Marketplaces or your own web store?

What is better: to sell products through various marketplaces or to have your own web store? It is a really controversial question which worries today a lot of people. There are different pros and cons of selling on marketplaces as well as conducting your own store on an eCommerce platform. Let’s have a look at them in detail and decide what to choose.

You know that nowadays there are a number of big marketplaces where you can sell products like Amazon, eBay, and others. Naturally, you can get some benefits while selling goods with the help of it. To them belongs:

First of all, as for Amazon and eBay, such marketplaces have a well-known name and people trust them because they have a big experience in selling and many good reviews. So, it is better for them to buy here being sure of the quality of goods. And if something goes wrong customers know certainly that they can return it. Today not every store allows you to do it.

Such huge marketplaces have really high traffic. It means that customers have an opportunity to purchase here all products which they want. And there is no need to look for it in different places because everything is available for buying in one marketplace. Consequently, due to the convenience of purchase, many people choose big marketplaces instead of a small online store.

When we speak about support and infrastructure, it is better for a retailer to sell through a marketplace because you don’t need to hire many people for your business. For example, the platform of Amazon has already done some functions for you such as tracking inventory, processing credit cards, or managing tax collection. There is less work for you to be done.

It is difficult for customers to find a new website because on the Internet there are a number of them. That’s why the owner should do a lot of work before his web store becomes popular. For instance, he should advertise it through various social media networks like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Moreover, optimizing a website to rank high in Google organic search results is significant too. So, in this case, a marketplace is better than your own store.

However, don’t forget about its disadvantages which can obstruct you while selling goods. It doesn’t matter whether you have long- or short-term goals selling on a marketplace will never be a perfect variant for you. Why? Here are the main reasons for it:

Everything you can do while selling on a marketplace is abiding by its rules and procedures. There are many functions which you are not allowed to do such as managing transactions independently, designing the look you want, or determining the best way to fulfill your orders. Of course, you have little control because you can create product images and unique descriptions of products but no more. Showing your brand values or vision is a prohibition for you. In general, all colors, layouts, and fonts look the same and are standardized.

In order to sell products on Amazon, for example, you should pay fees. The size of fees depends on whether you choose Professional or Individual Selling Plan. As a consequence, Amazon itself receives a good part of your profits.

It is one of the main reasons why to build your own web store. The trick is that a marketplace has access to all information about your performance and results. But when you own a web store you can just hire third-party e-commerce analytics and be the only person who can see your data.

The only personalized things which a marketplace offers you are emails with products which you create for people. You cannot control your marketing and many functions are forbidden for you, including abandoned cart recovery, upsells, reactivation, etc.

You are always blocked by marketplace rules and have to stick to the limited options for promotion. It means that you cannot offer people different discounts and promos if the marketplace doesn’t allow you to do it.

It is a well-known scheme which lies in buying your products cheaply on eBay and then reselling them profitably on another marketplace, for example, Amazon. But when you have your own website it is more difficult for scammers to do it.

All in all, naturally, it is easier to sell products with the help of a marketplace because you will have quick sales, more clients and get money not spending much time and effort. But when you create your own web store, you will completely control everything and shouldn’t rely on someone else. You will be sure that it is yours and the changes and profits depend only on you.

Furthermore, you are able to create your own brand and customize everything due to it. Of course, you should spend much time and money to drive traffic to your shop or to provide people with the perfect customer experience but it is worth it. The main advantage of it is that you will be independent and shouldn’t pay any fees. You can firstly sell products on Amazon or eBay but only for trying how it works. In the future, you will see that your own deal is much better than to be dependent on someone. Step by step it will become very profitable for you and brings you not only money but pleasure!