Selling on Amazon or eBay – Pros and Cons
Selling on online marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay is beneficial for both the seller and the platform itself. E-commerce stores can sell to a much wider audience while the marketplace gains a wider variety of products for customers to browse and buy. It is a double-way path. This post will help you decide for yourself whether or not to sell on Amazon or eBay, discussing the advantages and disadvantages of doing so. Many factors come into play when selling through Amazon and/or eBay, such as how much competition there is for the product being sold, what the product itself is, any sales fees, etc.
1. Increase sales from a high traffic website
The main plus point of selling on marketplaces like Amazon and eBay is the scale of your online presence. Amazon generates almost 184 million visitors per month, while on eBay there are more than 64 million active buyers. That’s a lot of people, no doubt, and all those people can translate into more
sales for you.
2. Find new customers
Nobody visits Amazon or eBay looking for your store. But they may be looking for, and discovering, products like yours. Products that they might not have found otherwise, or that they might have purchased from the competition. As long as you have the right indicators in terms of quality and price,
you can compete with the big sharks.
Once you have won a customer’s heart, even though a marketplace, you will have the opportunity to repeat transactions if you are able to provide excellent service and care. This is especially true if you are competing in an area where the frequency of purchase is naturally high, such as fishing equipment or pet food.
3. Many people prefer to buy through Marketplaces, such as Amazon or eBay
Marketplaces are based on a preference aggregation strategy. As in real life, a shopping center attracts many people due to the possibilities of differentiated and quality shopping, The variety of choices and the possibility of finding everything in the same space can attract many consumers who prefer this type of shopping experience. Online marketplaces also bring the advantage of a unique purchase process and sales assistance, thus creating an exclusive sales experience. While there are clear advantages to selling on marketplaces like Amazon and eBay, there are also disadvantages that have to be considered.
Advantages of Selling on Amazon or eBay
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Let’s start with the biggest advantage of selling on Amazon or eBay and they have a huge online presence. They dominate the sales market. If you want something, chances are they have what you’re looking for. Amazon attracts over 180 million visitors a month and is home to over 500 million products for purchase. Meanwhile, eBay has over 170 million buyers! It is fair to say that these two giants of the online market generate a lot of traffic and therefore there is a lot of potentials to reach a huge audience.
Such a large number of visitors means that they operate in a worldwide market. Where your site may not be available internationally, Amazon and eBay are global sellers, which means you’ll be able to increase sales in a whole new market. This can provide business growth to a whole new level.
New clients
Another pro of selling on Amazon or eBay is that because of the sheer size of Amazon and eBay, there is a lot of potentials to tap into a whole new market. These people may not be researching your business through regular internet searches or even through the marketplaces. However, they may end up discovering your business through a product listed in a popular medium. The key to new customers is providing great customer service and meeting their needs as a seller, for example, fulfilling the order in a timely and professional manner.
By doing so, you will have gained an invaluable resource for repeat business. Amazon and eBay have immediate access to millions of new potential customers. The traffic already exists, which means that fewer costs must be incurred on advertising and promotions. This translates to much higher conversion rates and therefore more sales. New customers also often leave reviews and Amazon and eBay are great ways to get customer feedback. They might recommend you to their friends or family, which means even more potential business.
Limited Control
Although the infrastructure of a marketplace has many advantages, it is important to remember that there are some limitations. Marketplaces are not there to help you – they are there to help themselves. They want the focus to be on the products, not the salespeople. And that ultimately means that they
can restrict how you establish your presence as a brand, how you communicate with your consumers, dictate the type of products you can and cannot sell, and so on. Additionally, as in real life, nothing stops marketplace owners – such as Amazon, Sears, etc. – to establish their own white-label around a potentially profitable idea of their own making.
Trust in
As well-known sellers, Amazon and eBay offer unwitting comfort to customers as they are very well-known companies. Being able to sell through a marketplace that you trust gives consumers confidence in the fact that they know they are buying from a reputable site. Selling your product on Amazon or eBay means a customer can trust your product to meet expected standards and quality.
