Should I start on marketplaces or build my own D2C site first?
The short answer
Marketplaces give you instant discovery and built-in trust, genuinely useful when you have no brand recognition yet, while your own site gives you full margin, customer data ownership and pricing control from day one. There's no universal right answer: a McKinsey-cited survey of Indian MSMEs found roughly a 53/47 split favouring D2C-first vs marketplace-first, which tells you both paths work depending on category and capital. If your product needs discovery (broad category, price-comparison shoppers) start on marketplaces; if it needs storytelling and repeat purchase (skincare routines, subscription-friendly categories) invest in your own site first and add marketplaces once you have proof of demand.
A quick summary to orient you. The real value is below: the resources worth your time, from people who've actually done it, not us.
Here are the resources
Hand-picked from around the web, each with a note on why it earns your time. India-specific ones carry a badge.
3 resources2 India-specific2 link-checked
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📄 Article
✓ Link checkedIndiaFreeBeginner
Why we picked it
A practical, decision-oriented take squarely aimed at founders weighing exactly this choice, with less macro fluff than some of the trade-press coverage on the same topic.
Why we picked it
A fulfilment-company's-eye view of the website-vs-marketplace decision, which is useful precisely because it centres on the operational (not just marketing) implications of each path.
Why we picked it
A current, India-specific framing of the D2C-vs-marketplace decision, written for exactly the founder audience asking this question, not a generic global strategy piece retrofitted with Indian examples.
