Amazon vs eBay

Amazon vs. eBay

Deciding to take the plunge and start your eCommerce business? That’s great, we’re here to help you with every step of the way. Are you deciding between Amazon or eBay? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. We’ll break it down for you with Amazon versus eBay.

eBay in general typically has lower fees than most Amazon categories – but Amazon categories such as electronics have lower fees. eBay charges 10% final value fee (FVF), while Amazon charges 15%. eBay charges a PayPal fee (2.9% of the sale price plus a flat rate of $0.30), whereas Amazon does not. eBay sellers keep an average of 5.13% more of their profits than if they sold on Amazon. However, Amazon is 10x bigger than eBay – which means it’s a more suitable platform to scale your business HUGE!

Amazon has 100s of millions of customers, whereas eBay has 10s of millions of customers. Amazon is easier to list on pre-existing products, and eBay is easier to rank your products. eBay only needs PayPal to start, while Amazon requires more but it’s more profitable than eBay. eBay will only work if you have PayPal, and PayPal only works in certain countries. Amazon requires a credit card or debit Visa or debit MasterCard, bank account, and in some cases a registered business.

 eBay is slower to scale, but it’s a great platform to sell on. Amazon is a bit quicker to scale and is arguably the best platform to sell on since it has a massive customer reach. Personal brand recognition comes when developing your own brand on Amazon, you can use Amazon fulfilment centres, and you can list on brand name items where the listing ALREADY exists on Amazon, already selling – all you need to do is jump on the same listing. eBay on the other hand has no personal brand recognition, and you would have to create your own listings.  

eBay has less competition, lower advertising costs, and lower selling fees. Amazon has more customers, easier to sell with, easier to manage, better for branding, and fairer for the customers. eBay is fun, simple enough but has very slow growth patterns even for more experienced sellers because of the platforms limitations and policies. Amazon is great, slightly more difficult to learn but the most lucrative platform to be selling on this year.

There is a lot more that goes into making these businesses successful, but this is just a few details that should help you understand, and make a decision on where you should start, and where you want to end up long term. Whichever path you decide to take, we will be here to help and guide you.

WRITTEN BY: Leslie Lazaro