Alternatives to Creating an E-Commerce Website
Before you create an E-Commerce Website, Consider these Alternatives
If you have a product to sell, you may be considering an e-commerce website. An e-commerce website is a great way to control your branding and make your products available to the world. However, there are alternatives to creating an e-commerce website that you may want to consider. When you create your own e-commerce website you are 100% responsible for driving traffic to your website. There are other options, like Etsy, Ebay, and Amazon, that include not only a sales platform but also a built-in marketplace.
Keep in mind that you are not limited to one way of selling your products. For example, you could decide to sell your products on Amazon and also sell them on your own website.
What are your options?
As you weigh the possibility of an e-commerce website, you may also be considering alternate platforms to sell your product. These alternatives can be helpful in finding your customers, but they come with their own expenses.
Etsy: Requires a small fee for each product you list. A 5% commission goes to Etsy for each sale, not including the credit card fees of 3%. Etsy is intended for selling crafts and artistic products, so if your product is related to visual arts it is more likely to do well on Etsy.
Amazon: Requires a commission ranging from 5-20% of each sale based on the type of product and plan you select. While their commission is very high, their marketplace is the largest in the United States.
Ebay: Requires approximately 8% of the sale. Ebay would be a great option is you are interested in more of an auction approach, where you set a minimum price and then sell to the highest bidder.
Benefits of Building an E-Commerce Website
There are benefits to creating your own e-commerce website. You have more control and the fees will likely be considerably less.
- The only cost required are credit card fees, usually around 3-4% and your web hosting costs.
- You can control the reviews on your product. A couple of poor reviews will not destroy your efforts!
- You control product offerings, including the ability to add coupon codes and sale prices.
If you would like to make an e-commerce website, you can learn more about E-Commerce Planning in our article.
While there are links on this page, there are no affiliate links. The fee amounts could change and are provided here to give you an idea of the various types of fees. For example, the fees are the highest on Amazon, but Amazon is also the largest marketplace.