You might have recently started selling your products to your friends and family, and they love them! So, you’ve started wondering if others would too… but now the question is: should you sell your products in marketplaces or have your own website? 

I know how exciting selling your own products is – you’ve started a hobby which turned into a passion and now, it can start becoming a money-making business. Who wouldn’t want to make money doing what they love? If you are still considering selling your products in the first place, why don’t you try? You can sell whatever you make online – jewellery, pottery, soaps, chocolate, anything and everything can be sold! 

Maybe you are a blogger looking to start selling merchandise or products related to your audience, it’s time to create an online store and see how your audience feels about your products. What’s the worse that can happen? Magento eCommerce Web Design Agency, Ad Lab recommends creating your own eCommerce store which can be integrated into your current blog. The question now is, would this be the right solution for everyone?

Selling products in marketplaces

Pros: good for beginners, high traffic.

Cons: strict rules, high commissions, no brand identity.

As this article on Medium mentions, “The best thing about selling on a marketplace is you can get set up pretty much the same day.” It’s definitely easier to get started on a marketplace, you can easily sign up and start selling products quickly. 

Plus, if you are just getting started selling your products online, putting your products out there on a marketplace would be ideal to see if your products will actually sell. With most popular marketplaces already having a lot of traffic, you could see how well your products are doing straight away.

Sims Life says, “When choosing the right product or products to sell, it’s important to consider what’s trending, what’s profitable and what’s going to last.” At the end of the day, you might be passionate about your products but if they are not profitable, maybe you should try a different route.

However, marketplaces also have their disadvantages. Besides high commissions, you will also have to endure their strict rules and the fact that you will be limited to what the marketplace offers. It is also harder to position yourself as a brand in a marketplace, and people will most likely not realise they are buying it from you, but from the marketplace itself. People might say “I bought this from Etsy” instead of “I bought this from Joe’s Little Shop”. 

Your own eCommerce website

Pros: fully customisable, reduced cost per sale, increased marketing opportunities, encourage loyalty and brand recognition.

Cons: might be more time consuming and more expensive for beginners.

“Imagine the website as an online version of a high street store – think about how you will welcome customers, how you will display your products, how you will make customers come back time and time again.” says Rachel Bustin, and she couldn’t be more right! 

You might have to do a bit more leg work by having your own eCommerce website. You’ll have to choose a domain name that represents your business, find a suitable platform to sell your products and then design and customise your website. You can build alone but a good web designer can really make your life easier. You can suggest to them all the things you want on your website and they will come up with more options for you. This gives you more time to work on driving traffic to your site and handling all the sales and processing. 

However, with just a little bit more leg work, you will have a fully customisable online store that encourages loyalty and brand recognition. Plus, you will have full control of your whole store, giving you increased marketing opportunities, the chance to retarget to customers and even a reduced cost per sale.

Why not both?

The best solution is to take advantage of both. Having a store in a marketplace can easily complement your online shop, and offer you more exposure for your business. Give both options a go, and see your products fly off the shelves! Good luck!

Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.