The Truth About Selling on Amazon: What No One Tells You

There’s no denying Amazon’s dominance in the world of e-commerce. Its reach, speed, and convenience have reshaped how people shop—and how businesses sell. But while Amazon presents itself as a platform built to help sellers succeed, the reality is more complicated. Behind the polished dashboards and Prime perks lies a system designed to serve Amazon first, and everyone else second.

If you’re considering selling on Amazon—or already are—it’s crucial to understand the trade-offs. The platform can accelerate growth, but it can also erode your margins, hijack your brand, and create constant operational pressure. Success is possible, but only with full awareness and a strategy that puts you in control—not Amazon.

At first glance, Amazon’s fee structure looks simple. But dig a little deeper, and you’ll uncover a maze of charges that quietly eat into your profits. Referral fees, fulfillment costs, storage charges, returns, and advertising expenses quickly stack up. Too often, sellers mistake gross sales for profit—only to realize too late that Amazon takes a sizable cut at every step. Before launching a product, it’s critical to calculate your true margins after all Amazon-related fees. Build models for best- and worst-case scenarios. Treat Amazon like a cost center that must prove ROI—because it is.

Compliance is another area where Amazon’s expectations are high, but its grace is low. Sellers must follow detailed policies covering listings, customer communication, shipping standards, and performance metrics. Even small violations—intentional or not—can result in account suspensions or product removals. Amazon puts customer experience above all else, and sellers are expected to be flawless. To protect your business, it’s important to stay ahead of policy updates, audit your listings regularly, and document your operational processes. Reacting after the fact can be costly; proactive monitoring is your best defense.

Selling on Amazon also means competing in a marketplace that is more saturated than ever. Thousands of sellers are offering similar products, and many are willing to undercut on price just to win the sale. You’re not only up against other third-party sellers—you’re often competing with Amazon’s own private-label products, which enjoy algorithmic advantages. Without a compelling brand presence, you risk getting lost in a sea of similar options. Your product page has to do more than just list features; it has to tell a story, build trust, and convince a shopper in seconds.

To make matters more unpredictable, Amazon’s algorithm doesn’t operate in a vacuum of fairness. It changes frequently and with little notice, often prioritizing factors like profitability or newness over sales history or review quality. In 2019, one algorithm update deprioritized relevance in favor of higher-margin listings, leaving countless sellers scrambling to regain visibility. Staying competitive means continuously monitoring your listings’ performance, testing new keywords, and adapting pricing strategies. Diversifying your traffic sources—through social media, email marketing, or your own website—can also help cushion the blow of sudden algorithmic changes.

Advertising on Amazon used to be a cost-effective way to gain momentum. Now, as competition and costs rise, many sellers are forced to spend heavily just to stay visible. Unfortunately, ad performance metrics are often inconsistent, leaving sellers guessing about what’s actually driving sales. With unclear reporting and rising costs, it’s increasingly difficult to achieve a strong return on investment. Success depends on sharpening your targeting, testing relentlessly, and considering alternative channels outside of Amazon where you might reach customers more efficiently and build long-term loyalty.

And then there’s brand control—a challenge Amazon has yet to solve well. Sellers often find themselves dealing with unauthorized resellers, counterfeit listings, and hijacked product pages. Even if you’re the registered brand owner, enforcement from Amazon can be slow or unreliable. Brand protection can’t be left to chance. You have to be diligent: monitoring your listings, filing reports, and defending your intellectual property on your own terms. Tools like Brand Registry help, but they’re only as effective as your willingness to use them consistently.

Amazon is a powerful platform, but it’s not designed with your long-term brand health in mind. It prioritizes speed, volume, and customer satisfaction—sometimes at the expense of the seller’s profitability and control. To succeed, you need more than a good product. You need strategy, systems, and a clear-eyed view of what it means to build a business inside Amazon’s ecosystem.

At ExpressMed Partners, we’ve helped sellers navigate these exact challenges. From compliance and branding to advertising and operations, we partner with businesses to ensure they don’t just survive on Amazon—they grow sustainably and profitably. If you’re tired of feeling like the platform is working against you, let’s talk. You don’t have to go it alone—and with the right support, Amazon doesn’t have to be your enemy. It can be your most powerful sales channel.