Among today’s trade methods, e-commerce, which is the most popular and has a high profit potential, is gaining momentum more and more. In this context, many people are becoming more interested in e-commerce day by day. Understanding both the structure and operation of digital platforms, and managing capital and logistics correctly, makes e-commerce quite challenging. ETSY, Amazon, eBay, and Alibaba are among many e-commerce platforms where sales can be made, which raises many questions in the minds of those starting e-commerce from scratch. In order to make things a bit easier for you, in this article we will try to answer questions such as “how should an e-export portal be selected?”, “how valuable are e-commerce portals?” and “what should you pay attention to when choosing an e-commerce site?”. In addition to these questions, if you want to examine in detail the target markets, business models, fees, and services provided by high-volume e-commerce sites such as ETSY, Amazon, eBay, and Alibaba, you can access our articles where we explain each site separately from A to Z on the QuickShipper Blog page. Especially for new entrepreneurs, there is a lot of benefit in researching e-commerce platforms before starting this commercial journey.

What Should Be Considered When Choosing an E-Export Site to Make Sales?

When evaluating an e-export site, perhaps the most important question we need to ask ourselves is, “Does this e-export site appeal to the market I am targeting?” If the market is not suitable for the products you will sell, that site will not take you on the right path. For example, if you are selling second-hand products, or if you are not an authorized seller of your products, or if your business model is based on offering products from various brands collected from the market, you will not be able to make sales on a “brand platform.” In short, if your products are not suitable for the market, activities, or expectations of the platform, making sales on these platforms will not be possible.

Another issue is that the marketplace where you want to open a sales listing must offer you the services you need. For example, if you need drop shipping services without using an intermediary company, this shows that you cannot use platforms such as Rakuten or ETSY and that you should turn to companies like Amazon instead.

Another important point is how well your business model aligns with the marketplace rules. For example, if you prefer to sell your products using an auction model, you will not be able to use the Amazon platform. In this case, being present on platforms such as eBay would be a more accurate choice for you.

In addition to the topics we mentioned, another important issue you should pay attention to when choosing the e-commerce platform you will operate on is resource management. You must determine whether you have sufficient resources to manage e-commerce activities on the platform you are interested in. For example, support services on Amazon are progressing quite quickly. In order not to fall behind in such situations, you definitely need to have a large e-commerce operation and a sufficient number of staff.

Before starting e-commerce and during the platform selection stage, it is also very important to calculate marketplace costs, operational and advertising expenses for target markets. This is because the fees required by e-commerce platforms may cause problems such as not being able to cover your costs. Therefore, accurately calculating platform commissions, listing fees, and expenses that will arise in processes such as storage and logistics is the most appropriate method when preparing your business plan. Accordingly, determining after which sales volume you will reach the break-even point on the platform you choose is of great importance.

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