Overview – Top Online Selling Platforms
- Shopify – The Best Overall
- Amazon – The Best for International Sales
- eBay – The Best for Expensive Products
- Facebook Marketplace – The Best Social Media Marketplace
- Craigslist – The Best for Local Sales
- Etsy – The Best for Handmade Products
- Swappa – The Best for Selling Used Electronics
- Bonanza – The Best for Small Businesses
Online sellers have different priorities when it comes to choosing a platform. These are the top online marketplaces for selling your products depending on what you value the most:
1. Shopify – The Best Overall
Shopify is our pick for the best online selling site that allows you to sell both physical and digital products. With over 550 million users worldwide, it’s a leading ecommerce platform that continues to grow its user base.
You can set up your own online store and start selling products on Shopify in mere minutes. The platform allows you to customize your store, gives you analytics to drive your online sales, and helps you market your products to reach your target audience.
Features
- Custom Domain: Shopify provides you with a domain if you don’t already have one for your online store.
- Marketing Tools: Offers various SEO tools, ad campaigns, sales performance insights, abandoned shopping cart recovery, and other tools to streamline the shopping process.
- Website Builder: Even if you’re not tech-savvy, there are over 100 templates to help you build a custom website with built-in features to fit your store’s niche.
- Integrations: You have the option to integrate over 4,000 different free Shopify apps to improve the functionality of your website and streamline your sales process.
Pros
- Multiple Gateway Options: Shopify allows you to use over 100 different payment gateways such as PayPal, Apple Pay, and Shopify Payments.
- Bulk Product Uploads: You can upload multiple products to your online store simultaneously, which saves you tons of time and helps you start selling online faster.
- SEO Tools: Shopify lets you customize your URLs, meta descriptions, title tags, and other vital SEO features to increase organic traffic and conversion rates.
- Simple Interface: Shopify’s easy-to-use interface allows you to create a website to sell products online without technical, coding, or developing experience. If you get stuck, you can check out how to sell on Shopify.
Cons
- Mainly Business-to-Consumer: Shopify focuses on B2C (business-to-consumer) sales, so it won’t be useful if you’re targeting B2B (business-to-business) sales.
Pricing
Shopify charges just $1/month for the first three months, after which you can choose from three distinct plans:
- Basic Plan: For individuals and small businesses and costs $32/month
- Shopify Plan: For small businesses that need up to five staff accounts and costs $92/month
- Advanced Plan: For medium to large businesses and costs $399/month
Bottom Line
If you’re looking for the best online marketplace to sell stuff online, whether physical or digital, Shopify is an excellent choice to consider. It’ll help you set up your own ecommerce store, reach your audience, and analyze your sales and performance efficiently.
2. Amazon- The Best for International Sales
Amazon was one of the first companies to introduce online marketplaces where buyers and sellers can find virtually anything they need. It sells approximately 400 products every minute, making it an excellent platform for reaching your audience and selling stuff online.
Amazon provides order fulfillment services that can help you manage and sell your physical products in different countries, boosting your international sales.
Features
- FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon): This feature allows you to send your products to Amazon, and they’ll handle the packing, shipping, and customer service in exchange for a transaction fee.
- AMS (Amazon Marketing Services): Offers sophisticated marketing tools to help you reach your audience, such as sponsored product ads and campaigns.
- Business Analytics: Provides detailed reports on sales, marketing statistics, performance, conversion rates, and other insights that drive your business decisions.
- Affiliate Program Options: Amazon offers several affiliate programs, which can earn you money without selling an actual product. You can also use these affiliate programs to drive more sales of your own products.
Pros
- Credibility: Selling on Amazon gives you more credibility and makes customers more likely to buy your product because Amazon handles payments and verifies its sellers beforehand.
- Minimal Logistics with FBA: Amazon’s FBA program saves you the hassle of preparing, shipping, tracking, and money collection with each order.
- Large Online Marketplace: Amazon gets over two billion visits per month, which increases your products’ exposure to potential customers.
- Cross-selling Features: Amazon’s product recommendations algorithm can recommend your products to customers based on their shopping cart or chosen items.
Cons
- Competitive: There are millions of other sellers competing for your target audience on this massive ecommerce website, so you might need to lower your selling price to compete.
Pricing
Amazon offers two selling plans depending on whether you want to pay a flat monthly fee or pay per sale:
- Individual Plan: Costs $0.99/item sold, but you don’t get access to any marketing tools
- Professional Plan: Costs $39.99/month regardless of how many units you sell. You also get access to all marketing and reporting tools.
