Your own online store or selling on marketplaces?

Selling online is no longer optional for many businesses, but the question arises: do I build my own online store or sell on marketplaces like Amazon? Each option has its place; the ideal is usually to combine them wisely.

Marketplaces: reach in exchange for dependence

Selling on a marketplace gives you immediate visibility and ready-made infrastructure. But you pay high commissions, compete on price with thousands of sellers and —most importantly— the customer is theirs, not yours: you control neither the brand nor the data.

Your own store: control and margin

Your own online store costs more up front, but it's an asset you control 100%: your brand, your margins, your customers and their data for retention. No one can raise your commission or change the rules on you.

• Higher margin with no per-sale commissions
• Direct relationship with the customer and their data
• Full control of brand, experience and pricing
• Your own SEO working for you long term

The winning strategy

The numbers to watch

Before deciding, do the maths: marketplace commission (often 15% or more) versus the cost of driving traffic to your own store. A tight-margin product may not sustain the commission; a branded product loses value diluted among thousands of identical listings.

Starting small also works

You don't need a thousand-item catalogue: many successful Costa Brava shops started by selling a short selection of their star product online. What matters is a flawless buying experience from the first order: reliable payments, clear shipping and photos that do the product justice.

Logistics and tax: what nobody tells you

Selling online is more than the website: you need to decide shipping rates (free above a certain amount?), returns policy, packaging and what happens with VAT when selling to other EU countries (the OSS scheme simplifies it, but you must register). None of this is hard, but discovering it after launch is expensive. That's why our online store service includes full tax, shipping and payment setup from day one, documented so your accountant has it easy.

Many businesses use the marketplace to acquire and their own store to retain and gain margin. At Somia Digital we build custom online stores, ready to sell in several languages across Europe. We'll help you decide your best mix.