Great affiliates
Amazon in particular has a large number of affiliates that drive traffic to your store when you are selling on their marketplace. The main benefit of this is that these affiliates already exist for sale, so there is no need to set anything up yourself. Find these affiliates, create a way to pay them, or track sales; they are already in place.
Disadvantages of Selling on Amazon or eBay
When there are pros, there are cons, they go hand in hand.
Amazon Seller Fees
Selling in a marketplace can exponentially increase your sales, but that extra business comes at an extra cost. market rates. Most market fees are deducted as a percentage of each sale and can vary from site to site and even category to category. However, I would argue that the amount you actually pay for far exceeds any extra expense concerns. Building the kind of infrastructure that Amazon and eBay have will take so much time and money to
replicate that the fees almost become a small incidental selling cost rather than an extra fee.
Limited brand control
While selling on a marketplace infrastructure has many advantages. it’s important to remember that they exist to sell products, not to help your business grow. Your only focus is on sales and not you as a salesperson. This could mean that your presence on the platform may be restricted, such as the way you interact and communicate with customers and what items you can actually sell. They have no specific loyalty to your business, and if they see that a product is doing well, they can stock it and sell it as part of the business, as opposed to your own.
However, with all that said, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. Even if you are paying fees and there are strict brand controls in place, being part of such a large market and attracting new customers means these are small prices to pay.
Things to keep in mind
When choosing what and how to sell on Amazon or eBay, it is important to remember that while they may offer similar platforms, the systems will differ and the way they operate will not be the same.
Here are some things to think about when deciding to sell on Amazon vs eBay:
Sell on Amazon;
Amazon creates an online shopping experience. It is a retailer and provides tools to help third-party sellers become part of the market.
An Amazon seller account lets you enjoy;
Amazon Prime membership, which provides customers with fast next-day delivery. As it now also gives customers access to its TV and movie services, more customers are signing up and therefore expect to receive their orders quickly and reliably. Sell via Amazon Seller Central. It’s easy to become a seller and has many benefits, such as accessing account analytics.
Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), which involves sending your bulk inventory directly to Amazon. They then handle all shipping and fulfillment requirements so you don’t have to. Amazon lets you fight competitors directly by offering a product comparison service. However, remember how much it costs to sell on Amazon; there is usually a monthly fee to list your products on Amazon; referral and other fees are charged upon sale and vary by product category (a 15% commission for most categories).
Sell on eBay
eBay is not an online store and is an auction-based seller. Customers compete with each other, offering the most value to protect the product. They also allow a ‘buy it now’ service on some sales to avoid the bidding process. but in most cases, the bidding process is, on the other hand, a massive market for
buying and selling items at fixed prices and to the highest bidder through an auction system.
Becoming an eBay Seller gives you access to the following features:
Tools and features that make it easier as a seller than conveying your brand to customers than available on Amazon, which promotes a premium shopping experience with strict branding controls. Put your own items up for auction to the highest bidder. This allows shoppers to find products that are hard to get anywhere else.
Buy the item right away and avoid the bidding process to secure the sale. As a seller, this means payment will be received immediately. eBay does not offer a delivery and delivery process as Amazon does, so processes need to be in place to ensure that orders are completed and shipped to the customer. This can be done in-house or it could mean hiring a third party to do it for you, but this will incur an extra cost. Like Amazon, you need to be aware of eBay seller fees.
So what should you choose?
When it comes to choosing to sell a product on Amazon and eBay, it helps to have an understanding of your company’s operations. This includes scalability and the sheer number of products you plan to sell in the marketplace. This will give you an edge over your competitors. It’s possible to sell in more than one market and be successful, but it’s important to plan and take the right steps to make each one work for you.
Do not be hasty in making this decision. An option might look great, but it might not make sense from a logistical point of view. Having another medium to sell can allow you and your business to enjoy increased sales and revenue. Being part of a medium like Amazon and eBay is beneficial for both you as a market and for you as a seller.
