Online marketplaces such as Etsy, eBay and Amazon allow you to create a profile and sell your goods to a large audience without needing a domain name or hosting. However, they will charge a percentage of the sales of your goods.
They are easy to set up and get started, all you need is a profile. However, they are not so good for building your own brand.
Amazon
Selling on Amazon gives you access to millions of customers every day.
They offer Fulfilment By Amazon – for an additional charge they will handle the fulfilment process for your business. This means that you do not need to rent space to store your products.
Amazon charge fees on every sale. If you tag your products correctly they can organically show up under recommended purchases if someone comes looking for a similar product.
eBay
eBay is an auction site that provides sellers with access to a large marketplace of buyers. It is easy to use, and has good PayPal integration.
Sellers pay a listing fee and a percentage of the sale.There are options to Auction or set a Buy It Now price.
ECommerce sellers often use eBay in addition to selling through their own online shop.
Etsy
Etsy specialises in products such as handmade, original, vintage and craft supplies.
Advantages of Etsy
Etsy attracts a specific audience of customers from around the world who are looking for handmade goods.
There is an option to change to ‘vacation mode’ when you go on holiday.
If you decide to move to another platform, you can easily download all your listings to a CSV file with one click.
Disadvantages of Etsy
There are many sellers with similar products, which can make it hard to compete.