Selling online used to mean having your own website where customers purchased products. Now, businesses of all kinds are learning how to sell online without websites of their own, using social commerce, messaging apps, and global marketplaces. These platforms act as full-fledged sales channels: globally, the social commerce market alone was estimated to surpass $1 trillion in 2024, and it’s projected to reach over $17 trillion by 2033.

Customers discover products on these platforms every day. The path to a sale can run through an Instagram Reel, a WhatsApp chat, or a marketplace search just as easily as through a traditional online store. Below, we’ll discuss how to sell without a website, which channels and tools make it work, and how businesses can use these platforms to improve sales.

What’s in this article?

• How can businesses use social platforms and marketplaces to sell without a website?
  
• What tools enable payments and order management when selling without a dedicated site?
  
• How do sales channels other than business-owned websites affect customer acquisition, trust, and retention?
  
• What challenges come with using third-party platforms for sales?
  
• In what scenarios is selling without a website a practical strategy?
  
• How can businesses choose the right mix of channels to sell effectively without a website?
  
• How Stripe Payment Links can help
  

How can businesses use social platforms and marketplaces to sell without a website?

When you sell without your own website, customers purchase your products on the social platforms, marketplaces, or other channels they already use rather than through a domain specific to your business.

Many social platforms and marketplaces are ready-made storefronts. Selling there provides built-in visibility and infrastructure while keeping the sales flow lightweight.

Here are some of the main channels:

• Online marketplaces: Marketplaces like Amazon, Etsy, Mercado Libre, and Shopee provide search-driven discovery. They also offer built-in checkouts, payment processors, and logistics. In 2024, the global gross merchandise value of online marketplaces was about $3.83 trillion, with 10% growth over the previous year.

• Instagram: On Instagram, US businesses can use shoppable posts, Stories, and Reels to turn product discovery into immediate purchase paths. Tagged products route people to an in-app checkout.

• WhatsApp: Businesses on WhatsApp can create a catalog. In some countries, customers can message an order or add products to a cart and complete payment via chat with Pix, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), or other methods. This is a common selling method in India, Southeast Asia, and Latin America.

• TikTok and live selling: TikTok Shop and live stream selling blend entertainment and commerce. Sellers demonstrate products, and viewers can buy them directly in the app. The app launched TikTok Shop in 2023 and moved about $7 million of products a day in the US.

What tools enable payments and order management when selling without a dedicated site?

If you’re selling without your own website, customers still need to be able to see what you offer and to pay securely. Payment links, mobile tools, and dashboards can help make this happen with minimal technical overhead.

Here’s what to look for:

• Payment links and hosted checkout pages: Some providers let sellers generate a secure checkout page for a specific product or amount and share it anywhere (e.g., DMs, email, text message, social bios). For example, Stripe Payment Links handles global payments with customized branding, giving businesses a no-code way to accept payments while giving customers a faster checkout experience.

• Mobile payment apps and QR codes: Businesses that sell locally often use mobile payment apps to collect money quickly in person or through messaging apps. QR codes make the flow nearly instant. These tools usually offer lighter order tracking features than full ecommerce systems do.

• Marketplace dashboards: Online marketplaces like Amazon generally manage nearly everything, from order intake and payment confirmation to shipping labels, messages, returns, and analytics. These end-to-end dashboards can become operational hubs for sellers.

• Social commerce tools and integrations: Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp provide catalog infrastructure and (in some regions) in-app checkout. Third-party automation add-ons can help stabilize workflows, for example, by pulling DM orders into a shared inbox or syncing catalog updates.

• Online invoicing platforms: Businesses that quote custom work, such as freelancers and B2B suppliers, typically need to send digital invoices with line items. Online invoicing platforms enable customers to pay online. These can double as order records and plug easily into accounting workflows.

• Multichannel order management software: Sellers that operate across marketplaces and social platforms can use these management tools, which centralize orders and inventory in one dashboard. This prevents overselling and keeps the fulfillment process consistent even when sales come from different places.

How do sales channels other than business-owned websites affect customer acquisition, trust, and retention?

Selling through third-party platforms can change how businesses find customers, build credibility, and run day-to-day operations. As with any outsourcing decision, there are pros and cons.

Using these sales channels can impact the following:

• Customer acquisition: Marketplaces supply built-in demand since shoppers on those sites are already searching for products. Social platforms also drive discovery through content and community. But businesses on third-party platforms lose some control over how and when customers find them.

• Customer trust and brand perception: Marketplaces lend credibility even to little-known sellers through familiar checkout flows, buyer protections, and review systems. On social channels, customers might be wary of scams and want proof that sellers are legitimate.

• Conversion and checkout performance: Nearly 72% of potential purchases are lost to cart abandonment. Third-party platforms and hosted checkouts fine-tune the design, which helps more buyers complete purchases.

