Selling on online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay is getting more complicated. As Kelly K. Spors reports today in her small-business guide:
The sites are crowded with sellers, and new third-party marketplaces are cropping up all of the time. Plus, the rules change frequently. EBay angered many longtime sellers in recent years by restricting payment options, changing seller feedback procedures and promoting fixed-price items over its original auction-style listings. Amazon’s Marketplace stopped accepting new sellers in some product categories and requires pre-approval in others.
“Merely being listed on eBay or Amazon isn’t a sustainable business,” said Dennis Ceru, an entrepreneurship professor at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass. “There are a lot of people going down this path that are making little or no money.”
Is it still possible to make a living on eBay or the other sites? If so, what are the keys to succeeding? Please tell us about your experiences.
