Buying and selling on large platforms.
How to choose · Online marketplaces
Match the marketplace to where your buyers already start their search, then test whether your margins survive the platform's commission structure, fulfilment rules and return expectations. General-purpose platforms bring volume and price pressure; category and craft platforms bring more qualified but smaller audiences. Start with one channel, measure contribution after all platform costs, and expand only when operations can absorb the extra order flow.
Comparison · Online marketplaces
A marketplace lends you its audience and trust in exchange for control and a share of every sale. An own store gives control of brand, data and margin but makes you responsible for generating every visitor. Most merchants begin on marketplaces to validate demand, then build an owned channel to capture repeat customers, keeping the marketplace for discovery rather than as the foundation of the business.
Problems & fixes · Online marketplaces
Work through the platform's own dispute process first, within its stated deadlines, and keep evidence of everything. If that fails, payment providers and national consumer agencies offer further routes. Consumer rights differ by country, so check your own consumer protection body. The order of escalation matters: message the seller, open a platform claim, then consider a card or payment provider dispute.
Suitability · Online marketplaces
Check who is actually selling, how long they have operated, how their reviews read as a pattern, and whether the listing details are specific and consistent. Treat unusually low pricing, vague descriptions and pressure to pay outside the platform as warning signs. Keep payment and conversation inside the marketplace so protection policies remain available if something goes wrong.