We all have our favorite e-commerce platform.
That “Day 1 go-to” platform that we know how to sell on, and can count on sales to be made.
For many of you it may be Amazon, and for others it may be Poshmark. Some of you may not even be using those 2 sales channels, and may only be on eBay.
We know that there are some of you out there who don’t even sell online, and only sell inside of a retail store or locally at flea markets, consignment stores, etc.
Let’s break these e-Commerce platforms down, and go over EXACTLY why you should be looking to expand to another platform EVEN IF it seems like it’s more work.
Better yet, I am going to give you real life personal examples of what we have experienced at Wholesale Universe over the past 7+ years as a business, and why we sell on multiple platforms.
AMAZON:
We absolutely LOVE selling on Amazon, and for years we ONLY sold on Amazon.
Though there is SO much money to be made on Amazon, at some point you’re going to have to expand out and find another platform.
We found this out when we found that half of our warehouse was filling up with inventory that could not be listed on Amazon.
The reasons these items couldn’t be listed was for various reasons including:
- Listing Issues – Item not able to have a listing created, or the current listing had the wrong info in Amazons Category Registry System.
- Quality Issues- Item may not be of PERFECT quality, the tags may be detached, or the box may be messed up.
- Brand Issues- Item may not be eligible to list on the Amazon platform without Amazon Brand Approval.
There could be various other reasons, but these are the main 3 reasons that products we had in warehouse would not be listed on Amazon.
After a while, our books and finances made it look like we were losing money, so we started searching for the issue.
At first, we were confused, as we KNEW that the products we were selling on Amazon were profiting. The numbers were clear..
Finally, the truth hit us like a ton of bricks… We were staring at thousands of pairs of shoes, pieces of clothing, and other designer brand products in pallets stored in the side of our warehouse where they had been forgotten about.
No wonder it seemed like we were “losing” money.. We were sitting on products that weren’t selling, or even listed for sell.
That’s like taking money and just throwing it out the window!
So, after a team meeting, we decided to start selling on the Poshmark, Mercari, and eBay platforms to turn this inventory.
We chose 3 as a “Split-Test” to see which platform worked best with our products, and also fit our needs for uploading the best.
This one move in business changed EVERYTHING for us.. We saw positive financial results IMMEDIATELY, and never looked back.
If you’re a new seller on Amazon, we want to help you get started. Find out how we can do that here:
Learn More About Our Amazon Business In A Box Mentorship Program 👉 https://www.wholesaleuniversepage.com/products/amazon-business-in-a-box
POSHMARK:
After split testing multiple platforms, we finally landed on Poshmark to continue selling on for most of our products that could not be sold on Amazon.
What we liked about Poshmark was:
- Simple Listing- Listing can be done directly from the Poshmark App, or from an ease of access upload screen on their website.
- Poshmark Advertising- Just like Amazon, Poshmark spends a lot of money and resources driving customer traffic to your account.
- Buyer Communication- You can go back and forth with potential buyers who are interested in your products before they purchase to answer any questions, and even negotiate a deal that the buyer likes, but also works best for you as well.
- Easy Sharing- Poshmark makes sharing your store and products simple. Whether it’s internal shares to other Poshmark accounts, or on your own website/social media pages outside of Poshmark.
We sell $15k-$20k per month on Poshmark right now, and plan on doubling to tripling that over the next 6 months.
You can list products on Poshmark that are perfect, which we do, but you can also list products that are less than perfect as well.
The way Poshmarks listings are setup, they do not require a stock photo like Amazon, so you can show any blemishes that the product has, and also list about them in the product description.
The reason why we wouldn’t choose Poshmark as our only platform to resell on is due to the fact that there is another platform (Amazon) with more buyers on it, and that the products we offer can go for higher prices and sell quicker on another platform like Amazon.
For some people, the same will apply for them with another sales platform like Shopify also.
If you’re a new seller on Poshmark, we want to help you get started. Find out how we can do that here:
Learn More About Our Poshmark Business In A Box Mentorship Program 👉 https://www.wholesaleuniversepage.com/products/poshmark-business-in-a-box
EBAY:
eBay is an excellent platform to sell on, and we still sell on there through a software company called ChannelAdvisor.
If you want to learn more about ChannelAdvisor, reach out to us. We can help you get OVER $1,000+ in savings for signing up with them.
eBay is very similar to Poshmark, but I find that listing is much easier on Poshmark than on eBay.
eBay also has a better “Auctions” platform, where as Poshmark is more of a “Buy It Now” platform where you can negotiate the price.
You can still do “Buy It Now” on eBay as well.
If we couldn’t list on Poshmark, eBay is the platform where we would have all of our “Secondary” products that could not be sold on Amazon.
MERCARI:
Mercari is an “alright” sales platform to us.. We don’t get overly excited about Mercari, but we don’t overlook the platform either.
We have sold quite a bit of products on Mercari, but with them being based out of Tokyo, Japan, they don’t get the same United States presence that Poshmark or eBay has – And they don’t even come close to touching Amazon’s reach.
If you don’t have another platform to sell on, they are definitely an ecommerce channel that you will make money with, but you won’t make as much with Mercari as you do on Amazon, Poshmark, or eBay.
Mercari is another sales platform that we list on using our ChannelAdvisor Software.
SHOPIFY:
Shopify is an entirely different animal. I don’t consider it to be the same type of “e-Commerce” platform as Amazon, Poshmark, or eBay, but it’s still as POWERFUL as all of them.
Just like all of these other platforms, you list your products for sell, track sales, and ship the items when they sell.
What I like most about Shopify is:
- Data Collection- Any names, phone numbers, email addresses, and other information you collect on Shopify is yours.
- Endless Plugins- The possibilities are infinite with the integrations of software’s that you can use to enhance your Shopify store.
- Retargeting- If someone “almost” purchases, you can go after that sale with follow up email campaigns.
- 100% Ownership- Shopify is YOUR website.
The difference between Shopify as an “e-Commerce” website like Amazon, Poshmark, eBay, etc is that you have to bring all of your own traffic and customers to the website yourself.
There is no listing and automatic sales that will come through. Shopify doesn’t work like that.
The content and data will be 100% yours, but you must do all of the legwork to get customers to come to your website and keep coming back in the future. This will happen by running ads on social media, Google, YouTube, etc.
There are literally almost NO fees for selling on Shopify, but that money you would normally spend in seller fees on other platforms is what you will use in advertising and driving traffic to your site.
As we mentioned above, we also use ChannelAdvisor to import and crosslist products on Shopify as well, which makes the process of selling on this sales platform so much easier.
If you want to learn more about ChannelAdvisor, reach out to us. We can help you get OVER $1,000+ in savings for signing up with them.
Conclusion
When you find the process of reselling that works best for you, your profit margins will increase.
After finding these other platforms, performing “split tests” on product sales, and then getting into a groove with Poshmark as our number two, we watched inventory start turning and profit margins going through the roof.
There are never any “Guarantees” in business, but I can all but guarantee that if you take the advice in this article, you are going to turn your business around if it’s headed in a bad direction or push yourself further into profit than you already are.
Try it, and let us know how it goes for you.
