Why are you still selling on eBay?

Someone just asked that today.  With all the potential problems why are you selling on eBay when you can do so much better on your own website.  Im not so sure.


The other day I about this buyer breaking an item, want return money and claiming cancer. It annoys me to no end when I get these complaints, because of the 'cancer' but you can be on any platform and get these complaints.  Im sure you can relate, someone in your family has dealt with cancer and we manage to move on.  If I went around telling people I have a nerve issue in my elbows and I can not carry your item to the post office I would have been kicked off eBay a long time ago for not delivering!   I still manage and I dont go using it as an excuse, how do I know this person is telling the truth?  We had a gal in the area claim cancer and she received tons of donations for a dream wedding a few years ago. She was just convicted of fraud and has to pay back over 13K cause she lied!

As for still selling on eBay, Ive been an eBay member since 1999 and selling since 2002 selling anything that wasn't bolted to the floor.  I only recently started doing it seriously as a business, I am power seller, I have the top seller badge and all that jazz, Im at 99.7% feedback, and I know EVERY negative Ive gotten, while they do fall off after a year.   I sell on eBay cause - when you tell someone you sell online they automatically think eBay. Every time I need something I look on eBay first and then Amazon, I rarely purchase from a personal website.  With all the potential scams out there its scary to me, yes you can be scammed by someone on eBay but I believe the chances are lower then from some random website.  Not only that the number of websites selling the same product is enormous, with no reviews sometimes how can you be sure? How do you choose one website over the other? 

I sell on eBay, on Amazon, on my website AND I have a physical brick and mortar store.  I also recently opened an etsy store and I am looking for more places to sell. Ive also sold on craigslist a number of time. You have to really put yourself out there in a number of locations to get the business you really want. Imagine how much you sales could increase by adding eBay as one of your selling locations.  I sell NEW retail items at retail and stick to my prices. My sales have increased over time which is great!  I know from years of selling there are different kinds of buyers on eBay and very different kind of buyers on Amazon.  I had an Amazon buyer actually call me saying she purchased this stamp that the ink spilled all over her and she wanted me to pay her dry cleaning!  I refunded her money for the item, sent her replacement stamp AND gave her money for dry cleaning! Maybe it was a little overboard but I was a nervous wreck and just did it, thinking about it now I wonder how the heck did she get ink on her shirt? Beside the ink would never have come out anyway, but she may have tried to get me to buy her a new shirt! 

They all have their positives and negatives and we have had various experiences.  But I wouldn't stop selling on eBay or Amazon because of threats, whiny buyers and complainers, I actually blog about them! LOL. I had my sister help me write a letter to this person that I wrote about, I have also reported that buyer to eBay and he has since left positive feedback for me, so I thought that was a little strange.  I have had eBay remove feedback when a buyer makes threats and Ive heard a few. I stand my ground every time.  I have not had many cases open against me but Ive stood my ground on those too.  Sometimes eBay and Amazon have refunded a buyer to appease them but never charged me for them. I think its a shame they do that but a credit card company would do that for you if you complained about a charge. 

A few weeks ago I had this buyer come into my store and ask me for a discount of this item cause she wanted 6 and the prices varied, she also wanted them put into gift boxes.  So I gave them all to her for the same price.  She calls me about a week later to accuse me of removing some parts of the item to 'devalue' them! I was shocked to say the least.  Lucky for me I had images of the items before she purchased them since they were listed in my eBay store and I could prove she was mistaken, these 'parts' did not exist and I never did that. She backed off but it still catches you off guard. You can have all kinds of notes, return policies posted, you break it you buy it message, and people still will accuse you of all kinds of things!  I have signs that say 'smile your on camera' and things have still been stolen from me in my store.

Its retail life. 

Selling on Amazon vs Selling on eBay.

Ive been selling on eBay for a few years now and took a while before I decided to sell on Amazon.

Here are a list of my pros and cons for both.

First let me say when it comes to fees you will spend the same amount of money.

The pros and cons for Amazon vs eBay:

1. Amazon - Pro - You can list as much as you want and there are no fees to do so. Con - You have to share you listing with other sellers. If someone else is selling the same product as you, its grouped together, so who ever is on top is the main seller. Chances of selling your product drops down a lot. Unless you get the shopper that actually searches thru the sellers your item may be listed for a while, or unless you are the ONLY person selling that item. eBay - Pro - you can list as much as you want and be exclusive. You will not share your item listing with anyone else selling on eBay. Con - There may be pages of the same item and yours may not be found until the next pages. eBay also charges you per listing in store format or in auction format.