Bottom Line
If you’re looking for the best online selling platform to handle all of your logistics, especially for international product sales, Amazon is an excellent choice.
3. eBay – The Best for Expensive Products
eBay is one of the oldest and best online selling sites. It garnered popularity for used or secondhand items, but you can also sell new inventory there.
To start selling on eBay, you need to choose the sale method, either immediately or through auction bidding. Auctions can help you make more money, especially if you’re selling expensive products that are in high demand.
Features
- eBay Escrow: eBay keeps all funds in a separate escrow account until the buyer receives their product, protecting both sellers and buyers from fraud.
- Local Pickup Option: eBay offers local pickup and shipping options which save you the time and money associated with fulfillment and logistics.
- Free Listings: eBay allows you to list up to 250 items every month without listing fees, and you only pay fees when you make a sale.
- Global Fulfillment: You can ship your products worldwide thanks to eBay’s integration with USPS. This increases your pool of customers and enhances your chances of conversions.
Pros
- Highly Diverse: You can find and sell almost every product or niche you can think of with eBay’s extremely diverse marketplace.
- High-Income Potential: Auction listings can often earn you more as more people bid on your product. As you learn how eBay bids work, you can choose products that have greater demand and greater revenue potential.
- Privacy Options: eBay allows you to make private listings, which hide sellers’ info from the public. This can be useful when selling sensitive products online.
- Freemium Plans: You can start selling and making money without upfront costs and then upgrade to premium plans once you generate enough revenue.
Cons
- Secondhand Products Reputation: eBay’s reputation for having mainly secondhand products can make it hard for business owners trying to sell new products online.
Pricing
eBay’s pricing depends on whether you sign up as an individual seller or an eBay store. As an online business, you’ll likely need to choose one of three plans:
- Starter Plan: Best for small storefronts and costs $4.95/month
- Basic Plan: Best for small businesses and costs $21.95/month
- Premium Plan: Best for extensive product categories and costs $59.95/month
- Anchor Plan: Best for high-volume sellers and costs $299.95/month
Bottom Line
If you’re looking for a diverse online marketplace to sell rare or high-ticket products, eBay is one of the top online selling sites to consider.
4. Facebook Marketplace – The Best Social Media Marketplace
Facebook Marketplace is one of the best online platforms for selling products through social media. It provides a massive target audience that allows you to sell online without paying hefty selling fees.
Facebook has billions of users worldwide, and about 1 in every 3 users goes on Facebook Marketplace every month.
Features
- Campaigns: You can boost your listings and promote your products using Facebook campaigns that suit your budget and marketing needs.
- Integrations: You can integrate products from your Shopify online store into Facebook Marketplace without creating new listings from scratch.
- Messenger-based Communications: Facebook Marketplace lets you communicate with your clients in real-time via Messenger, making it easier to sell items online.
- Facebook Offers: This feature allows you to create attractive product discounts on your Facebook page, which generates more traffic and revenue.
Pros
- Niche-Specific Groups: Facebook allows you to list your products in related Facebook groups, which increases your sales potential by targeting already-interested clients.
- Billions of Users: Facebook’s massive number of active users gives you plenty of organic traffic.
- Unlimited Sales: There’s no limit to the number of sales you can make once you master how to sell on Facebook Marketplace.
- No Upfront Costs: You don’t need to pay subscription fees or upfront costs. You only pay a small selling fee for each sale you make.
Cons
- No Vetting: Anyone can post on Facebook Marketplace, and there’s no vetting process to prevent fraud, unlike with Amazon.
Pricing
Facebook Marketplace is free to use, but you’ll need to pay a small selling fee of 5% per shipment or $0.40 for products with a price of $8.00 or less.
Bottom Line
If you’re looking for a social media marketplace to sell your products online, Facebook Marketplace is an excellent place to start.
5. Craigslist – The Best for Local Sales
As one of the oldest peer-to-peer selling platforms, Craigslist has millions of active buyers and sellers who scour the marketplace daily. It has a simple layout of a classified ads website, allowing you to list your products without fancy business features and design tools.
Craigslist is a bit similar to Facebook Marketplace since both websites take a hands-off approach without verifying buyers or sellers. However, if you’re okay with setting up face-to-face meetings to carry out transactions, you’ll find a massive audience for sales.
Features
- Craigslist Markets: This feature lets you use your location to sell stuff locally for better audience targeting.
