You can open stores in a number of places if you sell things online. Some business owners choose to set up their own online stores, while others prefer to sell their goods through marketplaces.
Global marketplace websites are getting more and more popular, and buyers and sellers are flocking to them. But any smart store owner knows that you need to sell where your customers buy things. If you’re not sure if a marketplace website is right for you or which one(s) you should choose, read this article to learn more about the opportunities that come with selling through them.
What Is the Website for Marketplace?
A marketplace website is a place where people can buy goods from a lot of different sellers.
These are the two most important things about a website for a market:
- Traders from many different places do business on the same platform.
- Users can buy things from the website or app without leaving it.
- Internet markets have become one of the most important parts of online shopping. Sites like Amazon, eBay, and Etsy are likely the most well-known examples of international online markets.
Why Do People Use the Marketplace Website?
Many retailers like to use marketplace websites, and for good reason. Using an online marketplace has a number of benefits, such as:
- A ready-made customer base: On well-known online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay, you can sell your items to large groups of customers. Using marketplace websites can be very helpful for small businesses because they can get new customers and leads.
- Increased brand recognition: If you list your items correctly, they could show up in hundreds of search results. Even if a user doesn’t always click through to your products, just seeing your brand in the search results can help them remember your brand.
- A big plus of an online economy is that customers can trust each other. Customers already know and trust big platforms like Amazon and eBay, so they are more likely to buy from them than from a store they have never heard of.
- Obviously, you have to weigh these pros and cons against other things, like the commission rate you have to pay to your preferred marketplace and the possibility that you won’t have full control over the fulfillment process or how your customers feel about your business.
Best Marketplace Websites
We’ve made a list of the top international online marketplaces to help you decide which platform will help you meet your ecommerce goals best.
Amazon
Amazon is one of the most popular marketplaces for both consumers and businesses, which shouldn’t be a surprise. Amazon is the second-biggest search engine on the internet and a big website where people buy and sell things.
Amazon can also help spread the word about your business to the next level and has the best shipping and fulfillment service. Several big companies chose to start out on Amazon in order to build a loyal customer base before opening their own online stores.
Before you can make an Amazon store, you must first sign up your brand with Amazon’s brand registration. Then, just like with a website builder, you can choose a theme and add pages to make your own Amazon store.
AliExpress
AliExpress is a real global marketplace site because it is based in China and serves more than 230 countries and territories. AliExpress is known for having low fees. Depending on the type of product you sell, you may only have to pay 5-8% of your total sales.
AliExpress has a great reputation for customer service and experience, so you can be sure that your clients will be taken care of and that any questions they have will be answered right away. When your buyer gets their package, you’ll also get paid.
Etsy
Etsy, an online store that has become more popular over the past few years, serves the arts and crafts market the most. There are people selling everything from vintage goods to personalized items and collectibles at the market.
Most of the things on Etsy can’t be bought anywhere else online, except maybe from the seller’s own website. This makes it a special place for both sellers and buyers.
eBay
eBay is still a place to buy and sell used items online, but it has grown into one of the largest marketplaces in the world, with products in almost every category you can think of. There are a lot of good things about selling things on eBay. Amazon is the biggest marketplace in the US, and eBay is the second largest.
Customers don’t have to know which eBay store you have to buy from you. All you need is for your listings to show up in search results. Also, eBay has a Global Delivery Program that lets you send your product to more than 60 million customers around the world without having to ship it yourself.
When selling on eBay, price is the most important thing to think about. Because the market is so big, it’s likely that different stores will sell the same or very similar items. Make sure that your price is fair if you want to stand out.
When it comes to fees, eBay has a number of options that offer different benefits, such as better listings and lower commission costs. It’s easy to learn how to sell on eBay. All you have to do is open a business account, set your shipping and return policies, and then upload your inventory.
Walmart
Did you know that Walmart is both an online store and a place where people can buy and sell things? Items from over 35 different product categories, such as crafts, books, and computers, can be sold by independent merchants on Walmart’s website.
Also, you don’t have to be in the US to use this. 5% of Walmart’s third-party sellers are now based outside the US, so this is a great option for foreign retailers whose products are aimed at US customers.
Walmart has six distribution hubs all over the country, and it promises to deliver almost all orders within two days of when the customer places the order. Walmart will do one last check before giving you the green light to start selling. If you have a Shopify store that is linked to Walmart’s marketplace, you can import order information and sync your inventory.
Mercado Libre
Mexico-based The website Mercado Libre is a large online market. Since it started in 1999, Mercado Libre has become Amazon’s biggest rival in Mexico. So you should definitely think about it if you want to connect with people here.
Also, since Mercado Libre has over 150 product categories, there is likely a market for your goods. Every month, about 650 million people go to the marketplace. The biggest product categories are sports goods, electronics, and clothing.
Shopee
Every month, more than 50 million people go to the website Shopee, which is based in Malaysia. One of the best things about Shopee is that sellers can list their items for free on the marketplace and don’t have to pay commission fees if they haven’t made more than 100 sales.
Shopee lets people pay in different ways, like with debit and credit cards, ATM transfers, and cash on delivery, which is another reason why sellers like it. You won’t have to worry about order fulfillment, either, because Shopee has many fulfillment centers all over Southeast Asia. These centers will take care of getting your purchases and sending them to customers.
Flipkart
Flipkart is one of the largest online stores in India. In fact, the online store made $4.6 billion just in October 2021! At first, the site was just an online bookstore, but now it also sells furniture, food, and clothes.
You can make a merchant profile on Flipkart for free, and it’s easy for people of all skill levels to use because of how it’s set up. This gives you more time to focus on marketing your products to up to 200 million potential customers.
Also, if something goes wrong, you’ll be covered by its seller protection program, and the marketplace has one of the best delivery networks in the world. There are more than 200 pick-up locations and more than 10,000 delivery agents, so you don’t have to worry about how you’ll send your goods around the world.
How to Choose the Best Market, According to the Experts
Now that you know more about our top eight international online markets, you can choose the one that works best for you. Here are some things to think about when choosing a marketplace website to sell your things:
- Do you need a specialized online market that only sells certain kinds of goods? Etsy is a great choice for people who want to sell hand-made or hand-crafted items.
- Find out how much it will cost you for each market. To figure out what you can afford, you will have to include these costs in your budget as a whole.
- Look into how big the market you’ve chosen is. How well does it convert, and does it target the right country for you?
- Does the marketplace help with getting things done? This is important for most stores, especially if they want to sell to people in other countries.
To Sum It Up
Selling your goods on a global online market place can lead to big e-commerce success, but that doesn’t mean it will be easy.
There is a lot of noise and competition in the online shopping world right now, but if you can find the right marketplace website, you could reach millions of people.