Daraz gives you buyers today and takes a cut of every sale. Your own store costs more up front, charges no commission, and makes you find the buyers yourself. Most Pakistani sellers should start on the marketplace and add their own store once they know what sells.
This guide shows the maths so you can decide with numbers rather than opinion.
The real difference in one table
| Marketplace (Daraz) | Your own store | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost to start | Near zero | PKR 45,000 to 150,000 |
| Commission per sale | A percentage of every order | None |
| Payment gateway fee | Included in the commission | Roughly 2 to 3% per transaction |
| Who brings the buyer | The marketplace | You do |
| Who owns the customer data | The marketplace | You do |
| Price control | Pressured by campaigns | Fully yours |
| Branding | Their layout, their rules | Entirely yours |
| Risk if rules change | High. Your listing can be suspended | Low. It is your asset |
Commission rates differ by category and change over time, so check the current rate for your own category in your seller dashboard before you run the numbers below. Sellers commonly report rates in the high single digits to high teens as a percentage, plus fees for payment handling and sometimes fulfilment.
Work out your own break even
The question is not which is better in general. It is at what monthly sales volume does your own store become cheaper than paying commission. That has a clear answer for your business.
The calculation
Take your monthly sales through the marketplace. Multiply by your commission rate. That is what you pay per month for their traffic. Compare it to the one time cost of your own store, plus its running costs.
| Monthly sales (PKR) | Commission at 12% | Paid over 12 months | Own store at PKR 45,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50,000 | 6,000 | 72,000 | Pays for itself in about 8 months |
| 100,000 | 12,000 | 144,000 | Pays for itself in about 4 months |
| 250,000 | 30,000 | 360,000 | Pays for itself in under 2 months |
| 500,000 | 60,000 | 720,000 | Pays for itself in under 1 month |
Swap in your real commission rate and your real monthly sales. The pattern holds regardless: the more you sell, the more expensive the marketplace becomes.
But read the next section before you act on that table, because it is missing something important.
The catch nobody mentions
That table compares costs. It does not compare sales. Those are not the same thing.
The commission is not a tax. It is the price of the traffic. Daraz sends you buyers who were already searching for a product like yours. Your own store sends you nobody until you make that happen.
So the honest version of the calculation adds a line: what will it cost you every month to bring the same number of buyers to your own site? That is SEO, ads, social, or all three. Budget realistically for that, not optimistically.
If you move a business doing PKR 250,000 a month off the marketplace and do nothing to replace the traffic, you do not save PKR 30,000. You lose most of the 250,000.
When the marketplace is the right answer
- You are starting out and do not know what sells. The marketplace is the cheapest market research available. Let real buyers tell you which products move before you invest in infrastructure.
- Your products are commodities. If people search by product rather than brand, the buyer is already on the marketplace and you should be there too.
- You have no budget for marketing. A store nobody visits earns nothing, no matter how good it looks.
- Your margins are thin but volume is high. Fulfilment and returns handling has real value.
When your own store is the right answer
- Your monthly commission bill exceeds the cost of a store. If you are paying PKR 30,000 a month in commission, you are paying for a new website every six weeks and owning nothing.
- You have repeat customers. Paying commission on a returning customer who already knows your brand is the worst money in this business. They came for you, not the marketplace.
- You are building a brand. A marketplace listing sits beside twenty competitors on the same page. Your own store does not.
- You want the customer data. Phone numbers, emails and order history are what let you sell again without paying for the same customer twice.
- You sell something that needs explaining. Custom, technical or high value products need space a listing template does not give you.
The answer most sellers actually need
Do both. This is not a loyalty test, and treating it as either or costs money.
A structure that works well in Pakistan:
- Keep the marketplace for discovery. New customers who have never heard of you find you there. Accept the commission as a customer acquisition cost, because that is exactly what it is.
- Run your own store for repeat business and full price sales. Put the URL on your packaging, your invoice and your WhatsApp. A customer who buys directly the second time costs you nothing to acquire.
- Route repeat buyers deliberately. An insert in the box with a discount code for your own store is the cheapest marketing you will ever run.
Sellers who do this typically find direct sales climb steadily as their customer base grows, while the marketplace keeps doing the job it is genuinely good at, which is introducing them to people who have never heard of them.
What your own store needs to actually work
A store that competes with a marketplace listing has to clear a bar. The marketplace has trained your customer to expect certain things.
- Cash on delivery. Still the default expectation for many Pakistani buyers. A store without it loses sales.
- JazzCash and EasyPaisa. Mobile wallet checkout is normal now. Card only checkout narrows your market.
- A working phone experience. Most of your traffic is mobile. Test it on a real phone on mobile data, not on your desktop.
- Visible delivery cost and time. Buyers abandon carts over surprise shipping charges more than over the price itself.
- An obvious returns policy. The marketplace provides trust by default. On your own site you have to build it yourself.
- A WhatsApp button. Many Pakistani buyers want to ask before they buy. Let them.
What it costs to set up
| Package | Price (PKR) | Suitable for |
|---|---|---|
| Starter Store | 45,000 | Up to 50 products, JazzCash and EasyPaisa, cash on delivery |
| Professional Store | 85,000 | Up to 500 products, discount codes, courier integration, customer accounts |
| Enterprise Store | 150,000 | Unlimited products, wholesale pricing, inventory integration |
Add roughly PKR 8,000 to 17,000 a year for domain and hosting, and budget for a maintenance plan. A store that takes orders cannot afford to be down.
Frequently asked questions
Is it worth leaving Daraz completely?
Usually not. The marketplace is good at introducing you to new customers. The mistake is paying commission on customers who already know you. Keep it for discovery and move repeat business to your own store.
How much does an online store cost in Pakistan?
PKR 45,000 for a starter store with up to 50 products and mobile wallet checkout, PKR 85,000 for a larger store with courier integration, and PKR 150,000 and above for custom or wholesale platforms.
Can I keep the same stock across both?
Yes, but do it carefully. Selling the last unit in two places at once creates a cancellation and a bad review. Either hold buffer stock for each channel or use inventory sync so both update together.
Do I need a company registration to run my own store?
To accept payments through JazzCash or EasyPaisa business accounts you will generally need business documentation. Requirements change, so check the current list with the provider before you plan the launch date.
Will my own store rank on Google?
It can, but not automatically and not immediately. Ranking takes correct technical setup, product pages written for how people actually search, and time. Budget for that alongside the build, or the store will sit empty.
Which should I start with if I only have PKR 50,000?
Start on the marketplace and find out what sells. Spend the 50,000 on stock, not on infrastructure for products that may not move. Build the store once you have proof.