• Data access and control: Third-party channels can limit visibility into customer behavior and restrict how businesses can contact buyers. This can make it harder for businesses to build owned audiences, test marketing strategies, and access deeper analytics.

What challenges come with using third-party platforms for sales?

If you sell on third-party platforms, you’re probably giving up some control and profitability in exchange for reach and convenience. Although the trade-off can be very worthwhile for many businesses, it’s important to plan around these restrictions.

Be mindful of the following:

• Platform fees and commissions: Marketplaces typically take a percentage of every sale. Over time, these fees put pressure on margins and influence pricing strategy in ways a business can’t fully control.

• Fixed templates: Sellers on third-party platforms often work within fixed templates for product pages, checkouts, and messaging systems. This narrows brand expression and makes it harder for customers to differentiate between competing listings, which can heighten pressure on price and reviews.

• Platform dependence: If a third-party platform is a primary sales channel, unpredictable algorithm shifts, new listing rules, or fee changes can be disruptive. Account suspension for any reason effectively shuts down sales.

• Scalability limits: As order volume increases, it becomes more difficult to manage dashboards, inboxes, and fulfillment processes. Sellers might need additional tools or workflows to maintain consistency, especially when platforms cap certain features or restrict catalog syncing across channels.

In what scenarios is selling without a website a practical strategy?

Selling without a dedicated business website can work well when you’re looking for speed, simplicity, and audience fit. These should be more important than customer retention and branding, which might improve with a full online storefront of your own.

See whether you fit into any of these categories:

• Early-stage launches: New businesses can use social platforms, messaging apps, or marketplaces to start selling quickly. This lets them validate demand and refine their products before they invest in development and web design.

• Small-scale sellers: Makers, artists, and resellers often use marketplaces or social platforms. These channels’ customer bases and simple workflows suit low-volume operations.

• Brands with strong social presence: Businesses with active social media followings can use those platforms to directly convert engagement into sales. This works especially well for creators and lifestyle products, where visual storytelling drives demand.

• Brick-and-mortar stores testing online sales: Local shops might incrementally grow an online presence by listing some inventory on marketplaces or accepting orders through messaging apps. This helps them try out digital fulfillment without the pressure of running a full ecommerce site.

• Products that fit marketplace behavior: Certain goods perform best where buyers already search for them (e.g., handmade goods on Etsy, vintage items on specialized platforms). In these cases, a marketplace storefront could outperform a stand-alone site.

• Short-term or pop-up sales: Established businesses might use payment links or social posts to sell seasonal or limited drops. This lets them run short, high-demand campaigns without building new web pages or carts.

How can businesses choose the right mix of channels to sell effectively without a website?

With so many online marketplaces available, it can be overwhelming to decide where to sell. To build the right mix of platforms, take time to understand where your customers already spend time and which tools best support your sales flows.

Here are some tips:

• Start where customers already are: Pick platforms that match how your audience discovers and buys. This might mean social commerce for visual or community-driven products, or marketplaces for search-driven demand.

• Combine channels with complementary strengths: Not everything has to happen in the same place. You can use social platforms for discovery and marketplaces for conversion, or you can pair a marketplace presence with conversational ordering on messaging apps.

• Evaluate channel performance: Track where customers originate, how well each channel converts, and which signals drive reliable sales. Use that data to support the channels that actually move revenue.

• Stay adaptable: Policies, algorithms, and commerce features change quickly, and new channels are constantly emerging. Avoid getting stuck in one place, and you’ll be protected against disruption and well positioned to move quickly when a promising channel opens up.

• Build owned presence over time: Even a simple landing page, sign-up form, or brand hub gives customers a place to return and can help you gradually build an owned audience. This sets the foundation for lasting relationships, whether or not sales still happen elsewhere.

How Stripe Payment Links can help

Stripe Payment Links is a no-code solution that allows you to quickly create and share secure payment pages online.

Payment Links can help you:

• Get paid faster: Share custom payment links with customers and accept one-time or recurring payments instantly, without invoicing or complex integrations.

• Improve conversion: Boost payment conversion rates with a mobile-optimized design and streamlined checkout experience.

• Save time: Easily create, customize, and share payment pages through the Stripe Dashboard—with minimal coding.

• Expand globally: Accept payments from customers worldwide, with Adaptive Pricing localizing prices for 135+ currencies and offering local payment methods that are ready to use.

• Access other Stripe products: Integrate Payment Links with other Stripe products—such as Stripe Billing, Stripe Radar, and Stripe Tax—to add more payment capabilities.

• Maintain control: Customize the look and feel of your payment pages to match your brand, and track all your payment activities in one place.

Learn more about how Payment Links makes it easier to accept online payments, or get started today.