Amazon and Ebay the two Titians of e-commerce if you are
selling online then you are probably all too familiar with the advantages and
disadvantages of both marketplaces. Today we are going to take a look at a few of
the newer marketplace websites that have sprung up in the last few years to
determine if there are other viable alternatives to Amazon and Ebay or additional sales channels.
Bonanza – With a
clean and user friendly interface and ever increasing traffic Bonanza is a good
point to start. Those familiar with Ebay will find it quite a refreshing
experience how easy it is to create a listing less than 10 fields are required
to post an item. What many will really appreciate is you have the ability to
import all of your listings from sites like Ebay, Amazon and Etsy and it
seamlessly updates pricing and inventory.
Poshmark– The
concept behind Poshmark is simple. You have a few dresses in your closet you
don’t want, list them on
Poshmark a great way to clean out your closet. But there is more here than meets the eye, Poshmark
offers both new and used merchandise and their big pitch with new merchandise
is up to 70% off retail; what
better place to promote your liquidation merchandise? The other big plus for
Poshmark is the tight focus of the merchandise, it’s all about clothes and
accessories here unlike sites like Amazon or Ebay.
Etsy– This
hipster haven touts itself as a global village of handcrafted and vintage
items. While the traffic is very respectable and the ease of use is quite a big
plus, the narrow focus in this case is working against us. Etsy wants either vintage goods (20+ years
old) or handcrafted so unless you are customizing your clothing this may not be
a good fit.
Therealreal– Do
you cringe or start to pull your hair out every time you get that message from
an Ebay buyer “how do I know this is a real insert
brand here handbag”. Therealreal may be the solution for those higher
end items that may have limited appeal to the ebay community. Therealreal is a
designer consignment site you simply send in your merchandise and they authenticate
and offer them for sale no listing involved!
Rakuten– Once
simply known as buy.com Rakuten has a huge global presence particularly in the
Japanese market. But big in Japan does not mean sales, in the USA reports on
this marketplace site are mixed at best, low to moderate sales high commissions
and monthly fees can be quite off-putting to any reseller.
While Amazon and Ebay still remain the dominant platforms
for the near foreseeable future there does seem to be an increasing demand for
a viable alternative as these two monsters of e-commerce continue to put the
squeeze on the independent merchants. If you cracked eBay and Amazon, consider these marketplaces as
additional channels to improve overall sales.