Thinking about starting a business? But not sure which marketplace to choose? Well, it’s normal to be worried about at the start. As there are now so many marketplaces where you can start your business.
Well to understand which to choose let’s compare these two with some major factors.
Consumers trust
In contrast, if we talk about eBay, their return policy is very complicated when it comes to returning the product or for a refund. The seller says no return if they want to and leave no choice for the buyer if they are unsatisfied with the product.
So amazon on this factor wins the hearts of buyers, as they can buy things with the trust that if they will not like the product they have the option to return it.
Competitiveness
eBay on the other hand does not do any selling itself and thus does not become the competitor for the sellers or steal their business. It’s purely an eCommerce platform where small sellers can also build their business. As the majority of the items are new, but some items are also used and collectibles.
So on this factor, eBay wins fair and square as it is not giving the hard time to the sellers for building up the business.
International exposure
When one wants to launch its product he would want to launch on a platform that will have more international exposure, right?
If you see the overall fees which include Insertion fees, Final value fees, Payments processing fees, Optional listing upgrade fees eBay charges less compared with amazon, where amazon has additional charges like individual per item fees, refund administration fees. But eBay does charge extra if you want to make your listing truly competitive.
So in this, you can say it’s a draw between these two.
Shipment and fulfillment options
If we talk about amazon they offer you two options, fulfillment by merchant(FBM) where the seller picks, packs, and ships by himself, and fulfillment by amazon (FBA) where they do all the hustle work. This feature sets amazon apart.
eBay on the other hand does not provide any kind of fulfillment advantage to the seller. They have to pick, pack and ship by themselves or they hire someone to ship the item.
Advertising option
Where eBay offers promoting lists, which gives a boost in the product search. You ‘BID’ an amount to be paid for your fee and your product gets boosted along with the top-ranked products.
So amazon here somehow gets a little more advantage than eBay on advertising option.
Final verdict
Well, amazon gets the trust factor along with the fulfillment option and you get to sell new items for which amazon is famous as well but those which are restricted require extra fees. eBay somehow lacks these. While eBay provides a less competitive marketplace where you can sell easily and make it less hassle to sell your product internationally and not to forget you can sell used items as well. But more importantly, it depends on the seller which product they are selling. Then it gets easier to understand which marketplace to choose.
If you have any other key feature or you prefer one marketplace over the other. Feel free to comment and share with us.
