Amazon versus eBay & Allegro. A comparison

What will you read about?

• Global trends in e-commerce
• Why it’ s worth selling online
• Top 15 marketplaces in the world
• Comparison of platforms: Amazon, Allegro and eBay
• Amazon:
  • • Formalities on Amazon – account creation, fees, registration
    • Amazon simplicity of use
    • Amazon users
    • Amazon fees for Sellers
    • Processing orders on Amazon
• eBay:
  • • Formalities on eBay- account creation, fees, registration
    • Korzystanie z platformy eBay
    • eBay users
    • eBay fees for Sellers
    • Processing orders on eBay
• Allegro:
  • • Formalities on Allegro – account creation, fees, registration
    • Using Allegro platform
    • Allegro users
    • Allegro fees for Sellers
    • Processing orders on Allegro
• Amazon vs eBay
• Amazon or Allegro
• Selling online – which platform to choose

Can’t decide between Amazon versus eBay and Allegro? Wondering which marketplace is the most cost-effective? The answer is simple:  Amazon. 

Why is the answer so simple? Read the article below and evaluate which platform is most profitable for your business.

Global trends in e-commerce

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a crisis in many industries, but definitely contributed to the growth of the e-commerce industry. Lockdown and its results: work and study from home, reflected in a global increase of interest in online shopping.

The dynamics of this increase differs between countries, but a distinctive trend is the interest of new social groups in online shopping (this particularly applies to older people). Baby boomers generation ( people born between 1946 and 1964) and generation X (people born between 1965 and 1979) – everyone over the age of 40 – have started to enter the world of online shopping. The pandemic caused an e-commerce boom, and the online shopping habits seem to stay with us longer.

Global e-commerce trends include:

• • Home Economy – home has become a place not only for rest, but also for work and fulfilling all needs. This has benefited such industries as electronics, construction (architecture, interiors) and broadly defined lifestyle.
  • Sharing Economy – companies aggregate online demand, and demand is fulfilled with offline services. The representatives of this trend are platforms such as Amazon, Uber or Airbnb, which do not have their own products or services, but use their customers’ resources for their operations.
  • She-conomy – increased access to education and progress in gender equality means that women’s purchasing power is growing. This reflects in e-commerce: earning ladies and families themselves are buying more with higher budgets every year.

Online sales – why is it worth selling online

Globally, 47% of e-commerce sales are processed through marketplaces. Platforms such as Amazon, Allegro and eBay offer huge opportunities for sellers and comfort for buyers.

Interesting fact: What is a marketplace? It is an online platform, a common place for sellers and buyers, where purchases are made without leaving the website or app.

Why is it worth selling online at all? Is it necessary to put your offer online? E-commerce is in constant growth, further accelerated in the last two years by the pandemic. Between 2014 and 2021, the number of online shoppers worldwide increased from 1.32 billion to 2.14 billion, and global e-commerce retail sales grew from $1.34 billion to $4.28 billion!

Interesting fact: In Europe as many as 92% of households have access to the Internet and 7 out of 10 users have ever shopped online. Globally 59.5% of the population are active internet users.

Online sales are developing not only locally but also globally. Thanks to the Internet, it is possible to reach potential buyers from all over the world. E-commerce also means lower costs compared to a stationary shop and the possibility of running more effective marketing operations. In the 21st century, it is hard to imagine a business that operates only stationary!

Top 15 marketplaces in the world

Not all marketplaces are equally popular, some cover a specific market, others operate globally. Which platforms are the most popular among buyers? Which ones generate the highest profits for sellers? Today, we’ll compare Amazon versus eBay and Allegro to help you make your choice.

Global ranking of the largest sales platforms:

Platform comparison: Amazon versus eBay and Allegro

Amazon – about the platform

Founded in 1994, Amazon’s sales platform is not only top 1 in the world, but also far ahead of its competitors. It is visited by 5.2 billion people every month. The annual sales generated by Amazon are estimated to be $442.4 billion, and by 2023 it will be $580 billion per year.

