E-commerce · Sales channels
Marketplaces bring buyers. Your own website brings margin, data and repeat customers. Most brands do best with both, in the right roles.
Marketplaces for reach
Your site for margin and data
Blend them on purpose
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A marketplace such as Amazon, Etsy, eBay or Walmart gives you instant access to buyers, but you pay a cut of every sale, follow their rules and get little customer data. Your own ecommerce website costs less per order and lets you own the brand, the customer list and the repeat business, but you have to bring the traffic yourself.
For most growing product businesses the answer is not either-or. Use marketplaces to reach new buyers and test demand, and build your own store as the place where customers come back, where margins are better and where the relationship belongs to you. Online buying keeps growing: the US Census Bureau estimates ecommerce was 17.1% of US retail sales in the second quarter of 2026, and that demand is spread across both marketplaces and brand sites.
Built-in traffic and trust. Per-sale fees, strict policies, price competition next to rivals, and the marketplace owns the customer relationship.
Lower cost per order and full control of design, pricing, content and data. You pay for the site and for marketing to bring visitors.
Amazon, as of 2026: sellers choose the Individual plan at $0.99 per item sold or the Professional plan at $39.99 a month. On top of that, Amazon charges a referral fee on each sale that varies by category. In Amazon’s published fee table, many categories are charged between 8% and 15% of the total price, some are higher, and most have a minimum per item, commonly $0.30. Fulfillment by Amazon, storage and advertising are extra.
Etsy and other marketplaces charge their own combinations of listing fees, transaction fees, payment processing and, in some cases, fees on sales from ads the marketplace runs for you. Check each marketplace’s current fee page before you price products, because fee schedules change.
Your own Shopify store, as of 2026: the Basic plan is $39 a month ($29 billed yearly), with standard Shopify Payments online card rates of 2.9% plus 30 cents. Grow and Advanced plans cost more per month but charge lower card rates.
An illustrative example. On a $50 item in a category with a 15% referral fee, Amazon’s fee is $7.50 before fulfillment or ads. On your own Shopify Basic store, card processing on the same sale is $1.75. The difference, $5.75 per order in this example, is what you have available to spend on getting that customer to your site through search, ads and email. If you can acquire customers for less than that, or they come back to buy again, your own store wins.
When someone buys on a marketplace, the marketplace owns the relationship. You get what you need to fulfill the order, but marketplace rules limit how you can market to that buyer afterward. When someone buys on your website, they become your customer: you can welcome them, ask for a review, recommend related products and invite them back.
That matters because repeat customers are usually the most profitable ones. An email list built from your own store, run through a platform such as Klaviyo or Mailchimp, turns one sale into many. Our comparison of Klaviyo, Mailchimp and HubSpot covers which suits a store.
Book a free 30-minute call. We look at your products, margins and current channels with you and tell you what we would build or change first. No obligation. Pick a time.
Owning the channel means owning the jobs a marketplace does for you. Customer service, returns, fraud checks and delivery promises all become yours. On shipping, the FTC’s Mail, Internet or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule requires a reasonable basis for any shipping time you state, or shipment within 30 days if you state none, and prompt refunds if a customer cancels over a delay. Budget staff time, or a support partner, for these tasks before you move volume off a marketplace.
Our web design team builds stores on Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce and other platforms, with redirects and SEO handled so the site can earn its own traffic. If you are choosing a platform, start with Shopify vs WooCommerce.
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Amazon brings ready buyers but takes a referral fee on every sale and owns the customer relationship. Your own site costs less per order and builds repeat business, but you must bring traffic. Many brands use both.
As of 2026, Amazon charges $0.99 per item on the Individual plan or $39.99 a month on the Professional plan, plus a referral fee per sale. Amazon’s fee table shows many categories between 8% and 15%, with some higher. Fulfillment and ads cost extra.
Only what you need to fulfill the order, and marketplace rules limit how you can market to those buyers. On your own website, buyers become your customers and can join your email list.
A marketplace is a fast way to test demand with little upfront cost. If customers reorder or your margins are thin, build your own store early so repeat sales happen where fees are lower.
Yes. Keep one inventory source to avoid overselling, list a focused range on marketplaces and keep your full catalog and best offers on your own site.
