How to Sell Online in Nigeria in 2026: Marketplaces, Payments and Delivery

If you want to know how to sell online in Nigeria, the honest answer starts with a choice most guides skip: where your customers already are, how they will pay, and who will carry the parcel. Getting those three right matters more than a fancy logo. Demand is real: in its second quarter of 2026 results, Jumia reported that its Nigerian gross merchandise value grew 36% year on year and orders grew 34%. This guide covers the Nigerian specifics. If you want the step-by-step of opening a vendor account on Comilmart itself, read our vendor guide to selling online in 2026, which we will not repeat here.

Marketplace, WhatsApp or your own website: which channel first?

Most new Nigerian sellers should not start with their own website. A marketplace gives you traffic you did not have to build, and social selling gives you a direct line to buyers. A website only pays off once you have repeat customers who already trust you.

Marketplaces (Jumia, Jiji and Comilmart are examples) bring ready buyers and a formal dispute process, but you compete on price with many similar listings.
Instagram and WhatsApp let you chat, negotiate and customise. A 2025 Technext report on Nigerian social commerce found buyers like exactly this: personal relationships, recommendations from people they know and, in some cases, same-day local delivery. The same report noted the downside, which is that buyers worry about fraud and often want to see a physical business location. The evidence there is mostly interviews with a handful of shoppers, so treat it as a pattern to test, not a statistic.
Your own website gives you control and brand, but you pay for every visitor through ads or effort.

A sensible path is to list on a marketplace to find out which products sell, use WhatsApp to turn buyers into repeat customers, and consider a website later.

Payment options: Paystack, Flutterwave, transfers and cash on delivery

If you take payments online yourself, you will most likely use a gateway. Fees below come from each company's own Nigeria pricing page as we read them in October 2026, and they change, so check before you commit.

Paystack lists local transactions at 1.5% plus ₦100, with the ₦100 waived on transactions under ₦2,500 and the local fee capped at ₦2,000. International cards are listed at 3.9% plus ₦100. Funds settle to your bank account on the next working day.
Flutterwave lists local transactions at 2% (a 1.4% transaction fee plus a 0.6% platform fee) and international cards at 4.8%. It also states that fees attract 7.5% VAT, and its page shows no cap.

Work these into your price. On a low-priced, thin-margin item, a percentage fee plus a flat fee can be the difference between profit and loss. Many social sellers also take direct bank transfers; if you do, always confirm the credit alert in your bank app, not a screenshot. Cash on delivery stays popular because buyers can inspect before paying, but it raises refusal risk; ask any courier how fast they remit COD cash before you rely on them.

Delivery and logistics for online sellers in Nigeria

Delivery is where most small sellers lose money and reviews. A May 2026 seller guide on Brands.ng compared the main options. Its summary: GIG Logistics is strong for intercity and secondary-city reach, Kwik focuses on same-day delivery in Lagos and a few major cities at higher per-delivery rates, and Sendbox is built around e-commerce stores with its own network strongest in Lagos. It also warned that COD remittance is a friction point with several couriers. That is one blog's view, so test two or three couriers with real parcels before you sign up for volume.

Even Jumia, with its own network, shipped 75% of its packages in the second quarter of 2026 to pickup stations rather than to doors, which tells you something: door delivery to every address is expensive, and pickup points or a meeting place can cut costs. Practical rules that help any seller:

Quote delivery separately and clearly before the buyer pays.
Photograph or video each item as you pack it. If a dispute arises, you have proof.
Pack for rough handling, since a product that arrives damaged is a dispute whatever its quality.
Negotiate rates once you ship around 50 to 100 parcels a month, as that guide suggests.

How to build trust when buyers fear scams

Nigerian online shoppers have seen scams, so trust is your biggest asset. Use a real business name, a consistent phone number and real photos of your stock rather than copied images. Show your shop address if you have one. Put your return and refund terms in writing. Selling on a marketplace helps, because it supplies a layer of protection buyers recognise; on Comilmart, buyer payments are held until delivery is confirmed, with a 7-day window to report issues. Our guide on how buyers shop online safely shows you what customers are told to look for, so you can make sure you pass every test.

Do you need to register your business to sell online in Nigeria?

Registration is not a barrier to starting, but it unlocks bank accounts, marketplace verification and bigger customers. Fees quoted in 2026 sources differ, so check the current schedule on the Corporate Affairs Commission portal before you budget, and note that some MSME programmes waive fees. You will need a valid ID such as a NIN, driver's licence or international passport, a passport photograph and two proposed names. It listed applying for a Tax Identification Number as a step after registration. Fees and rules change, so confirm on the CAC portal and with the tax authority.

If you sell food, drugs or cosmetics, registration with the business registry is not the end. A February 2026 legal explainer states that regulated products such as food, drugs and cosmetics need NAFDAC approval before they are sold or imported, and that selling unregistered products is a violation that attracts penalties. Check with NAFDAC before you stock anything you plan to eat, drink or put on skin.

Pricing in a volatile naira

If your stock is imported or priced from dollars, the cost to replace a product can change between the day you buy it and the day you restock. We are not quoting an exchange rate here because it moves too fast to print. Instead, build habits that protect you:

Price from your replacement cost, not what you paid last time.
Keep a margin buffer for payment fees and delivery, then add a little for rate movement.
Review prices weekly for imported goods, monthly for local ones.
Prefer suppliers who confirm price and stock in writing before you pay. Read how to calculate true landed cost for the full method.

Sourcing from suppliers inside Nigeria also shortens your restock cycle. Browse the B2B wholesale catalog for minimum order quantities and tiered pricing, or read our beginner's guide to product sourcing.

Frequently asked questions

Can I sell online in Nigeria without a website? Yes. Many sellers start on a marketplace, Instagram or WhatsApp. A website helps later when you have repeat customers.

How much does Paystack charge in Nigeria? Its pricing page lists 1.5% plus ₦100 for local transactions, capped at ₦2,000, with the ₦100 waived under ₦2,500. Check the page for the current rate.

Do I need CAC registration to sell online? You can begin without it, but registration helps with business accounts and trust. Confirm current requirements with the CAC.

Is cash on delivery a good idea for new sellers? It builds buyer confidence but brings refused deliveries and slow remittance. Start with a courier you have tested.

Getting started

Create your free Comilmart vendor account to start listing, then use the marketplace shop to see how competing sellers present their products, and the B2B catalog to find stock from verified suppliers.