From Daraz seller to your own Shopify store — when it makes sense for Pakistanis

Daraz is brilliant when you start. Pre-built customers, COD handled, no marketing skills required. But after 12–18 months, most growing Pakistani sellers hit the same ceiling — a large share of their potential profit is going to Daraz commission, ads, and pricing pressure. Here is when you should move.

The Daraz trap (in numbers)

• Daraz commission on every order (the rate depends on the category)
• Daraz Sponsored Ads: a further cost as you scale
• Discount campaigns: more margin given away
• Cash on Delivery returns: you pay shipping both ways on every one
• Net effect: a large share of each sale goes back to the marketplace and logistics

On your own Shopify or WooCommerce store, you keep the revenue minus payment gateway and courier costs. The math is dramatic once volume hits Rs 500,000+/month.

When to stay on Daraz

• You are doing less than 50 orders/month — Daraz traffic is still cheap for you
• Your category is low-margin (under 30%) — you can't afford ads on your own store
• Your product is commoditised — buyers don't search for your brand, only for the product type
• You haven't yet learned Facebook/Instagram ads — Daraz handles traffic for you

When to move to your own Shopify/WooCommerce store

• Hitting Rs 500,000+/month consistently on Daraz
• Margin per product is 50%+
• Customers ask about you (brand recall is real)
• You can run Meta/TikTok ads (or hire someone like us to)
• You want to upsell, cross-sell, or build subscription revenue
• You want to sell internationally (Daraz can't help here)

The smart hybrid approach (what we recommend)

Don't quit Daraz — run both. Keep Daraz as your discovery channel. Use your own store to capture loyal customers, offer better pricing, upsell bundles, and run email marketing flows. Over time the aim is for your own store to carry most of the revenue, with Daraz as a support channel.

Where to start