FED UP WITH EBAY AND PAYPAL FEE INCREASE? - TRY THESE EBAY ALTERNATIVE MARKETPLACES

There are more and more online sellers becoming frustrated with eBay and PayPal fee increases from time to time. Although it is undeniable fact that eBay is the largest online auction site with billions of hits every year, for small time sellers, it becomes harder and harder to make a reliable and decent profit to make a living. Recent complain from many sellers is the fact that eBay charges fees on the shipping fees. It is NOT illegal to actually charge fees on the shipping fees, but it is not ethical to impose such a fee. On the other hand, eBay is the most convenient way to turn your inventory fast. For online sellers who are looking for eBay alternatives, I am listing 10 alternative online marketplaces that are gaining popularity.

1. Amazon - Amazon is the world's largest online retailer with billions of customers. Depending on your inventory, Amazon can be a viable marketplace. I notice that things go a little slower at Amazon (i.e., inventory turnover). That is because there are much more competition selling the brand name merchandise at fixed price. There is a limitation on what you can sell too. Your merchandise must be already in the Amazon catalog for you to sell. Therefore, for a small time seller who wants to sell niche products will have a difficult time selling on Amazon. Otherwise, Amazon fees are very reasonable and your business can be more profitable there.

2. Sears.com - Recently Sears has started to accept small businesses to sell on its website. Even though it is not popular, you can increase your business visibility by being on Sears website. There are some restrictions so it's better to check out at seller.marketplace.sears.com.

3. Buy.com - This is also one of the largest online retailer with millions of traffic. Their commission is about 8% to 15% which is quite reasonable to open a shop there. You can virtually sell anything (books, toys, jewelery, electronics, pet supplies, etc.). Sellers can easily register for an account on Buy.com, and buyers can browse through the available products for free.

4.Etsy.com - Etsy has become a large community of online sellers and buyers for anything handmade. It also has multimillion traffic and a lot of visibility. It is in the news more and more often as the site has growing customers. You can find many quality jewelery and crafts on the site. The only limitation Etsy put on the seller is that all the merchandise you plan to sell must be either handmade or vintage. That's good and bad. Good because it gives you a nice niche to focus on. Bad because it eliminate the sellers who want to sell other kind of merchandise.

5. Ecrater.com - Growing number of merchandise listings from Ecrater appear on Google product search. That's good for business since millions of customers search their products on Google product search (it used to be "Froogle"). Ecrater is absolutely free online marketplace. Features are limited and not that attractive but it's FREE. You can setup your own online web store.

6. iOffer.com - It's a unique online marketplace that let you buy, sell, trade, exchange, and negotiate. Therefore, it simulates the old time way of doing businesses. There are 35 million items to buy, sell, and trade. With no listing fees, it's steal. I've checked out the site and I like it. You can look through the featured gallery to get an idea of what items are popular on iOffer. You can also setup your own iOffer store too.

7. Rubylane.com - Exquisite site that lists fine art, antiques, and collectibles. There are also other types of merchandise but most of the items are one-of-a-kind collectibles. When you visit the site, first thing you notice is the quality and presentation of the site. The "Ruby Lane Advantage" is a principle behind Rubylane.com that states that the company is founded on quality, security, and excellent customer service. This is not an auction site though. Customers nowadays do not want to wait 7 days for the auctions to end like on eBay anyway.

8. Newegg Marketplace - When you think of Newegg, you think of electronics. Now you can register to sell jewelery, sporting goods, pet supplies, fragrances, watch, and other categories. Newegg has millions of customers and the company is based in Southern California.

9. Bonanza.com - Bonanza is gaining popularity, but it is still straggle to get traffic. The site is very easy to use and looks professional. The company is trying to improve its site by using data feed to Google. In fact, you can see quite a bit of product listing appearing on Google product search. The bottom line is that it still does not give you enough business to make a living but it's worth a look.

10. Pricegrabber - It is one of the largest online comparison shopping site. Many major retailers actually list on Pricegrabber. You can list your merchandise along with products from major retailers. Again, most of the products on Pricegrabber is well known mass merchandise. Therefore, it may be hard for a small time seller to compete with larger retailers. Case in point - Amazon listings are included in search results.

All in all. there are alternative but, depending on what you sell, those marketplaces can be more profitable than eBay. Most sellers try to have a couple of marketplaces running at the same time. That way, they can supplement their revenue to offset the higher fees charged by eBay and PayPal.