eBay is the elephant in the room in any e-commerce conversation. The beauty of eBay has long been that anyone can sign up and start selling without any experience or complicated storefront setup. Sellers without stores even get 100 free listings a month under the newest fee structure. This a la carte selling has attracted many smaller-scale sellers over the years, but rising fees and increasing feedback and customer service requirements have alienated many. So before you kickstart your journey on eBay, it’s important to understand the Pros and cons of selling on eBay.
eBay is the most well-known marketplace for purchasing items online, especially for many individuals. eBay was founded in 1995 and has grown to be a significant online marketplace for buyers and sellers worldwide. As of 2021, around 160 million customers exist on eBay, with only 25 million sellers visiting eBay every day to bid on auctions, make purchases, or sell their products and services, respectively.
As an eBay business, you have a compelling incentive to master the ins and outs of eBay beyond the basics. It's possible to get a lot out of selling on eBay if you're willing to try. However, just like anything else, there are advantages and drawbacks to selling on eBay. It’s time to take a look at the pros of selling on eBay first.
The most significant advantage of eBay is the enormous number of people who can look at your items — in the second quarter of 2021, eBay had 160 million active users. People frequently start their search for required goods on eBay, and your product listings will expose your products to these interested searchers. It's your chance to churn the curd into butter.
It's a wonderful way to inform your customer about your online store when you make a sale on eBay. You may attract them to visit and purchase from you directly, which is great for building a repeat client.
You can buy and sell anything, including old books, on eBay, even though it's not possible to sell restricted or illegal items. There's a market for everything on eBay, no matter what your area of interest is. Books, electronics, apparel, handcrafted goods, automobile parts, and the list goes on and on.
With $800 each week, an average vendor on eBay makes about $34,710 a year. Your experience in the trade determines the limit. It's not difficult; when you sell items on eBay, the auction format gives you the potential to make more money from an item than if you sold it to a consumer directly. Even if you apply through indeed or Ziprecruiter with no experience, chances are, you'd get a better deal to crack.
If you find that an eBay store is the best method to grow your business, it may take as little as 30 minutes to get your first listings up and running. If you don't already have one, you must sign up for an account. You must first create a seller account, which gives you up to 50 listings for free and then a pre-listing fee for each additional item if you do not have a store.
Every business involves risks, and becoming an eBay merchant depends on several factors, such as targeted consumers, product likeability, and associated fees. The following list of cons of selling on eBay covers the major ones for you.
On eBay, you're bound by a set of governing regulations, and you have less control over certain aspects of business, such as return policy. To manage certain issues, like returns, refunds, customer service, and more, you'll need to adhere to the specific rules that eBay has established.
In a nutshell, you're playing in their backyard, so your rules apply. However, keep in mind that these regulations are designed to safeguard eBay and sellers and buyers from fraud and scams.
The greatest thing to do is become fully informed on all the regulations, norms, and conditions so you can run your business as close to as near to your ideals as possible while still following them.
Fees are one of the main reasons why eCommerce businesses avoid expanding to eBay. If your profit margins are low, you may not see a benefit from selling certain items - especially if there is a lot of competition for that item.
It's vital to understand ahead of time what fees you'll have to pay when selling on eBay, but there's a clear framework and even a fee calculator on eBay's help site.
There are several extra costs you'll encounter from selling on eBay, including storage fees. You must also be aware of the seller expenses that come with each transaction.
You receive 50 free listings each month, but for each extra listing after that, you will have to pay $0.35. Then there are last value costs you must cover, ranging from 10% for sellers too as much as 10% for sellers in certain categories. Some categories even have higher cost restrictions.
Paypal is required if you're selling on eBay. Buyers trust the payment service, and if you don't provide it, your chances of making a sale will decrease. You want to minimize the difficulties that a buyer encounters while purchasing online, and Paypal delivers a simple and safe transaction that covers both parties in the event of fraud, theft, or damage.
Read the Paypal seller protection policy to learn what they do for both the vendor and buyer to ensure you understand everything you need to know.
It's critical to recognize that marketplaces aren't there to assist you as a seller. Their first concern is always for themselves. They prefer to focus on the items in each listing rather than the sellers when working with eBay.
This implies that they have the authority to limit how much you may brand your presence on each item that you sell. There are also various methods for interacting with consumers. The platform can delete your listing at any moment.
If you're selling a one-of-a-kind item on eBay, this disadvantage won't apply to you. For everyone else, this marketplace pays sellers who can get their items to the buyer within 24 business hours or less.
When you don't provide this alternative, your listings will have less visibility in search results shown to a potential client as a company or an individual. This condition creates another scenario where selling on eBay may not be the wisest option.
Final Comments on the Pros and Cons of Selling on eBay
The pros and cons of selling on eBay must clear your doubts on some points here. The numerous structures available on eBay provide anyone with the chance to start a small business, owing to the various options provided.
You can decide whether to run a "non-store," subscribe to have your presence exposed, or grow into an enterprise opportunity if required. Despite the difficulties, many businesses believe that the little expenses are reasonable to improve their brand's messaging when selling here.
1. There are numerous seller fees that you must pay, even if you don't sell an item.
2. Your final value fees are based on your reputation.
3. There is limited control over your listings.
4. You will face significant competition on this platform.
eBay has a stringent return policy to make sure that sellers are responsible for any problems regarding their products or services. Sellers are held responsible for any defective items sold, usually by giving buyers the option to return that item for a refund; otherwise, they are not allowed any refund.
One of the most appealing aspects of selling on eBay is that sellers get substantial savings on shipping, sometimes as much as 52% off. Lower delivery fees will make your items more appealing to buyers. They also give you a competitive advantage over marketplaces that do not provide discounts, such as Etsy and Amazon.
eBay takes a cut of the profits if your goods sell. This last-value fee is 12.55 percent of the selling price or less for most categories, plus $0.30 per order. Consider signing up for a Store subscription to save money on final value fees and gain access to helpful tools for more active sellers like yourself.
