What was started first amazon or ebay

Specifically, eBay is an auction house and marketplace that simply facilitates the sale of goods between third-party buyers and sellers. Buyers visit the site to search for products they want to buy from a vast array of individual sellers and then bid on items through individual auctions. Conversely, Amazon is a direct provider of goods , and customers visiting its site view products that Amazon maintains as inventory in its large network of warehouses.

Amazon's products are either from their own brand or from third-party sellers, the latter of which makes up the bulk of its offerings. Within an auction model, eBay employs a wholesale pricing strategy. In most cases, interested buyers must bid on items for sale on eBay Sellers list auction items for a three-, five-, seven-, or day period, and the buyer willing to pay the highest amount wins the product at the end of that time frame.

Some items listed on eBay feature a "buy it now" option, which allows a buyer to purchase the product immediately, albeit likely for a premium.

Amazon operates as a retail outlet, providing customers with fixed prices on all products. While various sellers may list the same product, there is no need for a customer to place bids or win an auction before purchasing.

Amazon and eBay also differ greatly in terms of how each company works to facilitate sales. Because eBay needs sellers to list products on its site to generate revenue, the company is far more seller-oriented than Amazon. Notably, eBay actively invites sellers to participate in its auction marketplace , and the company provides platforms for sellers to offer products to buyers within an eBay store or through the auction site's classified section.

Amazon is more buyer-oriented, actively inviting buyers to visit the site to browse through and subsequently purchase the inventory listed on the site, as one would in a traditional retail store. While Amazon uses third-party sellers to distribute products, the company is more focused on attracting buyers to the site rather than sellers.

It doesn't matter if you're a small seller or big potatoes with an already established product line that you want to put onto the Amazon marketplace as a third-party seller. Amazon offers third-party sellers two different plans individual or professional based on their prospective selling habits and other key features.

You'll have to decide which one fits your needs. The professional plan is geared toward those who plan on doing a lot of selling, while the individual account is a no-frills, cheaper alternative. Below are some of the features of both plans. If you're planning on selling more than 40 items each month, this is the option for you. You also get access to Amazon Sponsored Products ads, which put your products into ads on different product pages for customers to view.

This option doesn't have any selling fees, but referral fees do apply. This plan is tailored for anyone who plans to sell less than 40 items each month. The benefit of this account is the lack of a monthly subscription fee. There are also referral fees that apply to each sale, just like the professional account. The one downside is that you have no exposure to your products through Amazon's Sponsored Product Ads. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights.

Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Whether you list things while at home in your pajamas, have money sent directly to you, or drop packages off in the mail, using eBay or Amazon is easier than the yard sales of yesteryear.

But which major e-commerce site is best? It might help to understand how each of these companies makes money. So how does eBay make money? First, and most importantly, is PayPal. PayPal was spun off from eBay in PayPal fees can easily cut into a seller's margins with a 2. But let's focus on the part of eBay that's comparable to Amazon—the Marketplace. Back in its heyday, the eBay Marketplace would charge users an insertion fee based on the item's starting bid and a final value fee when the item is sold.

Today, every seller on eBay gets several free listings. For example, If you have an eBay store , according to the website, you'll receive more zero insertion fee listings per month, unlike those sellers who do not have an eBay store subscription. However, eBay still charges a final value fee. For power sellers, eBay offers subscription packages that give sellers several free listings for a monthly fee, a lower insertion fee for sellers who go over their allotment, and a less-simplified but lower range of final value fees.

With the Marketplace, sellers can upgrade their listings better placement in the search results, more pictures, etc. Fixed price listings are subject to the same fees as auction listings. Amazon has an even more complex fee structure than eBay.

The company offers two options for sellers: they can either list as Individuals or as Professionals. Sellers can list their items in different categories depending on whether they are selling as Individuals or as Professionals , and for BMDV sellers, have set shipping rates set and collected by Amazon. This process cuts down on the time a seller needs to prepare a listing because the relevant information has already been input by Amazon employees.

Both companies offer seller protection services as well as the ability to directly contact a buyer if an issue arises. Both companies also offer tutorials and customer support for sellers who are just starting out. Since streamlining their fees, the structure looks simple and easy to understand. Amazon, by comparison, can be confusing and frustrating to navigate. Sample calculations would be helpful to compare the two sites.

Still, with multi-tiered pricing structures and closing fees, which vary by item category, item weight, and buyer payment option, any examples could be construed as cherry-picking or biased towards one company or the other.

Amazon has a few advantages over eBay. Selling on these marketplaces gives you the chance of increased product exposure, placing your items on sale in front of a highly captive audience who are actively looking and ready to buy. Amazon is the most popular eCommerce store with almost a hundred million unique visits every month. Both provide sellers with the opportunity for increased sales without the need for expensive website development and unpredictable marketing costs.

But where should you start first? Each marketplace has pros, and each has cons. There are a few key factors to consider when deciding where to sell:. Ease of use can be a big deal breaker for new sellers, and so consider your experience first and foremost. Immediately, Omidyar knew he was on to something big. And 25 years later, history has proven Omidyar right. How did eBay grow so fast and soar so high? Urban legends do die hard, and the Pez myth is no exception.

He was interested in the potential for web-based commerce and began testing that potential with his own online marketplace that would sell goods and services to the masses — if he could get the masses interested. The French-born Omidyar considered eBay a hobby at first — something to do on weekends to make a few extra bucks. Users happily paid up and eBay grew even larger, causing Omidyar to hire his first employee, Chris Agarpao, to process checks,.

In early , eBay had grown to become a million dollar business and its first president, Jeffrey Skoll was brought aboard to steer the e-commerce company to higher growth.