The Financial Reality
What you actually keep on Amazon vs. everywhere else
Moderate migrationWhat it is
Most Amazon sellers know their Amazon margins. Fewer have run the numbers on what they'd keep selling direct, through Etsy, or on Walmart. The comparison is not always in Amazon's favor — especially once you account for advertising spend.
Honest assessment
Amazon's fee structure is designed to obscure the true cost. Referral fees, FBA fees, storage fees, and advertising costs each arrive on separate invoices. When you add them all up for a typical mid-market product, Amazon often takes 35–50% of the sale price. The question isn't "does Amazon take less than Shopify?" — it's "does Amazon's traffic justify the premium?"
Migration steps
- Pull your last 90 days of Amazon seller reports and calculate true margin per SKU (after all fees + ads)
- Run the same SKU through ShipBob's calculator at the Shopify price you'd charge
- Compare the net dollar amount per unit — not the percentage
- For high-margin products, direct channel economics are usually compelling
- For commodity/low-margin products, Amazon's traffic may still justify the fee premium
- {'Build a 12-month financial model': 'current state vs. target state (60% Amazon, 40% other channels)'}