This article is a reprint of Wise Bread's contribution to OPEN Forum from American Express -- where small business owners can get advice from experts and share tips with each other.
Selling online is the same as brick & mortar sales in that where you showcase your products is as important as how much you price them, how you deal with customers, and other parts of your retail operations.
Here are the top online marketplaces to shop your goods.
Offline equivalent: swap meet, public auction.
Cost: per-item listing fees + up to 15% of sale price in transaction fees.
eBay is as close to an unfettered global size bazaar as you can get. Individuals selling stuff from their attics co-mingle with big small retailers moving hundreds of units a day. With over 60 million monthly unique visitors and over 14 million active listings at any given time, no one can compete with eBay's size.
Selling on eBay is a good strategy for marketing, but not great as your online retail home. Downward pressure on prices (lots of competition), per-listing controls that favor few products and smaller retailers, and comparatively high fees makes eBay not a great place to call your online retail home. But as a marketing vehicle, it's an effective way to reach a very big market of buyers.
See also:
Offline equivalent: mall. It's expensive and there are lots of restrictions, but it also provides lots of customers and convenience.
Cost: $40 per month + up to 15% transaction fee ("referral fee")
Like a mall, Amazon has more restrictions on retailers, but also offer a more pleasant shopping experience for buyers. There are no auctions or haggling, only fixed price listings. Selling on Amazon offers several benefits to small business retailers.
The problem with listing on Amazon is that your prices will be seen right next to other retailers — and alongside Amazon's hard-to-beat low prices.Plus it's more expensive than other selling platforms.
Offline equivalent: opening shop in the downtown shopping district. There are no mall regulations you have to obey (like closing at 9pm), but you still get some walk-in benefits of being next to other retailers.
Cost: $40-300 monthly fee, plus 0.75-2% transaction fee.
At Yahoo's ecommerce solution, you can create your own storefront — at your own website and domain — but also have your store be listed at Yahoo Shopping.
See also:
Ecommerce is a booming industry and there is no shortage of online outlets for retailers. Look beyond the big names to hit a more targeted market:
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Hey thanks for all the links.
I hadn't heard of any of those mentioned except Craigslist and Ebay.
I'll have to check them out and see what I can find or see which may be a good marketplace to feature our future products.
Thanks,
Guy
I think Amazon is the best for selling, and Ebay is the best for buying.
Amazon is much more easier to get set up on to sell, much easier to understand, and so forth. It has its liitations versus Ebay, but I prefer it greatly. Especially for beginners.
To buy stuff, Ebay has got to be the king. Everything is for sale on Ebay!!!