The ULTIMATE eBay alternative!

Hi Everyone.

The ULTIMATE ebay alternative is....Amazon. Huge, huge platform to sell on and there is almost no information on Salehoo.

Why are we not being informed about Amazon? The Education section is all about eBay.

There is a user manual for Addoway.

Where is the information listed for Amazon?

Is this a situation that can be fixed?

Thanks.

Dale

I don't know if Amazon's selling platform is all that great, actually. You see a lot of volume on the surface because it's free to list, but if you really dig into it, you'll notice that most of the successful sellers you can find on Amazon are businesses which exist independently of their Amazon accounts; ie.they aren't dependent on their Amazon income to get by. The closing fees are crazy high, and for almost any product you might want to sell you have to go and see if Amazon themselves already have alock on that market.

I seriously doubt that more than a handful of people make a full-time living selling on Amazon, out of more than a million people that Amazon claims are selling on the site. Hard data is, well, hard to come by, but consider known data from eBay: eBay claims 1.3 million people make a "full or part time living" on the site. However, the vast majority of eBay sellers are not Power Sellers, and PS status is a relatively low benchark ($3,000 a year in sales, or 100 items at any price point.) So the majority of eBay sellers are not Power Sellers, and the majority of Power Sellers are not making any kind of meaningful income off of their efforts. How many of that 1.3 million are making real, "career money" kind of livings on eBay? Probably not more than 10%, and that is a stretch. But even saying 10%, that means 130,000 successful full-time eBay sellers. Amazon claims a similar number of sellers, and it would be hard to believe that their numbers come anywhere close to eBay's. So ... 50,000? 40,000? Not a lot, to be sure, but surely not even 5% of all sellers. And to be part of that elite, you have to find a product you can sell profitably enough to make it past Amazon's closing fees, plus isn't already represented on Amazon by A. themselves.


Frank

Just to echo Frank's thoughts.

I have two friends that use Amazon, but also use eBay and have their own independent business's. eBay is their lead online marketing platform, while Amazon is used for only a very limited range of their products. Reading Frank's words is almost like hearing both of them speak lol, they are of the exact same opinion themselves with Amazon.

It is of course a genuine alternative to eBay, is it the ultimate alternative, well that's doubtful, but it would always come down to a range of factors. Things like the products you sell, your prices and so on. Where it may well be a great option for one seller, it may well not be worth any effort at another.

You do make an interesting point, of course the focus is on eBay most of the time because that's where the inquiries are usually focused. Perhaps we should look at really digging into other platforms and seeing what data is available to break them down a little for members.

Mark and Frank thanks for your responses. The ultimate bit was to grab attention to the fact we could use more info on other platforms.

Again, thanks for responding guys.

Dale

No problems Dale.

I've actually already sent Alice, our copy writer and blog specialist delux, a quick suggestion about possibly putting something like this together, so we'll see what we can do.

My own opinion, for what it might be worth, is that the ultimate eBay alternative is a freestanding website that supports itself. I have many small sites that combine affiliate promotion with sales; many of those sites also sell on eBay. But to a one, the hook there is that I am using eBay as a source of leads, and not much else. Those little sites make sales on eBay, but the prices at which those sales are made are generally break even or nominal losses. The listings are really there because, with losses averaging $3-$5 per sale (and some sales actually making a profit, either directly or on upsells) it is hard for me to imagine where I could find a cheaper source of that quality of information.

By "quality information" I mean, these are proven buyers -- not people who sent in an inquiry or filled out a form online or called an 800 number for a free brochure about my products, but actual buyers who just lately have spent money on the exact kind of thing that I sell. I get their names, mailing addresses, PayPal addresses, and a little information about their buying preferences. There isn't a mailing list broker on earth who could match that kind of quality, not for the price I'm paying.

So -- to reiterate -- the ultimate eBay alternative is to minimise one's dependency on eBay and any other selling platform, to get those customers off of eBay as fast as you possibly can to save money on fees and deal in a more personal and direct manner, etc.


Frank

Thanks for the post. great idea. I was unaware that you could "mine" eBay to get buyer email addresses and other information.

Well, I don't know if I'd call in mining in the sense of datamining ... I mean, they're my customers ... they sort of have to give me their addresses, and if they're buying things from me, then by definition I know a little about their shopping habits. What I'm saying is, one big part of being successful in any business, is making sure that you get repeat and referral business. One very good way to do that is go to a place swarming with buyers -- eBay for example -- and not worry so much about making all your money off that first sale. Get people's attention, give them a positive shopping experience, then move to the upsell and repeat business and try to make your margins on those sales. Short version -- use eBay as a source of leads.


Frank

Your opinion of Addoway to begin with?

Hi Retailer73.

My opinion of Addoway is indifference. I was with them almost from their beginning. I have had one sale. I have moved on.

Dale

Yeah, no.

I am currently struggling with amazon right now. I decided to start with Amazon instead of eBay.

first off, it's $40 a month. HUGE competition, i can't list anything that won't be outed.
You have to use Fulfilled by Amazon, which is a very good concept, but is the very thing that is screwing me over. $1 per order shipped, and $1 S&H. You also have to account for the price you're listing for (which is already discount), and you have to beat that to win the "buy box", which is the main page for the item. With all that accounted for, I was losing money each sale because of the small fees that killed my profits.
On top of that, all your money is held for 2 weeks, so everytime they bill your account $40 a month, for JUST the account, it basically took the money that i've been making, and now i'm left with $1.86. Forgot to mention that they have a comission on each item you sell (around 15%)

Just to put this in perspective:

Gross sales (in the past week): $110

Promo rebates: -3.89

Amazon fees: -69.99

Sub Total : 49.92

FBA fees: -8.00

Subscription fees: -39.99

Total balance: $1.93

You have to basically buy rock bottom prices from manufacturers i think, to win on Amazon.