Direct Answer: Where Should A New Brand Start?
Start on Amazon if you need demand quickly, your product fits a known search category, your margins can survive referral fees and fulfillment costs, and you can compete on reviews, price, shipping, and ads. Start on Shopify if you want brand control, customer data, repeat purchases, content, email, subscriptions, and long-term margin ownership.
The smartest answer for many new brands is not either-or. Use Amazon to test demand and Shopify to build the brand asset. But if cash and attention are limited, pick one starting point and do it properly.
Who This Guide Is For
This guide is for new ecommerce brands deciding whether to launch first on Amazon or Shopify. It is especially useful for Canadian merchants, DTC founders, product inventors, private-label sellers, makers, and small teams that cannot afford to build every channel at once.
This is a research-based comparison using official Amazon Canada seller pricing, Shopify Canada pricing, and platform documentation reviewed on July 22, 2026. It is not based on hands-on testing or private seller data.
Methodology
I compared upfront cost, demand access, margin pressure, customer ownership, fulfillment, advertising, operational work, brand control, repeat purchases, and risk. Platform fees and requirements can change, so verify live pricing before launch.
Summary Comparison
| Question | Amazon | Shopify |
|---|---|---|
| Where is demand? | Built-in marketplace search demand. | You must bring traffic through ads, SEO, social, email, partnerships, or retail. |
| What do you own? | Listing, reviews, inventory strategy, and marketplace presence. | Storefront, brand experience, customer data, content, and retention stack. |
| Core fees | Canada Professional plan is CAD $29.99/month, or Individual is CAD $1.49/item sold, plus referral and optional FBA fees. | Shopify Canada Basic starts at $37 CAD/month yearly, plus payment processing and optional apps. |
| Best for | Commodity, search-driven, comparison-friendly products. | Brand-led, repeat-purchase, content-driven, and differentiated products. |
| Main risk | Fee pressure, competition, ad costs, account risk, and limited customer relationship. | Traffic cost, slower demand discovery, and more brand-building work. |
Amazon: The Demand Shortcut
Amazon is powerful because shoppers are already there. Amazon Canada says its selling fees include selling plan fees and referral fees, with optional costs for Fulfillment by Amazon, advertising, and other services. The Individual plan is CAD $1.49 per item sold plus selling fees. The Professional plan is CAD $29.99/month plus selling fees.
Referral fees vary by category. Amazon Canada lists many common categories at 15%, including Home and Kitchen, Pet Products, Sports and Outdoors, Office Products, Toys and Games, and several others, while some categories have tiered rates. FBA fulfillment fees depend on size and weight. Amazon Canada lists envelope fulfillment from CAD $4.46 for the first 100g and standard fulfillment from CAD $5.92 for the first 100g, with higher rates as weight and size increase.
That means Amazon can validate demand, but it can also eat margin. A product with weak gross margin, bulky dimensions, high return rate, or heavy ad dependence can look successful in sales and poor in profit.
Shopify: The Brand Asset
Shopify is not a marketplace. It is your store, checkout, back office, app ecosystem, and sales-channel hub. Shopify Canada lists Basic at $37 CAD/month when billed yearly, Grow at $99 CAD/month yearly, and Advanced at $389 CAD/month yearly. Shopify Payments Canada card rates vary by plan, with online standard card rates from 2.8% + 30 cents CAD on Basic to 2.4% + 30 cents on Advanced.
The benefit is control. You can build email flows, loyalty, subscriptions, post-purchase upsells, SEO content, landing pages, customer support, and a repeat-purchase engine. For retention tools, see our guide to Shopify apps that increase repeat purchases.
The hard part is traffic. On Shopify, nobody magically appears. You need ads, organic search, social, creator partnerships, email capture, affiliates, retail partnerships, or marketplace traffic feeding the store.
When Amazon Is The Better First Move
Amazon is better first when shoppers already search for the product category, comparison is straightforward, the product fits FBA economics, margins are healthy, the listing can earn reviews ethically, and you can tolerate marketplace rules. Examples: accessories, replacement parts, standard household goods, simple consumables, and products where Amazon search already signals demand.
Amazon is also useful when you need fast feedback. Search volume, conversion rate, reviews, ad performance, and return reasons can teach you whether the product has a market. Just do not confuse Amazon data with brand loyalty. A buyer may remember Amazon, not you.
