If you’re looking for an online selling platform that isn’t eBay, there are a couple of great alternatives available. However, this will be determined by what you want to sell and where it’s being sold from. This is where eBay comes in handy.
Selling items online is a perfect way for you to make some money. If you’re an avid thrifter, you can sell those treasures you’ve been collecting over the years locally or globally. This is also a great way for entrepreneurs and aspiring minimalists to make some money and do away with clutter.
Online sellers have been using eBay to sell both used and new items for at least 20 years or more. eBay gets more than 1 billion visitors in a month, making it one of the most used online selling platforms to be invented. Unfortunately, when there’s high visibility, it means that there will be a lot of competition resulting to a more complex fee structure and lower selling prices.
If you’re looking to find another online selling platform other than eBay, there are numerous alternatives. However, it won’t be such a bad idea to try using sites such as eBay.
eBay for Online Selling
If you want to sell used, new, general or rare items, there are great alternatives for eBay that you can use for online sales. However, getting the perfect site can sometimes mean that you may have to lower the price of your items.
For Used Items
If you’re looking for an online platform where you can sell used items that offers the same services like eBay, check out the following options.
1. Bonanza
Bonanza is amongst eBay’s closest competitors. This is a fixed marketplace that uses the tagline “everything but ordinary”. Buyers often visit the site looking for one-of-a-kind and unique pieces. The site is more suited for selling rare and quirky items.
The initial fee is set at 3.5% of the final selling price with a minimum of $0.50. If you decide to include Google ads on your product sales when using Bonanza, your fees will have a 9% to 30% increase rate.
2. eBid
eBid is a fixed-price and auction marketplace that originated from the UK. It has less traffic compared to eBay, and the fees are also lower. eBid doesn’t require any listing fees and you’ll earn a 3% commission for all the sales you make.
The site is perfect for sellers that can generate traffic for their products by themselves or are willing to wait for the perfect buyer for their items.
3. Ruby Lane
Ruby Lane is known to have a great following of buyers who are looking for collectables, antiques, vintage dolls and jewelry. Ruby Lane has been praised by sellers for its profitability, ease of use and targeted traffic. The prices include are fixed, although the buyers can opt to make offers on items with higher prices.
It costs $100 to set up a store on Ruby Lane and this includes the first 10 listings. It costs $0.19 for every listing with a zero commission on sales.
However, customers opt to pay $69 every month storefront spots that allow them to put at least 80 customized items. Since they offer commission-free sales and a flat fee, the site is more suitable for sellers with high-cost goods.
For New Items
If you don’t want to source out already used items, you can opt for alternative online selling platforms instead of eBay. Here you’ll be able to sell new custom branded products or those with retail arbitrage.
4. Amazon
Amazon is eBay’s biggest competitor with over 2.6 billion visits from both mobile and desktop users. The e-commerce site has the most traffic within the US and a seller has better performance using any niche. However, sellers with new items are more successful.
The site provides a monthly subscription fee of $33.99 for professional sellers who have more than 35 sales every month. Individual sellers don’t get to pay a monthly fee, although a $0.99 fee for every item they sell.
A referral fee is paid by sellers for products based on their listed category. There are referral fees ranging from 6%-45% though most of them fall at 15%. Sellers with media items are required to pay a $1.35 variable closing fee.
Related: 17 Sites similar to Amazon you can Buy and Sell Things from
5. eCarter
eCarter is an easy to use and low fee e-commerce site for selling new items. The disadvantage of using eCarter is that it has lesser traffic compared to Amazon, and it can take sometime for you to sell your items.
The site doesn’t have any opening and listing fee for items. The other great thing about site is that you’ll be able to import listings from eBay to eCarter, plus there also submitted listings for Google shopping. If you’re able to directly get traffic to your store, you won’t be charged a selling fee. However, if a buyer from the main page comes to your listing, you’ll have a 2.9% sales fee.
6. E-commerce Website
You no longer have to rely on other sites so that you can list your items. With you own products or brand, you can now own an online store using sites such as Shopify. This is the best site for committed sellers or those who are looking to grow a reliable customer base.
The basic plan on Shopify costs $29.99/moth with a $0.30 and 2.9% of each sold item. You won’t be getting built-in traffic from your Shopify store, meaning that you’ll need to spend more time and money (possibly) in order to get traffic to your site.
For Electronics
E-commerce sites such are well suited for selling electronics, however, there are many other sites to consider before you post you listing.
7. Gazelle
Electronics aren’t easy to resell. So, if you have some lying around in the house, you can either give them out for free or opt to use site like Gazelle where you’ll be able to make some profit.
Gazelle is an online store that buys old computers, tablets and phones and you be paid cash for your items. They don’t charge any fees and you won’t need to set up a shop plus there are also no shipping charges. However, the kind of profit you make is determined by how Gazelle estimates the cost of your item.
8. Decluttr
Decluttr is an e-commerce site that can be used to sell DVDs, CDs as well as other tech items and earn some money quickly. Just like Gazelle, Decluttr also doesn’t charge any fees and they buy all old books, Legos and electronics directly. This saves you from having to sell things you no longer need at home and declutter at the same time.
For Clothes
Clothes with brand names sell easily online, especially if the site being used specializes in a specific style.
