Your own marketplace or selling on Amazon and eBay: which to choose?
On Amazon or eBay you are one of thousands of vendors and pay a high commission to the platform. With your own marketplace you are the operator: you choose your vendors, set the commissions and own the customer data. The choice depends on how much you want to control the marketplace and the brand.
Short answer
- Sell on Amazon/eBay if you want instant traffic and don't mind the high commission or the brand.
- Launch your own marketplace if you want to gather the vendors yourself, set the commission and own the customers.
- On Amazon/eBay the commission often reaches 10–20% and is not negotiable.
- On your own marketplace, you set the commission, per vendor or category.
Head-to-head comparison
Amazon/eBay vs your own marketplace (4marketplace)
| Criterion | Amazon / eBay | Your own marketplace (4marketplace) |
|---|---|---|
| Who you are | One vendor among thousands | The operator who owns the marketplace |
| Commission | 10–20%, fixed, non-negotiable | You set it, per vendor or category |
| Customer data | Stay with the platform | Belong to you |
| Brand and support | The platform's brand, global support | Your brand, support in Romanian |
Practical example
Example: a producer who wants to gather 30 local makers under one brand cannot do it on eBay, where each is a separate vendor and the commission flows to the platform. On their own marketplace they onboard all of them, set an 8% commission and collect via split payments — the vendors' money goes straight to them, the commission stays with the operator.
Common mistakes
- Assuming your own marketplace necessarily means expensive from-scratch development.
- Ignoring the cumulative commission paid on Amazon/eBay over the long run.
- Giving up customer data, even though it is a marketplace's most valuable asset.
How 4marketplace helps
- A SaaS marketplace platform with vendor onboarding, commissions and split payments included.
- The brand, the commission and the customer data stay yours, in Romanian.
- Connection to invoicing, CRM and notifications in the same account, through the 4b2b ecosystem.