Selling through WhatsApp and Instagram is the channel where you keep the most per unit, because there is no app commission and no shop margin. But it has three costs that are easy to miss: the time you spend answering messages, delivery, and orders that fall through. To make it pay, organise orders with a standard message and a cut-off day, take payment upfront, and decide who pays for delivery with numbers rather than by feel. With those three sorted, each order leaves you what you think it does.
Why it leaves you more, and what it costs
In direct sales the customer pays you the full price. Compared with an app that takes a percentage or a shop that needs its margin, you keep more per unit. In exchange, you do the work that someone else does in other channels:
- Handling orders: answering questions, sending photos, confirming the order, sending the total.
- Getting paid: checking the payment arrived, chasing anyone who has not paid.
- Delivering: arranging the courier, the address, the time slot.
That time is not in your loaded cost, which only covers your kitchen time. Leave it out and direct sales look more profitable than they are.
How to take orders without living on your phone
- A standard message with your products, prices, sizes, delivery areas, delivery cost and delivery days. You send the same one to everyone.
- Saved replies for the usual questions: how long it keeps, whether it contains gluten, the order deadline.
- A cut-off day. For example: orders until Wednesday, delivery on Friday and Saturday. You cook in one batch, buy exactly what you need and group deliveries.
- An order list in a spreadsheet or notebook: name, product, quantity, address, paid or not, delivered or not.
How to get paid
Upfront, whenever you can. With a bank transfer or payment link before you cook, there are no phantom orders. If the customer has not paid, the order does not go on the list.
On delivery, only with customers you know. If someone cancels once the product is made, the loss is yours.
Large orders: ask for a deposit, say half, to lock in the date. If large orders become regular, read the guide on catering and events.
Cards and payment links: subtract the fee from each sale. Say the provider charges 3%: on a $12.00 order, that is $0.36 less. The guide on payment fees and commissions in your price shows how to build it into your cost.
Who pays for delivery
You have three options:
- The customer pays delivery on top. The clearest. You publish a cost per area and charge it with the order.
- Free delivery. You pay it, so it comes out of your profit.
- Free delivery above a minimum order. The customer orders more to avoid the fee, and the cost is spread over more units.
You can also bring the cost down by grouping: instead of one trip per order, book a single route with several drops in the same area. The guide on the real cost of delivery compares delivering yourself, using a courier and using apps.
Worked example: granola through Instagram
You sell 500 g jars of granola at $12.00. Your loaded cost per jar is $4.80: oats, nuts, honey, jar, label, your kitchen time, oven energy and waste. A local courier charges $7.00 per drop. Each order takes you about 10 minutes of messages, checking payment and arranging delivery; if you value your hour at $18.00, that is $3.00 per order.
| Per order | Delivery charged on top | Free delivery, 1 jar | Free delivery from 3 jars |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sale | $12.00 | $12.00 | $36.00 |
| Loaded cost | $4.80 | $4.80 | $14.40 |
| Delivery you pay | $0.00 | $7.00 | $7.00 |
| Order handling time | $3.00 | $3.00 | $3.00 |
| You keep | $4.20 | −$2.80 | $11.60 |
The sums:
- Delivery charged: 12.00 − 4.80 − 3.00 = $4.20
- Free delivery on one jar: 12.00 − 4.80 − 7.00 − 3.00 = −$2.80
- Free delivery from three jars: 36.00 − 14.40 − 7.00 − 3.00 = $11.60
Free delivery on a single jar loses you money once your time is counted. With 20 single-jar orders a week, charging for delivery leaves you 20 × 4.20 = $84.00; giving it away costs you 20 × 2.80 = $56.00.
If you group Saturday deliveries into one route of 6 drops for $24.00, delivery costs you 24.00 ÷ 6 = $4.00 per order. Free delivery on one jar then leaves you 12.00 − 4.80 − 4.00 − 3.00 = $0.20. Better than a loss, but nowhere near $4.20.
The minimum order
If you want to offer free delivery, work out the order value at which you keep at least as much as on a normal order. In the example, a single jar with delivery charged leaves you $4.20. With free delivery, two jars leave you 24.00 − 9.60 − 7.00 − 3.00 = $4.40, about the same, and three jars leave you $11.60. Free delivery from $24.00 breaks even with charging; from $36.00 it pays; from $12.00 it loses.
Put the minimum clearly in your standard message and on your Instagram profile, so you do not have to explain it in every chat.
When it grows
Direct sales grow mostly through recommendations: happy customers who pass your number to others. The guide on word of mouth and referrals shows how to make that happen more often. If you reach the point where handling orders eats your evenings, compare what each hour earns here with what other channels earn; the guide on comparing profit by channel has the method, and choosing sales channels helps you decide which one to push.
Do it with the calculator
Put your recipe and selling price into the food cost calculator to get the loaded cost per unit, which is the number you need to build the table above with your own delivery and time.
Frequently asked questions
Should I take payment upfront or on delivery?
Upfront, by bank transfer or payment link, especially with new customers and large orders. Payment on delivery leaves you exposed to orders cancelled after you have already cooked.
Is free delivery worth offering?
Only above a minimum order value. On a small order, delivery can take almost all of the profit, or more. Run the sum with what your courier charges.
How do I stop spending all day answering messages?
Keep a standard message with products, prices, delivery areas and days, use saved replies, and set a weekly order cut-off.
Do I need a website to sell online?
Not to start. WhatsApp and Instagram are enough with a clear menu and an organised way to take orders. A website can help later, when the volume justifies it.