Are you interested in selling products on an e-commerce store but are not sure where to go? If you’ve only been selling on Amazon, then you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the amount of choice out there to sell elsewhere. In this article, we share the Amazon alternatives that ensure your business can expand to new heights and gain additional customers.
eBay is one of the more popular Amazon alternatives, with around a quarter of sellers using the platform. Continue reading to learn more about why you should consider selling on eBay and other great alternatives that can increase your e-commerce business revenue.
eBay – Good High Traffic Alternative
eBay has the 2nd highest traffic rating of any e-commerce platform. It’s one of the oldest e-commerce platforms since it has been around since 1995 and originally started as a digital bidding platform. Therefore, you could put up a low price for items and let customers bid on the product, thus increasing the sale price.
However, the platform has a “Buy Now” feature, which allows users to instantly buy products they are interested in for a specific cost. Overall, eBay offers many selling options and a lot of freedom to create the product listing you want. This allows you to stand out from the crowd and convert casual visitors into buyers.
Furthermore, you’ll love that you can sell almost anything on eBay, which is great if you’re in a product category that has been banned on Amazon. It allows you to continue your business without worrying about getting banned again.
However, there are also some downsides to selling on eBay. Firstly, there are a lot of terms and conditions that might seem too restrictive. For example, the return policy means that sellers have to set up returns in a specific format.
Also, the seller fees are rather large, which means you need to take them into account when figuring out your profitability. You may find that a product viable on Amazon may no longer be viable when moving to eBay.
2. Walmart – Best Alternative For Low Fees
Walmart, for most of its business life, has dominated the physical retail marketplace for general goods all across the United States. However, it has recently moved to the digital marketplace and now allows 3rd party sellers to participate. There are many similarities between Walmart and Amazon, which means the transition should be relatively easy.
The low seller fees are one of the top reasons to sell on Walmart, so you may find that products too expensive to sell on Amazon are viable on Walmart. Once you use the new seller fees to calculate profitability, you’ll get a sense of the difference to your business.
Also, you may discover that some product categories are not competitive on Walmart because the platform is less popular. This means you’ll have an easier time dominating some product categories on Walmart compared with Amazon.
However, there are also some drawbacks to selling on Walmart. Firstly there’s fewer buyers on Walmart because it has less traffic. Hence, the chance to scale a business is smaller.
Finally, some product categories have strict pricing requirements where you cannot sell more than for a specified amount. This means that making a profit can be challenging, and the lack of control makes it difficult to run a business.
3. Etsy – The Handcrafted Products Alternative
You’ll love selling on Etsy if you need to sell handcrafted or other unique products, since that is the target buyer on the platform. For example, if you want to sell custom shorts of uniquely made wood products, then Etsy is the platform where you should be selling.
Furthermore, Etsy is a cost-effective platform to sell on because there’s a lack of fees. This is great for products that have a low-profit margin. Also, beginners can understand the seller fee structure since there aren’t too many of them.
The established audience on Etsy means you won’t have to do much marketing to convince people to buy handcrafted goods. In fact, that’s why they come to Etsy instead of other e-commerce platforms. Instead, you can focus on the benefits of your products compared with the competition.
Unfortunately, there’s a few downsides to selling on Etsy too that you should consider before starting. Firstly, there’s a lot of competition in some categories, so you’ll need to evaluate the difficulty in fighting for a sale. Also, there’s many copycats operating on the platforms, which means your unique ideas won’t stay that way for long.
Finally, don’t expect much customer loyalty either, since people will quickly opt for the competition if they notice offers and other perks.
Consider All Platforms
It’s a good idea to sell on as many e-commerce platforms as possible to ensure that you have the best chance to grow the size of your business. Eventually, you should sell on every Amazon alternative mentioned in this article to ensure you have the best chance of success.
It will lead to the highest number of sales since you can uncover more customers. Also, the exit price of your e-commerce business will be higher since you’re operating on multiple platforms. Business buyers are looking for more stability and diversity to ensure they get a good investment.
Note that there are far more e-commerce platforms not mentioned in this article. You should look for them too, since that will increase your odds of making sales and growing your business to new heights.
Final Thoughts
To conclude, there are many good Amazon alternatives that are worthy of your consideration. We have revealed the top 3 so you can start expanding your Amazon business today and enjoy the advantages of the other platforms. Make sure you also take into account the negatives, so you’re making the right choice.
Once you understand the pros and cons of each platform, you can make the correct preparations to hit the ground running. This increases the chances of success, and you’ll end up selling more products.
