Selling on Daraz vs your own website: which is better?

For a lot of Pakistani sellers, Daraz is where selling online began. You list a product, Daraz brings the shoppers, and orders arrive without you building anything. So the question we hear most is not 'Daraz or a website?' but 'I already sell on Daraz. Do I need my own website too?'

The honest answer depends on what you want the next two years to look like. Here is what each gives you, and what each costs you, so you can decide with your own numbers.

How selling on Daraz works for a seller

Daraz is a marketplace: many sellers, one shopfront. According to Daraz's own seller page (checked October 2026), there is no listing fee; Daraz deducts a commission from the payment for each order, and the rate depends on the product's category. The full rate table sits in Daraz's seller education material, and it changes, so check the current figures for your category before you price anything. Daraz also helps with shipping and pays order proceeds into your account.

What you get for that commission is traffic. Shoppers who already trust Daraz search for what you sell, and your product can appear in front of them on day one. For a brand-new seller with no audience, that is hard to beat.

What you give up on a marketplace

• The customer is Daraz's customer. You see the order, but you do not build a relationship you can return to with a new collection or an offer.
• Your product sits next to competitors, often sorted by price. Shoppers compare, and margins get squeezed.
• Your brand is small on the page. People remember 'I bought it on Daraz', not your name.
• The rules, fees and ranking are someone else's, and they can change.

What your own website gives you

Your own online store is the opposite trade. Nobody sends you shoppers, but every one who comes is yours: your prices with no rival listed beside them, your name in the address bar, your photos and your story. Customers who buy once can come straight back. You keep the order history and can contact them about their order.

A website also avoids a marketplace commission. Your costs are a plan fee (or nothing, on a free plan), any small per-sale fee your plan sets (some platforms, Biizay included on paid plans, charge one), delivery, and payment fees if you take cards. Our post on what a free online store really includes sets out what costs money even when the platform is free.

Daraz vs own website, side by side

• Getting shoppers: Daraz brings them; on your own site you bring them through Instagram, WhatsApp, Google and word of mouth.
• Cost per sale: Daraz takes a category commission; your own site usually takes none, but you pay for the store and your own marketing.
• Customer relationship: on Daraz, mostly the marketplace's; on your site, yours.
• Pricing pressure: high on Daraz, where rivals sit beside you; lower on your own store.
• Delivery and cash collection: Daraz helps with both; on your own site you arrange a courier and collect cash on delivery yourself.
• Branding: limited on Daraz; complete on your own site.

Should I sell on Daraz or build my own website first?

If you have no audience at all, Daraz can get your first sales faster and show you which products move. If you already have customers, followers on Instagram, or a shop people walk into, start your own website now: those people will happily order from you directly, and every order there is one you keep whole.

Why most growing sellers do both

The two channels do different jobs. Daraz finds new customers; your website keeps them. A common pattern is to list a focused range on Daraz, include a card with your own store's address in every parcel, and steer repeat customers to order directly next time.

The thing to get right when you sell in two places is stock. Sell the last piece on Daraz, forget to update your website, and a direct customer orders something you no longer have. Keep one master count and update the other channel as soon as you sell. On Biizay, your website, your point of sale and any phone or WhatsApp sales you record all draw from one stock count; a Daraz sale you reduce by hand.

What does it take to run your own store well?

1. 1Clear prices in rupees and delivery charges shown at checkout.
2. 2Cash on delivery, because many customers will not pay in advance to a store they have not used before.
3. 3Product pages that answer questions: sizes, material, what is in the box.
4. 4A way to bring people in: your Instagram bio, WhatsApp broadcasts, the parcel card.
5. 5Fast replies, especially in the first months.

Our checklist of the ten things every online store in Pakistan needs goes through each in detail.

How do I move Daraz customers to my own store?

Do it fairly and within the marketplace's rules. The parcel itself is your best channel: a well-designed insert with your brand name and store address, and a reason to visit, such as your full range or new arrivals that are only on your site, works far better than anything you can say in a marketplace chat.

Getting started

You can open a Biizay store free, add your Daraz best sellers first, and share the link with the customers you already have. The launch checklist walks through what to check before you tell anyone it is live.