We sell on marketplaces (a marketplace, a marketplace) but margins are very low — if I move to my own site, can I find customers?

We did exactly that... We were selling on the marketplace, margins were very low... We started on our own site and ran ads, after 4 months 20% of traffic started coming from our own site. In the 8th month marketplace sales dropped 60% but our own site increased by 40%. Net: Sales increased by 15% and margins improved.

Be careful about customer migration, read the marketplace contract carefully. tbh some didn't ban it, some said 'banned if caught'. I asked the employer beforehand, they said it's okay.

So what would you do to find customers on your own site? SEO ads? What's the budget? Because customers are 'ready' on the marketplace but not on your own site.

Ways to find customers: 1) SEO - optimize blog product pages. 2) Paid (Google Ads, Facebook/Instagram) 3) Email marketing - repeat sales to existing customers, 4) Influencers, 5) Content (YouTube, TikTok). If you have customers from the marketplace, they're all potential.

Tip: Create a newsletter header (landing page + email list). Suggest 'newsletter subscription' to customers after ordering, give a 10% discount too. Build an organic list then suggest new products to them.

marketplace commissions are terrible, but it has traffic. your own site has no traffic at first. from my side, i'd run ads and build the site then reduce marketing from the marketplace. a bit risky but it works.

good part of your own site: customer data is entirely yours email lists are yours, margins are entirely yours. on the marketplace, everything is in the platforms hands. move to your own site for the long term, but be patient unttil traffic increases.

Marketplace: 'sell, i'll take 25%.' You: 'okay but more or less?' Marketplace: 'less but i'm faster.' Own site: No traffic but 100% margin. Whichever you choose you lose — money loss on the marketplace, customer loss on your own site. Balance it.

I'd appreciate it if you shared the outcome.

correct.

im writing this so you dont make the same mistake. honestly dont enter any agreement without an exit plan.

correct me if Im wrong.

There's also a measurement aspect to this. Processes without records never improve, because you don't know what to fix.

Good luck with that.

My perspective changed after experiencing that. The biggest time-waster for us was not knowing who had the final say.

Of course, it varies if your situation is different.

We need to take it step by step. I mean calculate this based on total annual cost not the monthly bill.

It's rare to find an explanation this clear.

If I understood correctly, you're saying: Don't enter any agreement without an exit plan.

If I were you, I'd go this route.

Here's how it went for us. If you get three different answers on a topic, the question was asked wrong.

That's all, sorry if I went on too long.

ntoed thanks.

The discussion got scattered, let me summarize. Start with a small trial; dont commit to everything at once.

If I were you, I'd go this route.

absolutely and if I were to add anything: A small market isnt bad; working cheaply in a small markt is.

just leaving this note, it might be useful.