Follow this topiceBay, Amazon, Play.com: where to sell online for less
As Play.com moves to being a marketplace only, which sites are cheapest to sell on and who offers the best chance of actually making a sale?
If you want to make a bit of money from those things you don’t use very much, if at all, lying around your home, you could do a car boot sale. Or you could sell your items online via one of a number of sites.
For years, eBay was the number one place to sell second-hand stuff online, but Amazon’s Marketplace has grown in popularity. And Play.com has now changed its business model from retail site to a marketplace called Play Trade.
So let's have a look at how those three sites compare on price and number of visitors. This analysis is based on an infrequent user, not someone selling masses of items.
Online marketplaces: fees and charges
eBay
Insertion fees: Free-£1.30 (sliding scale based on value of item, type of item and type of sale)
Final value fees: 10% of final selling price up to a maximum of £75
If your item doesn’t sell, you don’t pay a final value fee and you can relist it. If it sells, you may receive a credit on the insertion fee.
Ranked seventh-most popular site in the UK by web analytics firm Alexa.
Amazon
Completion fee: 86p per item
Closing fee: 11.5% (electronics and photos items), 40.25% (Kindle accessories), 17.25% (other items)
Ranked fifth-most popular site in the UK by Alexa
Play.com Trade
Complete sale fee: 50p
Commission: 10%
Ranked 90th-most popular site in the UK by Alexa
How they compare for selling popular items
Now let's have a look at how the charges stack up for a number of different popular items.
| Type of item and sale price | eBay cost | Amazon cost | Play.com cost |
| DVD box set (£10) | £1.20 (20p Buy It Now insertion fee + £1 final value fee) | £2.58 (86p completion fee + £1.72 closing fee) |
£1.50 (50p complete sale fee + £1 commission) |
| Designer dress (£30) | £3.40 (40p Buy It Now insertion fee + £3 final value fee) | £6.03 (86p completion fee + £5.17 closing fee) | £3.50 (50p complete sale fee + £3 commission) |
| Digital camera (£95) | £9.90 (40p Buy It Now insertion fee + £9.50 final value fee) | £11.78 (86p completion fee + £10.92 closing fee) | £10 (50p complete sale fee + £9.50 commission) |
In the examples above, eBay consistently comes out cheapest. However, eBay generally requires you to use PayPal to receive payment for your goods. And PayPal has fees of its own – 3.4% of the transaction amount plus a fixed fee of 20p.
And if you want to withdraw money from your Play Trade account to your bank or building society account, it will cost you 5% of the amount you're transferring. Or you can spend the amount in full on Play.com.
Let's look at our table again with these things factored in.
| Type of item and sale price | eBay cost | Amazon cost | Play.com cost |
| DVD box set (£10) | £1.74 (£1.20 eBay fees + 54p PayPal fees) |
£2.58 (86p completion fee + £1.72 closing fee) |
£2 (£1.50 selling fees + 50p transfer fee) |
| Designer dress (£30) | £4.62 (£3.40 eBay fees + £1.22 PayPal fees) |
£6.03 (86p completion fee + £5.17 closing fee) | £5 (£3.50 selling fees + £1 transfer fee) |
| Digital camera (£95) | £13.33 (£9.90 eBay fees + £3.43 PayPal fees) |
£11.78 (86p completion fee + £10.92 closing fee) | £14.75 (£10 selling fees + £4.75 transfer fee) |
If you start selling more expensive items, the less competitive eBay and Play become against Amazon.
However, based on popularity, you'd have to say eBay and Amazon were the best bets – for now at least and certainly for items Play isn't traditionally renowned for, such as clothes and non-entertainment equipment.
Don't forget to factor in postage costs to your selling price too.
Other alternatives
eBid
This rival to eBay charges no insertion fees for listings. There's just a final value fee of 3% of the sale price. You'll also likely pay a transacton fee via one of the online payment sites via PayPal. While eBid is growing it certainly doesn't get anywhere near the audience of its competitors yet.
Preloved
This second-hand site offers free listings with no fees and might be worth a shot before you try the paid-for services.
Craigslist and Gumtree
These regional sites are more aimed at jobseekers, people searching for a home to rent and lonely hearts. Again, they might be worth a try before the paid-for sites as they're free to use but beware of timewasters and scammers.
What sites do you sell on? Let us know in the Comments section below.
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