Hello, and welcome to whiteboard sessions with me Andrew Maff. I'm the founder and CEO of BlueTuskr, a full-service marketing agency for e-commerce sellers. And today I'm going to go through my top 13 marketplaces that all e-commerce sellers should be selling on.
Now, there's a lot more than 13. And some of these won't be great for everyone. But these are the top 13 that I've seen success with, with one or more sellers at any given point. So let's just dive right in here.
Amazon
And obviously, we're gonna start off in the big behemoth, which, by the way, if you have heard the song from Bo Burnham, about Jeff Bezos. And it's like, 30 seconds long, it's fantastic. Amazon's biggest one, we all know it, I'm not going to waste a lot of time on it.
Amazon is obviously the biggest marketplace, it's where a lot of sellers start off just to get proof of concept for their product. But it definitely seems to be the biggest one. I'm not considering Shopify or anything like that a marketplace, even though they're starting to release some functionality behind being able to, you know, showcase your product and a bunch of in basically a marketplace typesetting.
Walmart
So now we have this next one Walmart. And so basically, anyone works on Amazon, right? pretty much anyone can work well on Walmart as well. Usually, what I see nine times out of 10 is someone's going to go to Amazon start there. And then once they have success there, they're going to try out Walmart.
Walmart is kind of like the redheaded stepchild of Amazon is always two steps behind, it's never, they never seem to try to innovate anything, they really just try to replicate what Amazon does. So it's not exactly the largest one out of all of them. However, I do see them getting bigger and bigger over time and maybe starting to compete with Amazon. But they're still so far behind. That's probably going to be several years before that happens. However, it can be very lucrative, and it can be a great marketplace for you to try out.
We have tackled both platforms in detail in SELLING PRODUCTS ON AMAZON VS. WALMART: WHICH ONE IS BETTER?
eBay
Another one, which often gets a lot of bad credit because of what it used to be is eBay. So eBay, obviously back in the day used to just be kind of like almost like a Craigslist where you could do bidding. But instead, eBay has actually started to grow into its own marketplace, you can integrate really well with it.
A lot of the different shipping integrations that you use, whether you're using like ShipStation, or something along those lines really hooked up to eBay. Super simple. And one thing about all the marketplaces I'm touching on right now is that every single one of them has its own advertising option. And eBay's to me is one of the easiest because if you're familiar with Amazon, you know, you have a cost, right, so let's say you're targeting at 15% a cost. All you have to do on eBay is just say I want to pay 15% for advertising. And they just do that.
So there's no other bidding, there's nothing else, all you have to do is just set your bidding, it's super simple. And it actually pumps out pretty well. And honestly, the amount of money you're making on eBay, not too bad for the amount of work you have to put in to get onto that channel.
Etsy
Another one's Etsy. So this one doesn't work great for everyone. This one's a little kind of more on the DIY-like crafting side. Obviously, if you are manufacturing your product and you think that this doesn't work well for you, that's not always the case. A lot of people with any kind of customization so if you're doing embroidery or you're doing some kind of custom framing or something along those lines, it can work really well on Etsy. And then really anything like home decor or crafting or anything along those lines can also do really well. You don't have to be just like a random person at home who does this in their kitchen, you can actually be a business and be selling on Etsy. And the advertising platform is pretty simple to use as well.
Wayfair
Wayfair is kind of similar to Etsy, where it works really well with home decor furnishings, it can work well with like office stuff as well. There's a handful of stuff that obviously doesn't work very well on it. So like cleaning supplies, even though you think it's for your home, it doesn't really work well on Wayfair the advertising platform is relatively simple. Sometimes, you know, there's still tweaking it, it's still a newer platform, it really started to pick up in 2020 while a pandemic was happening and everyone was fixed on their house, but it's another great channel to get on.
So if you can justify your stuff being kind of labeled as home decor or kind of a household supplies sort of thing, you can actually do pretty well Wayfair and I do see them starting to put in different things that aren't around home decor furnishings like you know, vacuum filters and stuff like that. I've actually started to see some pop-ups on Wayfair. So that's another route that you can go and then let's see okay, so another one that is kind of like a wayfarer concept.
