eBay Alternatives, eBid and Amazon
eBay is still dominant in the UK online auction marketplace, but rivals have emerged which give buyers and sellers an alternative. Many of these websites have come and gone quickly. Their failure in most cases (such as Tazbar which ceased trading in the summer of 2009) being due to the lack of traffic and a downward spiral into oblivion.
eBid Auctions
eBid is one of the larger eBay alternative auction sites which is, so far, doing quite well and many sellers opt to list their items on both eBid and eBay. Some sellers have left eBay completely due to the lower costs at eBid.
Here are some of the key features of eBid:-
Listing is free, so no sales means no cost to the seller. eBid generates its revenue in two ways; from final value fees and from subscriptions.
As a basic seller, subscription to eBid is free and charges are only a final value fee amounting to 3% of the sale price for each item sold. For occasional sellers, this basic subscription is probably the best option.
The Seller plus subscription is based on a chosen time period (for example 7 days costs £1.99, 30 days costs £6.99 etc).
There is also an option for a lifetime subscription costing £99.99 which also gives access to a variety of additional features on the eBid site and there is no 3% final value fee.
Basic photos added to item listings are free unless, as a Seller Plus, you choose the Gallery format, in which case there is a 2% final value fee on the item’s selling price.
eBid’s preferred secure payment partner is PPPay.com although other payment processors, including PayPal can also be used.
The big negative point about eBid is that they are still a small player in comparison with eBay and the lower number of buyers means much lower selling opportunities too.
Amazon Marketplace
Amazon Marketplace has rapidly achieved a position as one of the largest eBay alternatives, providing a venue for buying and selling new, used and refurbished items.
Amazon provides a fixed-price online marketplace that allows sellers to offer their goods alongside Amazon’s direct offerings and operates in the UK, France, Germany and most recently Japan. Buyers can buy both new and secondhand items which are sold by a third party through Amazon.com using a similar concept to eBay’s half.com.
Unlike eBay and eBid, Amazon Marketplace is not an auction site and sellers must set the price of items that they list. However, recent changes at eBay may indicate a move away from the traditional eBay auction format towards fixed price; a strategy not favoured by many small “treasure in the attic” sellers.
There is no listing fee on Amazon Marketplace, so no sale means no fee
Listings usually have a 60 day duration, unlike eBay where there is generally a ten day maximum before having to relist them and incurring additional listing fees.
Charges are made on the basis of a completion fee of £0.86 plus a closing fee amounting to 17.25% of the selling price. The exception is when selling electronic and photographic items for which an 11.5% fee is levied.
The postage charges are determined by Amazon rather than the seller. A fee is taken from the buyer which includes Amazon’s administration costs and the remainder is passed to the seller as a “postage credit”. Since the credit can amount to more or less than the actual post and packing cost the seller needs to make sure this is reflected the selling price.
Sellers’ own photographs aren’t usually allowed next to the item because typically Amazon will already have product details including photos. However, for certain products, a photo link can be inserted although it still won’t appear next to your ad. but will be available to people browsing that category.
Amazon operates its own secure payment system which is similar to PayPal, but is free for all sellers to use.
The main negative aspect of Amazon is that there are fewer categories than eBay. Not a problem if what you want to sell or buy is electronic, books, CDs, DVDs or similar items. But if you want to sell a car or a house, then eBay is still the place to be at the moment. However, French eBay alternative PriceMinister has recently launched in the UK and will probably shortly offer these categories over here.
eBay is still dominant in the UK online auction marketplace, but rivals have emerged which give buyers and sellers an alternative. Many of these websites have come and gone quickly, their failure in most cases, such as Tazbar which ceased trading in the summer of 2009, being down to the lack of traffic and a downward spiral into oblivion.
eBid Auctions
eBid is one of the larger eBay alternative auction sites which is, so far, doing quite well and many sellers opt to list their items on both eBid and eBay. Some seller have left eBay completely due to the lower costs at eBid.
Here are some of the key features of eBid:-
Listing is free, so no sales means no cost to the seller
eBid generates its revenue in two ways; from final value fees and from subscriptions.
As a basic seller, subscription to eBid is free and charges are only a final value fee amounting to 3% of the sale price for each item sold. For occasional sellers, this basic subscription is probably the best option.
The Seller plus subscription is based on a chosen time period (for example 7 days costs £1.99, 30 days costs £6.99 etc).
There is also an option for a lifetime subscription costing £99.99 which also gives access to a variety of additional features on the eBid site and there is no 3% final value fee.
Basic photos added to item listings are free unless, as a Seller Plus, you choose the Gallery format, in which case there is a 2% final value fee on the item’s selling price.
eBid’s preferred secure payment partner is PPPay.com although other payment processors, including PayPal can also be used.
The big negative point about eBid is that they are still a small player in comparison with eBay and the lower number of buyers means much lower selling opportunities too.
Amazon Marketplace
Amazon Marketplace has rapidly achieved a position as one of the largest eBay alternatives, providing a venue for buying and selling new, used and refurbished items.
Amazon provides a fixed-price online marketplace that allows sellers to offer their goods alongside Amazon’s direct offerings and operates in the UK, France, Germany and most recently Japan. Buyers can buy both new and secondhand items which are sold by a third party through Amazon.com using a similar concept to eBay’s half.com.
Unlike eBay and eBid, Amazon Marketplace is not an auction site and sellers must set the price of items that they list. However, recent changes at eBay may indicate a move away from the traditional eBay auction format towards fixed price; a strategy not favoured by many small “treasure in the attic” sellers.
There is no listing fee on Amazon Marketplace, so no sale means no fee
Listings usually have a 60 day duration, unlike eBay where there is generally a ten day maximum before having to relist them and incurring additional listing fees.
Charges are made on the basis of a completion fee of £0.86 plus a closing fee amounting to 17.25% of the selling price. The exception is when selling electronic and photographic items for which an 11.5% fee is levied.
The postage charges are determined by Amazon rather than the seller. A fee is taken from the buyer which includes Amazon’s administration costs and the remainder is passed to the seller as a “postage credit”. Since the credit can amount to more or less than the actual post and packing cost the seller needs to make sure this is reflected the selling price.
Sellers own photographs aren’t usually allowed next to the item because typically Amazon will already have product details including photos. However, for certain products, a photo link can be inserted although it still won’t appear next to your ad. but will be available to people browsing that category.
Amazon operates its own secure payment system which is similar to PayPal, but is free for all sellers to use.
The main negative aspect of Amazon is that there are fewer categories than eBay. Not a problem if what you want to sell or buy is electronic, books, CDs, DVDs or similar items. But if you want to sell a car or a house, then eBay is still the place to be at the moment. However, French eBay alternative PriceMinister has recently launched in the UK and will probably shortly offer these categories over here.
And although you can list an item Amazon doesn’t have in its catalogue – you’ll have to create your own page for it first.