eBay Vs Amazon
Author
Discussion

IATM

Original Poster:

3,948 posts

178 months

Monday 14th July 2014
quotequote all
What are peoples experiences and preferences out of the two.

I have used ebay personally for over 10 years and for a business maybe the last 8 months.
I recently started on Amazon and even though it has its negative points - I feel for growing a business it is a much more stable enviornment.

What are peoples views?

DSLiverpool

16,577 posts

233 months

Monday 14th July 2014
quotequote all
Selling what ? Each platform suits certain lines better than the other

Du1point8

22,965 posts

223 months

Monday 14th July 2014
quotequote all
With the items I sell, Im not touching ebay at all.

I am setting up amazon, be it very very slowly as at the moment I have way too many things going on, if I was to concentrate on my business it would have been set up a month ago...

Amazon seems to be less of the scammers and scummy buyers than ebay, which is fine if the items you sell are in the few ££ range but when a potential order is £100 -400 minimum, Im not wanting to risk anything on ebay.

chowiekid

330 posts

190 months

Monday 14th July 2014
quotequote all
Amazon costs slightly more.
Depending on category.
Amazon almost uses there re sellers as a marketing tool to find out what products sell.
if your items sell well they will attempt to obtain and compete.

eBay we find we sell more however as you said the customers are hard work.
although with amazon you will find customers see you as amazon and expect the same service so next day prime etc.

Also you have to wait 2 weeks for payment which I guess could be an issue...

both have there advantages and disadvantages.
However we find both are worth using.



IATM

Original Poster:

3,948 posts

178 months

Monday 14th July 2014
quotequote all
Generally yes both do have their advantages and disadvantages.

From my own experience I have found that growth on Amazon is more organic: I have been set up on ebay for some body support items such as back braces and I have been fairly near the top all the time however if one person comes along and slashes the price for 2 weeks then end up being at the top which really reduces sales.

I find that this does not happen with Amazon - It takes longer for a product to become popular on Amazon however its organic growth which means once you have done the hard work it stays there and sales are consistent.

The other major difference I find is the difference in customers - eBay customers try and source the cheapest price Vs Amazon customers who ARE willing and happy to pay more sourcing a better quality product.

Ebay's biggest flaw is the lack of facilities to convey quality or excellent service from search results and with the new uniform pictures/titles and design - price is the leading factor.

This allows sellers to sell cheap rubbish or cheaper quality items and customers assume its the same thing.


Efbe

9,251 posts

197 months

Monday 14th July 2014
quotequote all
do both. there shouldn't be many more overheads for running both simultaneously.

I have found each is better for different customer types and items.

We have also found using facebook to advertise better, though this has been for events which fit quite well into that realm.

DSLiverpool

16,577 posts

233 months

Monday 14th July 2014
quotequote all
OP - Do this.

1, Get a set of barcodes
2, Pack your support stuff into bespoke quantities / bundles you know customers will need / want / buy
3, List them using carefully thought out titles and keywords (think about this as they are search terms)
4, Be patient
5, If / When another seller jumps on your listing you can edit it 1000 supports or whatever, and set your offering to 0 and wait for the fun to start - they will quickly learn not to mess with you.

Tell me in 4 months it was a good idea


DSLiverpool

16,577 posts

233 months

Monday 14th July 2014
quotequote all
chowiekid said:


Also you have to wait 2 weeks for payment which I guess could be an issue...
I am surprised your not a Platinum seller

dtmpower

3,972 posts

276 months

Monday 14th July 2014
quotequote all
DSLiverpool said:
OP - Do this.

1, Get a set of barcodes
2, Pack your support stuff into bespoke quantities / bundles you know customers will need / want / buy
3, List them using carefully thought out titles and keywords (think about this as they are search terms)
4, Be patient
5, If / When another seller jumps on your listing you can edit it 1000 supports or whatever, and set your offering to 0 and wait for the fun to start - they will quickly learn not to mess with you.

Tell me in 4 months it was a good idea
This isn't making much sense....

IATM

Original Poster:

3,948 posts

178 months

Monday 14th July 2014
quotequote all
dtmpower said:
DSLiverpool said:
OP - Do this.

1, Get a set of barcodes
2, Pack your support stuff into bespoke quantities / bundles you know customers will need / want / buy
3, List them using carefully thought out titles and keywords (think about this as they are search terms)
4, Be patient
5, If / When another seller jumps on your listing you can edit it 1000 supports or whatever, and set your offering to 0 and wait for the fun to start - they will quickly learn not to mess with you.

