eBay al­ter­na­tives for bargain hunters

eBay is the largest online platform for trading in used goods. Usually, in­ter­est­ed parties bid at an auction for a certain product, and the highest bid wins. Some sellers, on the other hand, set a fixed price for the immediate purchase. Permanent shop pages are also possible. With eBay clas­si­fieds, the market leader covers regional requests. Despite the ubiq­ui­tous presence of the US company, some eBay al­ter­na­tives manage to achieve business success with target group-specific offers or regional anchoring. We compare al­ter­na­tives to eBay that can be in­ter­est­ing for different needs.

What began as a digital flea market under the name Auc­tion­Web in 1995 grew into an in­ter­na­tion­al company with various sub­sidiaries. Initially, only private in­di­vid­u­als bid in auctions from private sellers. In the meantime, a number of companies have spe­cial­ized in the sale of used or new products and compete with private sellers. In addition, eBay is sometimes crit­i­cized for not doing enough to protect buyers. The con­stant­ly in­creas­ing sales com­mis­sion and the al­lo­ca­tion of the shipping costs to the providers caused problems for sellers. Anyone who prefers to avoid the market leader will find numerous eBay al­ter­na­tives on the net. Among the online mar­ket­places in our com­par­i­son, some rely on the regional reference, others on cu­riosi­ties or Fairtrade.

Despite eBay's supremacy, there are numerous online mar­ket­places on the net. However, some platforms pay little attention to buyer or seller pro­tec­tion, which opens the door to fraud­sters. Others attract only a few members, which reduces the range of offers. The following eBay al­ter­na­tives, on the other hand, are con­vinc­ing with security in payment trans­ac­tions and their own focal points.

The online auction platform bonanza.com was founded in 2008, pre­vi­ous­ly called Bonanzle. The business model positions the company as a direct com­peti­tor to eBay. Both private and com­mer­cial sellers offer all kinds of products on the market place, in addition to new goods. Private sellers advertise free of charge and the website claims it takes less com­mis­sion. Those who want to give their listings that certain something – with a prominent placement, a second photo or boldface – can pay extra.

The offer ranges from elec­tron­ics to fashion, leisure articles, col­lectibles, and interior design to vehicles and travel. The re­spec­tive cat­e­gories can be filtered by brand, color, or material. Product reviews, leaflets, and a sub-function make the decision easier.

Special features:

• Excellent design
• It is commended by lots of reviews, and has won awards
• No listing fees
• You can create a bonanza webstore

Vinted is a second-hand sales platform for fashion, ac­ces­sories, and beauty. Initially the offer was limited to women's fashion, which could not only be sold, but also exchanged or given away. Meanwhile, the men's de­part­ment also has a lot to offer.

Members can both buy and sell. A forum un­der­lines the basic local concept of the website. Sellers upload photos from several per­spec­tives so that you know exactly what they are buying. In addition there is a de­scrip­tion with size details and man­u­fac­tur­er as well as a price chosen by the customer.

Potential buyers signal their interest by favoring the article (sometimes there are several potential buyers for in­di­vid­ual articles). Questions about the product are also possible via the messaging function. In the past, this was also the way people traded; in the meantime, however, Vinted has switched to immediate purchases. The principle is sup­ple­ment­ed by elements known from social media: Buyers can follow sellers whose choice of clothes they like. When the seller uploads a new product, it appears in the sub­scriber­s' feed. In addition, sellers promote their articles via “Best Matches,” a function that places articles matching another member's search in a clearly visible position in the feed.

The platform offers various shipping options and payment systems. The function "Create a package," for example, bundles several orders from a catalog and saves packaging and shipping costs. The in-house buyer pro­tec­tion allows customers to choose the payment system of their choice, even if the seller does not offer it – all they have to do is activate the secure payment system. Buyers, on the other hand, pay a small surcharge per trans­ac­tion. Vinted stores the amount in an encrypted, digital wallet until the customer receives the product and accepts it without complaint. Then it is available as a credit note for the seller.

Special features:

• Business model focuses on simple com­mu­ni­ca­tion
• Exchange possible
• Fees apply only for buyer pro­tec­tion

Ruby Lane spe­cial­izes in vintage and art pieces. The customer service is good, and it is an intuitive platform for sellers and buyers alike. It is aes­thet­i­cal­ly pleasing, matching the lovely items it has to sell. Ruby Lane doesn’t take a com­mis­sion, but it does cost 19 cents to post an item. This may be cheaper for sellers in the long run – paying under 20 cents for an item that sells for $50 or even $100 saves a per­cent­age com­mis­sion fee common to other online mar­ket­places. If you have a Ruby Lane shop, you’ll have to pay $69 for up to 80 items, and then from then on each item is subject to a fee upon sale (under 50 cents). To set up shop, there is a one-off $100 fee, which includes the first 10 listings.

