Selling your products on eBay or Etsy is now easier than ever. While Etsy might be a much smaller platform than eBay, the site attracted over 81.9 million buyers in 2020 alone. This could be your platform if your potential customers value artisanal, high-value goods. Etsy is also a prime option if you want to build a loyal customer base. Over 40% of sales on the platform come from repeat buyers.
When compared to Etsy, eBay is a marketplace behemoth. In 2021, eBay was the
second-biggest market in the US, with over 159 million customers worldwide. If you have customers after pretty much anything, whether wholesale, used, or new, you can experience success on the site. However, what you choose to sell will have a huge influence on your level of success. Some of the most popular categories include jewelry and electronic goods. With 80% of the goods sold on eBay as new, it’s unwise to conclude that the site is a platform for used goods only.
If you want to learn more about eBay vs Etsy, this guide will tell you which one is best for your online store in 2024.
Understanding the Platforms: Mastering the Rules of eBay vs Etsy Game
eBay has a rich history. It’s got a very wide audience with numerous core strengths. Some benefits of signing up with eBay include the vast product range, global reach, and auction focus. eBay is a very competitive marketplace, too. As a seller, eBay encourages you to scale and expand to stay relevant. To help sellers hit their goals, they have introduced numerous tools. Some of them include the Seller Hub. This free tool allows you to streamline your operation while increasing your sales. You also have seller templates that you can use to create reliable and high-quality listings.
The eBay app allows you to work with eBay on the go, with sales reports generated for free. This helps you understand your sales’ main drivers so you can make highly effective business decisions. Regarding shipping, 71% of listings on eBay have free postage. This will be paid at your expense.
Some of the current top sellers on eBay include:
- BullsEyeDeals– flash deals on a range of general goods
- DCSports87– pre-owned baseball and sports cards
- WorldOfBooks– second-hand books and study material
Etsy, on the other hand, focuses more on vintage or handmade goods. It’s a very tight-knit community with a strong emphasis on branding and storytelling. Etsy’s vibe is much more relaxed than eBay’s. Shipping with Etsy is also worthwhile, as it’s cheaper than shipping directly through carriers. Etsy offers its sellers discounted postage labels, which is a major incentive.
Etsy also has tools, such as calculated posting, convenient tracking, and bulk editing to deliver profiles. You can also get assistance with customs forms. One thing to note is that you cannot drop ship with Etsy. You can’t resell handmade goods, either.
Some of the top sellers on Etsy include:
- CaitlynMinimalist– jewelry and hand-made products
- PersonalizationMail– custom clothing and embroidered products
- KeptSake– personalized products and wedding gifts
- TwistStationary– wedding cards and thank you letters
Target Audience: Attracting the Perfect Niche Customers
If you want to choose the right platform, you need to ensure you are attracting the perfect niche customers. Resellers, mass-produced product sellers, vintage collectors, and established brands tend to do very well on eBay. eBay is ideal for competitive pricing and those who want to attract bargain hunters. You can also make quick sales on the platform.
If you want to go through Etsy, this is more catered to crafters, artisans, vintage resellers, and unique, curated collections. Etsy has the ability to appeal to niche audiences while fostering brand loyalty. You can easily build a dedicated customer base, making it easier than ever for you to launch your store.
Selling Strategies: Conquering Listings, Promotions, and Community
Take a look below if you want to learn how to master eBay and Etsy.
Mastering eBay
If you want to win on eBay, you need to optimize your listings for search. You also need to work on setting competitive pricing while taking advantage of the current promotions. Mastering shipping logistics is also important, as is maintaining a strong reputation. If you want to find out more, take a look below.
Stores that are active and that offer new products regularly tend to be rewarded. It’s been noted repeatedly that the algorithm favors new products, so if you can put in the work to keep your listings fresh, you will make more sales. If you can’t list every day, set up a schedule and arrange this for the days when you know you won’t have time.
Another thing you can do is try the promoted listings campaign. This is a very quick and easy way to increase your sales. Promoted listings receive up to 36% more traffic than organic listings. Rather than paying for every click, eBay gets a percentage of the resulting sale.
Consumers tend to search for specific items on eBay, so ask yourself what words people might be searching for and target them. Use them in your description, meta tags, and even alt tags if you can.
Lastly, ship fast and free. Free shipping is a fantastic way to increase your sales, but only if it’s sustainable.
Conquering Etsy
If you want to succeed on Etsy, you need to craft compelling product descriptions while utilizing quality visuals. Engaging with the Etsy community is also very important. Other things you can do include marketing on social media while establishing a solid brand identity.
Another tip is to know your metrics. Under your metrics, you will see many different numbers. These numbers relate to your page visits, orders, and product views. You need to begin by learning how shoppers are finding your page. From there, you can pinpoint what you are doing well and what you need to work on. Again, the more data you can gather here, the more prepared you will be for pushing your advertising efforts.
Gathering reviews is also essential. If you can take the time to generate more reviews by sending personal emails every time you sell something and by inserting small cards with every package that explain how much reviews mean to you, then this will help you out a lot going forward. Send a message a few days after delivery, reminding the customer to leave a review for you.
Lastly, improving photos. When people see your listing, the first thing that will capture their attention is the photo. Learn what makes a good one and use it to your advantage.
The Verdict
At the end of the day, the verdict of eBay vs Etsy is not a one-size-fits-all answer. The platform you go with will depend on your goals as a seller. It will also depend on your target audience and how much brand control you want. There are alternative marketplaces out there if you are ambitious, with some of them including Decluttr, Ruby Lane, Bonanza, and Poshmark.
One thing to note is that even though you may be doing well on Etsy, that doesn’t mean you will experience the same success on eBay. They are very different platforms, so you need to take the time to understand them both properly. If you can cater your offerings, you should be able to make more sales overall, helping you become a far better seller on either platform. Be sure to look at successful stores, too, so you can model what they are doing right while fixing what they could be doing wrong.
So, Etsy is more concerned with handmade goods, and eBay is more concerned with mass-produced products. If you want to succeed on either site, look at the benefits and choose a platform that aligns with your business goals. Make sure that you consider your long-term vision and give special thought to the development and tools of each site before deciding on eBay vs Etsy. Which one is going to give you the resources you need to succeed? From there, you can begin to make great decisions that will generate more sales in the future.