Own domain vs marketplace: why your business needs its own website as well

Marketplaces are the fastest way to reach buyers who are already shopping. Your own website on your own domain is the only place where the customer, the brand and the rules are yours. Most sellers who last do both — the question is what each one is for.

What a marketplace gives you

• Buyers who are already searching, from day one.
• Trust you have not had time to earn yet.
• Logistics and payments arranged for you on many platforms.

What it costs you

• Commission and fees on every order, which you should add up per category before pricing.
• The marketplace's rules: returns policy, pricing pressure, listing changes and account health metrics you do not control.
• The customer relationship. You usually cannot market to the buyer again, and they remember the marketplace, not you.
• Side-by-side comparison with competitors on the same page, often on price alone.

What your own website gives you

• A customer list you own — repeat buyers you can reach again with offers and new arrivals.
• Your prices, your policies, your returns rules.
• No marketplace commission on orders you win yourself.
• A brand people can search for, link to and share on WhatsApp and Instagram.
• For wholesalers, a place to show trade prices only to approved buyers — something general marketplaces are not built for.

Why the domain matters

A store on yourbrand.in is an address you keep for as long as you renew it, whatever platform runs behind it. Everything you build around it — links in Instagram bios, QR codes on packaging, search rankings — keeps working if you change software later. A platform subdomain is fine to start; move to your own domain once you are printing it on things.

Using both, sensibly

A common pattern: use marketplaces for discovery, and give every marketplace buyer a reason to come to your own store next time — a card in the parcel with your web address, a better range, faster answers on WhatsApp. Over time, the share of repeat orders on your own site grows, and those orders carry no marketplace commission.

Getting your own store found

1. 1

   Connect your domain

   Point your domain at your store and verify it. On Slaby this is in Settings → Custom domains, with a step-by-step guide for the DNS records.

   Custom domain guide
2. 2

   Tell Google about it

   Verify the site in Google Search Console and submit its sitemap so new products are discovered quickly.

   Search Console guide
3. 3

   List products in Google Shopping

   Add your product feed to Google Merchant Center so products can appear in Shopping results.

   Merchant Center guide
4. 4

   Make it easy to come back

   Your storefront installs to a phone's home screen as an app with your logo. Put the address on every parcel and invoice.

Common questions

Should I leave the marketplace once I have a website?

Not necessarily. Many sellers keep marketplaces for discovery and grow repeat business on their own site. Decide per channel based on what each order actually earns after fees.

Do I need my own domain to start?

No. On Slaby every store starts on a Slaby subdomain (yourname.slaby.in), included on every plan. Connecting your own domain is included from Starter up — see /pricing.

Will my website show up on Google?

Search engines can index a public store once it is live, but rankings take time and depend on your products, content and links. Verifying in Search Console and submitting your sitemap helps Google find it.

Does Slaby take a commission like a marketplace?

No. Slaby charges a flat monthly subscription and 0% commission on your own storefront's orders.

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