2. Amazon Pro - No need for paypal account to accept payments. Con - Funds are not applied to 'your account' until you ship the item!* Then your funds sit 'on account' until they deposit it into your account every 14 days. So you have no access to your money as quickly as you would with paypal. eBay Pro - your money sits in paypal until you withdraw it, you have access right away. You can even use a paypal debit card to withdraw your funds or use as a credit card. Cons - paypal fees are high to accept payments and its yet another website to deal with.

*Note: Too many sellers are marking items shipped to get 'paid' but not mailing the packages which makes other sellers look bad, DO NOT GET INTO THIS HABIT!

3. Pro - Its easy to use the website for Amazon and eBay. You can also create shipping labels right there on the 'sale'. Con - the shipping fee chart for Amazon is grouped together and its based on weight or per item - if another seller inputs the wrong weight, the shipping fees will be all over the place unless you offer FLAT RATES - but this method does not always cover your shipping costs. With eBays weight program it will be based on their zip code as well so your shipping rates are more true.

4. Pro -Plenty of shoppers prefer Amazon over eBay and plenty of shoppers prefer eBay over Amazon. There is a wide variety of buyers out there, you just have to have the listing they are looking for. Cons - Buyers on eBay tend to look for deals - they often ask you for a 'better price' - while on Amazon there is no bargaining.

5. Pros if you find errors on eBay you can just go into your listing and correct it - Con - on Amazon you have to contact customer service to get them to fix it. Since they group the sellers information together its not always correct. If you have to correct a UPC code you often have to show proof via images.

6. Con - Amazon - you have to request permission to sell in certain categories. You are also required to have a UPC code to list your items. There can be be over 100 other sellers selling the same item you are. It becomes a war to get 'on top'. Eventually the selling prices dont even cover your cost and its not worth selling. eBay allows you to sell in any category you want.

7. BIG Con - Amazon also SELLS items! This feels like a big box store opening up right next door to your store, it really sucks! So now Amazon has buying power and can purchase more then you can and then sell it lower then you can. Not only that, majority of buyers would rather buy from Amazon directly then from the Marketplace. Fulfillment by Amazon does not help the little sellers either. BIG PRO - eBay DOES NOT sell items itself! Your only competition are other sellers.

8. Cons for both eBay and Amazon - Feedback! Amazon buyers dont leave feedback so your score can be rather low. Half of eBay buyers leave feedback. The ones that are upset ALWAYS leave negative which brings your score down. You say the wrong thing to a buyer and they will leave a negative and not care. Forget having a perfect score!

9. Pro - Amazon you can easily access your listings to adjust prices, in fact it will tell you if you are the lowest price for that item listed. You can also easily adjust your inventory count all at once. Con - eBay - once your quantity is done you have to 're list' the item, unless you catch it before it ends and adjust your quantity. To make adjustments you have to do it individually. There is a feature to change multiple items at once, however they all have to match. Its a real pain.

10. Amazon store fee is $39.99 plus a percentage of the sale - eBay store fee is $49.99 plus a percentage of the sale. There are too many variables to go over to give details of fees. eBay also charges listing fees while Amazon does not.

After a few months of selling on Amazon they 'investigated' me. I freaked out because many people put horror stories online about being investigated and being dropped as a seller. They basically held any funds due to me for over a month while this was being processed. I had to provide them with all kinds of papers and I guess I passed with flying colors. (Business certificate, tax id numbers, duns numbers, EIN numbers things like that.)

Not everything is bad but its not all good too. Ive been tossing the idea of selling on my own site but there is too much involved. So I created 'add to cart' buttons using paypal on my personal site. I have yet to get a buyer lol.

If your tossed on where to sell, try them both and see what happens. Certain items sell better in one place but not the other. As I said the fees come out to be the same amount in the end. It always depends on your sales and its always a percentage.

I think I will keep selling on both platforms for as long as possible. They both sell pretty well for me. The only thing I would change is getting more sales and more items that no one else is selling, but that is a feat in itself.