Amazon Marketplace vs. Ebay

[Jeff]

I'm thinking about selling some DVD's online but haven't before. So I'm wondering if some of our online sellers here can give the rundown between these two. I know little of selling on ebay, especially since I can't access the site at work to research it. But I do know Amazon marketplace takes a 10% commission on DVDs plus $1.70 on other closing fees per item.

Can anyone give me advise?

[Si Hunt]

Amazon Marketplace:

You can set your own price
10% Commission
Sounds tricky to set up? Never tried it

Ebay:

Auction, so chance of getting a big fee, plus you choose starting price
Ebay fees are less than Amazon Marketplace
Paypal provides an easy way to pay, but you pay even more fee (you can use cheque if you want though)
Easy to set up an auction, anyone can do it

I'd go for Ebay, there's more excitement as you sell.

Si.

[Jeff]

Sounds tricky to set up? Never tried it

Nah, it doesn't sound tricky to set up at all. You just list your item, set your price and write a description. You don't have to worry about posting pictures of the product or setting a page for it. It just lists your item next the the others. Also, Amazon handles all the payment collection for you, then deposits it into your checking account, so you don't have to worry about bad checks and stuff. If the paypal combined with the ebay fee is greater than the 10% amazon takes then I'd rather go with amazon.

I'm going to try to sell my James Bond Special Edition vol. 1 box set so I can get the Ultimate edition. I have a couple of them on watch at ebay to see what they go for, but it looked like with the ultimate editions out they weren't going for as much as people are asking on amazon...

[Captain Tancredi]

If Amazon Marketplace works the same way in the US as it does here, I'd start by putting them on at the price you want for them. If anything's left at the end of the 60 days, you can either re-list them and knock something off the price, or put them on Ebay with a lower starting price, depending on whether you're prepared to wait to get a certain amount from them or just want what you're selling out of the house.

I use both, but the books and CDs I put on Ebay tend to be unusual stuff like small press railway books or unusual recordings which wouldn't attract the attention of somebody browsing Amazon.

[Ralph]

I always sell on Amazon Marketplace - I'm Mitch2005 with 26 five star ratings

[Lissa]

I've only ever sold through Amazon Marketplace - it is easy to do, you don't pay anything if your item doesn't sell, it is up for 60 days, you don't have to worry about setting postage fees or getting paid and - best of all - there aren't as many w@nkers. It is more expensive if you do sell an item but if you just want to list stuff and send it off if it sells then Amazon will give you a quieter life.

Probably.

Although I've heard Americans even carry guns online so you could still run into difficulties.

[Jeff]

What are the percentages of the cuts that Ebay and Paypal take, does anyone know?

[Jeff]

Although I've heard Americans even carry guns online so you could still run into difficulties.

I always carry mine. See.


I think I'm going to end up going with Amazon. I'm gonna wait and see what the other SE box sets go for on ebay first though. The one selling point I have in my favor is that the titles are available individually and so apparently a lot of crooked sellers are buying the individual titles in the box set, then advertising it as a box set and selling all the movies without the sleeve. If I advertise hard enough that it is the genuine box set in mint condition I may be able to get a buyer to pay more than the lower priced sellers are asking... at least one on the amazon page is honest enough to say they didn't have the sleeve...

[Matthew T]

Amazon is about 100 times easier and quicker to use than eBay, but it's not as exciting.

[Wayne]

What are the percentages of the cuts that Ebay and Paypal take, does anyone know?

I think it's about 15% on eBay. I think Paypal is about 5%. But i'm not sure.

[Jeff]

On Amazon, can you change the price or edit your description after you have listed the item? Can you edit the description page on ebay after its posted?

[Captain Tancredi]

I've done both. When I've been doing Amazon Marketplace seriously, I've been in the habit of checking my items weekly to make sure I had the lowest price.

[Wayne]

On Amazon, can you change the price or edit your description after you have listed the item? Can you edit the description page on ebay after its posted?

Yes, except for in the last 12hrs, i reckon.