Does One Have To Start With Ebay To Be Successful With Ecommerce Stores

I wouldn't start with either. There's a good section here for ecommerce discussions

Building eCommerce Sites - Wholesale, Drop Shipping

Do you HAVE to?

Nope... Would I recommend it? YES! As a world-wide and recognizable brand that YOU get to leverage, it is a great place to start.

But no, starting with it won't make or break you - but it is where I started and paid of 6 figures in debt --- in 12 months.

(But I have branched out and have done well in other areas as well)

I see no issue with increasing a footprint wherever you are and making your brand recognizable no matter WHAT format.

Spread your wings and sell a ton!

Honestly the best thing you can do is just start. It doesn't matter what it is - you might fail at first or hit it big time straight away. As long as you stick to it and always strive to improve and grow your eCommerce business things will happen for you.

Not at all, Ebay has the audience to purchase your products so your traffic is there once you understand how e-commerce stores work and your audience you will find that having your own store will be a great benefit.

Yes... and no.

eBay is apart of the eCommerce world of course, but as a seller they are pretty different platforms.

eBay can and will instill things like speedy logistics, the importance of customer service, competitive pricing and these are all very important things in the world of eCommerce but theres one thing that eBay doesn't Really teach a seller and that is advertising. The reason why eBay exists is because they are a platform with millions of registered viewers, and buyers that are for the most part already there.

In eCommerce, advertising and marketing is absolutely the most important thing there is as a seller. Page optimization, currents trends, advertising techniques, creating a budget, following it, increasing it, developing a brand if possible, your relationship with advertisers, affiliates, search engines, etc. Your website and business means nothing if you can't pull traffic and make the sale.

If you have ever seen the film "Branded" when the main character was in school he worked for a street vendor selling random items but then he uses marketing to explain that it would be better if his boss sold nothing but Vodka in a tourist area of Russia. Then he tells him to get a large yellow sign that says "VODKA" and as a result of these changes, his bosses business thrives. When the main character asks for a raise, he is fired. This is because the boss of the main character didn't fully appreciate and understand the value of marketing.

Someone on here is bound to make the argument that "well, on eBay you have to compete for "Best Match" - but the reality is that you simply have to be the cheapest for a specific item and set amount of descriptive keywords because this is all 80% of eBay users care about. If I need to back up this fact as proof, I will be more than happy to. In the real world and in eCommerce it doesn't work like that - directly.

One donut shop might have good donuts, be in a busy neighborhood with a lot of foot traffic next to a police station and donuts that are $1.00 a piece. A place half a mile down the street might sell amazing donuts for $0.25 - but it doesn't mean much if people can't find an easy way to the donut shop and try one for themselves.

If I have to answer the OPs question more directly, start with both. Start out on eBay and make your sales, build up some experience and start learning how the process works. At a time you see fit, do what the vast majority of eBay sellers never attempt - and try to leave eBay as your direct method of selling products (make them a branch of your business) and shift your focus on operating your own eCommerce store with slightly increased prices meaning more profit on an individual items basis and learn to use what you were previously spending on eBay fees as your budget for advertising. The percentage of fees eBay takes from your sales can really offer you a lot when it's shifted towards advertising for yourself and your products.

Look at eBay as a flea market or swap meet. Buyers and sellers come to a specific location and present their goods. Many of the most dominant principles of business and selling can be applied here for success... but there's only so many people here, and even if you go out and advertise your products in the local newspaper to come check you out at the local flea market, you are still paying fee's to set up your booth and at the end of the day, you don't own anything other than the items you come and go with.

Look at eCommerce as an international market place. A mecca of retail store fronts (or distribution centers) where people come to your place to make a purchase based on how they heard of your store and your items. You own the building, and when people ask one of your customers where they bought their item they can respond with "I bought this at BlahBlahBlah.com" instead of "I got it on eBay" or "I got it from the market." - which is very awesome.

@Silas Hart

Couldn't have said it better myself! You're spot on right with that post.

Not necessarily, but once you have run a successful ebay store you will have the skills and know how to manage workload. eBay is a solid platform for newbies to start from, you have all the tools and information at your fingertips, whereas running your own site, you will have to create a system for yourself to manage it smoothly

If you sell on both eBay and your own e-commerce website, you can always integrate the two. I know Volusion and BigCommerce allow you to list the products that are on your website on eBay as well. This will help your eBay customers find your website, potentially leading to more sales.

Thanks for your feedback everyone...Great feedback !

For all its' faults eBay is a great place to start for a lot of people because it's pretty easy to get set up but I agree with everyone that says the main thing is to just start. Too often people can get stuck in procrastination and indecision, wanting all the ducks lined up before you start shooting. Been there and it's not a happy place!

I've been thinking of getting back into eBay having been out of it for a few years and picked this Auction Money Generator up yesterday (and it's under $5 if you don't want the OTO) from a fellow student in John Thornhill's coaching program and it's pretty impressive stuff what this guy has achieved in a short space of time which has made me think about getting back into eBay even harder now!

He uses some clever techniques for cross-promotions that allow him to sell his products at a higher price than his competition and keep his listings in front of everyone's eyes. It was five bucks well spent for sure.

Well put @Silas.

No reason not to try both or all 3 (Amazon, Ebay, your own eComm store/site).

While we're in the business of optimizing websites, there are surely tons of resources available for doing the same with an Amazon or eBay store (some referenced above). In the end it's the time and effort you put into learning, researching, optimizing and testing that will deliver the results that make attempting selling on any of these platforms a viable choice.

I sold off all my old hockey cards and comic books and odds and ends on eBay years ago, still have an account of which I'm proud (320 stars - 100% positive feedback). Having said that, while content to sell on eBay, unless I was searching for a bargain or something used or off the wall, my preference was (and is) if buying anything online, to buy either from a reputable source or supplier or brand who owned their own legitimate .com eStore.

Times have changed for sure, and after a quick search using "ecommerce compatible with ebay", I found a couple platforms (Mercantec, Securenetshop, and Designcart) that can serve to run both an ecomm site and an eBay storefront. Also sure you can dig up a few tools that do the same for Amazon, and perhaps even all 3 at once.

Good luck!
Jeff

yes. if you very new to the ecommerce Stores, you paid and you get visitor, you will no need to worry about doing seo and other advs stuff

I think eBay is different from the eCommerce world of course, but as a seller they are pretty different platforms.