Two very different deals
A marketplace and your own store are different bargains. Most sellers need both. The question is the balance, and when to shift it.
Marketplace vs your own store at a glance
| What you get | Marketplace | Your own store |
|---|---|---|
| Traffic | Handed to you | You find it |
| Margin | Takes a cut of every sale | You keep the full margin |
| Customer | The marketplace keeps it | You keep the data and the relationship |
What a marketplace gives you
Reach, fast. Millions of ready buyers, built-in trust, and no need to drive your own traffic on day one. For a new product with no audience, that's genuinely valuable. It's the quickest way to find out whether people actually want what you're selling.
What a marketplace takes
A cut of every sale - often a fifth or more once all fees stack. And, quietly, the customer. You rarely get their contact details, so you can't bring them back yourself. You're renting access to buyers, not building a base of your own that you keep.
What your own store gives you
The full margin on every sale. Your customers' details, so you can email them, run offers, and earn repeat orders. Your brand, presented your way. And control over checkout, payments, and follow-up. It's slower to start and entirely yours to keep - the opposite trade from a marketplace.
The signs it's time to graduate
Shift weight to your own store when a few things are true. You have repeat customers asking for you by name. Marketplace fees are eating your margin. You want to run your own offers and email. Or you're tired of competing on price beside copycats. These are signals that demand is real and worth owning.
You don't choose one forever
This isn't a clean break. Keep selling on marketplaces for discovery while you build your own store for loyalty. Use the marketplace to find buyers and your store to keep them. Over time, shift the balance toward the channel you own as your brand grows stronger.
What Meesho and Flipkart charge now
| Channel | Commission | Other costs | When you get paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meesho | 0% across all categories | Return shipping fee on customer returns | 7-day cycle from delivery |
| Flipkart | 0% below ₹1,000 and on Fashion, category rates above | Fixed fee by seller tier, shipping, returns | As fast as 3 days from pickup |
| Your own store | Depends on your platform's plan | Gateway fee, like Razorpay's 2% plus GST, and the cost of traffic | Razorpay says typically T+1 |
The fee gap on a ₹1,000 order
Put real numbers on it. On Flipkart, commission can be zero below ₹1,000, but the fixed fee, shipping and returns still apply. On Meesho, commission is zero, but returns, ads and shipping take around 10-15% for many sellers. On your own store, Razorpay's standard 2% fee costs ₹20, plus ₹3.60 GST. The gap looks huge, but your own store has one big cost the marketplaces cover: finding the buyer. If ads cost you ₹150 to win that ₹1,000 order, the gap shrinks fast. It widens again when the same buyer comes back and orders without an ad. Run this sum for your own best seller, with your real ad cost, before you decide.
Who gets to put a brand on the box
A marketplace controls more than the checkout. Meesho asks sellers to pack each order in plain packaging with no branding. So a buyer who loves your product may never learn your name. On a marketplace, you rarely get the buyer's email either, so you can't invite them back. On your own store, the box, the thank-you note and the invoice all carry your brand. That is how a first order turns into a second one. It is also why sellers who start on marketplaces often feel stuck. The sales grow, but the brand does not. Your own store is where the name on the parcel is yours.
GST rules differ by channel
Each channel comes with its own GST rules. Flipkart needs a regular GSTIN for most categories. Meesho lets small sellers start without one, using an Enrolment ID, but only inside their own state. On your own website, the normal turnover limits apply, which is ₹40 lakh for goods in most states. But the GST Council's registration flyer lists inter-state suppliers among those who must register, whatever their turnover. So if your site ships to other states, plan for GST early. The same flyer notes that TCS does not apply when you sell your own product through your own website.
Cash flow on each channel
How fast money reaches you shapes how fast you can grow. Meesho pays on a 7-day cycle from the delivery date, COD orders included. Flipkart says it pays in as fast as 3 days from pickup, with the timing set by your seller tier. On your own store, prepaid orders settle through your gateway, and Razorpay says that is typically T+1. COD orders on your own store reach you through your courier, on its own cycle. So the more buyers pay online, the healthier your cash flow, whichever channel they use.
When a marketplace is still the better bet
Your own store is not always the answer. A marketplace wins when you are testing a new product and have no audience yet. It wins for low-priced items, where the cost of an ad can be more than your whole margin. And it wins in the big sale seasons, when buyers flood the big apps. Flipkart's seller pages point to its shopping festivals, like The Big Billion Days, for just this reason. Use the marketplace for what it does best. Then use your own store for the buyers who come back.
How to shift weight to your own store
- Keep selling on the marketplace that brings you the most orders.
- Work out your real cost per order on each channel, returns included.
- Set up your own store with UPI, cards and COD.
- Register for GST before your site ships to another state.
- Give marketplace buyers a reason to order direct next time.
- Spend on ads only for products that already sell well on the marketplace.
- Review the split between channels every month.
When you're ready to own more
When you want to keep more of your sales, The Storemate is built for it. Get a storefront on your own subdomain with UPI, cards, and COD, GST-correct invoicing, and email sequences to bring customers back. Start free, run it alongside your marketplaces, and grow the channel that's actually yours.