Marketplace or Your Own Website: Where Should You Sell Online?
Selling on a marketplace like Amazon, Etsy or eBay brings instant traffic thanks to the platform's existing audience, in exchange for a commission generally between 5 and 20% and dependence on rules set by someone else. Your own website takes longer to generate sales but builds an independent asset, with no recurring commission and direct access to customer data. In practice, the two approaches are often combined rather than mutually exclusive.
The real problem: pitting two complementary logics against each other
The question "marketplace or your own website" is often framed as an either-or choice, when in practice many sellers run both in parallel with different goals in mind. A marketplace answers a need for instant traffic: it brings in buyers with no marketing effort, in exchange for a commission and dependence on the platform's rules. Your own website answers a need for control and long-term profitability: no commission, a direct relationship with the customer, but traffic you have to build yourself.
The real calculation, then, isn't which one to pick in absolute terms, but how to split your activity between the two depending on the stage your business is at and the resources you have to generate traffic on your own.
What marketplaces bring to the table
A marketplace like Amazon, Etsy or eBay gives you immediate access to an audience that's already there and already used to buying on the platform. There's no need to build your own traffic: the product shows up in the marketplace's internal search results as soon as it's listed. The platform also handles trust (reviews, buyer protection), which makes conversion easier for a new seller with no track record.
The trade-off is cost and dependence: commissions vary by platform and category, typically between 5 and 20% of the sale price, sometimes on top of fixed fees or per-listing charges. The seller doesn't own the customer relationship: they generally can't contact their buyers directly outside the platform, which limits repeat business.
What your own website lets you do
An independent e-commerce site eliminates the sales commission and gives you full control over presentation, pricing, and the customer relationship. It lets you collect emails, offer personalized deals, and build a recognizable brand independently of the display rules a marketplace imposes. Over time, it's the most profitable path for a seller who reaches significant volume, since margin isn't eaten away by a proportional commission.
The trade-off is the time it takes to build traffic: a brand-new site generates no sales without visitors, and it usually takes several months of SEO, advertising, or a social media presence before reaching a volume comparable to what a marketplace provides from launch.
The real weight of commissions at high volume
This is often the argument that tips an established seller toward adding their own website. A 15% commission on a low-margin product can eat up a significant share of net profit. The more sales volume grows, the more the cumulative commission amount weighs on the business, without the actual cost of the service the marketplace provides growing in the same proportion. Your own website has a fixed cost (hosting, maintenance) that doesn't scale with revenue, which becomes advantageous past a certain volume.
When staying on a marketplace alone makes sense
Sticking to a marketplace alone makes sense during the product-testing phase, when the goal is to validate demand before investing further, or when sales volume is still too low to justify the time needed to build your own traffic. Many occasional sellers or small side businesses run sustainably on a marketplace alone, never needing a website at all.
The common mistake: neglecting your own website once volume is there
A frequent mistake is staying exclusively on a marketplace even when sales volume clearly justifies investing in your own website to cut commissions and build a customer base. Conversely, launching your own website before testing demand on a marketplace sometimes means investing in traffic that doesn't exist yet. The most common approach among successful sellers is to validate the product on a marketplace, then build their own website in parallel to gradually capture a share of sales without commission.
What the type of product changes
The balance between marketplace and your own website also depends on the nature of the product. A standardized product, comparable to similar offers nearby (accessories, everyday goods), fits well with the search-driven logic of marketplaces, where buyers quickly compare several sellers on price and reviews. A differentiated, handmade, or strongly branded product benefits more from your own website, where the product's story, visual identity, and storytelling can justify a higher price without getting lost in a list of competing results. This is one reason many independent makers start on Etsy for visibility, then build their own website once they've built a loyal customer base, in order to better showcase their brand and reduce the commission share on recurring sales.
Marketplace vs. own website comparison
| Criterion | Marketplace | Own website |
|---|---|---|
| Traffic at launch | Immediate, from the existing audience | None, has to be built |
| Sales commission | 5 to 20% depending on platform | None |
| Control over presentation | Limited to platform rules | Full |
| Access to customer data | Limited or blocked | Direct |
| Buyer trust | Carried by the platform's reputation | Has to be built (reviews, brand) |
| Time to first sales | A few days | Several weeks to months |
| Best suited to | Product testing, small volume | Established volume, loyalty building |
What to remember
- Marketplaces bring instant traffic in exchange for a commission generally between 5 and 20%.
- Your own website eliminates the commission but takes time to generate traffic.
- The two are frequently combined: marketplace to test and sell fast, own website to build a lasting asset.
- The weight of commissions grows with volume, which makes your own website more profitable over time for an established business.
- A direct customer relationship (emails, loyalty) only exists on your own website.
Frequently asked questions
What commission do marketplaces like Amazon or Etsy charge? Typically between 5 and 20% of the sale price depending on platform and category, sometimes with fixed fees or listing charges on top.
Do you have to choose between a marketplace and your own website, or can you do both? Most sellers combine the two: the marketplace for instant traffic, your own website for margin and long-term loyalty.
Can your own website really compete with a marketplace's traffic? Not right away. A marketplace brings buyers in from day one; your own website has to build its traffic, which usually takes several months.
Do you lose access to customer data on a marketplace? Largely, yes, which prevents you from building an independent customer relationship or your own email list.
In summary
A marketplace and your own website aren't really opposites: one brings fast traffic in exchange for a commission, the other builds a lasting asset that takes time to pay off. If your business has reached the stage where reducing your dependence on commissions makes sense, support for building your online store can help you work out the best split between the two channels.
Frequently asked questions
›What commission do marketplaces like Amazon or Etsy charge?
Commissions vary by platform and product category, typically between 5 and 20% of the sale price. Amazon also charges fixed fees depending on category, and Etsy adds a listing fee per item on top of its sales commission.
›Do you have to choose between a marketplace and your own website, or can you do both?
Most successful sellers combine the two: the marketplace to capture instant traffic and test products, and their own website to build a loyal customer base without commission and keep the margin over the long run.
›Can your own website really compete with a marketplace's traffic?
Not right away. A marketplace like Amazon brings buyers in from day one thanks to its existing audience. Your own website has to build its traffic through SEO, advertising, or social media, which usually takes several months.
›Do you lose access to customer data on a marketplace?
Largely, yes. Marketplaces limit or block direct access to buyers' contact details so you can reach them outside the platform, which prevents you from building an independent customer relationship or your own email list.