Chewy
Chewy is similar to Wayfair which is very specific to certain categories who choose obviously great for that right. The one thing Chewy has done the best is that they've really done a great job with taking any kind of pet-related supplies away from Amazon. I'm even guilty of this where if I need to get, you know, food for my dog, or if I'm getting toys or something like that.
I know that what I'm getting it to them as offered in Amazon, but I'm going to choose and the reason I'm going to choose because Chewy has just done a great job at building a community, they really know exactly who their customer is. So all of their messaging, the whole entire experience is just fantastic. So if you sell anything that's related to pets, I highly suggest getting on Chewy, similar to Wayfair, kind of justify the way that you're getting on to Chewy about whether it's for pets or whether it's not.
We work with some clients in some cases where they sell cleaning supplies that might help with like pet dander or something like that. And all you have to do is really adjust your packaging a little bit and then you can get on to chewy, they kind of have their own advertising, but not really.
They kind of claim that they do a little bit for you and obviously they're going to advertise for you by showing up in Google Shopping and things like that, but you don't have as much control over Chewy as you do with some of these other ones.
Target, CVS, and Staples
So this one's gonna be this is like a three-way, right? So we're gonna manage while this one. We've got Target, CVS, and Staples, right? So super weird. I know, why would I put these three together because they're all pretty different targets, like the better Walmart, CVS is like, you know, grab and go kind of thing. And then staples are like Office Depot, its warehouse, and office supplies. But the reason I couple these together are because these three are all marketplaces that are relatively difficult to get on when you get on them, you can actually do pretty well with them.
However, when I'm talking about an advertising kind of situation here, there's really only a handful of platforms out there, I'm not going to list them just because I don't want to favor anyone. But if you Google it, you'll find them. But there's really only a handful of platforms out there where they basically integrate with these marketplaces, and you can run ads on them for you. So it's kind of like you go into one platform, and you run your ads here and they're connected to Target, CVS, and Staples. So think about, like, if you were using Facebook Ads Manager, you're running ads on Facebook, as well as Instagram, it's kinda like that and these can work pretty well.
Target works really well for you know, stuff that you would sell on Walmart or Amazon or really any of these targets could work well for CVS works well for the kind of like your grab and go stuff, you really want to make sure that you're priced well on CVS because they typically do better if they're lower price points. And staples is basically all office supplies are something that you can justify needs to be at an office.
Alibaba
So next, speaking of price points is Alibaba. Alibaba is basically a little bit better when you're looking at the price point or bulk purchasing or anything along those lines. And this kind of thing, you know, I'm not gonna get into that one.
But anyway, so Alibaba is a good one. If you're a lower price point, you're doing the kind of wholesale or something like that there's a lot of skepticism around Alibaba, it's bigger internationally right now. But it is another platform that you could try out. They do have some people who do you know, sell, and actually do purchase here in the state. So it is one thing you could try out.
Google Express or Google Shopping
Another one would be Google Express or Google Shopping, not shopping ads, but Google, whatever, they end up calling it because they change it all the time. But Google Express or Google shopping, or whatever they end up calling you by the time this video comes out, is what they've started to do, which I think is genius is that they're you know, connecting really simply with BigCommerce, Shopify, and WooCommerce, and all those, allowing you to drive your catalog directly into Google.
Basically having a giant showcase a product, the problem right now is that the interface for it is not very good. And not a lot of people use it. So it's not the best. But obviously, the best part about it is that it's a very simple integration out of whatever your platform is and it's free, there's no charge to be on here. You can set up Google Pay, or someone can pay directly on this platform, or they can be linked over to your site to purchase there.
But if you have your own shop, buy your own WooCommerce and BigCommerce or anything, any of those, and you have the option to get a Google Merchant Center and connect it to this I highly suggest it because it can't hurt and eventually, hopefully, they'll start to improve upon this and it'll be similar to just go into Google as you do on Amazon in which case you definitely want to be a first-mover there.
