Growth & Strategy Conversations
A marketplace can send you orders. It can also decide what you earn on them.
Large e-commerce marketplaces give small sellers reach, trust and logistics that would take years to build alone. They also set the fees, the rules and the search ranking, and they hold the customer’s details. This conversation helps owners work out what an order truly earns after every cost, how much of their business rests on one platform, and what to build alongside it.
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Sales on a marketplace are not the same as profit from it.
For a small seller, listing on a large marketplace can look like the quickest way to a national market. Orders arrive, the platform handles payments and often delivery, and the seller sees sales rise. The question that is easy to skip is what remains after the fees, shipping, returns, discounts, advertising and tax handling are all counted.
The second question is what happens if the arrangement changes. Marketplaces can change their fees, rules and ranking, and can suspend or remove an account or a listing. A business that gets most of its orders from one place is exposed to all of that. This conversation is about doing the sums honestly and building some independence.
What the conversation covers
36 topics across 7 areas. Seven things to work out before leaning on a marketplace.
What You Get and What You GiveBoth sides of the arrangement.5
- Reach, buyer trust and search traffic
- Payment collection, delivery or storage support
- Fees and charges, which you must read in the current seller terms
- Rules on pricing, packaging, returns and listings
- Less direct contact with your buyer
Fees and terms change. Always read the current seller agreement and fee schedule yourself.
The Cost Sheet for One OrderFrom the buyer’s price to what you keep.6
A hypothetical example with made-up round numbers: an item sells for Rs 1,000. Product and packing cost Rs 500. Fees and shipping come to Rs 250, advertising to Rs 100. That leaves Rs 150 before returns, which in this example affect one order in ten. The session uses participants’ own products, with the current fee schedule from their own seller account.
- Product cost and packaging
- Marketplace fees and any charges for delivery or storage
- Payment and refund costs
- Discounts you give to compete
- Advertising spent to be seen
- Your own time, and tax handling
Returns, Damages and DisputesWhere margin quietly disappears.5
- How often items come back, and why
- Who pays for return shipping and for damaged goods
- The cost of items that cannot be resold
- What the consumer rules for e-commerce expect of sellers
- Product descriptions that reduce returns
Paying to Be SeenVisibility often has a price.5
- Why organic visibility may be hard for a new listing
- Advertising spend and what it must earn back
- Competing on price, and who wins that race
- Ratings, reviews and what influences them
- Whether you can afford to stay visible
Account and Policy RiskA rule change you cannot negotiate.5
- Accounts or listings that can be suspended or removed, sometimes with limited explanation
- Changes to fees, rules or ranking
- Cash held back from you for a period under the seller terms
- How much of your revenue is exposed to one platform
- A cushion of cash and an alternative route if it stopped
No marketplace is risk-free, and the risk is yours to plan for. Read the terms before you rely on them.
Building Your Own Customers AlongsideWithout breaking the marketplace’s rules.5
ONDC is a government-backed initiative that aims to let buyers and sellers transact across different apps rather than inside one platform. Whether it suits a given seller depends on the product, location and the apps available at the time, so check current availability and terms.
- Reading what the marketplace allows you to do with customer contact
- A brand name and quality that customers can look for elsewhere
- A direct route for repeat buyers: a phone number, a catalogue, a simple site
- Other routes, such as open networks like ONDC, in general terms: check what is available to your kind of product
- Offline and local sales that do not depend on the platform
Limits, Rules and a Plan BDecide before you are in trouble.5
- A cap on the share of revenue any one platform may provide
- GST registration and tax rules for selling through e-commerce operators: ask an accountant for the current position
- Consumer-protection obligations for sellers: check the current rules
- What you will do if your account is restricted
- A quarterly review of margin, share and risk
This is awareness, not tax or legal advice. Rules change, so check the current position for your own case.
What participants leave with
- A one-order cost sheet for one of their own products
- A returns and advertising check
- A dependence check showing how much rests on one platform
- A short plan for building direct and other routes alongside
- A list of questions for their accountant
What this session is not
- A guide to opening, ranking or promoting a listing on any particular platform
- A comparison or ranking of marketplaces
- Tax or legal advice
- A promise that marketplace sales will be profitable
How the session runs
A small group, two to three hours. Participants who already sell on a marketplace bring their current fee schedule and a few recent orders; those who are considering it bring a product and a price. The facilitator builds a cost sheet on a hypothetical product, then each participant builds their own. The group then looks at account risk and what each person would do if their account were restricted for a month. The session does not teach any platform’s interface.
What your students leave with
- A per-order cost sheet that shows what they truly earn, using their own numbers
- A view of how returns, ads and discounts change that figure
- A clear picture of the account and policy risks of relying on one marketplace
- A plan for building their own customers alongside, within the marketplace’s rules
- A limit on how much of their revenue one platform may account for
- A list of tax and consumer rules to check with a professional
Scheduled sessions
Nothing scheduled yet
Sessions are arranged with a college once a date is agreed. Ask us and we will find the right person for it.
A student rather than a college? See what is coming up, or ask your placement team to host this.
Know what an order earns, and keep a route to your customers that is your own.
Tell us who your students are and what stage they are at. Sessions are free for participants.