Own Website vs Selling on Shopee or Lazada: Which Should You Do?

Most Malaysian businesses should do both, but own a website as the anchor. Shopee and Lazada give you instant traffic and buyer trust, yet they take a commission on every sale, own the customer relationship, and can suspend your shop with little warning. A website costs more to start, from around RM4,999, but it keeps the full margin, the customer data, and your brand. Sell on marketplaces for reach, then convert and keep those buyers on your own site.

The two options side by side

The table below is the decision in one view. The split comes down to who owns the customer and who takes a cut of each sale.

What decides it	Shopee / Lazada	Your own website
Cost to start	Free to open; fees on each sale	From ~RM4,999 one-time to build
Cost per sale	Commission + transaction fees, always	Only your payment-gateway fee
Who owns the customer	The marketplace does	You do
Traffic	Instant, built-in shoppers	You build it with SEO, ads, social
Buyer trust	High, borrowed from the platform	Earned over time on your own name
Control and risk	Platform sets rules, can suspend you	Yours, if you own the accounts
Best for	Commodity products, fast reach	Brand, margin, repeat customers

Source: marketplace fees are set in each platform's published seller fee schedule and change over time; the RM4,999 build figure is Storming Solutions' own published starting rate.

What does each really cost?

The costs are shaped very differently. A marketplace is free to open, so it feels like the low-risk option. But it charges a commission and transaction fee on every single order, set by the platform and changeable at any time.

That cut never stops, and it scales up exactly as your sales grow. A website is the reverse: a real upfront cost, from around RM4,999 for a professional build, plus hosting and maintenance, with no platform taking a slice of each sale.

Here is the crossover that matters. At low volume the marketplace is far less expensive. Past a certain monthly sales figure, the commissions you hand over would have paid for a website several times a year.

The full build breakdown sits in how much a website costs in Malaysia.

Who owns the customer and the data?

The marketplace owns the customer, and this is the part sellers underestimate. When someone buys from your Shopee shop, they are Shopee's customer, and you often cannot see their contact details.

That has a direct cost. To reach that buyer again, you usually pay the platform a second time through its own ads, because you never held the relationship.

On your own website you own the order data, the email list, and the relationship. That is what lets you sell to the same person a second and third time at no extra acquisition cost. It is also why owning your accounts matters so much: the domain and data should be in your name, not a developer's or an agency's. We've seen businesses locked out of their own website because a former vendor held the hosting and domain accounts, and winning those back is slow.

When should you start with a marketplace first?

Start with a marketplace when speed and zero upfront cost matter more than margin. If you are testing whether a product sells, competing mainly on price, or working without a build budget yet, a marketplace puts you in front of millions of shoppers this week for nothing upfront.

That is a genuinely smart first move. Use the marketplace to prove demand and generate cash, then build the website once the numbers justify it. If you are choosing between a builder and a custom site for that later step, see Wix versus a professional website.

When our verdict is wrong for you

Our verdict is wrong when your entire business is low-margin commodity resale to buyers who only ever shop on price. In that case a website may never earn back its cost, and living on marketplaces is the honest answer.

The "own a site" recommendation assumes you have a brand, a service, or repeat customers worth keeping. If you sell purely on being the lowest listing, the marketplace is where those buyers are, and that is where you should be too.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to choose between a marketplace and a website?

No. For most Malaysian sellers the strongest position is both: the marketplace for discovery and instant trust, your own site as the home base that keeps the margin and the relationship. They do different jobs. The mistake is treating a marketplace shop as your whole online presence, because then the platform owns your entire customer base.

At what sales volume does a website pay for itself against marketplace fees?

It depends on your commission rate, but the logic is simple to run. Add up the commission and fees you pay across a typical month, then compare that to a website's one-time build plus monthly upkeep. Once a few months of fees would cover a build, the marketplace-only model is quietly costing you more than a site would. High-volume sellers usually cross that line fast.

Can Shopee or Lazada really suspend my shop?

Yes. A marketplace sets its own rules and can restrict, penalize, or suspend a shop for policy breaches, disputes, or reasons you may not be able to appeal easily. Your listings, ranking, and even your store can change on the platform's decision. A website you own cannot be taken from you the same way, provided the domain and hosting are in your name.

Why can't I just market to my Shopee customers directly?

Because the buyer is the platform's contact, not yours. Marketplaces limit the seller's access to customer details precisely so the relationship stays with them. To reach that customer with a new offer, you generally have to pay the platform again through its ads. On your own site, the email and order history are yours to use.

Should a brand-new store start on a marketplace?

Often, yes. If you have no budget for a build and need to prove a product sells, a marketplace gets you trading this week with borrowed trust and traffic. Treat it as a testing and cash-flow stage. The moment the numbers are steady, add the website so you stop renting your entire customer base and start owning part of it.

Will a new website get traffic like a marketplace does?

Not immediately. A marketplace hands you built-in shoppers on day one; a website's traffic is something you build with SEO, ads, and social over months. That is the trade: the marketplace rents you reach, the website earns you an audience you keep. Most sellers run both so the site grows while the marketplace pays the bills.

Owning your side of the sale

Storming Solutions builds e-commerce and business websites in Kuala Lumpur on the Next.js framework, structured so customers find you on Google and AI search rather than only inside a marketplace. Builds start at RM4,999, and every store is registered in the client's own name.

Trying to work out whether your volume justifies a site yet? Tell us what you sell and roughly how much over WhatsApp or book a short call, or see what an e-commerce build includes on our web development page.