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How to Sell Products Online in 2021: A Quick-Start Guide.
Selling products on online marketplaces is easy.
Today search engines can help your customer reach your products quickly and efficiently.
Really, starting an online business isn’t as hard as you think.
It all boils down to selling your products online successfully and easily.
If you are a business owner who wants to start selling your products online on an e-commerce website, read on to see how different e-commerce platforms can help your business grow.
Why Should I Sell Online?
Traditional brick-and-mortar stores have been seeing a steady decline with the rise of digital ecommerce stores.
Starting a business online via major ecommerce platforms is easy and requires much less time and effort.
To put things in perspective, Forbes reports that in 2021, global e-commerce sales may hit up to $4.2 trillion.
And this surge is most likely going to grow.
So what are you waiting for? Start selling online now!
Where Can I Sell My Products?
There are many ecommerce channels available.
But the first and most important channel is your ecommerce website.
Why? Because your website will work as the foundation of your online business.
No matter where your orders are coming from, your website will serve as a reference point for interested customers who want to learn more about your product.
Once you build your online store, you can start selling online.
And for the most part, selling online through your website offers smaller transaction fees (more profit!) than third-party online marketplaces.
- Note that a staggering 92% of U.S. online consumers, and 98% of Asia online consumers shop from trusted online marketplaces.
Once you have your online store set up, we will then cover online ecommerce marketplaces such as Newegg, Amazon, and Wal-Mart.
How to Sell Online: Building Your Website
Building an online store is easier than you expect.
Before diving into online ecommerce marketplaces, it is a good idea to build a website first as a solid base for your online ecommerce business.
Today there are several ecommerce platforms such as Shopify, or Squarespace, which allow you to create an online store from start to finish with as little pain as possible.
Example: Build a Website & Store with Shopify
For example, a Basic Shopify Plan costs $29.00 USD per month, with no setup fees or transaction fees if you decide to use their integrated Shopify Payments.
You can even save 10% on an annual plan, as well as a 20% discount on biennial plans when paid upfront.
Often these platforms will include a payment gateway, as well as seller customer support or customer service for your ecommerce business.
All you need to do is sign up, have a business license, and choose from one of their beautiful pre-made templates. You can even fully customize your website store if you want to.
- Note that Shopify Payments are Shopify’s integrated payment gateway system
- For more information, learn more about payment gateways from Investopedia
Building your online website is easy with shopify.
Finding a beautiful template for your online store is easy.
Important things to consider when setting up an online shop:
- SSL Certificates are a great way to ensure credibility and protection of private information for your website
- For more information or to learn more about SSL Certificates, visit Cloudfare
- Major platforms such as Shopify or Square automatically come with SSL
- Some ecommerce platforms such as Shopify will allow you a free trial
- It is also important to set up an email sign-up form on your website
- This can be a quick landing page or a small pop up on the bottom of your website
Creating a subscriber list of your potential customers is a great way to grow your online business.
Growing your email list will do wonders for your business if you learn how to use it properly.
- A great example of a straight-forward email newsletter sign-up form
- Having an email list of your potential customers can be a great way to grow your business
For more helpful information on how you can sell online, as well as trusted reviews on the best web-shop development platforms, check out Website Builder’s guide on how to build an online store.
How to Sell Online: Popular Online Marketplaces
Having a website is the first part.
The next step on how to sell products online is finding the right marketplace where your customers can be found.
Now it’s time to choose an online marketplace.
For the most part, this is where the bulk of your sales will come from.
There are plenty of online marketplaces to choose from, all with slightly different features and benefits.
To make it easy, we narrowed it down to the top 3 ecommerce marketplaces in 2021.
All of these ecommerce platforms offer these similar features and benefits:
- Millions, if not hundreds of millions, of online customers
- Fulfillment services such as inventory management, shipping, return labels, and more
- A marketplace which you can sell almost any product to any customer
It is important to note that these marketplaces are not exclusive to one another.
Often it is a great and profitable online business strategy to include as many of these sales channels as possible to maximize your business reach and engagement.
- In 2020 alone, E-Commerce rates shot up 44%, the greatest annual growth the U.S. has seen in at least two decades
Let’s begin with a new and top-rising contender.
Selling Products on Newegg
Newegg is a rapidly growing global tech marketplace!
Newegg Marketplace offers an extensive online market where you can sell a large variety of products.
Newegg is a rapidly growing global tech marketplace.
Newegg has been voted as one of the best online shops in 2021.
Voted as one of the Best Online Shops of 2021 by Newsweek, Newegg is growing to be a top new contender for everything e-commerce.
Top Reasons to sell on Newegg in 2021:
- +4 million unique active customers
- +382 million total website visits
- $301 average order value
- Shipped by Newegg (SBN) Fulfillment Services
Although traditionally known as a marketplace for tech and electronics, Newegg is now expanding rapidly into other markets such as:
- Automotive
- Home & Tools
- Health & Sports
- Apparel & Accessories
- Toys & Drones
- Flowers & Gifts
Why sell on Newegg?
