Amazon vs. eBay: Which Is Better? What Do the Statistics Say?

It can often be an easy to decision to make to sell online. However, it might not necessarily be an easy decision to make on where to sell your items at. This is especially true if you’re looking to become an entrepreneur. So, if you are looking to start a small business by selling products online, you need to determine whether you should sell on Amazon or eBay. Before we compare the two, here are a few fun statistics that you might find interesting:

• At the start of 2016, Amazon had 304 million customer accounts that were active.
• At the end of the first quarter in the same year, eBay had 162 million active users. 
• 4 times as many individuals who sell their products on Amazon successfully bring in a million dollars in revenue than they do on eBay.
• Nearly 17 percent of Amazon sellers bring in more than one million dollars in annual sales revenue, while just under four percent of eBay sellers are able to do the same.
• More than 50 percent of sellers have a profit margin that is above 20 percent.

Amazon vs. eBay

1. 1.     Fulfillment of Orders

• Amazon – One of the great things about Amazon is that there is the option for sellers to participate in the Fulfillment by Amazon program. With this service, Amazon will handle everything for you – sales, fulfillment, returns and even customer service. You just have to ship them the product (and of course pay a fee).
• eBay – On eBay, however, you are 100 percent responsible for maintaining, packaging and shipping your own items. When a customer places an order, you are expected to fulfill that order in the timeframe that you have told your customer that you would. You can’t rely on anyone else to do it as you can at Amazon.

1. Listings

• Amazon – At Amazon, one of the main issues when compared with eBay is that you don’t get to customize your listings. Yes, you get to upload you own photos and create your own text descriptions. However, you don’t get to do anything else. You can’t change the colors of the text, change the layout of the page, etc. It all remains Amazon-branded. In ways, this can disconnect you for your shoppers and does not help to reinforce your brand.
• eBay – With eBay, you get to do all of that. You can fully personalize and customize each and every listing that you post to make it eye-catching and more appealing to shoppers. This helps to increase the chances of a sale, especially when compared to the neutral listings that you see at Amazon.

1. Fees

• Amazon – If you don’t opt for the Fulfillment by Amazon, you will get out a lot cheaper. You are looking at anywhere from $1 to 25 percent of your product’s price.
• eBay – On eBay, you are looking at around 10 percent of your item’s selling price, depending on the item and how it is sold (auction or buy it now), in addition to any upgrade fees.

The Verdict

As you can see, Amazon and eBay both have their pros and cons. Ultimately, it comes down to which one better serves your individuals interests and preferences.