No matter what your personal or professional opinion of Amazon is, its influence is undeniable. Selling on Amazon is unavoidable for some e-commerce businesses. However, it’s crucial to understand that it’s not the right fit for everyone. Selling on Amazon can be expensive, complicated, and highly competitive. Depending on your products and profit margins, it might not be the most cost-effective choice.

That’s why we’ve put together a list of seven alternative online marketplaces – four general and three niche platforms. While none of these can rival Amazon’s massive reach, they offer viable options for generating income. Before we delve into the alternatives, let’s explore why exploring options beyond Amazon is beneficial for your e-commerce business.

Exploring Alternatives to Amazon

The primary reason e-commerce businesses gravitate towards Amazon is its vast customer base. Each month, millions of shoppers worldwide, particularly in the US, rely on Amazon for a wide range of products – from furniture and electronics to groceries and apparel. Regardless of your industry, Amazon attracts customers interested in your products. This factor alone often persuades small e-commerce businesses that selling on Amazon is essential. However, there’s a catch: navigating Amazon’s selling landscape requires significant effort and financial investment.

Amazon offers two seller account types: individual and professional. The term “choose” is used loosely here, as you’re obligated to opt for the professional plan if you sell over 40 products monthly. Considering the professional plan’s $39.99 monthly fee, it’s not the most appealing aspect. The individual account plan doesn’t have a monthly fee. However, for each sale, you incur a $0.99 item fee, a referral fee, and potentially a variable closing fee. While I’d like to provide a concise explanation of the referral fee, the system is incredibly intricate. I encourage you to Take a look. The variable closing fee is a fixed $1.80 and only applies to products in the Media category, including books, movies, music, and video games. Opting for the professional plan eliminates the $0.99 item fee. However, you still need to factor in the referral fee, the variable closing fee (if applicable to your products), and the monthly seller subscription fee. In essence, selling on Amazon can strain your budget and patience. Let’s not forget the fierce competition. Amazon hosts over two million sellers. Although they are spread across various product categories, encountering multiple competitors when someone searches for your products is highly likely. There are optimization strategies to improve your listing visibility and increase your chances of securing the top spot in search results and winning the buy box. However, this demands additional effort. Therefore, we’re here to explore other available avenues. Each marketplace has its unique features, but they all share the advantages of being more cost-effective, user-friendly, and/or less competitive than Amazon. Let’s dive in!

Amazon Alternatives for All Sellers

We’ll begin by examining four prominent e-commerce marketplaces suitable for sellers across various categories. Our first contender is the second most popular platform where consumers initiate product searches.

1. Google Shopping

Unless there’s a niche marketplace perfectly aligned with your target audience (perhaps one of the three we’ll discuss later), we highly recommend Google Shopping as a compelling alternative to Amazon.

Google Shopping, a specialized section of the Google Search Network, focuses exclusively on products. It attracts roughly 100 million US consumers users monthly. While Amazon might be the preferred starting point for product searches, the average conversion window on Google Shopping is almost a full week shorter compared to Amazon. (Conversion window refers to the time between a user’s initial click on your product listing and a completed purchase. This means Google Shopping users tend to make purchases faster than Amazon users.) There are two ways to showcase your products to millions of daily Google Shopping users: incorporating structured data markup into your e-commerce website or uploading a product data feed to Google Merchant Center (GMC). We strongly advise using the latter. Advertising through structured data markup means waiting for Google to crawl your website to display the most current product information. Conversely, advertising through GMC allows Google to update your product information in real-time. Previously limited to e-commerce businesses with Google Ads accounts, GMC is now accessible to all, this is no longer the case. Even without Google Ads campaigns, GMC ensures your product information remains up-to-date. Leveraging GMC involves uploading and managing a product data feed – a spreadsheet organizing your product information for easy crawling by Google, providing users with a comprehensive view of your offerings.

Key advantage: Google Shopping doesn’t charge for listings, regardless of the number of products you promote. Similar to standard search ads, you only pay when someone clicks your ad. (Bing Shopping shares this advantage. If you’re advertising on Google, consider exploring e-commerce advertising on Bing as well.) New to Google Shopping? Download our free guide to building successful campaigns and start attracting new customers today!

2. Walmart Marketplace

Walmart, the world’s biggest retailer and the largest employer in the US, is renowned for its massive physical presence, with over 5,000 stores in the US alone. However, they’ve recently made significant strides in the digital realm. Walmart’s website attracts 100 million organic visitors monthly. Additionally, driven by a 43% surge in online sales in 2018, Walmart holds nearly 5% of the US e-commerce market share, securing its position as the third-largest online retailer in the US, trailing behind Amazon and eBay. How can we account for Walmart’s impressive e-commerce presence when brick-and-mortar stores are supposedly facing extinction?

Via Supermarket News. One contributing factor is says former CTO Jeremy King, as Walmart leverages its extensive network of physical stores. With 90% of the US population residing within 10 miles of a Walmart store, they function as convenient warehouses, facilitating rapid product shipping. This enables them to provide two-day free shipping to all customers, a service that Amazon offers at a premium. Key advantage: The free Walmart seller account allows unlimited sales. In fact, the free account is the only option available. You don’t need to pay for premium features like you do on Amazon. Moreover, Walmart only charges a referral fee, irrespective of your product catalog. Unlike Amazon, which imposes additional fees for specific product categories.

