Short answer: A marketplace like Myntra or Ajio gives you demand without ad spend, but it keeps roughly 30% of every sale (illustrative) and sends back more returns. Your own website keeps more per order before ads, but you pay for every customer through Meta and Google. On the numbers below, the website wins only if your all-in cost to acquire an order stays under about ₹450. Above that, the marketplace order is more profitable.

If you run a D2C fashion brand at ₹10 lakh to ₹5 crore a month, you have probably asked which channel to push. Most founders compare revenue. That is the wrong comparison. This post compares profit per order, the way we look at it in our performance marketing work for D2C fashion brands.

The example: one kurta set, two channels

Take a women’s ethnic wear brand selling a kurta set at ₹1,800. Cost of goods (fabric, stitching, packaging inputs) is ₹630, which is 35% of the selling price. We compare 100 orders on each channel. These are illustrative numbers, not client results. GST applies to both channels, so it does not change the comparison.

Own website (Shopify + Meta/Google)

• Orders: 100 placed, 22 lost to RTO and size returns, so 78 kept. Kept sales: ₹1,40,400
• COGS on kept orders (returned stock restocked): ₹49,140
• Shipping and packaging: ₹90 per forward order = ₹9,000, plus reverse shipping on 22 orders at ₹80 = ₹1,760. Total ₹10,760
• COD handling and gateway fees: ₹40 per order = ₹4,000
• Profit before ads: ₹76,500, or ₹765 per order
• Ads at ₹500 acquisition cost per order: ₹50,000
• Profit after ads: ₹26,500, or ₹265 per order

Marketplace (Myntra/Ajio style)

• Orders: 100 placed, 28 returned (marketplaces often see higher returns), so 72 kept. Kept sales: ₹1,29,600
• Marketplace take (commission, fixed fees, logistics) at an illustrative 30%: ₹38,880
• COGS on kept orders: ₹45,360
• Return handling: 28 orders at ₹120 = ₹3,360
• On-platform ads at 8% of sales: ₹10,368
• Profit: ₹31,632, or ₹316 per order

Read that again. At ₹500 acquisition cost, the marketplace order earns ₹316 and the website order earns ₹265. The channel with no Meta dashboard made more money per order.

Where the website starts winning

The website earns ₹765 per order before ads. The marketplace earns ₹316. The gap is ₹449. So the website beats the marketplace only when your acquisition cost per order is below about ₹449.

At ₹300 per order the website earns ₹465, well ahead. At ₹600 it earns ₹165, well behind. During festive weeks, when Meta CPMs rise, many brands cross that line without noticing.

What the marketplace numbers hide

• You do not own the customer. No email, no WhatsApp, no repeat-purchase campaign. A website customer who buys again in the next wedding or festive season costs you nothing to acquire the second time.
• Price comparison. Once a marketplace lists your product cheaper, your website conversion drops. Keep prices consistent or the website pays for it.
• Cash timing. Marketplace payouts come after the return window. On the website, prepaid money arrives faster. Check your own settlement cycle before you plan stock purchases around it.
• Return rate. If your marketplace returns go from 28% to 35%, the ₹316 falls fast. Run the math again with your real number.

What festive CPM does to this comparison

Say your website acquisition cost is ₹400 in a normal month. Website profit per order is ₹765 minus ₹400, which is ₹365. The marketplace earns ₹316, so the website leads by ₹49 per order.

Now Navratri and Diwali push Meta costs up and your acquisition cost goes to ₹650. Website profit per order becomes ₹765 minus ₹650, which is ₹115. The marketplace still earns ₹316. You are now losing ₹201 per order by pushing the website harder than the marketplace, and the Meta dashboard may still show a healthy ROAS.

This is why we review channel mix before the festive calendar starts, not after. Shift budget towards products with lower returns and higher prepaid share, and cap website spend at the acquisition cost your own numbers allow.

How to decide, step by step

1. Pull 90 days of your own data: selling price, COGS, shipping, RTO and return rate for each channel.
2. Calculate profit before acquisition cost per order on the website.
3. Calculate profit per order on the marketplace after take rate, returns and platform ads.
4. Subtract the two. That gap is your breakeven acquisition cost.
5. Compare it with your blended cost per order from Shopify revenue divided by total ad spend, not Meta’s number.
6. If your cost is above the gap, fix RTO, prepaid share or creative before spending more on the website. If it is below, scale the website and use the marketplace as a second channel.

A simple rule for fashion brands

Use the marketplace for products you can price cleanly and ship with low returns, such as basics and tees. Use the website for higher-AOV, repeat-friendly products such as festive and occasion wear, where owning the customer pays back. Where you list on both, keep the price the same.

FAQ

Is selling on Myntra more profitable than my own website?

It can be. If your website acquisition cost per order is higher than the gap between website profit before ads and marketplace profit, the marketplace order earns more. In the example above that gap is about ₹449.

What commission does Myntra or Ajio take?

It varies by category and seller agreement, and it changes. Check your own current rate card. The 30% here is an illustrative all-in take, not a quoted rate.

Should a new fashion brand start on a marketplace or its own website?

Many brands test demand on a marketplace first, then build the website for margin and repeat customers. The order depends on your cash and product.

Why are marketplace returns higher for fashion?

Easy return policies and size uncertainty push returns up, especially for fitted styles and ethnic wear. Track returns by channel and by category.

How do I find my breakeven acquisition cost?

Take profit per order before ads, subtract your alternative channel’s profit per order, and compare the result with your blended cost per order.

Does RTO affect the website more than the marketplace?

Usually yes, because COD orders on your own website carry the forward and reverse shipping cost yourself. See our post on how RTO hurts Indian ecommerce brands and on break-even ROAS during Diwali.

If you want your own numbers run through this comparison, Purple Circle can review your unit economics with you. See how we work with fashion brands in our case studies, or read why selling is not the same as making money.

— Ashish Rai, CEO, Purple Circle