On September 25, @_kaushalshah, who runs a lash brand whose products start at ₹999, posted that Amazon now brings in 20% of the brand's monthly revenue (post). The top sellers in the category price lashes around ₹299, so the brand sells at roughly three times the going rate, and it still found buyers.

If you run a premium beauty or wellness brand on Shopify and most of your growth comes from Meta ads, that post raises a fair question: is Amazon worth opening even when you cost more than everyone else there, or does it dilute the brand and eat into your own store?

A higher price did not stop the sales

The founder expected almost nothing. By @_kaushalshah's account, Amazon onboarded the brand, the founder doubted anyone buys beauty products there, and went in mostly out of boredom with running the same Meta playbook (post). After learning Amazon's ad platform, the channel grew quietly to one fifth of monthly revenue.

Established brands are making the same call. Retail Dive reported in September that toy retailer FAO Schwarz opened an Amazon storefront and is adding an Amazon pop-up at its Rockefeller Center flagship (retaildive.com). A premium name selling on a marketplace no longer reads as a downgrade.

What Amazon gives you, and what it keeps

Amazon brings demand you would otherwise pay Meta to create, and it keeps the environment closed. @eric_seufert notes that Amazon has blocked outside AI agents for more than a year, is suing Perplexity over autonomous shopping, and generated $12 billion in incremental revenue in 2025 from its own shopping assistant, Rufus (post).

@championswimmer summed up the motive in one comparison, in a post with 432 engagements: Amazon has a multi-billion-dollar ads business and bans Meta's Muse agent, while Shopify has no such business and welcomes it (post). On Amazon, your products compete inside a store that earns from selling ad space to you and your rivals.

The customer relationship is the other cost. @MilkRoadAI argues that Amazon blocked Muse partly to keep control of product discovery and the customer relationship, which it treats as the most valuable part of a transaction (post). Amazon guards that relationship against outside agents, and it keeps it from sellers too. @Seanfrank argues that the easiest revenue for a brand sits in its existing customer base, through email, SMS, post-purchase offers and new products (post).

What the case does not tell you

The lash brand's story leaves out the numbers you need most. It gives no figures on margin after Amazon fees and ad spend, and no sign of whether Shopify sales dipped as Amazon grew. It is also one brand in the Indian market, where pricing and shopper habits differ from the US and Europe.

There is no public data yet comparing the margin or repeat-purchase rate of premium DTC brands on Amazon with their own Shopify stores. Treat 20% as proof the channel can work at a premium price, and work out the profitability for your own brand.

Test Amazon without betting the brand

  1. Start with two or three hero products that already sell well on your Shopify store, at the same price you charge there, so you do not undercut your own site.
  2. Set a fixed test budget for Amazon ads and a time limit, such as 90 days.
  3. Track Amazon profit per order after referral fees, fulfillment and ad spend, and compare it with your Shopify profit per order including Meta costs.
  4. Watch your Shopify store's direct and branded traffic during the test. A drop suggests Amazon is taking customers you would have won anyway.
  5. Put something in every Amazon package that brings buyers back to your own channels, such as a care guide or a registration card that leads to your site. Check Amazon's rules on inserts before you print anything.
  6. Keep investing in email, SMS and repeat purchases on Shopify. Amazon can add a revenue line, and your own store is still where customer relationships and lifetime value stay with you.

Sources