The Hidden Risks of Amazon-Only Product Brands
- Harvest Growth
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
In this episode of the Harvest Growth Podcast, Jon LaClare breaks down a hard truth many product founders don’t want to hear: building your entire business on Amazon is far riskier than it looks.
While Amazon can be an incredibly powerful sales channel—with built-in trust, massive buyer intent, and fast early revenue—speed does not equal control. Jon explains how fees quietly erode margins, why Amazon always puts its own interests first, and how even successful products can be replaced or undercut without warning.
More importantly, this episode dives into the long-term consequences of not owning your customer relationship. When you sell exclusively on Amazon, you don’t control the data, the follow-up, or the lifetime value of your buyers. Jon contrasts this with selling through your own website, where customer ownership becomes a compounding business asset rather than a one-time transaction.
This episode isn’t anti-Amazon—it’s anti-Amazon-only. Jon shares how to think strategically about Amazon as a channel, not the foundation of your business, and why the brands that win long-term are the ones that build on assets they actually control.
In today’s episode of the Harvest Growth Podcast, we’ll cover:
Why Amazon's fees quietly destroy margins over time
How Amazon competes with its own best-selling products
The real risk of not owning your customers or their data
Why selling direct increases lifetime value and defensibility
How to use Amazon as a channel without building on “rented land.”
What brands should prioritize if they want to survive long-term
You can listen to the full interview on your desktop or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Or, click to watch the full video interview here!
If you’re launching a new product or already selling on Amazon, this episode will help you rethink your strategy before hidden risks become real problems.
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Do you have a brand that you’d like to launch or grow? Do you want help from a partner that has successfully launched hundreds of brands that now total over $2 billion in revenue? Set up a free consultation with us today!
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