Business
Selling at Amazon vs eBay: What Are the Differences?
The average Amazon seller makes about $3,385 per month. eBay sellers make slightly less than them. Either way, selling on Amazon or eBay is a great way to make money online.
You can start small and grow your business from there, but you’ll need a strategy for which platform to focus on first. Read on for a breakdown of selling at Amazon vs eBay.
Selling at Amazon vs eBay: What Are the Differences?
Amazon is an online retailer and marketplace. Outside of Amazon-branded goods, the company is simply the middleman between buyers and sellers. When you sell on Amazon, you’ll need to submit your products to Amazon’s staff for them to vet and approve.
eBay operates as both an auction site and a marketplace. You, as the seller, are responsible for creating your own listings and marketing your products.
The Pros and Cons of Selling at Amazon
Amazon has a large customer base, a low barrier to entry, and will allow you to store your inventory in their warehouse. This can be especially useful if you’re just starting out and don’t have the capital to invest in your own storage. You can also use Amazon’s warehouse to store your inventory and sell on other sites.
However, there are some downsides to selling on Amazon as well. The most obvious is that they charge $0.99 per item sold through them. This may not seem like much, but it adds up quickly when you’re selling thousands of items.
Also, because of its popularity as the number one marketplace in the world, Amazon has lots of competition. But you can improve your chances of making a sale using Amazon SEO services.
The Pros and Cons of Selling on eBay
As the second most popular eCommerce site in the world, eBay has a large user base of buyers and sellers. This means that there are many active customers looking for products like yours on a daily basis.
eBay lets you list up to 250 items per month for free. You can even link your eBay store to your website or social media accounts.
You can choose between two different types of listings: auction or fixed price (or “buy it now”). Auction listings have time limits, so they’re only available for a certain period before they end. Fixed price will always be listed until your inventory is sold out or removed by you.
One disadvantage of eBay is that the platform charges commission fees when you make sales. These fees are about 12.9% of the sale plus $0.30 per order.
Earn a Profit Selling Your Items Online
With selling at Amazon vs eBay, there’s no simple answer to which platform is better. It depends on what you’re selling and how much of it you have.
If you’re just starting out, Amazon is a better option because it has a larger user base than eBay. However, if you’re dealing with high-value items, like electronics, eBay may be your best bet.
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Kenneth is a proud native of sydney, born and raised there. However, he pursued his education abroad and studied in Australia. Kenneth has worked as a journalist for almost a decade, making valuable contributions to prominent publications such as Yahoo News and The Verge. Currently, he serves as a journalist for The Hear Up, where he focuses on covering climate and science news. You can reach Kenneth at [email protected].