9. Poshmark
The Poshmark app is meant for consumers who want to sell and buy used clothes at a great price. Sellers using the app use closets instead of storefronts. If a buyer wants to purchase something from you, they’ll visit your closet. “Boutiques” and “showrooms” can be curated by professional buyers for selling brand-new products they’ve acquired from independent designers.
The process of selling items using Poshmark is pretty easy and straightforward. However, they charge higher fees compared to other sites. The sales fee for items under $15 is charged at $2.95, while the sales fee for items above $15 is charged at 20% of the listed price.
10. Mercari
Mercari was at first used as an app which was mostly used by mobile sellers and shoppers. Although it was competing with other sites such as eBay which has been around for a long time, it has more than 45 million downloads. It is praised for its ease of use and profitability. Mercari can be used to sell different items, but clothes sell better than other items.
The site doesn’t have the same features that other sites include for their high-volume merchants, but it has more traffic than most competing sites. They charge a selling fee of 10%, and the choice of shipping by yourself, you’ll be provided with prepaid shipping labels, or the ability to use UPS store packs as well as ship your own products.
11. Tradesy
If you’re looking for an online marketplace that deals with women’s designer fashion and contemporary luxury, Tradesy is your site. It’s well suited for selling designer brands such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Chanel. You can post you product directly and once its sold, you’ll receive a premium packaging from Tradesy that you’ll ship to your buyer.
The site charges a $7.50 flat fee for all products that are sold for less than $50 and 19.8% for products sold for more than $50.
12. thredUp
If you’d like to avoid the stress of selling your clothing by yourself, you can decide to get threadUp’s Clean Out Kit where you’ll be paid for all the products they accept. You’ll then earn store credit or money for all the kids and women’s product that get accepted. Anything that doesn’t get accepted can either be donated for free or be shipped back at a small fee.
Related: 8 Best Sites to Sell Clothes Online
For Books
Amazon and eBay have countless books for sale, but they are not the only sites that can be used to make money from selling such products.
13. BookScouter
Are you looking for a site that will help you sell used books and textbooks quickly? BookScouter takes items from 35 different vendors, compares them and shows you the ones where you’ll earn more money for your old books.
If you’re a high-volume bookseller, you can sign up for the site’s Pro package at $29.99/month. Here merchants will be able to view buyback prices for different books as well as historical buyback charges.
14. Cash4Books
Cash4Books is a buyback vendor just like BookScouter. They purchase some used books and textbooks that were published from 2016. They don’t charge anything for sellers to use their site and your book will be shipped for free.
For Gift Cards
Do you have a gift that you’re not going to use? Luckily, you can sell it for money that can be used everywhere.
15. Raise
Raise is used by over 4,000 retailers who are looking to sell gift cards at a discounted price. You can post your item for free, state the selling price and wait to receive payment after the item is sold.
The company charges a 15% after sales commission. If you want to sell a physical card, they charge $1 or 1% for shipping on the card’s balance.
For Custom Designs and Homemade Goods
If you’re a crafty person, you can successfully sell any custom-made designs, homemade goods and supplies online.
16. Etsy
If you’re looking for a profitable alternative for eBay that sells crafts and homemade items, Etsy will be perfect for you. Etsy is liked because of its seller protections and customer service.
They have a $0.20 listing fee for each item, plus a 5% transaction fee as well as a $0.25 and processing fee of 3% for payments. Listings are available for 4 months, and if the item isn’t sold, you’ll have to relist it for $0.20.
17. Redbubble
If you make personalized art products like stickers, t-shirts and mugs, they can be listed on Redbubble. This is a site for print-on-demand products that allows independent artists to put a wide range of artwork.
There’s no charge for first-time Redbubble users, and you’re also able to set the selling price for your items. The site will aet a base price for every item, then you’ll be given the extra money that was gotten above that.
Alternatives for eBay for Local Sellers
eBay does a great job selling products nationally, however, there are local sites that do a better job selling locally.
18. OfferUp
The OfferUp app was designed in a similar manner as sites such as Craigslist. It doesn’t have selling fees and gets more than 42 million users yearly, making it the ideal marketplace for local sellers.
You’ll be able to ‘bump’ your items at a small optional price so that it can be listed at the top or “feature” your item for 3 to 10 days. You’ll be able to ship items that weigh 20 pounds or less for a 9.9% fee rate of the original price to 48 states.
19. Letgo
Letgo is another website and app that’s free and caters to local sellers. The site has more than 100 million downloads which is more than what OfferUp has. Although it has more traffic than OfferUp, the features aren’t as great.
They don’t charge for shipping but there’s an optional payment plan included in the app. Users claim that there are a lot of spammer and no-shows on the app.
20. Craigslist
Craigslist is the original marketplace which is widely used for local online transactions. Most items don’t get charged for and the site is the most convenient place to sell items that are hard to ship.
Related: 14 Best Places to Sell Video Games
21. Facebook Marketplace
It’s free to sell and list item on Facebook’s marketplace, the only thing required is a Facebook profile. The site at least 2 billion visitors on a daily basis, and it’s becoming one of the most used platforms for local sellers.
Conclusion
If you decide to use e-commerce, you should be familiar with sites such as eBay. When you begin looking for these sites, you’ll discover that there’s a wide range of them to select from. You really have to join all of them, but select the ones that are suitable for the items you’re planning to sell.