3. Bonanza

EcommerceBytes conducts annual surveys with thousands of independent sellers to gauge their likelihood of recommending specific online marketplaces to peers. Analyzing the data from 2013 to 2018 reveals that Bonanza consistently receives the highest recommendations from sellers. Bonanza, with over 300,000 organic monthly visitors, operates on the principle that marketplaces should foster seller-customer relationships instead of prioritizing the lowest prices while keeping sellers relatively anonymous. Bonanza equips you with tools for long-term success. It offers a customer marketing tool for storing and filtering past buyer data, enabling segmentation and targeted remarketing. Its seller stats dashboard provides a comprehensive overview of product performance.

Via Bonanza. Furthermore, Bonanza transcends being just another online marketplace. It offers a website service, empowering you to create and manage your own e-commerce website effortlessly. Some of the notable advantages include:

• Zero transaction fees
• Free design templates
• Seamless inventory synchronization across Bonanza Marketplace, Etsy, and eBay Key advantage: Bonanza operates on a pay-per-sale model, so charges only apply when a customer places an order. The fee is determined by the final offer value (FOV) of the sold item, which includes the product price and shipping costs exceeding $10. For sales with an FOV below $500, Bonanza charges 3.5%. Sales exceeding $500 incur a 3.5% fee plus 1.5% of the amount surpassing $500.

4. Faire

Faire distinguishes itself on this list as a wholesale marketplace connecting brands with independent retailers. Instead of listing products for direct consumer purchase, Faire showcases your merchandise to resellers responsible for selling on your behalf.

Faire’s primary strength lies in its vast network. Over 500,000 independent retailers and 100,000 brands from over 150 countries utilize Faire to discover new products or establish sales partnerships. Once you join Faire, your brand and products are listed in the marketplace. Retailers can browse your offerings and place orders directly through the platform. On the backend, Faire integrates seamlessly with your existing e-commerce store using Shopify and WooCommerce integrations, simplifying inventory management and sales tracking through your preferred platform. Key advantage: Joining Faire is free. Brands are charged a 15% commission only when Faire connects them with a new retail partner. This fee is waived when brands introduce existing or potential customers to the platform using a personalized Faire Direct Link.

Amazon Alternatives for Niche Sellers

Google Shopping, Walmart Marketplace, and Bonanza cater to a broad audience seeking diverse products. However, if specialized marketplaces tailored to your target customer base are more advantageous, we have a couple of options for you.

1. Newegg (electronics)

Established in 2000 as a first-party seller website and relaunched in 2010 as a third-party marketplace, Newegg specializes in consumer electronics and computer hardware. It connects you with over 10 million organic monthly visitors across numerous countries. While it has expanded to include categories like fitness gear and car seats, Newegg remains a primary destination for tech enthusiasts. If you specialize in this niche, Newegg is an excellent alternative to Amazon.

One of its unique features is its support for both B2C and B2B transactions. Newegg Business enables bulk sales to businesses worldwide. Mirroring Amazon’s approach, Newegg offers an order fulfillment service called Shipped by Newegg (SBN). This service allows you to outsource picking, packing, and shipping processes to Newegg’s fulfillment centers, saving you time, resources, and storage space. Key advantage: The free Newegg seller membership enables you to list up to 5,000 unique products and make unlimited sales. It also grants access to features like product data feed management, brand and product promotion, and the option to utilize SBN. Best of all, commission fees are capped at 15% and can be as low as 8%.

2. Zibbet (art)

Our guide to Amazon alternatives wouldn’t be complete without a specialized option for artists. If you create original artwork (or sell on behalf of artists), Zibbet is a compelling option despite its relatively small organic monthly audience of approximately 13,000. Zibbet stands out by functioning as both a third-party marketplace and a centralized platform, allowing you to sell on your own website and Etsy simultaneously. When you make a sale on Zibbet Marketplace, your inventory is automatically updated across your website and Etsy in real-time. Additionally, you can manage and fulfill orders from all channels within Zibbet’s unified platform.

Via Zibbet. You have the flexibility to list as many or as few products as you like without incurring additional fees. Zibbet allows you to customize your website’s design to align with your brand’s aesthetics. It also encourages running promotions and creating custom coupon codes to reward loyal customers. Key advantage: Zibbet doesn’t charge listing fees or sales commissions. The only costs involved are the monthly membership fees for each channel – Zibbet Marketplace, Etsy, and your custom website. Remarkably, each channel costs only $5/mo, resulting in a maximum monthly fee of $15.

3. Reverb (music equipment)

Concluding our exploration of Amazon alternatives, we have a marketplace dedicated to connecting buyers and sellers of musical instruments and equipment: Reverb.

Reverb welcomes unlimited product listings, providing exposure to its 3 million organic monthly visitors without any listing charges. In fact, the only fees Reverb sellers need to account for are a 3.5% sales commission fee and a 2.7% transaction fee. Notably, the commission fee is capped at $350. Even for sales exceeding $10,000, your commission remains at $350. This particular aspect highlights Reverb’s commitment to its sellers. While increasing the commission fee to 5% or 8% for higher-priced sales is common practice, Reverb prioritizes fair compensation for its sellers. While Reverb doesn’t operate on an auction system and requires sellers to set fixed prices, potential buyers can submit their own offers. You, as the seller, have the freedom to make counter-offers. Key advantage: Reverb provides its sellers with valuable resources. Their partnership with the US Postal Service secures discounted shipping labels. In case of shipping issues, they connect you with fellow musicians to find solutions. Most importantly, they offer comprehensive all kinds of guides to guide you through the shipping procedures for different instruments.

Exploring Alternatives to Amazon

Whether you’re an individual entrepreneur or part of an e-commerce team, Amazon might seem like the only viable option for third-party marketplaces. However, numerous alternatives are worth exploring. This guide is just a starting point. Both established and niche sellers can thrive on less crowded e-commerce platforms that offer lower fees and enhanced benefits. It’s all about seeking out these opportunities.