On this page:
- This is some text inside of a div block.
- This is some text inside of a div block.
%20(1).png)
Choosing between eBay and Amazon as your primary selling platform is a big choice for any ecommerce business. While both marketplaces offer distinct buyer bases and proven track records, they operate very differently and cater to different types of sellers and buyers. Whether you're just starting out or looking to expand your existing ecommerce business, understanding which platform aligns with your goals is crucial for long-term success.
The question of whether it's better to sell on eBay or Amazon doesn't have a one-size-fits-all answer. Amazon dominates with over 2.7 billion monthly visits and attracts buyers looking for fast, reliable purchases of new products. eBay, meanwhile, excels with unique items, collectibles, and budget-conscious shoppers who enjoy the hunt for great deals. Your choice of selling platform should consider a variety of factors, including what you're selling, how you want to operate, and where your target customers prefer to shop. In this guide, we'll help you do just that with a complete comparison of the key factors you need to consider to make the best choice for your ecommerce business.
Amazon has cemented its position as the world's largest online marketplace, processing over 300 million customer accounts and generating hundreds of billions in revenue annually. The platform operates like a traditional retail store, emphasizing new products, competitive pricing, and lightning-fast delivery through services like Amazon Prime. Products are sold directly to consumers both by third-party sellers and by Amazon itself, making it one of the few online selling platforms where sellers compete not only against other sellers, but also against the marketplace itself. As the go-to shopping platform for an ever-growing number of shoppers, Amazon is a popular choice for ecommerce sellers who want to leverage the marketplace's unprecedented success and tap into its massive pool of potential buyers.
eBay takes a more marketplace-oriented approach, functioning as a platform where individual sellers operate more independently and compete directly with each other for the same products. While many people still associate eBay with auctions, the majority of sales now happen through fixed-price listings. The platform excels at connecting buyers with unique, hard-to-find, or competitively priced items that might not be readily available elsewhere. While significantly smaller than Amazon, eBay remains a popular choice for many sellers who see the benefits of selling on a smaller platform where their only competition is other sellers.
So, is it better to sell on eBay or Amazon? The answer depends entirely on your specific situation and business goals. Your product type, target audience, budget, preferred fulfillment method, and tolerance for platform restrictions all play crucial roles in determining which marketplace will deliver better results for your business. Rather than declaring a universal winner, the key is understanding how each platform's strengths align with your particular needs and choosing accordingly - or leveraging both platforms strategically to maximize your reach and sales potential.
One of the first things you'll need to consider when choosing an ecommerce platform is how much it will cost you to sell. Understanding the true cost of selling on eBay vs Amazon requires looking beyond basic selling fees to include all associated costs and services. Both eBay and Amazon have complex fee structures that can significantly impact your bottom line, especially when you factor in optional services and varying product categories.
Amazon charges sellers through multiple fee categories that can add up quickly but often include valuable services. First, there's the referral fee, or Amazon's commission every time an item sells. It typically ranges from 8% to 15% depending on the sold product's category, with most common categories falling around 15%. In addition to a referral fee on each sold item, Individual sellers also pay $0.99 per item sold, while Professional sellers pay $39.99 monthly but avoid per-item fees.
Before you even make a sale, however, you'll encounter several other selling fees. The first is Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), which is technically optional, but in our experience usually necessary as it's required for attaining the Buy Box. This adds another layer of costs but includes storage, picking, packing, shipping, customer service, and returns processing. FBA fees vary by product size and weight, typically ranging from $3 to $8 per item for standard-sized products. Monthly storage fees are relatively low during most of the year but increase significantly during peak season from October through December.
Additional costs can include advertising fees if you use Sponsored Products, long-term storage fees for slow-moving inventory, and removal fees if you need to get products back from Amazon's warehouses. When combined with referral fees, total costs often reach 25-35% of your sale price, and that's before accounting for product costs and other expenses.
eBay's fee structure is generally more straightforward and typically results in lower total costs, though sellers must handle more services themselves. The platform offers 250 free listings per month for most sellers, with additional listings costing $0.35 each. This makes it particularly attractive for sellers with smaller catalogs or those testing new products.
Final value fees, which are eBay's commission on every sale, range from 10% to 15% of the total transaction amount, with most categories falling around 13.25%. Payment processing is included in the final value fee through eBay's managed payments system, simplifying the fee structure compared to the past when PayPal fees were separate.
Just like on Amazon, optional listing upgrades can add costs but may improve visibility and sales. Features like bold titles, subtitles, or gallery plus images cost extra, but unlike on Amazon are rarely necessary for success. Unlike Amazon, eBay doesn't charge monthly subscription fees for basic selling accounts, making it a more accessible option for casual or part-time sellers. Ultimately, most eBay sellers can expect to pay around 13-15% of their sale price in fees to eBay, significantly lower than Amazon's overall selling fees.
Another fundamental difference between eBay and Amazon lies in their customer bases and shopping behaviors. Understanding where your ideal customers prefer to shop can be more important than fee differences, as reaching the right audience can significantly impact your sales volume. In this section, we'll explore the typical type of buyer that frequents each marketplace to help you understand which one better aligns with your target customer.
