Why having your own site matters
Marketplaces are handy. They bring traffic and trust on day one. Still, a store you own lets you run the show. You control your brand, your margins, your data, and the entire customer experience. You decide how products look, what offers run, how checkout feels, and how follow-up is handled. You are also less exposed to policy shifts and fee changes on someone else’s platform. With online retail in Australia still growing, having your own e-commerce website helps you capture more demand and build long-term brand equity.
Marketplaces vs your own e-commerce website
Marketplaces give you instant reach, built-in credibility, and minimal setup. The trade-off is clear: fees, side-by-side competition on the same product pages, limited branding, and reduced access to customer data. Your own site flips that. You keep better margins, you control the experience, and you own the relationship, though you will need to invest in traffic and keep the site fresh. Many Australian businesses run both at once to balance reach and profitability.
Cost comparison at a glance
Channels and their typical ongoing fees
- Amazon.com.au: A$49.95 per month plus a category referral fee, commonly about 13% in many categories.
- eBay.com.au: About 11.9% to 12.9% Final Value Fee plus A$0.30 per order, optional store subscriptions
- Facebook Marketplace: Often zero for local pickup, about 10% on shipped orders, and payment processing may apply
- Your own website: About 1.5% to 3% payment gateway fee per order, plus hosting or platform subscription
At A$75,000 in monthly sales, a 13% marketplace fee is about A$9,750. A 2% card processing cost on your site is about A$1,500. Over a year, that gap can fund development, SEO, and campaigns that keep customers coming back to your site.
What to prepare before you build
When you decide to build your own e-commerce website, you need to make sure all the things listed below are already prepared. Your development vendor can also prepare those things for you.
- Goals and requirements
List products and variants, any B2B needs such as quote requests or tiered pricing, plus budget and timeline. A short project brief keeps you and any vendor aligned.
- Domain and hosting
Register a .com.au if you can. Hosted platforms include the infrastructure. Self-hosted options need separate hosting. Add an SSL certificate for secure checkout.
- Brand and content
Line up your logo, colours, product photos, descriptions, specs, pricing, shipping and returns, FAQs, About, Contact, and legal pages. This speeds the build and builds trust from day one.
- Payments and shipping
Choose gateways such as Shopify Payments, Stripe, PayPal, or an Australian provider like eWAY. Map shipping zones and carriers such as Australia Post or Sendle. Decide on flat rates or live quotes. Configure GST correctly.
- Legal and compliance
Display your ABN and set policies that align with Australian Consumer Law. Make privacy, terms, warranties, and returns easy to find and easy to understand.
- Vendor selection and ways of working
If you plan to hire a developer, review similar projects, confirm handover and training, and agree on maintenance. Set milestones for design, build, testing, and launch. Both offshore and local can work if communication and scope are clear.
- Testing and launch
Test taxes, shipping, and payments in sandbox mode. Check mobile usability and order emails. Announce the launch to your customers and channels.
- Marketing and SEO plan
Organic search takes time. Plan product SEO, useful content such as guides and how-tos, email capture, and paid campaigns where relevant. The big advantage of owning the site is the ability to retarget and grow your list.
Choosing a platform that fits a small team
Shopify (hosted). Quick to start, low maintenance, 24/7 support, and a strong app ecosystem. Costs usually include a monthly plan and standard card fees, with no extra transaction fee if you use Shopify Payments. Many first-timers pick Shopify to build their e-commerce website for speed and simplicity.
WooCommerce on WordPress (self-hosted). The software is free, hosting is low-cost, and there are no platform transaction surcharges. Flexibility and ownership are the drawcards, though you or a developer handles updates and plugin compatibility. Best when you want control and the lowest platform fees.
Other options. BigCommerce is a robust hosted alternative with no platform transaction fees. Website builders such as Wix and Squarespace can suit very small catalogues. Magento is powerful but heavy for a first build. If you sell on marketplaces, look for integrations that sync orders and stock with your e-commerce website.
Quick guidance
- Lowest maintenance: choose a hosted platform such as Shopify.
- Lowest platform fees and the most control: choose WooCommerce with a trusted developer.
- Multichannel: keep your website and keep using marketplaces, with integrations to simplify operations.
Read here to understand more about which one you should choose, WooCommerce or Shopify.
A practical, staged approach
- Keep your marketplace presence for reach.
- Launch your site with your top sellers and clear, trust-building pages.
- Redirect some ad spend to your own site and give reasons to buy direct, such as site-only bundles or added value.
- Nurture with email and remarketing, and grow organic search with useful content.
- Measure margins by channel each month and keep shifting the mix toward direct as performance improves.
An owned e-commerce website strengthens your brand, improves margins, and gives you resilience against marketplace changes. With a small team, pick the platform that matches your capacity, prepare the essentials up front, and roll out in stages so you keep the benefits of marketplaces while growing direct revenue.
If you have limited time, consider working with e-commerce outsourcing from Upscalix. We will help you provide an expert, such as an e-commerce website developer, web maintenance, and data analysis. Read here to learn more.