- Free and Paid Ads: You can set up free ads which refresh every 48 hours or pay a small fee for paid ads.
- Forum-Like Interface: An easy-to-use forum-like interface allows you to sell products without designing your own website or needing your own store.
- Sell in Different Niches: Craigslist allows you to sell your products and services across different niches and categories at the same time, including physical products, real estate, online lessons, and more.
Pros
- Quick and Easy: You can create an account, upload pictures of your products, and create ads in minutes.
- Anonymity: You can create anonymous postings to protect your identity. Craigslist allows you to leave only a phone number or email address and limits the interactions buyers can have with you depending on your preferences.
- No Fees: You don’t have to worry about splitting your profits or paying commission or a service fee to Craigslist.
- Huge Audience: Craigslist has been active since 1995, making it one of the most popular online sites for buyers and sellers worldwide.
Cons
- Minimal Support: Craigslist doesn’t offer any kind of seller protection, and the only form of assistance they offer is through a contact form.
Pricing
Craigslist is completely free, except for a few job listings or products, such as real estate, which require posting fees.
Bottom Line
If you’re looking for a simple online marketplace to post your products and sell to locals, Craigslist is an excellent choice.
6. Etsy – The Best for Handmade Products
Etsy is the leasing online platform for selling unique, custom, or handmade products. It has over four million active sellers who specialize in different handmade categories such as handmade goods, vintage items, and unique clothing.
You can set up an Etsy store to showcase your products to about 40 million online buyers worldwide. Once you learn the ropes of Etsy’s algorithm, you can make your products more appealing and in demand, driving your sales through the roof.
Features
- Etsy Store: You can create a fully customizable personalized store with featured products, banner templates, and more.
- Custom Domains: You can choose between a free domain that ends with “.store” or a custom domain with a 50% discount.
- Marketing Tools: You can create marketing campaigns to advertise your products using Etsy Ads and also promote your products in search rankings.
- Analytics and Reporting: Etsy provides comprehensive analytics to help gauge your store performance, sales, traffic, and marketing efforts.
Pros
- Unlimited Sales: There’s no limit to the number of sales you can make on Etsy as long as you can keep your sales cycle flowing.
- Quick, Easy Setup: You can create an Etsy store and start selling your products in about 15 minutes thanks to its easy-to-use interface.
- Sales-Driving Algorithms: Etsy’s algorithms are designed to drive sales by encouraging users to view your products, hence driving more traffic to your store.
- Integrations: You can integrate Etsy with Facebook and Instagram to promote products from your store on social media.
Cons
- Highly Competitive: Much like Amazon, Etsy is a highly competitive online marketplace. However, the more unique your products are, the less this becomes an issue.
Pricing
Etsy charges you $0.20 per listing and takes a transaction fee of 6.5% for each sale you make.
Bottom Line
If you’re looking for a marketplace to sell unique, handmade products online and market them on social media platforms, Etsy is an excellent online store to try out.
7. Swappa – The Best for Selling Used Electronics
Swappa is the perfect platform to sell electronics such as phones, laptops, and tablets. It specializes in used tech and takes serious anti-fraud measures to make sure buyers don’t get scammed.
Swappa might not be the best for large business owners or those who deal in new electronics. However, if you have an old camera, laptop, watch, or video game lying around, you can easily sell them on Swappa.
Features
- Swappa Local: This feature allows you to sell to local buyers in your area by entering your location.
- IMEI Verification: Swappa checks all iPhone IMEIs for free to make sure they aren’t stolen, which gives buyers confidence in buying your product.
- ESN Verification: Swappa also verifies ESN numbers for gadgets and smartphones to protect against thefts and frauds.
- Featured Listings: Features your products in highlights so you can get more traffic and better chances of making a sale.
Pros
- Payment Protection: All Swappa transactions are carried out via PayPal to ensure buyer and seller protection against fraud.
- Product Vetting: Swappa thoroughly scrutinizes each product before allowing you to list them for sale. This has enhanced the website’s reputation, attracting millions of potential customers.
- Niche-Specific: Since Swappa only deals in electronics and gadgets, buyers visiting the website are more likely to make a niche-specific purchase without needing marketing tools or ads.
- Affordable: You don’t need to pay any upfront fees, and all service fees are covered by the buyer.
Cons
- Individual Seller-Centric: Swappa isn’t a great choice for business owners since it doesn’t allow you to set up a storefront or upload full catalogs.