Amazon attracts customers who prioritize convenience, speed, and reliability over hunting for the absolute lowest price. The typical Amazon shopper is willing to pay slightly more for the assurance of fast shipping, easy returns, and consistent product quality. Prime members, who make up a significant portion of Amazon's customer base, often default to Amazon for most purchases and rarely comparison shop on other platforms.
In terms of shopping behavior, Amazon customers tend to search with specific products in mind and expect a streamlined purchase process. They typically want new products from recognizable brands, and place high value on customer reviews and ratings.
The platform's search algorithm reinforces this behavior by prioritizing well-optimized listings that convert well and maintain good seller metrics. This creates a sort of positive feedback loop, where sellers who meet Amazon's customer expectations gain better visibility, leading to more sales and improved performance metrics.
Compared to Amazon, eBay attracts a more diverse customer base, including bargain hunters, collectors, and shoppers looking for unique or hard-to-find items. Many eBay users enjoy the process of browsing and comparing multiple options, with many viewing shopping as an activity rather than just a transaction. This creates opportunities for sellers who list the right items, and can present those items in a way that attracts buyers.
The platform's auction heritage continues to influence buyer behavior, with many customers expecting negotiation opportunities through features like Best Offer or auction-style listings. Unlike customers on Amazon, who prioritize seamless transactions and ultra-fast delivery, eBay shoppers often have more patience for longer shipping times and may be more forgiving of minor issues if they feel they received good value.
eBay's customer base includes many international buyers who specifically seek out unique American products or better prices than available in their home countries. This global perspective can provide additional opportunities for sellers willing to handle international shipping and the associated complexities.
The type of products you typically sell is arguably the most important factor when deciding if eBay or Amazon is the better choice for you. Each marketplace has developed strengths in different categories based on their customer bases and operational approaches, and understanding these patterns can help you choose the platform where your products are most likely to thrive.
Amazon dominates in electronics, books, health and beauty products, home and garden items, and other mass-market categories where customers prioritize new products, fast shipping, and established brands. The platform's review system and return policies make customers comfortable purchasing higher-priced items, particularly when backed by Amazon's fulfillment network.
The best items to sell on eBay include collectibles, vintage items, used goods, and rare finds, alongside unique niche-specific items that may get lost on a larger marketplace like Amazon. eBay's auction capabilities and bargaining culture also make it ideal for items where market value isn't clearly established, or where scarcity creates competition among buyers.
Amazon and eBay have different rules about how sellers on their platforms are required to run their business, and these differences will define not only how you sell, but how successful you'll be on each marketplace. As such, understanding each platform's selling requirements and restrictions before setting up shop is crucial to set yourself up for success.
Amazon maintains strict performance standards that all sellers must meet to remain in good standing. You need to keep your order defect rate under 1%, ship on time at least 96% of the time, and cancel fewer than 2.5% of your orders. Failing to meet these standards can result in account suspension or loss of selling privileges, making consistent, quality customer support and fulfillment non-negotiable for Amazon sellers.
eBay offers more flexibility in terms of seller requirements, allowing sellers to set their own return policies and offering far more leeway when it comes to fulfillment timeframes. Nevertheless, it still maintains performance standards that measure sellers on the quality of their service, as well as a feedback forum that allows buyers to publicly review their buying experience with each seller. The platform tracks metrics like item as described, communication, and shipping speed, but generally provides more opportunities for sellers to recover from occasional issues in comparison to Amazon.
Order fulfillment is a major component of online sales, one that significantly impacts both your costs and customer experience. As such, the fulfillment options you'll have available to you can be a deciding factor when choosing between eBay and Amazon. Each marketplace offers different fulfillment options that cater to various business models and preferences.
Sellers on Amazon can choose between two fulfillment options: Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA), and Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM).
Amazon's FBA program is by far one of the platform's strongest advantages. When you use FBA, you send your stock over to Amazon, and they handle storage, picking, packing, shipping, customer service, and returns on your behalf. This service makes your products eligible for Prime shipping, which significantly increases their appeal to Amazon's customer base. FBA costs vary by product size and weight, but prices typically provide good value when you factor in the time savings and increased conversion rates from Prime eligibility, and when you compare it to third-party logistics solutions.
While FBA is definitely the more popular choice among Amazon sellers, self-fulfillment, known as FBM, is still possible on Amazon. It typically requires more work to pick, pack, and ship, but allows for greater control over costs and customer experience. This approach works well for sellers with unique packaging requirements or those who sell very large or heavy products that do not make sense to fulfill with FBA.
eBay requires its sellers to handle their own fulfillment, though the platform does have partnerships with third-party logistics providers via the eBay Labels program, which gives eBay sellers discounted shipping rates. This self-fulfillment model gives sellers complete control over packaging, shipping methods, and costs, but requires more hands-on management and doesn't provide the competitive advantage that FBA offers on Amazon.
Many successful eBay sellers use this hands-on approach to their advantage, providing personalized packaging, handwritten notes, or other touches that provide a better buying experience and build customer loyalty.
