How to Sell Products Online in India (2026)
To sell products online in India, start where buyers already are, such as Amazon, Flipkart or Meesho, and open your own WooCommerce or Shopify store once repeat orders justify it. A WooCommerce store costs about ₹4,380 in year one for hosting and a .com before GST, and keeps the customer, margin and data with you.
For Indian makers, shops and D2C founders deciding where to sell first and what they need for payments, shipping and GST.
knowledge
- Read time
- 5 min
- Sections
- 8
- Updated
- 14 Nov 2026
- Written by
- WebJi® team
Last editorial update: 14 November 2026. Prices follow the dated sources on this page; checkout confirms current charges.
Three ways to sell products online in India
You can sell through a marketplace that already has buyers, through your own online store, or through social channels such as Instagram and WhatsApp; most growing sellers combine a marketplace for discovery with their own store for repeat customers.
| Route | Start-up cost | You control | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marketplace (Amazon, Flipkart, Meesho) | No setup fee; a fee on each sale | Listings and price, within platform rules | Customer data and policies stay with the platform |
| ONDC via a seller app | Seller-app fees vary | Catalogue shown across several buyer apps | Experience depends on the seller app you choose |
| Own WooCommerce store | About ₹4,380 in year one before GST (hosting + .com) | Brand, pricing, customer list | You must bring the traffic and run updates |
| Own Shopify store | ₹1,499/month billed yearly on Basic (Shopify India pricing, read 3 Nov 2026) | Managed admin and checkout | App costs; 2% fee on Basic with a third-party gateway |
| Instagram / WhatsApp | No platform fee | Direct conversation | Manual orders, hard to scale |
Shopify figures from shopify.com/in/pricing, read 3 November 2026; WebJi® is not affiliated with Shopify. The WooCommerce figure is WebJi®'s ₹3,000 yearly cPanel hosting plus a .com at ₹1,380, before 18% GST (published pricing, checked 14 November 2026); themes, plugins and payment fees are extra.
What you need to sell on Amazon, Flipkart, Meesho or ONDC
Marketplaces ask for a PAN, a bank account in the business name, usually a GSTIN, a pickup address couriers can reach, and product data including weight, dimensions and HSN codes. In return they bring traffic, collect payments and often handle delivery.
- Documents: PAN, cancelled cheque or bank details, and a GSTIN for most categories.
- Catalogue: clear photos, titles, sizes, materials, HSN codes and accurate shipping weights.
- Pricing sheet: a price that already covers commission, closing fees, shipping and expected returns.
- ONDC: an open network rather than one marketplace; you join through a seller app, and your catalogue can appear in several buyer apps.
Marketplace fees change by category; read each platform's current rate card and calculate your margin per order before listing.
Selling from your own WooCommerce or Shopify store
Your own store keeps the customer list, pricing and margin, in exchange for doing your own marketing; WooCommerce is cheaper if you are willing to manage updates, and Shopify is quicker if you want checkout and admin handled for you.
Either way, a working store needs four things: a catalogue, an Indian payment gateway with UPI, pin-code-aware shipping and a GST-compliant invoice. WebJi® WooCommerce hosting starts at ₹300 a month before 18% GST, and a done-for-you online store build sets up all four and hands over the admin. The platforms are compared in WooCommerce vs Shopify, and full budgets in the e-commerce website cost guide.
Setting up payments: UPI, cards and cash on delivery
Connect a payment gateway, complete its KYC with PAN, bank details and your live website, and enable UPI, cards and net banking before launch; offer cash on delivery carefully, because COD returns cost money.
- Build the store first; gateways review the live site, including policy pages, during KYC.
- Install the gateway plugin, add API keys and test in sandbox mode.
- Place one real order in each payment mode and confirm the order is marked paid automatically.
- Set a COD limit by cart value or pin code, and consider partial prepayment for COD orders.
Gateway fees and settlement times are compared in payment gateways for Indian sites, and UPI setup on WooCommerce in UPI payments on WooCommerce.
Shipping and delivery for Indian online sellers
A courier aggregator gives one dashboard for rates by pin code, pickups, tracking and COD remittance, which suits sellers without a logistics team; direct courier contracts make sense once volumes justify negotiated rates.
- Serviceability: block pin codes your couriers cannot reach, or the order becomes a refund.
- Volumetric weight: light but bulky parcels are billed on size (length × width × height ÷ the courier's divisor), so measure packed boxes.
- Return-to-origin (RTO): failed COD deliveries come back at your cost; confirm COD orders by call or WhatsApp.
- Zones: set local, regional and national rates; WooCommerce shipping zones for India shows the settings.
GST, invoices and e-commerce rules for online sellers
GST registration is often needed earlier for online sellers than for shops: sellers of goods across state lines generally must register regardless of turnover, and marketplace selling has historically required registration too, with only a limited intra-state exemption since October 2023. Confirm your position with a chartered accountant before launch.
- Tax invoices: show GSTIN, HSN code, taxable value and CGST/SGST or IGST separately; an invoice plugin can generate them from each order, as in GST invoices in WooCommerce.
- Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020: show seller name and address, return, refund and exchange policies, and grievance contact details on the site.
- Return policy: state the window, who pays return shipping and the refund timeline, linked from product pages and the footer.
This is general guidance, not tax or legal advice. WebJi® hosting invoices are issued in INR with 18% GST.
A 30-day launch plan for selling online
Validate the product and margin, sort the paperwork and gateway KYC, build and load the catalogue, test a full order cycle, then soft-launch to people who already know you before spending on ads.
- Days 1–5, validate: check competing listings, prices and reviews; confirm margin after fees, shipping and returns.
- Days 6–10, paperwork: business bank account, GST registration if required, start gateway KYC.
- Days 11–20, build: photograph products, write descriptions with dimensions and materials, load products (bulk loading is in importing WooCommerce products by CSV), set shipping and COD rules.
- Days 21–25, test: order to your own address in every payment mode, print a label, track delivery, process one refund.
- Days 26–30, launch: open to your WhatsApp list and followers, fix what the first ten orders reveal, then start small paid campaigns.
For store hosting or build questions, email support@webji.services; replies are 24/7 in Hindi and English, on average within 60 minutes.
Frequently asked questions
Can I sell online in India without GST registration?
Sometimes. Some marketplace categories and intra-state sales by small sellers have relief, and services have a turnover threshold. Selling goods to customers in other states usually requires registration regardless of turnover. Ask a CA, because the answer depends on what, where and how you sell.
Should I start with a marketplace or my own website?
Start where buyers already search if you have no audience, usually a marketplace. Open your own store once repeat buyers or social followers justify it, and include a card in every package pointing customers to the store for future orders.
Is WooCommerce really cheaper than Shopify?
On platform cost, usually yes: hosting and a domain run a few thousand rupees a year against Shopify's monthly subscription. Paid plugins, a premium theme and your time for updates narrow the gap. Compare total yearly cost, including payment and app fees, at your expected order volume.
How do I get my first orders on a new store?
Sell first to people who already know you: WhatsApp contacts, Instagram followers and past marketplace buyers. List products on Google Merchant Center for free shopping listings, and run small, tightly targeted ads only after a few orders have tested the checkout.
Checked 15 November 2026 · WebJi® prices checked 14 November 2026 · Shopify read 3 November 2026 · Reviewed by the WebJi® team, Jaipur.
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