9.25 printing cost
This amount is deducted from your royalty each time the book is sold.
Black Ink Hardcover Printing Costs (By Marketplace)
Black ink hardcover books follow two different pricing rules depending on page count. Books with 75–108 pages are charged a fixed cost only, while books with 110–550 pages include both fixed and per-page costs.
Black Ink Hardcover (75–108 Pages – Fixed Cost Only)
| Marketplace | Regular Trim | Large Trim |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon.com | $6.80 | $7.49 |
| Amazon.co.uk | £5.23 | £5.45 |
| Amazon.de / es / fr / it / nl / ie / com.be | €5.95 | €6.35 |
| Amazon.pl | 27.85 PLN | 29.87 PLN |
| Amazon.se | 66.38 SEK | 71.21 SEK |
Black Ink Hardcover (110–550 Pages)
| Marketplace | Fixed Cost | Per Page (Regular) | Per Page (Large) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon.com | $5.65 | $0.012 | $0.017 |
| Amazon.co.uk | £4.15 | £0.010 | £0.012 |
| EU Marketplaces | €4.65 | €0.012 | €0.016 |
| Amazon.pl | 20.34 PLN | 0.056 PLN | 0.075 PLN |
| Amazon.se | 48.49 SEK | 0.134 SEK | 0.179 SEK |
Premium Color Ink Hardcover Printing Costs
Premium color hardcover books always use both fixed and per-page costs, regardless of page count. These books are more expensive to print and require careful pricing.
Premium Color Hardcover (75–550 Pages)
| Marketplace | Fixed Cost | Per Page (Regular) | Per Page (Large) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon.com | $5.65 | $0.065 | $0.080 |
| Amazon.co.uk | £4.15 | £0.045 | £0.060 |
| EU Marketplaces | €4.65 | €0.057 | €0.072 |
| Amazon.pl | 21.78 PLN | 0.267 PLN | 0.337 PLN |
| Amazon.se | 51.91 SEK | 0.636 SEK | 0.804 SEK |
Minimum Hardcover List Price Explained
Amazon enforces a minimum list price to ensure that your royalty always covers the printing cost. You cannot price your hardcover below this amount.
The minimum list price depends on:
- Your printing cost
- The royalty rate (50% or 60%)
Minimum List Price Formula
If your book qualifies for a 60% royalty:
Minimum Price = Printing Cost ÷ 0.60
If your book falls under 50% royalty:
Minimum Price = Printing Cost ÷ 0.50
Our calculator automatically applies this logic and shows the exact minimum price allowed for your book in each marketplace.
Maximum Hardcover List Price Limits
Amazon also sets a maximum list price for hardcover books. Your price must fall within this limit to be accepted.
| Marketplace | Maximum Hardcover Price |
|---|---|
| Amazon.com | $250 |
| Amazon.co.uk | £250 |
| Amazon.de / es / fr / it / nl / ie / com.be | €250 |
| Amazon.pl | 1,200 PLN |
| Amazon.se | 2,500 SEK |
Set and Update Hardcover Prices by Marketplace
Amazon allows you to set different hardcover prices for each marketplace, as long as they are:
- Higher than the minimum list price
- Lower than the maximum list price
You can also let Amazon automatically convert prices from your primary marketplace. However, if you manually set prices in non-primary marketplaces, those prices will not update automatically when you change your main price.
Our tool helps you preview pricing boundaries across all supported marketplaces, allowing you to avoid pricing errors.
Why Use Our Hardcover Printing Cost Calculator?
Our calculator is built specifically for Amazon KDP hardcover authors, not generic publishing estimates.
It helps you:
- Accurately calculate the hardcover printing cost
- Instantly see the minimum and maximum list prices
- Compare black ink vs premium color costs
- Understand how trim size affects profitability
- Avoid pricing rejections inside KDP
- Make confident pricing decisions before publishing
Instead of guessing or manually calculating numbers, you get clear, marketplace-specific results in seconds.
Final Thoughts
Hardcover publishing on Amazon KDP can be profitable, but only when pricing is done correctly. Printing costs vary widely by page count, ink type, and region, and even small mistakes can reduce your royalty or block your book from going live.
Using a dedicated Hardcover Printing Cost Calculator removes the guesswork and gives you full control over your publishing decisions.
If you’re serious about publishing hardcover books on Amazon, this tool is an essential part of your workflow.