The objects you can buy on Ruby Lane are united through their vintage status, but other than that, it’s a diverse shopping ex­pe­ri­ence, where you’ll find one-off gems. The cat­e­gories are antiques, vintage col­lectibles, fine art, furniture and lighting, jewelry, vintage fashion, dolls, glass, pottery and porcelain, and sil­ver­ware, among others. The quality of the offers is usually high, and so it’s not the place to look for things if you’re counting pennies at the moment – but if you’ve been saving a while you might be able to snag a vintage ring at a better price than you’d find at a jewelers!

In order to offer or purchase goods, mar­ket­place visitors need a free account. Private in­di­vid­u­als do not have to pay any set-up or trans­ac­tion fees. Com­mer­cial providers pay as listed above.

Special features:

• Vintage only platform
• Voted best customer service
• Gorgeous user friendly design
• No com­mis­sion for sellers
• Great security

The fresh online mar­ket­place app Mercari is a hit, with low com­mis­sion fees and a money back guarantee. The website claims that over 100,000 products are added each day, and that new and used items are on offer. You can find designer items, phones, video games, jewelry, and much more on the platform. The setup is simple: download the app, upload your product, ship it when the product is bought, and then get paid. The selling fee is 10%.

The seller pro­tec­tion is also stellar: As long as the item you list is delivered as promised, you get paid. If you use the Mercari prepaid shipping it is always insured up to $200, which means you don’t have to bother with any meet ups, which can be a hassle. The app has high ratings on both the Apple App Store and the Google Play store, showing that customer sat­is­fac­tion is high, and it is a trust­wor­thy platform.

The shop section is split into cat­e­gories and brands so you can find what you need easily, whether it’s for kids, home, women’s wear, or filtered by brand. There are over 10,000 brands listed, and the site claims that you can secure savings of up to 70%. So whether buying or selling, Mercari provides a solid platform.

Special features:

• Designed as an app for mobile use
• Lots on offer
• Well sorted cat­e­gories and lots of brands
• Shipping and payment service for more user security

Better World Books (BWB) is a good al­ter­na­tive to both Amazon and eBay for buying and selling books. It is a great platform for second hand books, which is kinder to the en­vi­ron­ment and your wallet. It is easy to sell with BWB: Just send them the books you want to sell, they do all the selling, and you’ll get paid. The books are sold in over 30 mar­ket­places, and you can choose to benefit a non-profit literacy partner with each sale.

The mar­ket­place is huge – pretty much any book you want can be sold and bought via the BWB platform. This is even the case for textbooks, which many physical book­stores won’t buy back. For this reason BWB have a “Give Back at Buyback” service to cater to students. Other than that, there are dozens of cat­e­gories, ranging from antiques and ar­chi­tec­ture to children’s books to self-help to true crime. Even within these cat­e­gories, there are sub­cat­e­gories, allowing for a good browse to discover new titles, even when you’re looking for a specific one. If you want to cut to the chase, a reliable search function is also present.

Special features:

• Ex­pe­ri­ence as an online book mar­ket­place
• Large selection of in­ter­faces and upload formats
• Depending on the provider free return, shipping discounts, or price sug­ges­tion possible
• Detailed cat­e­gories in the catalogue
• Ethical mission

The market leader eBay offers some ad­van­tages. In­ter­na­tion­al reach and a very large offer are just as much a part of it as the joy of having made a bargain at an auction. Due to its size – 177 million users worldwide by 2018 – there are also po­ten­tial­ly more fraud­sters in the network. In addition, the sales com­mis­sion of 10 percent for private users is set above average.

These are already good reasons to try out al­ter­na­tives to eBay. You may also be looking for a more sus­tain­able business model to support (Better World Books), or regional companies. Those looking for special product groups such as fashion or books will find what they are looking for at Vinted or Better World Books.

All these eBay al­ter­na­tives have their own merits, often com­ple­ment­ed by an active community of like-minded people. In addition to the usually low fees, good data pro­tec­tion reg­u­la­tions as well as secure shipping and payment systems should be mentioned as positive points. So if you want to hunt down bargains with a clear con­science, make sus­tain­able purchases, or gain more reach for your online shop via the better known mar­ket­places: eBay is just one of many al­ter­na­tives, and the com­pe­ti­tion has a lot to offer.