594: This Amazon Feature Looks Helpful – But It’s Stealing Your Customers

00:01
Welcome back to the podcast, the show where I cover all the latest strategies and current events related to e-commerce and online business. Now the other day, a student asked me how I felt about Amazon Buy With Prime and whether to add it to your Shopify store. So in this episode, I give you the unfiltered truth about what Buy With Prime actually does behind the scenes and why it might be hurting your business more than helping it. You’ll learn how this seemingly helpful feature could be quietly siphoning your customer data and handing it over to Amazon.

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But before we begin, I want to let you know that the recordings are now on sale for Seller Summit 2025 over at Sellersummit.com. If you missed the event, this is your chance to catch every keynote, every session, and every strategy that was shared on stage. These recordings are packed with actionable insights from 7-figure sellers and ecommerce experts, so don’t miss out.

00:57
Welcome to the MyWifeCouterJob podcast. Today’s episode is a little different because I need to warn you about something that’s quietly undermining your business. Amazon is stealing your customers and you’re the one handing them over. You built your brand, you paid for the traffic, you earned that sale, but somehow Amazon got it. Well, here’s what no one is telling you. While you’re busy scaling your Shopify store, Amazon is quietly slipping into your checkout flow with a feature that looks helpful.

01:25
but it’s actually a data siphoning Trojan horse. It’s called Bywith Prime. And yes, it offers faster shipping. And yes, it can boost your conversion rate. But the customer you just paid to acquire, you don’t own them. You don’t get the real email, you can’t retarget them, and you can’t build loyalty. Amazon owns the data and Amazon owns the customer. And you, you just get the bill. And if you think Bywith Prime is helping your business, you are not seeing the bigger picture.

01:53
Because Amazon doesn’t just want to help your store, they want to be your store. So in this video, I’m going to show you exactly how it’s happening and what you need to do right now before it’s too late. Let’s break it down. Buy with Prime is Amazon’s move to extend its reach outside of amazon.com. It lets you, the brand owner, add a little Prime badge to your product pages. Shoppers can then click the Buy with Prime button, breeze through checkout using their Amazon account, and get access to that sweet two-day Prime shipping.

02:23
Sounds amazing, right? You don’t have to handle inventory. You don’t have to handle fulfillment. You don’t even have to earn their trust because Amazon does all that for you. And Amazon claims that it works. They say that brands see a 25 % increase in conversions just by placing the Buy With Prime badge on the page. But here’s what they don’t tell you. That conversion, it might be the last time you ever hear from that customer again. Because the moment they click that Prime button, it’s no longer your checkout.

02:53
It’s no longer your funnel and it’s definitely not your customer anymore. Sure, Amazon says that you’ll get 25 % more sales with Buy With Prime and it sounds great, right? But let me ask you this, can you email that customer again? Nope. When someone checks out using Buy With Prime, Amazon gives you a masked email, something like abc123atmarketplace.amazon.com. That’s not their real address. You can’t send them a thank you note. You can’t check in on their order.

03:22
And you definitely can’t upsell or launch new product campaigns. And this matters a lot. Email is how DTC brands survive. It is your direct line to the customer. You don’t have to pay for ads and every email can drive revenue. Think abandoned cart reminders, restock alerts, VIP early access deals, sales, coupons. It all starts with an email. No email equals no relationship. Just a one-time transaction you’ll probably never see again.

03:53
And if you think you’ll retarget Buy With Prime customers again later with ads, think again. Buy With Prime moves the customer off of your site and onto Amazon servers. That means your tracking pixels on Facebook, Google, TikTok, they’re never going to fire. No retargeting, no lookalike audiences, no attribution, no follow-up. And here’s why that’s a massive problem. I run a seven-figure store called Bumblebee Linen’s, and we sell personalized handkerchiefs for weddings. Now you’d think,

04:22
that we wouldn’t get that much repeat business. I mean, sure, the divorce rates are on 50%, so maybe there’s a second chance market, but here are my real numbers. Only 12 % of our customers come back and buy again, but that 12%, they generate 36 % of our total revenue. And we’re in a niche with low repeat customer rates. For most stores, the numbers are way higher, which means that if you can’t follow up, if you can’t retarget or email again,

04:51
You are leaving a huge chunk of money on the table. And this is not a fluke. This is how running a successful brand works. Your first sale is just the beginning. The real profit comes after the first order if you can get them to come back. But with Buy with Prime, that door slams shut. No data, no contact, no chance to build loyalty. So sure, Amazon might help you close the sale, but they’re stealing the relationship. And without that, you’re not building your business.

05:20
you’re actually building theirs. Now let’s switch gears a little bit and talk numbers because Buy With Prime might look like a conversion booster, but under the hood, it’s actually a profit killer. Here’s what you’re actually paying for with every order. First off, Amazon takes a 3 % cut of the order subtotal just for using the Buy With Prime service. This is their platform fee, basically a toll just to get access to their checkout and the Prime badge. Then there’s the Amazon fulfillment fee.

05:49
This is what you pay Amazon to pick, pack and ship your product using their warehouses. Now the exact cost depends on the size and weight of your item, but for most standard size products, it’s around five to six bucks per unit. And that’s just today’s rate because Amazon keeps raising prices. In fact, fulfillment fees have nearly doubled since 2020, a 96 % increase. But it doesn’t stop there. Since Amazon controls the checkout, they also charge a payment processing fee of 2.4 %

06:19
plus 30 cents per transaction, which is similar to what Stripe or Shopify payments charges. Now 2.4 % might not sound like much, but for comparison, I only pay 2.1 % to process credit cards on my store. So even that adds up fast. By the way, if you’re interested in learning how to start a brand without Amazon, make sure you sign up for my free six-day e-commerce mini course below. It’s 100 % free and I guarantee you’ll learn a lot. Let’s break down all those fees on a $50 product.

