Marketplace or Website: What to Choose — and Why the Right Answer Is "Both"

This question comes up again and again among entrepreneurs weighing how to grow their online sales. On one side, marketplaces — Wildberries, Ozon, Yandex Market, Avito — give you instant access to a vast audience of buyers who are already in a buying mindset. On the other, building a website in New York City lets you establish an independent presence online that works for you rather than for the platform.

The short answer to "which should I choose" is: both. But not merely as two parallel channels — rather as a complementary system, in which the marketplace delivers fast traffic while your own website builds a long-term asset and protects you from the risks of platform dependence.

Why marketplaces are tactics, not a strategy

Marketplaces are attractive for obvious reasons: a huge ready-made audience, an easy launch, built-in payment and logistics tools. But several fundamental limitations make them an unreliable foundation for a long-term business.

Commissions and their growth. Marketplaces make money on sales commissions, and over time those commissions have a habit of rising. Wildberries has repeatedly changed its terms for sellers, adding new types of fines and fees. A seller who has built their entire business around a single marketplace becomes a hostage to those changes.

Price wars. On a marketplace, buyers can effortlessly compare prices across sellers. This creates relentless pressure on margins: competitors cut prices, you have to follow, and profitability erodes. On your own website, you control the price and can justify its value through content, service, and added advantages.

Anonymous customers. On a marketplace, the customer buys from the platform, not from you. You don't know who your buyers are, you can't reach them directly, and you can't build lasting relationships with them. A customer who bought from you on Wildberries may buy from a competitor next time — because they simply don't care which seller they buy from inside the platform.

The risk of being banned. Marketplaces block seller accounts — sometimes for real violations, sometimes by mistake. That instantly wipes out your entire turnover. A business that depends completely on a marketplace has no safety net for that scenario.

Dependence on algorithms. Your ranking in a marketplace's results is decided by algorithms you have no say over. The platform can change the algorithm at any moment — and your product listings slide onto pages no one ever reaches.

What your own website adds on top of a marketplace

Building a website for entrepreneurs from New York City alongside a marketplace presence solves several problems at once.

A hedge against marketplace risks. If your platform account is blocked or the terms change so much that selling there is no longer worthwhile, your own website keeps running. The customers who know you through your website will keep placing orders.

Direct sales with no commission. Every sale through your own website is a sale with no marketplace commission. For a high-volume business, that can mean substantial savings that feed straight into profitability.

Your customers are your asset. On your own website you know your buyers: their email addresses, phone numbers, purchase history, and preferences. That lets you drive repeat sales, run loyalty programs, and make personalized offers. Building a website in New York City gives you something a marketplace never will — a direct relationship with your customers.

A brand, not just a product. On a marketplace you sell a product. On your own website you sell a brand — a story, values, a sense of being one of a kind. That unlocks the ability to price above the market, because buyers are paying not only for the product but for their trust in the brand.

SEO and long-term traffic. A marketplace will not help you win positions in search results — that search traffic goes to the platform, not to you. Your own website lets you compete in search engines directly, capturing buyers who are looking for your products or services on Yandex and Google.

How to use a marketplace to grow your own audience

The right strategy isn't simply maintaining a parallel presence on a marketplace and on your own website — it's integrating the two. A marketplace can become a source of an initial audience that you then convert into a direct relationship through your own website.

There are several proven ways to do this. Invest in your packaging: branded packaging with a QR code that leads to your website, or an invitation to join your loyalty program. Build content into your product listings: links to your website in the descriptions, references to unique content available only there. Use post-sale communication: where the marketplace allows it, take advantage of buyer messaging to introduce your brand and your website.

The goal is to turn an anonymous marketplace buyer into a loyal customer of your brand who comes straight to you next time.

Building a website for different types of business

For a retail online store, your own website is a complete sales channel with a catalog, a cart, checkout, and a customer account. On top of that, a blog with product reviews, buying guides, and answers to questions pulls in organic traffic from search.

For a manufacturer, your own website is the chance to tell the brand's story, show the production process, and explain what sets you apart from competitors. Buyers who understand who makes a product and how are willing to pay more.

For a service business, a services marketplace (Profi.ru, Avito Services, Yandex Services) is a great way to win your first customers quickly. But building a website with a team from New York City, with detailed service descriptions, portfolio examples, and reviews, lets you compete on reputation and quality rather than on price.

What to do right now

If you operate only through marketplaces and have no website of your own, you are building a business on someone else's foundation. That can work well for a while, but the terms can change at any moment — and you will have no fallback.

Building a website in New York City doesn't mean walking away from marketplaces. It means creating a parallel channel that, over time, becomes your main asset online. The marketplace stays a source of traffic and new customers, but it is no longer the single point of failure for your online business.

The right answer to "marketplace or website" is "both." But if you have to choose where to start building a long-term business, the answer is clear: building a website for entrepreneurs from New York City gives you an asset that belongs to you. A marketplace never will.