Selling on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok in Pakistan: payments, COD, couriers and tax

To sell on Instagram in Pakistan, you post products on your profile and take orders by DM or WhatsApp, because Instagram Shop isn’t available here: Pakistan is not on Meta’s list of supported countries (September 2026). Customers pay you by Raast, which is free, by wallet transfer, or cash on delivery through a courier. If you ship COD, the courier needs your NTN and deducts tax from what it collects.

Is Instagram Shop available in Pakistan?

No. To use Shops on Facebook and Instagram, including tagging products in Instagram posts, Meta says your business must be located in a supported country. As of Meta’s page in September 2026, those are:

• Full experience: the United States.
• Open beta: Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, Australia, India, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.
• Limited features: Brazil, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and Indonesia.

Pakistan isn’t listed, so you can’t add a Shop or checkout to your Facebook Page or Instagram profile. Shopify’s Facebook and Instagram channel has the same country rule, so a Shopify store doesn’t get around it. We read Meta’s page from an Internet Archive copy, because the live page loads only by script.

You can still post products, answer DMs and run paid ads. Meta takes payment for ads from Pakistan by credit card or co-branded debit card. See virtual cards in Pakistan if your card is refused.

Does Facebook Marketplace work in Pakistan?

Facebook opened Marketplace to Pakistani users in July 2021 (Dawn). People browse listings or search for items nearby inside the Facebook app or on a computer. Facebook said it takes no revenue or seller fees from Marketplace, and the buyer and seller settle payment outside Facebook.

We couldn’t open Facebook’s own Marketplace help pages to check why some users see Marketplace as unavailable; they load only by script.

Is TikTok Shop available in Pakistan?

No. TikTok’s business help centre lists eight TikTok Shop markets: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the UK, the US and Vietnam (page last updated July 2025). Pakistan isn’t one.

Markaz, a Pakistani reseller platform, said in August 2026 that there is no local Seller Centre where a Pakistani business can register and take payment inside TikTok. Pakistani sellers use videos and lives to show products, then confirm orders on WhatsApp or a link in their bio, mostly cash on delivery. TikTok ads are open to Pakistani businesses, but ads are not the in-app shop.

How do customers pay an Instagram or Facebook seller?

SBP’s rules make Raast person-to-person transfers free with no minimum, and a payment lands instantly, so you can confirm it before you ship. Since Raast payments are final, a customer can’t reverse one.

For a business QR code, SBP lets banks charge the merchant a “reasonable” fee, but never the customer. Under the government’s Raast QR subsidy, which covered 1 September 2025 to 30 June 2026, banks could charge merchants up to 0.25% of each payment on top of it. Ask your bank for its current merchant fee.

Some couriers take digital payment at the door: PostEx’s Payment on Delivery lets the customer pay the rider by Raast QR or card instead of cash.

Which courier should I use for cash on delivery?

Pakistan Post publishes its COD tariff; the private couriers we checked don’t publish merchant rates (October 2026). From 1 October 2026, UMS-COD at the counter costs Rs 110 city to city and Rs 75 within a city for up to 250 g. Private couriers give rates with a merchant account or a quote.

For a few orders a day, Leopards Retail COD needs no corporate account: you book at a Leopards Express Center, pay on the spot, and receive COD money weekly in your bank. It asks for your CNIC, bank IBAN and brand name. Compare more options in best courier service in Pakistan.

As a guide to cost, Markaz says most COD orders on its platform carry about Rs 165 delivery plus a Rs 50 cash-handling fee, and prepaid orders skip the Rs 50 (July 2026).

Do I need to register a business to sell on Instagram?

Instagram doesn’t ask for registration, but couriers do. Anyone selling digitally ordered goods through a courier must register for income tax, and couriers may not serve unregistered online sellers (Income Tax Ordinance section 181(1A); Sales Tax Act section 14(1B)). M&P’s COD account form, for example, asks for your NTN. Start with how to get an NTN.

On a COD order, the courier withholds before paying you:

• Income tax: 2% of the gross amount if you are on the Active Taxpayer List (ATL), 4% if not. On digital payments through a payment intermediary it is 1% and 2%.
• Sales tax: 2% of the gross value of goods.

Sellers of goods through an online marketplace, website or app must also register for sales tax (section 14(1A)). Cottage industry is exempt: a maker working from a residential area, with no industrial gas or electricity connection, no more than 10 workers and turnover up to Rs 80 lakh a year. See sales tax registration.

The law describes sales through “locally operated” platforms and websites, and neither FBR circular we read says how orders taken on Instagram or WhatsApp are treated. What is clear is the courier rule above. The full tax picture is in e-commerce business in Pakistan.

When should I move to Daraz or my own website?

Social selling has no platform fee, but you find every buyer yourself and handle every payment. Daraz brings its own buyers for a category commission, and a Shopify or WooCommerce store gives you a checkout and card payments. If you don’t want to hold stock, dropshipping in Pakistan explains reseller apps that ship COD for you.

More guides: E-commerce & IT Export, Shopify payment gateways in Pakistan, filer vs non-filer.