Facebook Marketplace
Another one is the Facebook marketplace. So Facebook marketplace is like knocking off Craigslist used to do and in the beginning, they obviously did do that. And you know, it kind of reminds me of like a little bit of the early eBay days because of the way that things go but you can actually integrate your website with the marketplace and offer products and really all you have to do was saying that you offer to ship as opposed to a pickup.
So if you ever used Facebook Marketplace and sold something at your house or something like that, it'll give you the option to say like, Oh, you know, pick up only or maybe you'll deliver it or something and basically, that option of delivering it is something you can connect through your, your website. So if you can connect Facebook marketplace through your website, you can actually get a pretty good option here to set up on Facebook. And it's not bad, you can get a handful, and to be honest, as a couple of these most cases, right?
I'll tell you like, eBay, depending on what you're selling, Wayfair, Facebook marketplace, Google Express. Yeah, I'm gonna go depending on your selling, sometimes Walmart, but I call these like, you know, help you keep the lights on kind of marketplaces like you might not do that much with them. But the upkeep for them is like nothing, you really just integrate it. And then you need some kind of platform to integrate all of your inventory and things like that.
But otherwise, like all of these, like, you know, even if you're doing, you know, let's say five to $10 million a year throughout your entire business through mostly Amazon, your own website and stuff like that, you'll definitely do like anywhere between like 10 to 20,000 a month, at least on these so at least they're keeping your lights on. Sometimes, you know, more or less like some people I know do really well on Walmart and do nothing on the Facebook marketplace. I know people that do decently on the marketplace.
Instacart
The last one, this one is going to be specific to anyone who's doing consumables, so Instacart if you have the ability to be in retail. The best part about Instacart. And the only reason I'm kind of considering this like a marketplace that you can sell on is that if you're available in retail, so if you're available in like let's say like a Publix or Wegmans or something like that, you can actually run ads on Instacart and suggest people to buy things based on the store that they're Instacart shoppers going through.
So I'm guilty of this all the time as we use Instacart because I hate grocery shopping. And so basically we have, it's like that DoorDash or it's like Uber-like someone goes and gets our groceries and then brings them back, right. But when I finished shopping, it says like, did you want to get some of these? Or did you finish these or if I search for a specific product that I want? It obviously shows me the first viewer ads, so you can actually run ads on Instacart just like you would anywhere else. So this is another great way. If you're doing consumable to try and get into grocery stores.
You can run ads on this. I know it's not really a marketplace, but they've done a great job at making retail feel like a marketplace, especially since someone's picking it up and delivering it to me that's not that big of a difference. That one's a stretch. But hey, deal with it here.
I'll give you a bonus one. I love this. I don't really like this one.
Newegg
But Newegg is decent. It's mostly on the tech side, it kind of reminds me of Alibaba because it's kind of like cheaper tech stuff most of the time. That's not always the case. But sometimes that isn't the case. They've been doing a decent job at trying new things. And you know, giving a shot if you're selling tech, or maybe if you're doing like iPhone cases, something like that. You can give Newegg a try.
I think they have their own advertising platform, I only have a couple of people we work with that are on there, and we're not advertising. We're just on it. So not 100% on this one, but I felt bad about that one. So I gave it. So this was your 13 top marketplaces slash 14 marketplaces that you should absolutely try out.
If you're an e-commerce seller, worst-case scenario, take a handful of your products don't do your entire product line, and just throw them up there and see what happens. Take some of your best sellers off Amazon and put them on Walmart if you have a large product line. Otherwise, I highly suggest looking into all these because you have to diversify your business you can't be in one place. Otherwise, you're just setting yourself up for failure at a certain point but really appreciate everyone tuning in.
If there's any marketplace I missed or if there's something that you want me to cover, chances are I'll have to update this video one day so please make sure you comment. Let me know which ones I'd missed and then comment, let me know what other videos you might want me to cover. But otherwise, rate reviews subscribe, because these are going to come out on a weekly basis at a minimum. So if you have any questions, let me know But otherwise, I will see you all next time.
Watch The Video Here:
Leave a Reply