Tell me in 4 months it was a good idea
This isn't making much sense....
I was trying to figure it out earlier on and then got busy - exactly how would you do this and why?




DervVW

2,223 posts

170 months

Monday 14th July 2014
quotequote all
IATM said:
dtmpower said:
DSLiverpool said:
OP - Do this.

1, Get a set of barcodes
2, Pack your support stuff into bespoke quantities / bundles you know customers will need / want / buy
3, List them using carefully thought out titles and keywords (think about this as they are search terms)
4, Be patient
5, If / When another seller jumps on your listing you can edit it 1000 supports or whatever, and set your offering to 0 and wait for the fun to start - they will quickly learn not to mess with you.

Tell me in 4 months it was a good idea
I to a, confused

This isn't making much sense....
I was trying to figure it out earlier on and then got busy - exactly how would you do this and why?

DSLiverpool

16,577 posts

233 months

Monday 14th July 2014
quotequote all
I am surprised you don't "get it" but a quick explanation is

Sell something in a manner / combination your competitors don't sell it in eg if I sold hearing aid batteries I might bundle them with a cleaning cloth for example.

Sell it in an appealing offering to a buyer

No price war, better margins, better buyer experience.

Obvious I thought? - no ?

Amazon is a race to the bottom, it only stops when the cheapest seller is actually making a loss and the other sellers leave them to it hence you need your own bar coded offering.


DervVW

2,223 posts

170 months

Monday 14th July 2014
quotequote all
DSLiverpool said:
I am surprised you don't "get it" but a quick explanation is

Sell something in a manner / combination your competitors don't sell it in eg if I sold hearing aid batteries I might bundle them with a cleaning cloth for example.

Sell it in an appealing offering to a buyer

No price war, better margins, better buyer experience.

Obvious I thought? - no ?

Amazon is a race to the bottom, it only stops when the cheapest seller is actually making a loss and the other sellers leave them to it hence you need your own bar coded offering.
explains why there are so many bundles! Thanks for that!

Efbe

9,251 posts

197 months

Monday 14th July 2014
quotequote all
ah, it was a joke post? non?

dtmpower

3,972 posts

276 months

Monday 14th July 2014
quotequote all
DSLiverpool said:
I am surprised you don't "get it" but a quick explanation is

Sell something in a manner / combination your competitors don't sell it in eg if I sold hearing aid batteries I might bundle them with a cleaning cloth for example.

Sell it in an appealing offering to a buyer

No price war, better margins, better buyer experience.

Obvious I thought? - no ?

Amazon is a race to the bottom, it only stops when the cheapest seller is actually making a loss and the other sellers leave them to it hence you need your own bar coded offering.
Makes sense now...

DSLiverpool

16,577 posts

233 months

Monday 14th July 2014
quotequote all
The fun is if a competitor jumps on your listing (not its yours) you can edit it - you can change it from a pack of 10 Tubigrips to 1000 Tubigrips, your competitor wont have changed the price and they get a sale - loads of hassle - they think twice before messing with your sales listings.

Efbe

9,251 posts

197 months

Monday 14th July 2014
quotequote all
DSLiverpool said:
The fun is if a competitor jumps on your listing (not its yours) you can edit it - you can change it from a pack of 10 Tubigrips to 1000 Tubigrips, your competitor wont have changed the price and they get a sale - loads of hassle - they think twice before messing with your sales listings.
so this is something you can do anytime you are the first person to list an item?

IATM

Original Poster:

3,948 posts

178 months

Monday 14th July 2014
quotequote all
Efbe said:
DSLiverpool said:
The fun is if a competitor jumps on your listing (not its yours) you can edit it - you can change it from a pack of 10 Tubigrips to 1000 Tubigrips, your competitor wont have changed the price and they get a sale - loads of hassle - they think twice before messing with your sales listings.
so this is something you can do anytime you are the first person to list an item?
I assume this is for Amazon


dtmpower

3,972 posts

276 months

Monday 14th July 2014
quotequote all
Efbe said:
so this is something you can do anytime you are the first person to list an item?
Only with your own barcode, most single items will already be catalogued.

DSLiverpool

16,577 posts

233 months

Monday 14th July 2014
quotequote all
Efbe said:
so this is something you can do anytime you are the first person to list an item?
Yes - you OWN the listing as you created it with your barcode, this is the only way to maintain margin and make the "jump on" sellers bugger off and leave you alone.

BUT it takes time and effort to police it in the beginning.