We have been living in the age of the digital era since the beginning of the 21st century. The world has been on the path of becoming a global village.
The online digital platform emerged as a binding force throughout the world. We are now moving to the online digital platform.
Like, customers are looking to purchase products online, whereas sellers are also shifting online. Online shopping is now a new trend.
In the field of e-commerce, Amazon and eBay are the two famous platforms for online shopping.
Key Takeaways
- Amazon operates as a retailer and a marketplace, while eBay primarily functions as an online auction and marketplace platform.
- Amazon offers a subscription service, Amazon Prime, which provides additional benefits, unlike eBay.
- eBay allows users to bid on items in an auction format, while Amazon mainly uses fixed pricing.
Amazon vs eBay
The difference between Amazon and eBay is that product available on Amazon is brand new. On eBay, the available products can be sold (auctioned). Amazon follows a fixed-price strategy for products. On eBay, the price is decided through bidding. Amazon has higher customer richness as compared to eBay.
Amazon is an online retail shop that focuses on buyers. It provides security from online fraud. A return/exchange facility is available on Amazon.
In case of delivery of faulty products. Amazon provides goods directly to the customer. Here available products are either from their own brands or from third-party sellers.
eBay is an online platform. Here bidding for products is done. Buyers visit the platform and search for the product.
After finalizing the product, buyers bid on items through individual auctions. eBay doesn’t provide the option of return/exchange of products. Like Amazon, it isn’t safe from fraud.
There is no role of eBay in the buying or selling of products. It is just a platform that connects buyers and sellers.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Amazon | eBay |
|---|---|---|
| Nature of the platform | It is a type of online retail shop. | It is a type of online bidding house. |
| Pricing Strategy | Fixed price | Depend on bidding |
| Cost of product | Generally high | Low cost as available products are used one’s. |
| Replacement of products | Available | Not available |
| Customer richness | Higher | Relatively lower than the Amazon |
| Available Products | Brand new | Old stuffs |
What is Amazon?
Amazon is an online shopping site. The founder of Amazon is Jeff Bezos.
The headquarters of Amazon is in Seattle, USA. It is oriented towards the buyers.
It provides a lot of convenience to the people like you no longer need to go anywhere to buy/sell products. Amazon is like a regular store in an online mode with equivalent or discounted prices.
Warranty facilities for products are also available. Here a lot of products are available from different ranges ranging from very low cost to high cost.
It works on the satisfaction of its users. Here replacement facilities for products are available because if you are not satisfied with the goods, then you can easily replace them.
In recent days, there has been an increase in online fraud. But, Amazon ensures the safety of their users.
It makes online shopping easier. Now, no need to be in the queue to buy products.
Now shopping is at the doorstep. It is now the need of the people.
It also provides an opportunity to grow business online as it has a larger marketplace.
Here sellers can enlist their products. It also provides a facility that allows sellers to ship their products to a local warehouse.
Now, even a small shopkeeper sells products globally. They can earn profit.
What is eBay?
It is an online shopping platform. This platform is known for its auction and consumer-to-consumer sales.
The founder of eBay is Pierre Omidyar. The headquarters of eBay is in San Jose, California, USA.
It is oriented towards the sellers.
As it sells nothing on its own. Here people go to buy and sell their products/stuff.
Unlike Amazon, it is a platform for auctioning products. Now no need to go anywhere for bidding.
Many people can’t afford new products. So, from here they can buy old stuff as per the need.
The products available here are mostly old. But the items are relatively worth it as per the price.
There are no such warranty/discount facilities available. Here, there is no interaction with websites, and two people meet online as per the need.
So in case of fraud, eBay is not responsible and is not bound to compensate you. But here, a review facility is available.
The fraud issue has plagued eBay. As scammers pretend to sell their products, but after getting payment, they disappear.
So to minimise this issue, there is a review facility available, where each party has the freedom to give feedback about their experience. It helps to find reliable and trustworthy sellers.
Products sold here are old at low cost(half the cost of new ones). So here you can’t expect a new product.
EBay enables sellers to display all their products in one place. However, eBay charges a small amount from sellers on every enlisted product.
Main Differences Between Amazon and eBay
- Amazon is like an online mall where everything is available. eBay is like an online bidding house, where you have to select products and decide prices by bidding.
- Amazon focuses on buyers, but eBay focuses on sellers.
- Amazon follows the fixed price mechanism, but there is no fixed price mechanism in eBay.
- Amazon covers a larger marketplace, but eBay covers relatively less marketplace.
- Amazon provides an option of exchange in case of delivery of faulty products. But no such facility is available on eBay.
- Amazon is free from online fraud, but there is a possibility of fraud on eBay.
- https://www.igi-global.com/chapter/comparative-analysis-ebay-amazon/24240
- https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=NdgUDAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA155&dq=+Amazon+And+eBay+&ots=vdO6aJd0CI&sig=yESBk1mlDyck-SwHAeF0wXkzclo
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Chara Yadav holds MBA in Finance. Her goal is to simplify finance-related topics. She has worked in finance for about 25 years. She has held multiple finance and banking classes for business schools and communities. Read more at her bio page.
