What you need to know about eBay to make a marketplace
eBay shopping platform, founded in 1995, specializes in selling a large range of consumer goods and products: decorative arts, baby safety & healthcare, books, automation, motors & drives, cameras & photo, clothing, shoes & accessories, cell phones, gadgets & other electronics, crafts, pet supplies, sporting goods, toys & hobbies, etc. But eBay is different from other websites with third-party vendors and fixed-price goods. There are two formats combined: b2c online store and c2c online auction. eBay provides a platform to sell any (except prohibited by law) goods on three alternative terms:
- Fixed Price. The seller offers his goods at a certain price. The buyer who agreed to pay the specified price makes buying. The same principle as on other marketplaces.
- Online auction - this type of sale made eBay successful. The seller sets the starting price, the start time of the bidding, and the duration of the bidding. Potential buyers can bet on this lot or smash someone else's bet with a larger amount. The right to buying the product gets the participant whose bid was the largest.
- Advertising format. Seller create an ad that is shown in eBay Shop section of the site. The item in the ad can be sold without time limit.
The seller can combine auctions and selling at a certain price. In general, conditions for sellers are very liberal, because the profit of the platform depends on the number of sales.
eBay: working conditions and profit
eBay Inc. is only an intermediary between the seller and the buyer. The sides of the deal agree on how to delivery and make payment for the goods purchased on the website, as they like, without the participation of eBay. It’s free for customers. Sellers pay a fee for using the platform. Fees on eBay consist of a fee for the publication and the percentage of the sale price. Guess, how to achieve success and create an audience on a website such marketplace like eBay? The answer is in several conditions:
- Internationality. Access from different parts of the world increases the number of sellers, exhibited lots, buyers and making bids.
- No time frames - eBay auction is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The period for accepting bets on the lot lasts for up to 30 days - enough than making decisions and purchase.
- Large range and a variety of goods. Here you can find rare things that are almost impossible to buy offline.
- Using convenient tools & mobile apps. Each user can download an app for search, buy, and sell on eBay.
- The mutual influence effect. The number of buyers is growing there, where the number of sellers is growing. And vice versa.
As you can see, the marketplace should be a comfortable place for all its participants to achieve success. Low cost of product placement, a huge audience, ease using services, the ability of each participant to become a seller and a buyer are all answers to the question of how eBay is developing worldwide.
Can I build a new eBay on my own?
Building a marketplace from scratch looks like rocket starting if you aim at the scale of eBay immediately. Today eBay operates in 20+ countries, including China and India with their huge population. But if you break the task into small stages, then the ambitious goal to build a popular marketplace will become real. Even giants like eBay began with small things (the first sale on eBay was a broken laser pointer for $ 14).
- Building. For this stage, you need a professional software developer, which specializes in marketplaces. If you don’t have such a specialist (and not enough money to hire), use a marketplace builder. Wiki.rademade.com is our recommendation and responsibility.
- Design. Wiki.rademade.com is an excellent solution for creating a basic multi vendor platform. MVP contains the necessary components by default: functional script, neutral visual theme, and support for external links (social networks, mailing, etc.). You can use opencart, wordpress or another open source plugin to make the individual and recognizable site design.
- Promotion. After development and start, an almost endless process begins: attract sellers and buyers to your marketplace. To do this, you must make your website as easy, understandable, profitable and reliable as possible. Users should choose your marketplace among other alternatives, including popular ones.
To solve this problem, let's remember the beginning of the article: similar features and differences of the best marketplaces. Creating optimal conditions for sellers and buyers, mutual benefit and space for development is the foundation for success in the marketplace like Amazon, Etsy or eBay. Wiki.rademade.com will become the base of this foundation, on which you will build your project with unique features.