subject: Sell on eBay or Amazon - Which is Best? [print this page] Sell on eBay or Amazon - Which is Best? Sell on eBay or Amazon - Which is Best?
Chances are that you've bought something on eBay, and maybe you've been shopping at Amazon's Marketplace for years. But which is the better choice for making money? That probably depends on what it is you're planning to sell!
eBay is definitely a great place to turn obscure stuff into cash. But it does take a little work - you have to take pictures, upload them, write an enticing description, and so on.
And yet once you click on the button to make your listing go live, you may be required to do more work such as answering questions from prospective bidders or buyers.
Indeed you could invest hours of work for sometimes just a small profit.
Now let's look at Amazon. If you're new to selling on Amazon, you can only sell what is already on their Amazon marketplace. For example, when you're buying on Amazon and you find an item you like, there is a link which says "Have one to sell?" If you click on the "Sell yours here" button, you'll be guided through a few simple questions, mostly dealing with classifying your item by quality, writing a one-sentence description of its condition, deciding on a price, selecting shipping options, and you're done. (On Amazon UK, there's a menu item you click on called "Sell Your Stuff")
Amazon will do all the advertising for you. No need to upload photos, or even take them. No need for hypnotic copywriting fireworks. It's all done, ready to advertise your item. And you won't even have to think of your item again until someone buys it or until 60 days are up, at which time you have the option to renew it with the click of a button.
So it does look like Amazon might be easier to use to get started selling.
What about how much it costs to use these sites to sell items. Well, eBay charges listing fees. Amazon does not. But once the book sells, Amazon takes a hefty bite out of your profits. eBay does too, but the eBay bite is a lot smaller. And on eBay you have the PayPal factor. If you're paid via PayPal for your eBay item, you pay PayPal fee. So, if you don't sell you're item, eBay costs more than Amazon. If you do sell your item, then all in all the total fees you pay more or less balance out between eBay and PayPal.
In summary, the pros for Amazon are no upfront fees, no complications during the listing process and a basically maintenance free listing until the item sells.
The cons for Amazon are that it can sometimes take a long time, even years, until an item sells. There are ways to cut that short, but basically, you better have some room for your items to hang out until it's time to send them to their new owners. You can also only sell things that are already in Amazon's catalogue, unless you're a Pro vendor.
The pros for eBay are that if your item sells, it sells within days, and you can sell pretty much anything you want.
The cons for eBay are the upfront work required to list, and the listing fees. Also, people go to eBay to find bargains and so you may not make as much as you'd hoped for your item.
So which one should you use?
Personally, I use both! There things that are better suited for one or the other. Mostly, I sell books and media stuff on Amazon, and everything else on eBay.
What's right for you will depend on what exactly you plan on selling. If you make the right choice for each item, however, you may well be able to reduce your workload and maximize your profits.
If you're new to Amazon, this is the best ebook I've found to show eBay sellers how they can take advantage of the Amazon marketplace.
