How to start selling online in Pakistan (step by step)
Before you build anything: choose what to sell
Decide what to sell before you pick a platform or a name. Selling what you already make or know is easier than guessing what customers want.
Look at your options:
- Make it yourself: Clothes, accessories, pottery, food items. Handmade products build loyalty because customers connect with the maker.
- Buy and resell: Wholesale items from Karachi or online suppliers. Lower risk, faster to launch, but tighter margins.
- Offer a service: Alterations, customization, personalised designs. Services have higher margins and repeat customers.
Talk to people in your circle. Ask 5 friends or family members: "Would you buy this? How much would you pay?" Real feedback beats your own guess.
Set up your store in 10 minutes
An online store puts your products in one place, takes orders, and collects payment. You control it. You own your customer list.
Create your store on a platform like ANOC. You pick a name, add your photos, set your prices in PKR. No coding, no fees upfront. Most platforms give you a free link to share immediately, like {yourstore}.anoc.pk, and you can add your own domain later if you want to look bigger.
Why a store instead of just Instagram? Instagram is where customers find you, but a store is where they buy. A store is also proof you're serious. Customers trust a real website more than an Instagram post.
Add your products with clear photos
Customers can't touch or try on what you're selling, so your photo is everything.
For each product:
- Take at least 3 photos: front, back, and a detail or how it's used
- Use daylight (near a window) or soft light
- Plain background: white wall, bedsheet, or plain cloth
- Show the actual item, not a drawing or stock photo
- Write a short description: what it is, what it's made of, sizes or colours available
Add the product name your customers would search for. If you're selling a dupattas, say "hand-embroidered dupatta, red and gold" not just "dupatta." Add the measurements. Say if it's cotton, silk, or mixed.
Customers want to know fast: Is this what I'm looking for? Do I like how it looks? Is it the size I need?
Price in Pakistani rupees
Set your price to cover three things:
- Cost: How much did you pay for the material or wholesale item?
- Work: Time to make it, photograph it, pack it.
- Shipping and returns: You'll lose 5-10% of orders to wrong address or "I changed my mind."
Example: A scarf costs 300 rupees in fabric. You spend 30 minutes making it. Shipping is 100 rupees. You keep it. Loss on returns is 5%. Price it at 900-1200 rupees so you earn real money.
Don't undersell. Customers believe low price means low quality. If your scarf is worth 800, say so. If a competitor is cheaper, yours better be different: hand-dyed, faster shipping, better customer service.
Offer payment options
Cash on Delivery works best in Pakistan. The customer pays the courier when it arrives, so there is no risk for you if you confirm the order first.
Also offer online payment (debit card, mobile wallet). Some customers prefer it. Some trust it more.
Tell your audience, starting small
Don't announce to the whole internet. Start with people you know.
Share the link in:
- WhatsApp groups (family, friends, old classmates)
- Instagram Stories with a link in your bio
- WhatsApp Status
- Tell 3 people to tell 3 people
The first 10 sales come from word of mouth, not ads. Those first customers tell others. Keep going until you know if people actually want what you're selling.
Process orders and ship
When an order comes in:
- Read the customer's address
- Call or text them (especially for Cash on Delivery) and confirm they placed the order, confirm the address
- Pack the item in a box or bag
- Go to a courier office (TCS, Leopards, TeleShop, Trax) and send it
- Text the customer the tracking number
- Follow up after delivery: "Did it arrive OK?"
Problems happen. A wrong address gets entered. An item arrives damaged. Handle it fast. A refund or replacement costs less than losing a customer to a bad review.
What you've built
You now have a real business:
- A store where people can browse and buy
- Your own customer list (not Instagram's, not Facebook's)
- Control over your price and message
- Proof of sales to scale later: more products, wholesale partners, or hiring help
The first month is the hardest. Once 20 people have bought from you, word spreads. Your profit grows. You learn what sells and what doesn't. That's when you decide whether to make this a side income or a full business.