Should you sell on your own website or on a marketplace?

Fees are easier to judge in Rands. On a single R500 sale, a 30% commission costs R150 and a 15% referral fee costs R75. On your own site, a PayFast card payment costs R18 plus VAT, Ozow pay by bank costs R7.50, and a bank transfer with a reference costs nothing.

The customer. On a marketplace the buyer is the marketplace's customer, and you usually cannot contact them again. You are also listed next to your competitors, and the rules, fees and ranking can change without warning.

When you are testing whether anyone wants the product before spending on a site. When customers in your trade expect to order through an app, as they do for food delivery. And when the marketplace brings buyers you could not afford to reach any other way.

When customers come back, because every repeat order on a marketplace pays the commission again. When your products need explaining, which a marketplace listing does badly. And when the margin cannot carry 15% to 30%. Citrus Aura sells handmade products from its own store, with nationwide delivery and a checkout that costs nothing per sale.