There has been a lot of talk during the last few weeks by eBay sellers who say they are moving their business to alternative sites and never selling on eBay again. Much of the discussion has centered on Amazon as an alternative to eBay.

But is Amazon really a viable alternative to eBay?

The answer may be yes or no for each individual seller depending upon what they sell and how they sell it. Before making a decision, each seller needs to evaluate the pros and cons of Amazon vs eBay in relation to their own business.

While I’m sure this isn’t a complete list, based upon quite a few years of selling on both Amazon and eBay, here are some things sellers should consider before making a decision to move their business to Amazon.

• Amazon has no listing fees.
• Amazon’s commissions vary depending upon the category you list things in. Depending upon what you sell, their commission may be a higher, or lower, than eBay’s.
• All Amazon transactions are by credit card and Amazon collects payment directly from the buyer. There’s no hassle with non-paying or slow paying buyers.
• Amazon is strictly a fixed-price format. There is no auction format.
• For the average seller, Amazon offers two options. With the first, in addition to Amazon’s commission they also take an additional $.99 for each item sold. With the second option, you pay a monthly fee of $39.95, but they don’t take the additional $.99 per sale.
• Amazon has a feedback system that is very similar to the new system eBay is implementing. Buyers rate sellers using a 1-5 system just like the new DSR system. While sellers can leave feedback for buyers, it’s totally meaningless. There’s no reason for anyone to pay any attention to a buyers feedback. From my experience, if a seller is unhappy with the feedback they get on eBay, they are going to be even more unhappy with what the feedback they receive on Amazon.
• Unless a seller is paying for one of Amazon’s premium services, they can’t list an item that isn’t already in Amazon’s database.
• Amazon determines what your shipping charges will be. They then keep part of that themselves, and forward the rest to the seller. With some items, a seller’s shipping charges may be considerably more than what Amazon compensates them for.
• Payment for items isn’t instantly remitted to the seller. Amazon sends payment to a seller’s checking or savings account, every two weeks.
• Amazon, from my own personal experience, seems to attract a different group of buyers than eBay. They are often much more picky and expect better service than many eBay sellers provide.
• Per Amazon’s seller agreement, sellers must ship all merchandise within three business days.

While I’ve been using Amazon as part of my business model for several years, all I’ve ever sold there is books and CDs. Used for those items, and being selective in what I list there, it’s been very good to me.

However, because most of what I sell falls within the collectibles/antique genre, Amazon is not a viable option simply because it lacks an auction style function. To maximize my profits with antiques/collectibles it’s imperative that they be sold via an auction venue rather than fixed price.

If I were a seller of new merchandise that I purchased through a wholesaler or other source, it might be an entirely different story.

To a large degree, no matter what the pros & cons are, what you sell will be the most important factor in choosing between Amazon & eBay.

Photograph by Kokogiak.

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