Is it possible to have a successful online retail biz not on eBay/amazon?

[Hollyboobieboo]

I have tried to sell on ebay in the past. The issue I have as a small business with not much buying power is everyone uses the same wholesalers and undercut your price and offer free postage or lower postage that I couldn’t possibly do without not making a cent profit and taking a loss on PayPal and listing fees.

I have tried importing stuff from China only to find that once the product arrives the eBay market is flooded, even though it wasn’t when I first researched it and again they can undercut to the extreme.

I have a few different ideas for a shops, I’d like to set up on my own website - DH can develop it for me, do seo etc. But what is making me jittery is that most people look at Amazon / eBay before searching anywhere else.

Has anyone got a successful retail business off those two selling platforms? Would you shop at other websites or is eBay / amazon your default option. Is this a reasonable concern or just my fear talking and an excuse ?

Thanks!

Your own website only really works if you're selling things that aren't available via ebay or Amazon and you'd need to do some serious marketing to get people to come to your website.

Or, alternatively, you sell the same stuff, but in a different way, i.e. "packs" or "kits" of complimentary products which otherwise would have to be bought separately from a variety of ebay/amazon sellers. Eg, some sellers buy bulk quantities of say, model railway wire, by the drum, but then cut it down and sell it in "packs" of say 10 different colours of 1 metre length wires.

Sounds like you need to escape from the "herd mentality" of dropshipping/alibaba, etc where everyone buys the same stuff and competes with eachother to sell it cheapest. Put your efforts into doing or selling something different. Either sources new products that genuinely aren't available to every man and his dog, or buy the same but do "something" to them to make yourself different.

Bunny, thank you so much for your extremely helpful and insightful reply. I will take your ideas on board and try and look for unique ideas or group/ repackage items :)

Hi there

When I first started I thought I could never compete because of the prices. But it’s not about the prices. EVEN on eBay and Amazon if you think about it we don’t choose on price alone. Look at sectors and customers who are less price sensitive and market to them. Obv if you are selling functional items only it will be more about price. Anything luxe etc depends on the marketing and shouldn’t be on those sites

With any business you need a unique selling point.

These days it tends to be IP, things you can patent, trademark or copyright. This is where the value is. These marketplaces tend to sell products which are little more than commodities.