Amazon has a total of marketplaces in 18 countries to reach even more customers.

Amazon is available in countries such as

• United States
• Canada
• Mexico
• United Kingdom
• Germany
• France
• Italy
• Spain
• Japan
• Singapore
• United Arab Emirates
• Brazil
• Australia
• India
• Netherlands
• Saudi Arabia
• Turkey
• Sweden
• Poland

Sellers can operate simultaneously in up to a dozen markets. More than 180 fulfilment centres located around the world make international transactions extremely simple.

Formalities on Amazon – account creation, fees, registration

• A set of documents and verification is required for registration.
• There are several language versions available on the portal and several European platforms to choose from.
• As a seller, you can choose in which country you would like to sell.
• As a seller, you can choose between the Individual plan (selling less than 40 items per month) and the Professional plan (over 40 items per month).

Amazon’s simplicity of use

• Simple listing creation and product management, even with multiple products.
  Ability to create product variations and A/B testing for listings.
• Numerous indicators to monitor the health of your account, allowing you to have better control over sales and customer service quality. Available indicators include:
  – faulty orders,
  – cancelled orders,
  – delays in shipment,
  – shipments with the correct tracking number,
  – on-time delivery.
• Comprehensive support for sellers, numerous guidelines and sale support methods available.

Users of Amazon

• 5.8 billion visits a month.
• Global e-commerce leader.
• Platform designed for users from all over the world.
• Users can join the Amazon Prime programme – for $12.99 per month and $155 per year they get unlimited free deliveries (no minimum purchase amount), as well as the access to Amazon Prime Video.

Amazon fees for Sellers

• In the Individual plan the cost is $0.99 per item sold
  + additional selling fees
•  In the Professional plan, the monthly cost is $39.99 month
  + additional selling fees.
• Clear system of costs and commissions. Commissions are based on the category of sold products.

You can estimate your Amazon sales margin using dedicated calculator.

Processing orders on Amazon

• Possibility of choosing between two sales models FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) or FBM (Fulfillment by Merchant).
• FBA allows for very simple order processing, using Amazon’s customer service, shipping and warehouses. With FBA, Amazon is responsible for shipping and delivery deadlines.
• FBM sales model leaves warehousing, shipping and customer service in the seller’s hands.

eBay – about the platform

The second most popular sales platform, eBay, operates in a total of 37 countries worldwide. Every month, the platform is visited 1.7 billion times and the total value of transactions in 2020 exceeded USD 100 billion. eBay also allows individuals to sell second-hand products – running a business is not necessary.

Formalities on eBay- account creation, fees, registration

• You can choose between two types of sales: basic (sales only in your country) and advanced (designed for international sales).
• It is necessary to connect your account with PayPal as a payment system.

Using eBay platform

• Seller’s panel with functions for creating offers, managing offers and orders, advertising and promotions.

eBay users

• 1.7 billion visits a month.
• Designed for users from 35 countries.

eBay fees for sellers

• Fees charged:

– for listing the product,
– commission based on sales,
– eBay Store charges.

• In most categories the sales commission is 11%, in some categories it is 6.5%.
• Subscription fee of $7.95 per month (Starter Store), $27.95 per month (Basic Store), $74.95 per month (Premium Store), $349.95 per month (Anchor Store). There is also an annual payment, which is cheaper for each type of Store: the most expensive version is Enterprise Store with fee of $2,999.95 per year.

Processing orders on eBay

• The seller has to take care of warehousing, packaging, shipping, and customer service. The seller is also responsible for shipping and delivery deadlines.

Allegro – about the platform

Allegro is the largest e-commerce platform in Poland. Founded in 1999, over the years it has become firmly established in the consciousness of the domestic consumers. Products available on the platform can also be put up for an auction. Each month Allegro is visited 190.2 million times. Allegro’s GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume) for 2020 was PLN 35.1 billion (approximately USD 8.65 billion).

