Before you worry about product photos, catalog specs, or listing optimization, there's a decision that comes first: where do you actually start? Amazon, Flipkart, and Meesho aren't interchangeable — they differ on entry barriers, fees, and who's actually shopping there. Here's the real comparison.
The entry barrier: GST is the real dividing line
This is the part most comparison articles skip, and it's the single biggest practical difference between the three:
- Amazon and Flipkart will not activate a seller account without a valid GSTIN. GST registration for e-commerce sellers isn't the usual turnover-based exemption everyone else gets (₹40 lakh for goods, ₹20 lakh for services) — marketplace sellers are required to register from their very first sale, by law.
- Meesho is the only major platform where that isn't a hard entry barrier. For a home-based or reseller-model business that hasn't registered for GST yet, Meesho is genuinely the only one of the three you can start on immediately.
If you're pre-GST-registration, this alone answers the question for you: start on Meesho, register for GST as your business grows, then expand.
Fees and commission — what you actually keep
Amazon
Since March 2026, Amazon charges no referral fee on products priced at or below ₹1,000 across more than 1,800 categories — a meaningful change for low-ticket sellers. Above ₹1,000, commission ranges roughly 2–45% depending on category, plus FBA pick-pack, storage, and closing fees on top. All-in, most sellers land somewhere around 12–26% of order value in total fees.
Flipkart
Flipkart made the same move — 0% commission under ₹1,000 as of March 2026. Above that, commission runs roughly 3–15% depending on category and your seller tier (Bronze through Platinum — better tiers get better rates), plus a fixed per-order fee typically ₹15–₹60.
Meesho
Meesho charges zero commission across every category, full stop. You still pay logistics fees (₹27–₹120 depending on weight and zone) and a small fixed platform fee (₹25–₹30) per order, plus GST — but with no commission line at all, net margins on Meesho typically run 15–35% higher than the equivalent product sold on Amazon or Flipkart.
So which one first?
No GST yet, testing a product, reseller model: Meesho. Zero entry barrier, zero commission, and you'll learn what sells before committing to the compliance overhead of the other two.
Already GST-registered, selling under ₹1,000 items: Amazon and Flipkart's 0%-commission tier for sub-₹1,000 products makes both genuinely competitive now — worth listing on both and comparing real performance for your specific category.
Higher-ticket items, established brand, want the biggest addressable audience: Amazon still has the largest and most purchase-intent-driven audience in India for considered purchases — worth the higher effective fee percentage if your margins support it.
Fashion, budget-conscious, value-led shoppers: Flipkart and Meesho both skew this way more than Amazon; Meesho specifically leans toward tier-2/tier-3 India and price-sensitive buyers.
Once you're ready to list
Wherever you start, the same problem shows up immediately: each platform has its own image specs, and getting them wrong is the fastest way to lose visibility or get outright rejected before a single customer sees your product. Oranokai generates a full marketplace-ready image set — sized and formatted correctly — from one product photo, so switching between platforms (or listing on all three) doesn't mean re-shooting for each one.
Whichever you pick, check the exact image rules before you upload: Amazon, Flipkart, Meesho.