Pricing
Swappa is completely free and doesn’t charge sellers any transaction fees. However, its pricing structure includes a small fee that gets added to your selling price, so the buyer pays the final sale price instead of you.
Swappa also lets you create featured listings to promote your products on the website for a flat fee of $5 per listing.
Bottom Line
If you’re an individual seller looking to make extra money selling used or like-new electronics, Swappa can help you generate income in no time.
8. Bonanza – The Best for Small Businesses
Bonanza is another online marketplace similar to eBay and Amazon but with much less competition. It has a little over 40,000 sellers, most of whom are entrepreneurs and small business owners.
Bonanza is popular for products like clothes, books, jewelry, accessories, digital files, and more.
Features
- Inventory Sync: Bonanza lets you sync your inventory and product listing from other online marketplaces such as Amazon, Shopify, and eBay into your Bonanza store.
- Analytics and Reporting: Offers detailed performance reports, analytical data, and statistics that can help you gauge which products are the best for your business.
- Webstore: The platform helps you create your own webstore using customizable theme templates and a custom domain.
- Best Offer Feature: Bonanza lets buyers negotiate the selling price with sellers and you can set it to automatically accept any offer equal to or above your minimum acceptable selling price.
Pros
- Better Marketing: Bonanza helps you make more sales by advertising your product listings on different shopping sites such as Google Shopping, eBay Advertising, and Bing Ads.
- Batch Editing: You can edit multiple products in your Bonanza store simultaneously when you need to add discounts and offers, saving you tons of time.
- Less Competitive: It’s much less competitive than Amazon or eBay but still has a massive number of monthly visitors.
Cons
- Inventory Limit: The maximum number of items you can upload as an online seller on Bonanza is 75,000, which might be an issue for large business owners.
Pricing
Bonanza lets you post products for free but you’ll need to pay a “Final Offer Value” fee of about 3.5% for each item you sell. If your products sell for more than $500, you might need to pay extra.
Bonanza offers three distinct membership plans:
- Gold Plan: Best for beginner sellers and costs $25/month (billed annually)
- Diamond Plan: Best for full business management and costs $113/month (billed annually)
- Titan Plan: Best for high-volume sellers and costs $167/month (billed annually)
Bottom Line
If you’re a small business owner or entrepreneur looking for a popular marketplace with less competition than Amazon or eBay, Bonanza is an excellent online platform to sell your products.
How to Choose the Best Platform to Sell Online
When choosing an online marketplace to sell your products, there are several aspects you need to keep in mind, which include:
Your Business Model
The first thing you need to consider is your business model. If you’re a casual or individual seller with just a few items to sell for extra income, you should consider platforms like Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist.
These online marketplaces don’t require much upfront cost and you won’t need to build an online store since you don’t have much inventory.
On the other hand, if you’re a small to large business owner and plan on selling multiple products, you should stick to storefront-based platforms such as Shopify, Amazon, Bonanza, and Etsy.
Your Products
Another factor you need to consider is the type of product you’re selling. If you specialize in only one type of goods or a certain product category, you’re better off with niche-market platforms.
For example, if you’re selling used electronics, you’ll have a much better chance of selling them on Swappa than Etsy since most Swappa visitors are already looking for used electronics instead of window shopping.
On the other hand, if you offer a wide range of products across different categories, you should stick to massive online marketplaces like Amazon, which offer diverse listings.
If you prefer handmade, artsy, or unique products, Etsy is a better choice.
Your Budget
As an individual seller or small business owner, your budget might not be able to cover upfront costs such as subscriptions, listing fees, or marketing expenses.
If that’s the case, you should consider online platforms that don’t require any upfront costs and only charge you after you’ve made a sale, such as Etsy or Facebook Marketplace.
As you generate more sales and revenue, you can expand to paid marketplaces such as Amazon or Shopify.
Best Platforms to Sell Online: Frequently Asked Questions
Which Online Selling Sites Are Free?
Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist are two of the best free online selling sites but keep in mind they have minimal oversight or fraud prevention.
Which Online Marketplace Is the Best for Businesses?
It depends on your business size. Shopify and Amazon are generally the best for medium to large businesses, while Bonanza is a better choice for entrepreneurs and small business owners.
Wrapping Up
Selling products online is a great way to supplement your income or even make a living. The important thing is to choose the right platform to sell online based on your business model, products, and budget.
Hopefully, with this guide, you’ll be one step closer to your potential customers and sales goals. So let us know what you’re taking home in the comments below, and share this with a friend looking to open their own online store.
