eBay or self hosted marketplace/store?

DarthHazard Level 1

June 29, 2017, 8:38 pm

19

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eBay or self hosted marketplace/store?

I'm looking at selling some stuff online - as in buy low and sell high to make a profit. I'm not too sure right now what it could be but I'm thinking game codes like PSN membership etc. I have done it before through eBay and it has done well. The problem is that the fees add up over time and sometimes the profit is just a bit too low which means you have to sell a lot to make a decent amount. It's just not worth the time sometimes. But of course it being eBay, you tend to sell quicker because of its massive user base. Is it better though to start your own e-commerce site and sell from there? It would be much cheaper over time as you don't have any fees except PayPal fees.

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TommyCarey

TommyCarey

Why not do both?

You can run an ebay store and also your own website. Sure it would take a small investment in running your own website, but you can target a lot more keywords and add your own content in order to get plenty of traffic coming into your site. There are thousands of people doing this and making good money off of it, so I know you can do the same

The best thing about running your own website is that you can run PPC ads and not worry about losing a sale to another seller. If you run PPC ads on an ebay listing, you're just helping out all the sellers there and not yourself... usually. With PPC ads aimed at your own website, with your own products you won't lose a sale to a competitor because there are no competitors lol

With your own website you can target the search engine rankings to bring in sales, adwords, bing ads, facebook ads and set up banner ads on niche related websites. When you're running an ebay store you're relying on all the traffic that ebay is getting and that traffic likely has plenty of buyers to choose from since it's usually a saturated market.

7 years ago

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thart

thart

Razz i have a question,
you can do that even the product not your own?

7 years ago

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TommyCarey

TommyCarey

Yes, easily

You just add it to your website like it's your own product. No one will know the difference

7 years ago

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thart

thart

It's like drop shipping right. If the costumer buy it from me then automatically i buy it too and ship it to his address.

7 years ago

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thart

thart

Or you can start with something like drop shipping, here you will need anything just a small capital to start with. Then after you will get a good result and start earning money, then you can think about something else.

7 years ago

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clara1993

clara1993

Personally I prefer ebay, becauseIt's quick popular and does not require lots of efforts marketting which also acquire low budget, while for Self hosted website can take long time to be known, higher budget invested in marketting and It requires full time follow up to be succesful.

7 years ago

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Tronia

Tronia

I agree with Razzy. He knows his game and it is true, just use both! Why be satisfied with just one? If you use Ebay and a self-made website/selling platform you can most likely appeal to a larger audience. Use PPC like he suggested and see where that takes you.

As you have said in your post, Ebay fees cut into your profit so just have that a ''side'' thing to also list the items but focus most of your attention and effort into getting the sells on your own website.

I wish you the best of luck with whatever decision you end up making

7 years ago

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nishs

nishs

I will prefer to start with the online marketplaces whether its ebay or amazon. This is because self hosted marketplace will require some investment though u can have most of the things for free. Especially u need to take more care about SEO for ur site to run at top 3 in the search engines. While the market places like ebay or amazon are SEO optimized. So if some one searches for the particular product then there are chances for ur products to come on first page or top 3.

7 years ago

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nishs

nishs

Later on when u have got all the resources if u find at low budget or for free then u can proceed along with ebay or amazon a new business. But the most important problem to be solved is SEO on search engine. Optimize ur site such that it gives results at least on the first page of the search engines.

7 years ago

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nishs

nishs

Also if u r good in social media marketing by sharing and discussing then i think u can ALSO start with self hosted marketplace

Have a happy earnings......

7 years ago

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joegirl

joegirl

I would suggest use both at the beginning and phase one out at a later stage. E-bay has a very huge chunk of the marketplace and you can use this leverage to get your products out there.
However, always have a back-up on hand. Ensure you have a folder of your products saved off site. A case study I can provide you is the case between Etsy (the online vintage marketplace) and one of its most popular clients. You can read up about the break up in order to leave and avoid a situation like this.

7 years ago

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ajlancer

ajlancer

Hi thanks for your query. I think your answer is there within your described. Firstly I should say as Razzy why not both? I think you should try by both ways. Yes! you understand ebay is one of the top eCommerce engine in the globe and there must be enormousness responsive compare with even other establish market place. So, you should try to sell your product there even now and after make a own market place which you thinking now. If you think there has low profit that should be considerable to make own market place but, problem is you can not get express sell by your new ecommerce site. Though, I always encourage who thinking self dependable business either second party or third.

Finally, I should say create a self hosted ecommerce site and at the same time do not stop your business by ebay even profit low.

Regards by Ajlancer

7 years ago

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Fuzyon

Fuzyon

I don't think you should start your own marketplace if you don't plan on doing this for a while. It's going to take a lot of time for your site to take off and you're simply going to waste a lot of money and efforts for a short-term ambition. eBay is your safest bet at the moment.

7 years ago

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Pixie06

Pixie06

Ebay is definitely a great platform and will allow you to sell your products easily. Many people prefer to buy from websites that they can trust and eBay has been here since a long time and is trusted by many. It is also very easy to list your products on eBay and to get customers to buy them.

7 years ago

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vinaya

vinaya

I think ebay store is better than self hosted market place. If you have a self-hosted marketplace, you will have to work on making your store stand out. For instance, you have to do seo and digital marketing, and in the mean time, you also have to pay for domain and hosting. However, on ebay due to on-site search, it is easy to make your product visible on ebay.

7 years ago

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DenisP

DenisP

I don't think that there is any harm in doing both. As the old saying goes, don't put all your eggs in one basket, and I think that certainly applies to selling your own merchandise. After all, what is there to lose by branching out? You can only benefit by widening your audience.

My only question, however, is regarding the legality of selling PSN membership codes. I know that approved retailers such as GameStop are able to legally sell membership codes to a wide consumer base, but I'm not aware of how it goes for individual sellers. If you notice this comment, I'd like to know the details behind this business practice.

7 years ago

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jaymish2

jaymish2

I would start with E-bay and such stores. Establish a following, learn the tricks of the trade and then self-host. Self-hosting should be the end game. When you are selling on a platform that is not your own, the rules can change anytime. Your account can be closed, there is a bible of rules to follow, its always advisable to be in control of your own destiny. When someone can switch you off any time, you are in trouble.

6 years ago

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Corzhens

Corzhens

I think eBay has been with us for a long time and I know of so many who are selling their products in eBay although I admit that I haven’t tried that site yet. If you will create your own site to serve as marketplace, think of the capital that you will need because it takes great effort to start up that kind of site. A huge marketing program is needed to acquire buyers and sellers for your marketplace to be successful.

6 years ago

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