.png)
Now that we've gone over the main considerations you need to take into account, analyzed both eBay and Amazon each one, and understood what kind of selling experience each marketplace offers, it's finally time to answer the question: is it better to sell on eBay or Amazon?
Amazon works best for sellers offering new, branded products that appeal to mainstream customers. If your products compete with established brands or involve significant purchase decisions that buyers research thoroughly, Amazon's credibility and emphasis on product reviews can provide substantial advantages. Thanks to its FBA program, Amazon is also the better choice for sellers who want to outsource logistics, warehousing, and customer service, and can justify higher fees in exchange for these services.
With all these upsides, is important to remember that the platform best suits sellers who can maintain consistent inventory and meet Amazon's high seller performance standards. For sellers who are comfortable working within a structured system with clear expectations and little leeway, Amazon's infrastructure can help you scale your business efficiently in comparison to managing everything independently.
Finally, Amazon's customer base is made up of buyers who value convenience and reliability over finding the lowest possible price, making it the better choice for sellers targeting this demographic. For sellers who are able to consistently offer quality products at competitive prices, Amazon's customers are more than happy to pay a premium.
eBay is second to none for selling unique, vintage, or secondhand items. The platform excels for niche categories like automotive components, electronic parts, home and garden items, apparel, and specialty collectibles where buyers often search for specific models or hard-to-find pieces. If your products have special characteristics that differentiate them from mass-market alternatives, eBay, with its flexible listing options, is definitely your best option.
The platform is also far more suitable for sellers who want more control over pricing, return policies, and customer interactions. If you prefer handling customer service directly and building ongoing relationships with buyers, eBay's communication tools and flexible selling options will work better than Amazon's rigid selling requirements. Plus, for sellers with tighter budgets who need to minimize upfront costs and avoid monthly fees, eBay makes much more financial sense. The platform offers lower fees, particularly for low volume sellers, making it particularly accessible for part-time sellers or those just setting out on their ecommerce journey.
Finally, for sellers who want to sell internationally, those whose products are aimed at price-conscious customers who appreciate good value, and those who need more flexible fulfillment timeframes, eBay is a better choice.
.png)
Over time, many sellers discover that limiting themselves to one selling platform is needlessly restrictive, and can unnecessarily cap their growth potential. Instead, many successful sellers opt for a multichannel approach, one where they sell on eBay, Amazon, and other platforms simultaneously to maximize their reach and minimize their risk.
Even when selling on both eBay and Amazon, it's important to use each platform strategically to get the best results. This means optimizing products for each channel, in terms of both product data and pricing, and maintaining perfectly synced inventory between sales channels to prevent overselling. Multichannel selling managers like EasyChannel make this simple to do thanks to AI prompts that enable sellers to optimize products in bulk by writing out instructions in plain English, and seamless inventory sync that delists sold units automatically.
EasyChannel specializes in helping sellers manage their entire multichannel ecommerce operation more efficiently with a unified catalog for seamless product data and inventory management, a consolidated multichannel order manager, and an AI-powered multichannel helpdesk for managing customer messages from multiple selling accounts.
Ultimately, selling on multiple marketplaces is the best way to grow your business, and to safeguard it against marketplace-specific policy changes, errors, and other unexpected hiccups in the future. With the right tools in hand, multichannel selling can be simple as well as successful, and can provide sellers with a reliable way to grow their business in the short and long term.
Still not sure whether eBay or Amazon is the better selling platform for you? Check out these frequently asked questions to help you make a better selling platform choice.
Q: Is Amazon or eBay more profitable for new sellers?
eBay typically offers higher profit margins due to lower fees, but Amazon typically provides higher sales volume and faster business growth. New sellers with limited budgets usually prefer to start with eBay to minimize risk and learn ecommerce fundamentals before expanding to Amazon, but sellers with sufficient capital and business experience may find Amazon's tools and services worth the higher costs for faster scaling.
Q: Can you sell the same products on both eBay and Amazon?
Yes, most products can be sold on both platforms, though you'll need to optimize listings differently for each audience and manage inventory carefully to prevent overselling. Many sellers use tools like EasyChannel to successfully optimize listings for multiple selling channels and keep their multichannel inventory synced, eliminating the need for manual listing and product management.
Q: Which platform has better seller protection?
While both Amazon and eBay offer seller protection, but Amazon's policies tend to favor buyers more heavily, while eBay provides more balanced dispute resolution. Amazon's A-to-Z Guarantee almost always sides with customers in disputes, while eBay's resolution process considers seller evidence more thoroughly. However, Amazon's FBA program provides additional protection by handling customer service and returns, reducing direct seller involvement in disputes.
You made it! and you're now more equipped to sell more online!
Enjoy a reward for your hard work!
Learn more about how EasyChannel works for online sellers.
![Top 10 Best eBay Listing Tools for Sellers [2025]](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/64e3188fb5060911194bf2f5/686e29e8c6cd42d8fa07b676_Dashboard%20(1).png)
.png)
