Selling Online - EBay Alternatives

Introduction

Selling online is a popular way to make money. eBay is the most popular venue and works well. However, there are many other sites. In fact, depending on what you sell, some of these alternatives may work better than eBay.

All selling venues charge a variety of fees or commissions. Some also charge a monthly fee. Unless a higher-priced service offers something that you know you need or must have, seriously consider the free or lower-priced options. You can always upgrade.

Selling Books or General Goods
Amazon

Everybody has some extra books collecting dust on the bookcase or tightly packed in boxes in the attic. They may be college textbooks that you kept (because you thought you might need them later, but don't), books you meant to read but never will, or the coffee table books that your "favorite" relative buys for you each year for Christmas, your birthday, and so on. Why not sell them on Amazon!

The nice thing about Amazon is that listing books is free. You only pay seller fees when your product is sold.

Amazon lists books for 60 days. If it doesn't sell the listing is dropped. However, you can list the books again for another 60 days free of charge.

Once an item sells, Amazon takes a $0.99 transaction fee, a $1.20 closing fee, and 15% of the selling price.

Yahoo Auctions
Yahoo Auctions  are completely free. There are no fees whatsoever. There are no charges to list an item and Yahoo doesn’t collect any commissions.

Why are they free? They are trying to compete against eBay. Free is nice but keep in mind that Yahoo Auctions does not generate the traffic that eBay generates. However, whatever you sell is pure profit.

Yahoo Small Business
Yahoo can provide you an online store. Yahoo Small Business offers 3 packages: Starter, Standard, and Professional. Each charges a monthly fee and a variety of benefits. If you are just starting to sell online, the Starter package is fine for you.

Yahoo takes 1.5% of the sales price for their commission (plus the monthly fee).

What does Yahoo Small Business offer for the monthly fee? Here are some of the features.