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Amazon v Ebay
 

Hey guys,

I've just opened up a Amazon account and listed a few items over there. I'd like to get a little feedback on amazon from you guys. Is it better than ebay in anyway? Does it generate just as many sales? Do they have a strict vero program?

If you think ebay is better, please explain why. Tell me why amazon is better.

I've been listing on ebay with no luck due to vero's. So I'm trying my hand at amazon. Hopefully this will work. Any feedback at all would be greatly appreciated.

I sell on both with same items - mostly media - and my Amazon acct. outsells my ebay acct. nearly 10 to 1.

is Amazon harder to sell?

In my opinion, Amazon is much better. No VERO program, Feedback isn't a huge deal (buyers buy from new sellers), You don't have to worry about fees coming out of any account because they take all the fees when the items sells.

The only downside is you have to be approved for some categories in order to sell.

Amazon is less buyer friendly than ebay and has better rules and guidelines about returns.

Amazon can be a pain in the ass with its constant hoops you must jump through. However, like mentioned above, my sells on Amazon destroy Ebay sells. Have a good product, and do everything you can to avoid refunding. Feedback is nearly impossible to get, but it's required, even if Amazon doesn't say so.

Put it in this perspective... To make money on Amazon, and I mean real money, you need to have a 90 day cash flow. You will be cut off at some point by Amazon. In some way they will hold your funds and make you give them some information.

Be careful of what you list, and how you list it because competition is stiff in the Amazon.

Good luck!

If you can get on amazon and stay there (quality product and fast shipping) you will love it. The money goes directly to your bank account with no middle men like stinking paypal. Be aware that new sellers are taken through a lot more these days and be ready to wait for money for a while just in case they ask for something.
I make much more money from amazon than ebay and in shorter time period.
Just like negative feedback will kill you on ebay giving refunds and not completing sales on amazon will kill you faster than anything. Yes! giving refunds are frowned upon and will get you kicked off so whatever you do complete the sale and ship fast!

I do not have an Amazon Account but I do plan to open one soon, so I am very interested in what Gets you booted off Amazon. A lot has been made here in reguards to refunds, so the question I have is if you do get into a situation where a Buyer wants a refund is it possible to issue the Refund "Outside" of Amazon and Not have it affect you account.

I do realize that it will be difficult to convince a Buyer to go Outside of Amazon's Protection, and also for the seller as well, but can it be done?

Yes, this is possible, but not recommended. First, Amazon only allows sellers and buyers to contact each other through its e-mail system, which I think they have bots filtering key words. I do not know if they will suspend your account due to refunding outside of Amazon, but remember they may pull you down with any "suspected violation" in their advantage.

Also, you will need to take the hefty Amazon fee if you refund outside of Amazon. I believe it charges from 8 to 15% of final sale price depending on what item you sell, plus $1 insertion fee after you sell the item (individual account).

Finally, and the worse case, you may encounter a dishonest buyer who takes your refund outside of Amazon and still files a claim against you. In this case, you will not be able to fight against the claim and out twice the money, plus the possibility to get your account suspended due to the claim.

The best way to go is to get good feedback for your account and always ship with tracking #. You probably cannot control the feedback part as it is pretty hard to get compare to ebay, but fast shipping and good service will usually get you some in return. Once you build up your feedback, a few refund will not hurt your account.

ganbala is right,and shipping with tracking and show all the prove to them,the possiblity of get banned or suspend will be reduce.

Trying to get an amazon buyers attention off the amazon system is very tough. I have tried and its something you should not count on. When you give a refund or 2 on amazon that is counted against you like negatives and can get you suspended fast. please trust me on this I know.
same thing happens if you sell and dont ship an item. its bad bad bad.

thats incorrect information refunds do not harm your ranks in amazon books they have no set goal for your refund % if you think it harms you thats nothing more then speculation cause if they wanted you to keep it low they would of given a % to stay below like they do for order defect etc...

Refunds are ok but AZ claims will be murder to the account or near to that.

Mostly our customers sell the vero on ebay then amazon much more.But they make less profit on ebay for each item than amazon but move fast than amazon.

But i think there is too much meaning to compare ebay and amazon.As it depend on which product do you sell,which place are you in,which way do you sell,which price do you sell.Some people get much sucessful on ebay,some get sucessful on amazon.I think you can try both to find out which one is good for you.As long as you sell more,you will know your way to go.

Amazon and eBay are significantly different. No real comparison can be made. It's like comparing apples to planets. One thing in common with apples and planets - they are round. One thing in common with ebay and Amazon - they're online commerce.

I've pretty much determined that ebay sellers don't do well on Amazon unless they can stop thinking about ebay. Sellers with multiple personality disorder should have no trouble. Normal people can't seem to do it.

I have a friend who has an ebaystore with about 200-250 items at any given time. I have both ebay and amazon. I have to say that Amazon sells SOOOO much more than ebay. I told my friend and he has been looking into it. He will probably make the jump to Amazon soon. The reality strikes hard. 75% of my items don last 2 days. Its amazing!!

I sold on both, identical product selection.
As was said above , it is different.
Stuff that sells like hotcakes on ebay is slower on Az. Az sold stuff for me that were slower movers than ebay. So it was a good complement.
But overall the sales in my particular products were 6ebay:1Amazon, but you can ask more for the items on Amazon and still have them sell easily.
BUT
amazon is much more strict to the seller. You have metrics that you should stay within /under , in terms of returns, defectives etc etc
Amazon does expect you to have in stock what you are selling, so be sure of that , they do not like you refunding because you are out of stock. AZ claims, they don't like either. But ebay will tazer you for their new claims system as well SNAD or INR ( now 3/month and they take you down) which is ok, so long as you dont sell much, the more you sell the greater your chances to reach 3 dings

I generally preferred the AZ customer . Out of 700 items , I would get 1 or 2 questions per day on amazon
the same 700 items on ebay , maybe 60-100 questions per day, lots of dumb questions and just plain dumb buyers - sorry ,its true. Overall experience as a seller Az was better.

But once you are suspended, there is really a very very small chance for reinstatement.
Plus they have what i think are really dumb rules about 'restricted categories"

AZ customer? You have a favorite customer in Arizona (AZ)? Or are you mis-abbreviating AMAZON as AZ? To avoid confusion, type out the word "Amazon". It's four extra letters.

Regarding Amazon and eBay differences - I think it would be smart not to bother mentioning inventory flow comparisons. Those are often temporary and always irrelevant. Focus on the difference in ToS and behavior as a seller in the eyes of the venue. Amazon looks at sellers differently than eBay does. It is an entirely different realm. Rules are different. Strategies are different. Transactions are handled different. Buyers are different. Listing is diffrerent.

Taking that into consideration, most eBay people can't handle the transition and stomp their feet while holding their breath when the 30 day review comes. Seller Support is merciless. Amazon is professionally run. They have no tolerance for BS, social engineering, temper tantrums, bouts of tears, or any other juvenile tactic.

If they have a beef, it becomes your problem. If you have a problem, well, it's your problem and they don't really want to hear about it.