How to Link Your Domain to your Pinnocent Store and how to create free subdomain to your pinnocent store

What is a Pinnocent store, really?

A Pinnocent store is your personal storefront inside the Pinnocent marketplace — a place where you list products or services, receive orders, get paid through escrow protection, and manage everything from one seller dashboard. The question isn't whether you get a store — every seller does automatically. The real question is what address that store lives at, and that's where the two options come in.

pinnocent.com/storename vs. your own store domain

Both options give you a real, working store. The difference is how independent that store looks and behaves — and how much control you have over it.

Two things you never have to figure out yourself

Running your own website or online store usually means wiring up a payment processor and fighting with search engine verification. On Pinnocent, both are already done for you.

What you actually control once you're linked

Linking a domain — free subdomain or custom — unlocks a real settings panel most sellers never see on the free store URL:

🌐 Enable / Disable — turn your linked domain on or off any time without losing your setup or data.

🧩 Show/Hide Sections — independently toggle your blog, marketplace, games, and menu.

🔍 SEO Fields — set your own SEO title, meta description, and favicon.

📄 About / Privacy / Terms — write and publish your own legal and about-us content.

🗺️ Auto Sitemap — a sitemap.xml is generated automatically and kept fresh.

📝 Your Own Blog — publish blog posts independently on your linked domain.

Your store isn't limited to your own products

Here's a detail a lot of sellers miss: your Marketplace tab doesn't only show what you personally listed. By default, it shows every product on Pinnocent — meaning your store has real inventory from day one, even before you list a single item.

🛒 Full Marketplace, By Default — every active product across Pinnocent can appear on your store domain automatically, other sellers' products included.

🎛️ You Stay in Control — switch to "my products only" any time, filter by category or keyword, block specific sellers, or pin your own priority products.

💸 Earn Even When It's Not Your Product — when a buyer bonded to your store purchases any product on your domain, even one listed by someone else, you still earn your cut.

One dashboard, whichever option you're on

Whether you're running the free pinnocent.com/storename URL or a fully linked domain, your Analytics page tracks the real numbers behind your store:

🛡️ Escrow Status — whether your own extra escrow fee is on or off, and your bonded-commission eligibility.

📦 Inventory Value — your active product count and total listed value.

💳 Shipment, Bank & Template Earnings — a full breakdown by pending, completed, and refunded.

🔗 Bonded Users — how many buyers are bonded to your store, by premium and founder tier.

💰 Transaction Log — a running log of every transaction, buyer, fees, and what you earned.

📈 Real-Time Numbers — every figure reflects live data, the same source used for actual payouts.

Your own escrow fee, and earning from bonded users

Beyond selling products, Pinnocent gives store and group owners two additional, opt-in ways to earn — both available whether you're on a free URL or a linked domain.

Do The Math

A worked example

Illustrative numbers only — not your live rates. Your actual fees, percentages, and caps are set on your dashboard and can differ.

Say a bonded buyer purchases a ₦10,000 product through your store domain — and that product happens to be listed by another seller, not you. Your own escrow fee is switched on at ₦300, and your bonded-commission rate on the platform fee is 50%.

So which one should you pick?

Most successful sellers move through these stages naturally — you don't have to decide everything on day one.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to buy a domain to get a full store website?

No. Pinnocent offers a free subdomain that unlocks the full website experience — SEO fields, blog, legal pages, and an auto-generated sitemap — at zero cost. A fully custom domain is an optional paid upgrade you can add later.

Do I need my own payment gateway to accept payments?

No. Every Pinnocent store — free URL or linked domain — is already connected to Pinnocent's own payment gateway. You don't need to register a merchant account or integrate any payment API yourself.

How do I get my store domain to show up on Google?

Pinnocent handles it for you. Paste the verification value Google Search Console gives you into your Sitemap & Search Console panel, and Pinnocent creates the required DNS record automatically. Your sitemap.xml is also auto-generated and pinged to Google and Bing.

Can I switch between the free store URL and a linked domain later?

Yes. Your products, orders, and escrow protection carry over automatically whichever option you're using, so you can start free and upgrade whenever you're ready.

Can I turn my own escrow fee on or off?

Yes. It's a simple toggle on your Settings page, and it only ever charges buyers who are bonded to your store.

What does it mean for a buyer to be "bonded" to my store?

A bonded buyer is someone linked directly to your store or group, typically through your storefront. When a bonded buyer purchases, you automatically earn a percentage of Pinnocent's platform fee on top of your regular product earnings.

Can I earn from other sellers' products, not just my own?

Yes. Your store domain's Marketplace tab shows every product on Pinnocent by default, and when a buyer bonded to your store purchases any of them, you earn your bonded-commission cut regardless of who listed it. You can also restrict your Marketplace tab to your own products only, if you'd rather keep it exclusive.