A lot of good trade in India runs on cash and memory, and it works. Moving some of it onto a marketplace does not make it more honest; it makes it legible. Those are different things, and the second one has consequences worth knowing before you start rather than at the end of a year.
What you gain, and it is more than it sounds
You can see what actually sells. Cash and memory are excellent at the day and poor at the year. A recorded sale means sell-through — the share of what you put up that sold — and that number changes what you buy next, which is the single most valuable thing records give a small seller.
You stop losing money you never noticed. Delivery you absorbed, a promotional discount, a fee: each shows against the order that caused it. Most sellers find at least one quiet leak in the first month, and it is usually delivery pricing.
You can prove your trade exists. A year of recorded sales is the thing a bank, a lender or a landlord will look at. Cash income is real income that is extremely hard to demonstrate, and that difficulty costs people access to money for growth.
Arguments have evidence. What was promised, when it was sent, what the buyer said. A dispute on a recorded sale is decided on that record within 48 hours; a cash disagreement is decided by whoever is more stubborn.
What is genuinely harder
The money arrives later. Not the till at the end of the day: a balance that becomes withdrawable 24 hours after an order is delivered, and then a payout to a bank account. For a business that buys stock with today's cash, that gap is a real change to plan around.
Your name has to match. Proof of who you are, and a bank account in that same name. A shop operating under one name with an account in another has to sort that out first, and it is the commonest thing that stalls a new store.
It is visible. A recorded sale is a recorded sale. For most small sellers this is nothing to fear and simply means asking an accountant what your position is — but it should be a decision you took, not a surprise you had.
What to do in the first month
Keep the two kinds of stock apart. The commonest and most damaging mistake is selling the same object at the counter and online. One shelf for here.
Read your balance lines once a week. Not the total — the deductions.
Ask an accountant one question: given what I sell and roughly what I turn over, what do I need to do? Half an hour, early.
What we can and cannot tell you
We can tell you exactly what we charge, what we deduct, and what each order earned you — in writing, against the order. A tax report of your own activity is available to download.
We cannot tell you what you owe. That depends on your turnover and your trade, and it is the one question on this page that has a different answer for every seller.
Questions people ask
Do I have to stop selling for cash?
No. Nothing here asks for the rest of your trade.
Will I pay more tax by selling here?
That depends entirely on your own position, which is why the answer has to come from somebody who knows it.
Is a recorded sale worth the slower money?
For most sellers, yes, because of what the records tell you about what to stock. If your business genuinely cannot wait for the money, start small rather than moving everything.
More: can I get a tax report, what documents does Metzee need, what the balance is, what sell-through is.