When Shopify Is The Better First Move
Shopify is better first when the product needs storytelling, education, bundling, community, subscriptions, higher average order value, custom merchandising, or long-term customer relationships. Examples: premium consumables, apparel with a distinct brand, beauty, specialty food, products with strong content angles, and anything that relies on repeat purchase.
Shopify is also better when you need control over pricing, packaging, landing pages, offer testing, email flows, and customer support. For product-data preparation, read our guide on preparing stores for AI shopping agents.
Cost Gotchas
On Amazon, model referral fees, FBA fees, storage, returns, ads, promotions, coupon fees, prep, labeling, inbound shipping, inventory placement, and cash tied up in stock. Amazon says sellers can use its Revenue Calculator to compare fees and fulfillment methods. Use it before you order inventory.
On Shopify, model plan cost, payment fees, app stack, themes, customer acquisition, email/SMS, returns, fulfillment, support, and third-party transaction fees if you do not use Shopify Payments. Our Shopify fees calculator walks through that math.
Brand Control
Amazon is a marketplace first. The product page format, customer journey, review system, search algorithm, and competitive shelf are not yours. That can be excellent for demand discovery and brutal for differentiation. Similar products sit beside yours, and shoppers can compare on price in seconds.
Shopify gives you more control over positioning. You can explain why the product exists, collect email subscribers, build bundles, offer subscriptions, publish guides, and control post-purchase communication. That control is valuable only if the brand uses it. A thin Shopify store with no traffic strategy is just a quiet website.
Fulfillment And Returns
Amazon FBA can simplify shipping, customer service, and returns, but those services come with rules and fees. Shopify merchants must choose their own fulfillment path: self-fulfillment, 3PL, local delivery, dropshipping, or another partner. That is more work, but also more control over packaging, inserts, delivery promise, and customer experience.
Returns matter too. A category with high return rates can damage both Amazon and Shopify economics. For the software side, see our return-management software comparison.
Evidence
Amazon’s strongest evidence is marketplace demand and a clear seller-fee schedule. Amazon Canada publishes plan fees, referral fees, FBA fulfillment fees, and a calculator for fee estimates. That makes unit economics visible if the seller takes the time to calculate them.
Shopify’s strongest evidence is infrastructure and ownership. Shopify publishes Canadian plan pricing, card rates, third-party transaction fees, hosting inclusion, POS Pro add-ons, and support. It is built for brands that want a store they control, not only a shelf in someone else’s marketplace.
A Practical Launch Path
If the product is search-driven and simple, launch a tight Amazon test with one hero SKU, clean images, compliant listing copy, conservative ad spend, and a profit model. Build Shopify once demand is proven, then use it for bundles, email, content, subscriptions, and repeat purchases.
If the product is brand-led, launch Shopify first with a focused offer, landing page, email capture, reviews, content, and paid or creator traffic. Add Amazon later when the product story is sharp and you can afford marketplace fees without racing to the bottom.
What I Would Do With $5,000
For a search-driven product, I would spend the first budget on inventory discipline, Amazon listing assets, compliance checks, cautious ads, and unit-economics tracking. I would avoid a big Shopify build until the product proves search demand.
For a brand-driven product, I would build a lean Shopify store, one strong landing page, email capture, product education, simple fulfillment, and a small paid or creator test. I would add Amazon only after the offer and customer story are clearer.
When To Use Both
Use both when Amazon proves demand and Shopify can increase lifetime value. The marketplace can introduce the product. The owned store can build bundles, email, education, subscriptions, and repeat purchase. The order matters less than measuring profit by channel.
Limitations Of This Comparison
This article does not model every category fee, FBA surcharge, ad cost, tax issue, retail strategy, international shipping rule, or account-risk scenario. Before choosing, calculate contribution margin by channel after all platform, payment, fulfillment, returns, packaging, support, and advertising costs.
Sources
- Amazon Canada selling pricing.
- Amazon Canada referral and FBA fee table.
- Amazon Canada fee and revenue calculator.
- Amazon Canada seller FAQ.
- Shopify Canada pricing.
- Shopify Payments Canada.
- Shopify third-party transaction fees.
Last Reviewed
Last reviewed: July 22, 2026.
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