06:49
your buy with Prime fee is about $1.50. FBA fulfillment is around $5.38. Payment processing is around $1.50. That is $8.38 in fees for a $50 product just to fulfill and process a single order. And that’s before you factor in your product costs, your ad spend, your team, your rent, all the things you need to actually run a business. If you’re operating on a 30 to 40 % margin, like most DTC brands, buy with Prime

07:18
is eating up 25 to 30 % of your profit every time. And what do you get in exchange? No email address, no retargeting, no brand loyalty, no second sale. You’re literally paying Amazon to take your customer and your margin. It’s like hiring a middleman to show up at your own checkout, close the sale, and walk away with the customer data while charging you for that privilege. So yeah, your conversion rate might go up, but if you’re losing money on every order, what exactly are you celebrating?

07:48
Now at this point, some of you might be thinking, all right, I lose a little margin, maybe some data, but if it helps me grow, isn’t it worth it? Well, here’s the part that no one’s talking about. Amazon is not just helping you, they’re studying you. Every time a customer checks out with Buy with Prime, Amazon learns what’s selling on your store, what kind of customer buys it, what price points convert best, and which products are selling fast away from the Amazon marketplace.

08:16
They’re collecting data on your product market fit, your positioning and your brand story. And they’re doing it without taking any inventory risks themselves. And that should terrify you because this isn’t speculation. Amazon has a long track record of spotting wing products and then launching their own versions. One of my friends used to sell emu oil and she built a solid business that is until Amazon stepped in, launched their own emu oil and undercut her price by 30%.

08:45
And to make things worse, Amazon started running ads for their product right on her product listing. And needless to say, her revenue tanked almost overnight. This isn’t just happening in niche products either. Not long ago, I was shopping for garbage bags. And as I’m shopping for GLAD bags, which is what I typically buy, up pops Amazon’s own branded version of bags at 30 % cheaper. Now let’s be honest, I’m just going to throw them away anyway, so I actually bought Amazon’s version.

09:14
And this kind of thing happens way more often than you think. Amazon has done it to luggage companies, battery brands, fashion labels. Even household goods with millions in revenue have gotten cloned and crushed. And now, if you use Buy With Prime, you’re handing them the blueprint voluntarily. Buy With Prime isn’t just a checkout button. It’s surveillance software disguised as a growth hack. You’re feeding the algorithm with your best data on your dime. And if you think Amazon’s not planning to use it,

09:43
you haven’t really been paying attention. Because Amazon doesn’t just want to support e-commerce brands, they want to replace them. Now look, I’m not saying you should never use Buy With Prime. There are situations where it makes sense, but if you’re going to use it, you need to be strategic and not blind. Buy With Prime can work well for impulse buy products, especially those under $30. If you’re selling something quick and giftable, and you’re trying to convert cold traffic, people who have never heard of your brand, the Prime badge can

10:13
absolutely lift conversions. And if you’re already fulfilling through Amazon FBA and your margins can handle the fees, it can be a useful short-term tool. But here’s when it becomes a problem. If your business relies on repeat purchases, email marketing, or loyalty flows, Buy with Prime breaks that engine. You don’t get the real email, you can’t retarget, and you lose the chance to build a real relationship. And it’s not just the customer data. It is the entire Shopify ecosystem.

10:42
Your discount codes, they’re not gonna work. Your subscription plugin, it’s not compatible. Any post purchase upsell or cross sell apps you have will be completely bypassed. Buy with Prime is a black box. It takes your customer out of Shopify’s checkout flow and then breaks the tech stack you spent years optimizing. And let’s be honest here, you can’t build a sustainable DTC brand on one-off sales. In my own business, only 12 % of customers are repeat buyers

11:10
but they generate 36 % of my total revenue. Our top 10 % of customers generate nearly 50 % of our overall sales. That is where the profit is. That’s where the scale happens. So if you’re gonna use ByWith Prime, use it surgically. Use it on cold traffic, on low margin, one and done products, where customer retention doesn’t matter. But when it comes to your core products, your VIP customers, and anything you’re trying to grow long-term, keep that checkout in-house. Own the customer.

11:40
own the data and own your future. Because if you hand Amazon the keys to your checkout, don’t be surprised when they drive off with your business. So yeah, buy with Prime might boost your conversions in the short term, but you have to factor in the risks. Whenever it comes to business, I always ask myself, what are you really building? You didn’t start a DTC brand just to hand your customers over to Amazon. You started it to build something you own, something lasting, something that grows with every sale,

12:10
not resets to zero. I’ve been running my seven figure e-commerce store for 18 years now, and Amazon is only a small fraction of our sales on purpose. Don’t trade short-term wins for long-term control. Don’t give away your most valuable asset, your customer, just to get a couple more checkouts today. Because Amazon isn’t here to help your brand win. They’re here to replace you the second you become profitable enough to matter. So use Buy With Prime if you must, but do it with your eyes wide open.

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And remember, in e-commerce, whoever owns a customer owns the future.

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go to SellersSummit.com. And if you’re interested in starting your own e-commerce store, head on over to my wife, QuitHerJob.com and sign up for my free six day mini course. Just type in your email and I’ll send the course right away via email.