You want to sell online, but where should you start: with your own shop, a marketplace such as Amazon, or both? The right answer depends on the product, audience, margins and long-term brand strategy.
Advantages of your own online shop
Your own shop is your digital home. You control the brand, catalogue, customer experience and the way products are presented. Customer Experience something that is often neglected in marketplaces.
Another major advantage is the Data sovereignty: You have direct access to Customer data, order history and user behaviourand gain first-party insight for marketing and product development. Subject to the appropriate privacy and consent requirements, E-commerce tracking (with the help of a Web analysis toolscan support relevant campaigns, customer segments and loyalty programmes.
The Margin can also support healthier unit economics: there is no marketplace commission on each direct sale, and you retain more control over pricing.
Disadvantages:
An independent shop is not automatically cheaper or easier. You need to generate demand through SEO, Google Ads, social media or email marketing all disciplines that require time, expertise and budget.
You also carry responsibility for Hosting, security, updates and backups or pay someone to do it.
Legal and privacy requirements, including GDPR, consent and cancellation rights, also remain your responsibility.
Advantages of marketplaces like Amazon
Amazon, eBay and Etsy offer the great advantage that you can Immediate access to millions of potential customers without having to do any marketing yourself.
Marketplaces already have customer trust, familiar payment flows and fulfilment services such as FBA (Fulfilment by Amazon). This saves you storage and logistics costs.
For many product searches, Amazon is a natural starting point. A listing can provide immediate access to a large audience and an established purchasing experience.
Consider how often shoppers go directly to Amazon for fast delivery, reviews and easy comparison instead of beginning with a general web search. That habit is a substantial advantage for marketplace sellers.
❌ Shady sides:
The trade-off is cost and control. Marketplaces charge sales, fulfilment and sometimes storage fees, all of which reduce margin.
They also limit control over the experience and customer relationship. The platform owns the rules and can change them.
Another problem: Price war and fierce competition. Standardised products attract many near-identical listings. Resellers can struggle against manufacturers and direct importers with lower costs.
Price pressure is not exclusive to Amazon, however. Undifferentiated reselling is difficult across the web.
Combining the two - is that even possible?
Many successful retailers combine an independent shop with Amazon, eBay or Etsy. The model can expand reach, but each channel needs a clear role.
What you should look out for:
- Pricing: Include every marketplace fee in the pricing model. Amazon may generate more volume while the independent shop needs to deliver stronger contribution margin.
- Product differentiation: One option is to sell high-volume products on marketplaces while reserving distinctive bundles or limited editions for your own shop.
- Storage and logistics costs: Using marketplace fulfilment alongside your own warehouse can also create duplicate inventory and storage costs.
- Brand strategy: Keep your shop at the centre of the brand and use marketplaces as additional acquisition and sales channels.
Which products are suitable for which channels?
Not every product is suitable for both channels. A few examples:
Ideal for Amazon:
- Standardised products with established demand, such as electronics and household accessories
- Consumer goods with low brand loyalty
- Lower-priced products that customers purchase repeatedly
Ideal for your own shop:
- Unique, customisable products (e.g. jewellery, fashion, DIY items)
- Niche products that appeal to specific target groups
- Premium or luxury items where the brand is important
- Products that are subject to Explanation or advice require
| Criterion | Own online shop | Amazon / Platforms |
| Control | Full control over brand, design and customer experience | Heavily restricted, strict platform rules |
| Customer data | Direct access, valuable for CRM and remarketing | No direct customer data, only order information |
| Margin | High profit per sale, no platform fees | No marketplace commission on direct sales, but operating costs remain |
| Marketplace, fulfilment and storage fees can be substantial | You are responsible for SEO, advertising and social acquisition | Large existing audience and high customer trust |
| Flexibility | High design and functional freedom | Limited design options |
| Traffic | Dependent on organic ranking and ads | High traffic alongside intense competition |
| Marketing | Full control of permitted email, content and social activity | Dependence on platform ranking and policies |
| Logistics | In-house solutions or external partners (e.g. DHL, DPD) | Fulfilment can simplify operations, but fees require careful modelling |
| Customer loyalty | Greater scope for personalised retention programmes | Customer loyalty often stays with the marketplace rather than the seller |
| Scaling | Highly scalable with greater technical and operational responsibility | Can scale quickly, but costs rise with volume |
Conclusion: model the margin before choosing the channel
If you use both routes, calculate channel-level costs precisely. Marketplace fees reduce contribution margin, so direct sales should generally produce a stronger margin to justify the additional operating effort.
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