Top Amazon sellers agree that succeeding in e-commerce in 2025 means looking to TikTok Shop: 'It's explosive'
Before Amazon became mainstream, eBay was the platform to master. That's where many successful e-commerce entrepreneurs got their start, including software developer Leo Limin.
When Limin started listing smart bulbs on Amazon in the mid-2010s, sales were "very easy," he told Business Insider.
Building a profitable Amazon business has become increasingly difficult over the last decade, and winning strategies come and go.
"Amazon keeps changing the rules," said Limin, who has responded by shifting gears within his own career. In 2018, he created a software called RebateKey that would distribute rebates on behalf of sellers looking to share their newest products with customers. "Sellers would benefit a lot from it, but then Amazon changed the rules again, and the rebates no longer worked."
Limin, whose latest project is a user-generated content platform called JoinBrands, still sells on Amazon, "but mostly for staying in touch with the industry."
He said it's still possible to succeed in e-commerce, but sellers need to look beyond Amazon.
'If you're not on TikTok Shop, you are disadvantaged'
Limin and other e-commerce veterans agree that to stay ahead in such a competitive industry, leaning into TikTok is key.
TikTok Shop is the platform's built-in e‑commerce feature, which allows users to discover and purchase products within the app. It officially launched in the US in 2023.
"TikTok Shop created this ecosystem where everybody can be a seller, so everybody can become your affiliate," explained Limin. "And it's very good. It's explosive. If you're not on TikTok Shop, you are disadvantaged right now."
Eugene Khayman, who also started selling on eBay before transitioning to Amazon, agrees. He built a seven-figure business selling kitchen items online, and now spends most of his time and energy working closely with elite sellers as the COO of Million Dollar Sellers (MDS).
"If people are treating Amazon as their whole business, they're definitely more at risk. There are so many different verticals of e-commerce to serve," he said.
TikTok Shop reminds him of Amazon in its early years. "I think that there's a lot of opportunity there," he said, and advises a hybrid approach, coupling Amazon with TikTok.
Not all products are a great fit for TikTok Shop, as entrepreneur Kyle Goguen has found. He runs two brands: Pawstruck, a natural dog treats company he launched in 2014, and CRBN, a pickleball paddle company that he and his childhood friend co-founded in 2021.
While Pawstruck products are listed on TikTok Shop, Goguen said the pickleball paddles are not the best fit for this specific marketplace.
"A big part of it is our price point," he explained. CRBN paddles range from $180 to $280. "The nature of TikTok Shop is more of a price-conscious shopper. There are some exceptions to that, but generally speaking, it is challenging to convert someone at a high price point. That's just not how the effective videos are working unless you have a product that is just super viral in nature."
He agrees that TikTok Shop is where many sellers are finding success in 2025, outside Amazon, but it comes with its own set of challenges.
"It is a very, very different platform than Amazon as a marketplace, good and bad," said Goguen. "I think there is a potential faster path to success and huge growth on TikTok Shop — it is a little bit like the Wild West, like the early days of Amazon. However, it is far less repeatable and reliable than Amazon as a marketplace."
TikTok LIVE selling is the 'new QVC'
If you really want to get ahead in the e-commerce industry, learn the ins and outs of live selling.
"It's like QVC to a new generation," said Limin. "It's people selling on a livestream. It's a skill — there are more and more creators that can do it very well — and some brands sell through thousands and thousands of items in a matter of a couple of hours, like $50,000 worth of products, for example, in two hours. But, not only that, brands are using lives now as customer support."
Multiple platforms offer live selling, including TikTok, Amazon, YouTube, Instagram, and Whatnot.
Live commerce is already very popular in China, said Limin, who predicts a live selling boom in the US in the next couple of years.
"At JoinBrands, we are paying a lot of attention to now educating creators how to sell live because we know it is the future," he said. "If, before, the United States was telling the world how to sell, now it is China. If you look at what's happening in China, it is what's going to happen in the United States in two or three years — and, in China, live selling is huge, so I deeply believe and a lot of sellers also believe that live selling will come here and stay."
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