Formalities on Allegro- account creation, fees, registration

• Possibility to choose between a regular or a company account.
• Possibility of creating an account on Allegro Locally – enables local sales and exchange of products.

How to sell on Allegro

• Ability to create auction templates, offer promotions and integration with Allegro InPost.
• Sales quality panel available.

Allegro users

• • 190 million visits a month.
  • Platform designed for the Polish market only.
  • The most popular e-commerce platform in Poland.
  • Members can use Allegro Smart – for PLN 49/year they receive free deliveries to Paczkomaty-parcel lockers and pick-up points (minimum purchase amount of PLN 40 from one seller required) or courier deliveries (minimum purchase amount of PLN 80 from one seller required).

Allegro fees for sellers

• Fees charged:
  – for listing the product,
  – commission based on sales,
  – for maintaining listings in which no sale has taken place for 365 days.
• Fees depend on product category and price.

Processing orders on Allegro

• The seller currently has to deal with warehousing, packaging, shipping and customer service. The seller is also responsible for shipping and delivery times.
• One Fulfillment by Allegro service is already working in a pilot version. Some of the first sellers are testing the new options. The trial period and full service is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2022.

Amazon versus eBay

Amazon and eBay are often put together as global sales platforms with a wide reach. However, when you compare Amazon versus eBay, the former is far ahead of the latter – not only in terms of the number of visits or the level of profit generated for sellers, but also in terms of customer loyalty. So what is safer: Amazon or eBay? Or, in other words: is Amazon or eBay more trustworthy?

Amazon is trusted by users. 89% of US shoppers agree that they are more likely to buy products from Amazon in comparison to other e-commerce platforms. Amazon Prime has over 200 million users globally, 20% of them shop online several times a week and 7% use the platform daily or almost daily! eBay does not offer free shipping programs – any discounts are on the seller’s side.

Interesting fact: The average Amazon Prime user spends USD 1.3k per year. The average non-Amazon Prime user spends around USD 700 per year.

Amazon vs Allegro

Just like on eBay: not only companies but also individuals can sell on Allegro. How does this marketplace compare to Amazon?

So far, Allegro remains more popular in Poland than Amazon – but this may change soon. The disadvantage of Allegro is that you are limited to selling only within the country.

In November 2021 Allegro acquired Mall Group a.s. (mall.cz), one of the largest e-commerce platforms in Central and Eastern Europe. So we can assume that they will expand their offer to this area of Europe as well.

Currently, Allegro is not a great choice and if you want to develop your sales on foreign markets – Amazon will definitely suit this purpose.

Allegro tried to adapt the platform to other markets, in 2016 Allegro.de was launched, but the portal was not competitive compared to the far more popular Amazon.de and was eventually closed down. In a similar period, attempts were made to implement the portal in the Czech Republic, Russia and Ukraine. Ultimately, the foreign sites were either closed or sold and are no longer part of Allegro.

When it comes to marketplace importance in the global economy, Allegro still has a lot to catch up on. The company only started being listed on the stock market in 2020, Amazon has been listed for almost 25 years, being a Silicon Valley giant.

Allegro is admittedly a well established e-commerce platform in the consciousness of Polish internet users, but only Polish ones – outside the country the platform is not that popular.

Customers are not only guided by their habits, but also by quality and price, and that’ s where Amazon has a lot to offer, for example with Amazon Prime and the ability to simply buy goods from sellers abroad.

Selling online – which platform to choose

Amazon versus eBay and Allegro? Which platform should I choose? Is aAmazon or ebBay better for selling? Or maybe Allegro is the best of them all?

Amazon is definitely taking the lead, growing at an incredible rate compared to other e-commerce platforms. It provides an easy way to reach global users. This platform is associated with quality service and attention to consumer experience. In terms of sellers, Amazon cares about transparency, offers support, provides numerous marketing tools and enables the use of logistics centres spread around the world.