Online retail is more popular than ever before. Internet Retailer reported in October 2013 that 65 percent of U.S. shoppers planned to browse and buy online during the holidays. That prediction proved to be extremely accurate — on Dec. 24, 2013, UPS announced that it had received such a high volume of online orders that it couldn’t keep up with demand!
Naturally, many of you are wondering what the best way to take advantage of this potential bonanza is. That, of course, gives rise to an important question: Should you open an eBay store or start your own website?
The truth is, there are pros and cons to both online retail strategies. I have listed the major points for and against each approach below, so let's take a look, shall we?
Pros of an eBay Store
It's no surprise that when most people think of online shopping, they think of eBay, and it’s easy to see why. eBay is the largest and most comprehensive auction and sales website on the Internet. It offers many advantages, particularly for those who are new to online retail.
Some of the advantages of selling on eBay include the following:
- eBay is a very well-known commodity; most people are familiar with it, and many people visit it on a regular basis.
- eBay operates worldwide; it has localized websites in 42 countries. More importantly, eBay’s global shipping program enables you to ship merchandise to many countries at domestic postage rates, and without having to deal with customs. You can reach millions of customers across the globe through eBay. This gives eBay the largest possible market for online sales.
- An eBay store offers you a large number of listings with many choices and sales tools. If you open an eBay premium store, you will receive 500 free listings a month and a choice between selling items through an auction or a fixed price sale for just $49.95 a month.
Cons of an eBay Store
There are lots of disadvantages to eBay that cause many experienced online retailers to look elsewhere. Many people discover that they need to leave eBay in order to take their business to the next level and make more money.
Some of the disadvantages to selling on eBay include the following:
- It can get very expensive very fast. A premium store costs $49.95 a month, and an anchor store currently costs $179.95 a month. That price doesn’t include the final value fee eBay charges when an item actually sells. The current final value fee is 10 percent, but it is capped at $250. That means you will have to pay $100 in final value fees if you sell $1,000 worth of merchandise on eBay.
- There are cheaper alternatives to eBay. With SaleHoo Stores, you can list 5,000 items for just $47 per month; on eBay you'll pay $179.95 a month for an anchor store that gives you 2,500 listings. A SaleHoo premium store gives you an unlimited number of listings for just $97 a month.
- eBay is extremely restrictive, complicated, and confusing. Even experienced eBay sellers don’t understand all of the website’s programs and policies. There’s a long list of items you cannot sell on eBay. There are also restrictions on payments and mandatory return policies.
- It can be very hard to sell new items on eBay because most eBay sales and searches are keyword driven. If there’s no popular keyword, search engines will not drive traffic to your item on eBay. That makes it difficult to get traffic for new items listed on eBay. To make matters worse, eBay often restricts research parameters with its tailored listings.
Pros of Setting Up Your Own Website
A lot of online sellers end up taking complete control of their marketing and distribution by setting up their own websites.
There are some serious advantages to setting up your own website, including:
- Fewer fees to pay. You will not have to pay a listing fee or a final value fee on your own website. That enables you to keep more of your profits to reinvest them in the site. You will have to pay other fees such as PayPal charges and hosting fees, but those costs are usually substantially lower.
- You are in control. You can customize the site and make it look any way you want. You don’t have to use the templates eBay requires, and you don’t have to follow such rules as always posting a picture.
- You can have complete control of marketing and pricing. Since there’s less competition, you can offer any price you want. You don’t have to follow eBay’s marketing rules.
Cons of Setting Up Your Own Website
Setting up your own website is not a perfect solution; it is far more work, and the initial costs can be a lot higher. You’ll have to do for yourself a lot of the things that sites like eBay and SaleHoo do for you.
The disadvantages to setting up your own site include:
- The design and hosting costs. It can cost between $250 to $300 to hire a competent web designer and build you a site. You can save money by using a SaleHoo Store, where a ready-made premium store costs just $97 a month, complete with professionally designed template and hosting.
- It can be difficult to attract visitors to your site. Anybody who’s started a website knows that driving traffic to it can be the biggest challenge. If you start your own website, you had better be prepared to spend a small fortune on AdWords, press releases, banner ads, and so on. It usually takes about six months to drive meaningful traffic to a site.
- Lack of support. When you operate your own site, you go it alone and often encounter problems you don’t know how to begin to deal with. Sites like SaleHoo can be a real lifesaver here because they offer communities that provide both support and advice.
The biggest reason why online retailers fail is that they have little knowledge or experience. The best way to get that experience and knowledge is to simply start selling.
Instead of launching a site right away, start small by listing a few items for sale on eBay to get yourself familiar with online retail processes. As you accumulate more experience, you can add more and more items. Then when you feel confident enough, you can launch a SaleHoo store to take your eCommerce efforts to the next level.
Interested in learning more about the benefits of running your own online store? Check out SaleHoo Stores, the online store solution that gets your store up and running in just minutes. No technical knowledge or experience needed!
Learn More About SaleHoo Stores Now!
