If you make or sell a product, someone has probably told you in the last few months that you must get on Flipkart or Amazon. Someone else has probably told you the opposite: build your own website, own your customers, don’t hand your brand to a marketplace. Both pieces of advice are partly right, which is why the question keeps coming up in our meetings with small brands.
Whether to sell on Flipkart, Amazon or your own website is not a choice you make once and forget. It depends on what you sell, how much money you have to spend on marketing, and how much time you can give to operations. Here is how we explain the trade-offs to clients who are just starting to sell online.
What a marketplace gives you
Customers who are already shopping
This is the big one. Flipkart, Amazon.in and Snapdeal spend enormous amounts on advertising, and millions of people open those apps and sites already intending to buy something. When you list there, you get access to that traffic without building it yourself. A new website, by contrast, starts with no visitors at all.
Trust and payments sorted
A buyer in Lucknow who has never heard of your brand will hesitate to type their card details into an unknown website. The same buyer will happily order from you on a marketplace, because they trust the marketplace’s payment system and return policy. Cash on delivery, which a large share of Indian online shoppers still prefer, is also handled for you.
Logistics help
Marketplaces have arrangements with courier partners for pickup and delivery, and some offer to store and ship stock for sellers. For a small team, not having to negotiate separately with courier companies and chase COD remittances is a real relief.
What a marketplace costs you
Fees and margins
Every marketplace charges commission on each sale, and there are usually separate charges for shipping, payment collection and other services. These vary by category and change from time to time, so we always ask clients to read the current rate card for their specific category before deciding. Work out what you actually take home on a typical order after every deduction and after returns. Many small brands only do this calculation after a few months, and get a shock.
Price pressure
On a marketplace, your product sits right next to a dozen similar ones, often sorted by price. Big sales events push prices down further. If your product is better but costs more, you have very little space on a listing page to explain why.
The customer is not really yours
This is the part people underestimate. When someone buys from you on a marketplace, they usually remember that they bought it “on Flipkart” or “on Amazon”, not from your brand. You get limited information about them, you cannot easily contact them again, and marketplaces have rules about what you can include in the package. Check those rules carefully before putting anything in the box that points buyers to your own site.
Returns and rules
Return policies are set largely by the marketplace. For some categories, such as clothing, returns can eat a large share of your margin. Policies can also change, and as a small seller you have little say.
What your own website gives you
An online store on your own domain is the opposite trade. You do all the work of bringing in customers, but everything you build is yours.
- You set the price and keep the full margin, apart from payment gateway and courier costs.
- You decide how your products are presented: proper photos, the story of how they are made, size guides, care instructions, videos.
- Every customer’s name, email and phone number belongs to you. You can send them a note when a new batch is ready, a festive offer before Diwali, or a simple thank-you.
- Repeat customers come back to you directly, not to a search box where your competitors are one click away.
What your own website costs you
Setting up the store is the easy part. Today a WordPress site with WooCommerce, or one of the hosted store platforms, can be running in a few weeks. You will need a payment gateway such as CCAvenue, PayU or EBS, which takes some paperwork and a current account. You will need a courier arrangement that supports cash on delivery if you want to offer it.
The hard part is traffic. Nobody visits a new store by accident. You will need to spend on Facebook ads and AdWords, work on search, build a following, and probably do some offline promotion. That takes money and patience, and the first few months can be discouraging.
You also handle everything yourself: customer queries, failed deliveries, COD orders that are refused at the door, and refunds. For a two-person business, this is a lot.
What we usually recommend
For most small brands starting out, we suggest doing both, with clear roles for each.
Use one or two marketplaces as a sales channel. Treat them as a large distributor: useful for volume and discovery, but with someone else’s rules and someone else’s margin. List your best-selling items there, price them so the numbers still work after fees, and handle orders reliably so your seller rating stays healthy.
Build your own website as the home of the brand. It does not need hundreds of products on day one. It needs good photos, honest descriptions, clear prices, a working checkout and a way to contact you. Over time, put more of your marketing effort into sending people there, especially repeat buyers.
Marketplaces are good at selling products. Your own site is where you build a brand that people come back to by name.
A few situations where the answer is clearer
If you sell commodity items where buyers compare mainly on price, such as phone accessories or basic household goods, marketplaces will probably be your main channel, and a big brand-building website may not pay back.
If you sell something with a strong story or a loyal niche, such as handmade products, organic foods or a regional speciality, your own site and your social media pages matter much more. Those buyers want to know who made the product and why.
If you have very limited time, start with a marketplace and a simple website that at least explains who you are, even if the website does not take orders yet.
Whatever you choose, keep your own numbers: cost per order, returns, repeat buyers and actual profit by channel. That will tell you, far better than any general advice, where to put your next rupee.
