Do you sell on Amazon? Ebay? Both?

I've been selling on Amazon for 3+ years, mostly sealed sets and minifigures, mostly FBA over the past year and FBM before that. I'm thinking of switching over to Ebay for a variety of reasons, and I'm curious what your preferences are for these platforms.

I've also dabbled in local sales (Craigslist, FB Marketplace, OfferUP, etc.) but my area is to budget conscious to move any significant amount of product.

Which platform do you prefer and why?

 

Amazon = greater exposure, higher prices and commissions and less protection against scams. The greater the returns, the higher the risk. US Amazon gating  and min sales requirements also affects things.

Ebay is more competition, lower returns and fees and slightly more scam protection.

Specialist sites like Bricklink offer even lower fees and returns and the highest scam protection.

I´d cast the net as wide as possible and use all avenues to sell.

Amazon is far better for selling 100’s of a single item.
For scarce/collectible one off items I much prefer eBay.

I do sell locally (FB, CL, etc) for some items (rarely Lego) and will even use local consignment shops on occasion. 

I do sell on BrickLink as well, but the volume is so low compared to Amazon/eBay that it's not really worth it.

Edited September 19, 20187 yr by Migration

Been only ebay exclusively since 2007, and there's only been a handful of times I've wished i were on Amazon for more exposure on certain items. For the most part everything sells on ebay for the price i want, and only ever been scammed once on a polybag, so i can't complain.

The "Sell for $1" promo weekends are nice, been saving my bigger ticket items for those.

I've sold on both and the speed at which something sells on Amazon via the buy box is incredible.  Lowest offer also moves very quickly. 

eBay doesn't come close in terms of velocity.

Themes likely matter as well.  Rich grandma will pay $185 for a 10595 Sophia Castle via Alexa without thinking twice.   She's never heard of Bricklink and not going dumpster diving over at eBay even if it saves her 40% off FBA premium.

14 minutes ago, carini26 said:

Themes likely matter as well.  Rich grandma will pay $185 for a 10595 Sophia Castle via Alexa without thinking twice.   She's never heard of Bricklink and not going dumpster diving over at eBay even if it saves her 40% off FBA premium.

I think you meant reputation.

It´s clear that Amazon is the go to option for many people these days and being an FBAer is as close as many will get to opening a brand store. You pay for it in commission and returns but the volume sellers will want to be on Amazon for sure. International sales and simpified logistics are also strong carrots.

Local classifieds got me the largest ROI.. eBay is just damned larceny.. all-in-all including the fees for PayPal transcation I concluded they take 20 PER CENT on FEES! Unimaginable!  first its their 10% on item sold + associated SH costs.. then they charge you local VAT to their fees (in my case 21 prct).. and then you pay like 3.5 % fee for the entire paid amount to PayPal.. as i said, 20 prcnt is unchristian larceny.. 

29 minutes ago, crayxlp said:

Local classifieds got me the largest ROI.. eBay is just damned larceny.. all-in-all including the fees for PayPal transcation I concluded they take 20 PER CENT on FEES! Unimaginable!  first its their 10% on item sold + associated SH costs.. then they charge you local VAT to their fees (in my case 21 prct).. and then you pay like 3.5 % fee for the entire paid amount to PayPal.. as i said, 20 prcnt is unchristian larceny.. 

eBay is quite a rip-off considering that sellers are very poorly supported. At least I have a local network of cash buyers meaning that I can reduce prices by over 15% and still make more than I would on eBay. It’s sad that you have to sell for 3x to make 2x after fees and tax. Even when I do sell on eBay, I offer a 5% discount for BACS payments just to deny PayPal their cut.

Still my biggest gripe is the FVF on postage, what a piss take!

eBay had to charge on shipping. People were paying $1 for a set and $150 shipping

Amazon definitely making it harder for the little guy