How to Find the Most Profitable Marketplace to Sell Your Items

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Online retailers are experiencing a huge shift in moving from giant marketplaces like eBay and Amazon to smaller, more boutique and community-orientated marketplaces such as ArtFire, RubyLane, Addoway and Bonanza.

I’ve seen a lot of these spring up in the past few years, but only in the last two years or so, have I really started being impressed by some of the options these emerging marketplaces offer. Now is definitely a great time to check them out because a lot of sellers – including SaleHoo members  - are really hitting the right market and making an impressive amount of sales when they start selling on these sites.

So where can you find new marketplaces to try out, and how do you know if they are any good?

The Exciting New Tool Allowing You to Find the Best Marketplace

This month, eCommerceBytes launched a new feature called Ratings and Reviews for online sellers. The Ratings and Review feature provides a platform for you to get unbiased reviews on marketplaces before you spend time (and/or money) listing your items there.

The new rating system allows users to rate marketplaces and auction sites on performance, reliability ease of use, customer service and value. Reviewers can also leave written comments to tell you all about their experience using the marketplace.

eCommerceBytes’ Ratings and Reviews also allows you to review and view ratings for inventory management systems, payment services, storefronts and carts, shipping services, email list hosting, and consignment services.

Pretty cool, huh?

Now you can get a snapshot of what other users are saying about these service providers before you sign up to use them yourself!

The new ratings system is starting to gain traction and is getting more reviews every day so I recommend that you check it our yourself and review what others have to say, and rate your own experiences to share with others.

Want to know my pick for the very best marketplaces on the web? I recently went undercover and posed as a brand new seller: I created new accounts on 5 of the top marketplaces and tested them for profitability, customer services, fees and more. To find out which marketplace came out on top, you need to become a member of my new product, Online Selling Tactics by SaleHoo. Check it out here.

 
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Alice Delore

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14 Comments
  • Joyce Knake 24th of August
    It's always good to learn new things that are going on.and very important to get new ideas of suppliers for my niche. I am really struggling with that. Enjoy your blog Joyce Knake jdkoutlets.com
  • Alice Delore 24th of August
    Thanks Joyce!

    I really encourage you to take a look at this rating system and find a couple of marketplaces to look around at. I'm please you like learning from the blog, but always try to take action with what you learn too :)

    If you ever need help finding a supplier, remember you can always ask our staff on the forum to run a search for you. Just go to http://www.salehoo.com/forum/wanted and start a new post explaining what you are looking for. Try to be as detailed as possible so the staff can start searching right away.

    I hope that helps!

    Alice
  • Kens PC 26th of August
    What are your thoughts about ecrater.com marketplace, Good or Bad? From what I have read it sounds ok, but there could be some risk in terms of how you pay and who you are buying from.
  • Jerry 26th of August
    If anything BONANZA is the very best!!
    • stetve 1st of December
      bonanza is the worst
      some people here not legit
  • bid4style 28th of August
    Thanks Joyce I have had some success with Adoway - pretty easy allows you to import your listings from Ebay. You can also import your feedback score, and I especially like 'no fees to list" - Would recommend this to others as it takes only about half an hour to have a full storefront up and running. As it sincs with Ebay it's not that time consuming to keep your inventory up to date on both Adoway and Ebay. Christine
  • Dale Brewer 28th of August
    Hi Alice. I just read every review for Bonanza and Addoway. reviewers cannot say enough good things. It sounds like people have just fallen in love. Bonanza on the other hand has become dramatically different. Bad customer service, glitches not being fixed, if you complain you get suspended, turning away from all sales and focusing only on fashion, and a few other issues. You would think the reviewers were talking about eBay. Perhaps Salehoo could take another look at Bonanza and your mind will be changed like mine has been. I will not do business there. The infusion of 1 million dollars seems to have made Bonanza get a fat head. I would be willing to bet the person who owns that 1 million dollars is behind the wrecking of this site. I have been trying to sell on eBay. (Stop laughing.) I am heading to Addoway. Thanks. Dale
  • Alice Delore 28th of August
    Hi Kens PC,

    I've used eCrater a little and I was impressed with how much you get for free (there are no fees and you get your own storefront) but I found the site to be pretty dead.

    I got a little traffic to my listings (they ranked OK in search results in Google) but overall, sales were very low.

    I do a full review of eCrater in Online Selling Tactics and compare it to other options if you are interested to see what I found, you can check it out here: http://www.salehoo.com/tactics

    I have heard of sellers doing well there, but it's not for me. If you are an eBay seller, eCrater has an import tool you can use so you could setup a store there pretty quick if you want to try it out.

    I hope this helps :)
  • Alice Delore 28th of August
    @Christine:

    Thanks for sharing your experience with Addoway. Yes, that feature that allows your Addoway Storefront to sync with eBay is a massive time-saver for sellers.
  • Alice Delore 28th of August
    Hi Dale,

    I guess you hear mixed reviews about all marketplaces. I have sold on Bonanza since the 1 million cash injection and I have to say, their customer service was wonderful!

    I'm very fond of both Addoway and Bonanza and I hope you do well when you set up your Storefront on Addoway!

    My best advice for successful selling on Addoway would be to make sure you utilize their social media marketing tools and apps. When you sell on Addoway, you MUST take full advantage of these and reach out to new buyers and engage with existing ones.

    Addoway don't hide the fact that they are a new and emerging (albeit VERY fast growing!) but in order to get enough traffic to your listings to make a lot of sales, you need to work for it.

    I hope this helps. All the best on Addoway, Dale! Keep in touch :)
  • Louie TheSeller 30th of August
    I've experienced immediate success on Addoway. In less than a few months after becoming really active and "working" the site via Facebook/Twitter marketing (not spamming) I have made close to 60 sales. CEO & CO - Founder Fredrick Nijm has promised and delivered a site built on honesty, transparency and openness. The site is glitch-free and provides great customer service. I suggest everyone try it. It will be the best business decision you ever make! Your Friend, LouieTheSeller
  • Alice Delore 31st of August
    Hey it's Louie!

    Nice to see you on SaleHoo :)

    Glad to hear your favorable comments about Addoway and to know that you are still experiencing success there.
  • Hicham Ben arbi 14th of October
    Hi, I own casbahdecor.com and i'm really looking for a marketplace where I could sell my handmade moroccan products. Thanks
    • Melissa Johnson SaleHoo Admin 15th of October
      Hello, Hicham!

      I might recommend Etsy, which is really good for handmade items. There's also Artfire and Bonanza, and Ruby Lane. They're all a bit smaller but more tailored for niche markets seeking unique items.
  • Seifed Din Abdoun 8th of July
    Hello
    I would like to add this website to the list;
    Hamalaia.com
    an online community marketplace: sell & buy books, musical instruments, music & films, computers, software, video games, electronics, fashion, furniture, toys, baby products, health & beauty, sports & outdoors, & jewelry.
    – No listing fees
    – No monthly store fees
    – No other hidden fees
    Thank you
  • alicw Wilson 6th of February
    The popularity and reputation of the online marketplace are as important as the brand you want to sell, as we are in a new era of word of mouth. Hence, it is important to know the ratio of people who trust a particular marketplace and how likely it is that your product will be bought by the consumers through that marketplace. Thanks for sharing information on profitable marketplace.