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Neither direct-to-consumer (D2C) nor marketplace selling is automatically the better starting point for a new consumer brand. Choose based on where your customers shop, what each channel contributes after all costs, how much control and customer insight matter to your business, and what your team can reliably operate. You can also use both, provided each channel has a clear job.
What D2C and marketplace selling mean
D2C means selling to end customers through a channel the brand operates, such as its own ecommerce site, rather than relying on a third-party retailer or marketplace for that transaction. A marketplace is a third-party platform where customers browse and buy products from multiple sellers. These are sales channels, not mutually exclusive business identities.
The distinction is mainly about who operates the shopping environment and how customers reach the product. Shopify’s overview compares distribution, brand control, customer data and insight, personalization, and speed as relevant dimensions; it is a commerce-platform publisher, so its framing is useful, but it does not prove that one channel performs better for every brand. Shopify’s D2C and B2C comparison and its D2C and wholesale overview provide additional context.
Compare the channels on the factors that affect your business
| Factor | D2C storefront | Marketplace |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery | You need to attract and convert visitors through channels such as marketing, referrals, or existing awareness. | Products can appear in the context of shoppers already using the platform, but visibility and sales are subject to platform tools and rules. |
| Brand and experience control | You control more of the storefront, presentation, and customer interactions. | The platform controls more of the shopping environment and customer relationship. |
| Customer insight | You can collect first-party data from customers who buy through your channel, subject to applicable privacy requirements and your own practices. | Customer information available to sellers depends on the platform and its rules; it is not accurate to assume sellers receive none. |
| Costs to include | Customer acquisition, ecommerce operations, payment processing, fulfillment, packaging, support, and returns. | Plan charges, category referral fees, fulfillment or shipping, advertising, returns, and other applicable program or category charges. |
| Operational work | Your team is responsible for traffic, storefront operations, fulfillment, service, and returns. | You work within the platform’s selling environment, tools, fees, and policies; your team still needs to manage listings, inventory, orders, and buyer expectations. |
Customer discovery and acquisition
A marketplace may put a product in front of shoppers who are already browsing that platform. That does not make it automatically cheaper to acquire customers: placement, advertising, competition, category behavior, and repeat purchasing all affect the economics. A standalone D2C site requires the brand to create or acquire traffic and convert visitors, but its acquisition cost also varies by audience, category, and execution.
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Amazon’s US pricing page reproduces a testimonial from Dewar Gaines, identified as Founder & CEO: “There’s no question Amazon is the most efficient place in the world to reach new customers. It’s more than 50% cheaper for us to acquire a new customer through Amazon than it is elsewhere.” This is one seller’s statement hosted by Amazon, not a general benchmark or independently verified comparison. Amazon’s pricing page
Brand control and customer insight
A brand-operated site gives you more control over how products are presented and how the purchase experience works. It can also give you direct insight into customers who transact there. That control brings responsibility: the brand must build the storefront and customer journey, and use customer information in accordance with applicable rules.
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On a marketplace, the platform shapes the product page, checkout, and much of the post-purchase experience. The seller’s access to customer information varies by platform and its policies, so plan around the actual permitted data and tools rather than assuming either full access or none.
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Do not compare a marketplace commission with only a D2C subscription fee. Build a contribution-margin view for each SKU in each channel, including all costs that vary with selling there. Use your actual product, acquisition, fulfillment, service, and returns data; there is no universal break-even point that establishes one channel as more profitable for every new brand.
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Amazon’s official US pricing page lists an Individual selling plan at $0.99 per item sold and a Professional plan at $39.99 per month, plus selling fees. Referral fees vary by category and are calculated as a percentage of the total price or a minimum amount, whichever is greater. The page gives 15% examples for Home and Kitchen and Sports and Outdoors; fee categories can differ from customer-facing store categories. These are US-specific figures that can change. Review the current Amazon Seller Central fee schedule and Amazon pricing page before making a decision.
Amazon’s Revenue Calculator can estimate costs for Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) and a seller’s own fulfillment method. Treat the result as an estimate: enter the exact product, dimensions, selling price, and fulfillment assumptions, and verify current fees. A calculation based on the wrong size tier or fulfillment method is not a useful channel comparison.
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Operational capacity
Channel economics only matter if the team can deliver the promised experience. A D2C operation requires reliable traffic generation, ecommerce operations, inventory accuracy, shipping, support, and returns handling. A marketplace provides a defined selling environment, but the seller must comply with its tools, fees, service expectations, and policies. Assess staffing and day-to-day capacity alongside strategy.
When a hybrid strategy makes sense
D2C and marketplaces can serve different purposes—for example, one may support a brand-led shopping experience while another helps reach shoppers on a platform they already use. A hybrid approach is not automatically safer or more profitable: it adds coordination work across inventory, pricing, product content, fulfillment, and returns.
Amazon announced Seller Central multichannel tools for connecting Amazon, eBay, Shopify, TikTok, and Walmart accounts and managing listings, orders, fulfillment, and profitability reporting. The announcement described a gradual US rollout, so check Amazon’s announcement and Seller Central for current availability and capabilities before relying on those tools.
A practical way to choose
- Map customer behavior. Identify who buys the product and where they already search, discover, and purchase in the category.
- Estimate contribution by SKU and channel. Include all platform and operating costs, acquisition, fulfillment, service, and returns. Use observed acquisition and repeat-purchase data where available.
- Decide what the relationship is worth. Assess how important direct interaction, brand storytelling, and first-party customer insight are to the business model.
- Check operational readiness. Confirm the team can maintain listings or a storefront, keep inventory accurate, meet shipping promises, support buyers, and handle returns.
- Test where the answer is uncertain. Run a limited channel mix for a defined period with clear measures: net contribution, new-customer acquisition, repeat purchase, returns, and operational load.
For broader context, Shopify reported eMarketer figures of $240 billion for DTC in 2025 and a forecast that DTC would account for 19% of total US retail ecommerce sales in 2025. These figures, reported by Shopify in its 2026 comparison article, describe broad market context—not the likely revenue, profitability, or channel fit of an individual new brand. Shopify’s article is available at shopify.com/blog/b2c-vs-d2c. Amazon has also said that independent sellers account for more than 60% of sales in its store; that is an Amazon-published company figure, not evidence that marketplace selling outperforms D2C for a particular brand. Amazon’s seller pricing page
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
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