Newegg is expanding rapidly globally.
With fewer sellers and more customers, there is a good chance your business will do well in Newegg’s rapidly growing marketplace.
Now is the best time to take advantage of Newegg’s new and fast-growing marketplace.
How much does it cost to sell on Newegg?
Newegg has several different marketplaces catering to different markets all around the globe.
With plenty of seller programs services, features, and benefits, selling on Newegg is a great way to expand your online business to over 37+ Million Global Customers.
Creating a regular Newegg Seller Account is completely free.
This is a great way for business owners to sell products online for free.
Newegg takes a percentage commission, based on your product category for each item sold.
Most Newegg commission fees are between 8% and 12%.
- For example if you were to sell auto accessories on Newegg, you would be charged a 10% commission fee on every product sold
- If you were to sell a beauty product, you would be charged a 12% commission fee
- If you were to sell a cell phone, you would be charged an 8% commission fee
- If you were to sell watches, you would only be charged a 12% commission fee, as opposed to Wal-Mart or Amazon’s 15% referral fee
- Commission or referral fees differ for every marketplace, so it’s best to research this to find the best marketplace for your product or product categories
Example of Newegg’s commission rates, taken from their website.
For more information on Newegg transaction fees, visit Newegg’s Seller Page to see their full list of commission rates.
How to sell on Newegg
To sign up as a Newegg Seller, click here.
Note that Seller Portal is the main dashboard Newegg Sellers use to manage their store.
For more information on Newegg Seller benefits, features, and more, click the link here for the Newegg Seller Programs, Features, & Benefits Page.
For more information on the benefits, programs, and features exclusive to Elite Newegg Sellers, visit the Elite Seller Page now.
Selling Products on Amazon
Amazon is another great online marketplace channel to add after Newegg.
Amazon is another great channel to add to your online business.
In addition to Newegg, Amazon is another ecommerce giant.
With millions of customers worldwide, you can rely on Amazon to help sell your products to a large number of customers as well.
Why sell on Amazon?
Amazon fulfillment worker delivering packages to a customer’s door.
Just like Newegg, Amazon does it all, from global fulfillment centers, incredibly fast shipping, and more.
In today’s digital landscape, it is important to maximize your business reach and potential.
After signing up as a Newegg Seller, there’s no better way to boost your sales than adding Amazon’s online marketplace as an additional sales channel for your online business.
How much does it cost to sell on Amazon?
As stated by Amazon’s Seller Page, the cost to sell on Amazon depends on:
- Your selling plan
- Product Category
- Fulfillment Strategy
- And more
To start with, Amazon’s Individual Plan costs $0.99 per unit sold.
The Professional Plan costs $39.99 per month, no matter how many units are sold.
There are also “referral fees” for each item sold. This is similar to Newegg where Amazon takes a certain percentage commission based off each item sold, depending on the item category.
Most Amazon referral fees are between 8% and 20%.
- For example, automotive products are charged a 12% referral fee for each product sold
- But Amazon charges 10% referral fee for tires and wheel products
- Another example: Amazon charges 17% referral fee for every apparel item sold
- Unlike Newegg, Amazon has some product categories that charge a minimum referral fee
- This referral fee minimum is $0.30 per item sold
Although Amazon does charge sellers more for some item categories, it is still a profitable move to register as an Amazon seller as well in addition to Newegg!
Example of Amazon’s referral fees.
For the most part, registering your Amazon Seller Account is free.
This is a great way to sell your products online for free until your first sale.
Although Amazon has mandatory referral fee minimums, and higher referral fee percentages on some categories than Newegg, leading to less margins per sale than Newegg, Amazon does have its benefits which you can add to grow your business.
Another thing to be mindful of is that Newegg does offer better live human support than Amazon. Notorious for being very hard on their sellers, Amazon seller service has been reviewed by many sellers throughout the internet as hard to deal with.
Newegg, on the other hand, pledges the best in world-class Seller Support Service, with a dedicated Seller Support Team which stands by and ready to help you take your business to the next level.
Selling Products on Wal-Mart Marketplace
Walmart has recently expanded its business to the online market.
Wal-Mart’s new online marketplace.
Wal-Mart is traditionally known for their brick-and-mortar stores.
But recently, Wal-Mart has also expanded into the ecommerce landscape.
Why Sell on Wal-Mart Marketplace?
As the world’s biggest retailer, it’s no surprise that for many business owners, selling your goods on Wal-Mart in addition to Newegg is also a great idea to grow your business.
Just like Amazon and Newegg, adding a giant online marketplace with millions of customers at your disposal is a great way to grow your ecommerce business.
Once registered, selling online with Wal-Mart’s ecommerce platform is easy.
How much does it cost to sell on Wal-Mart Marketplace?
Walmart has recently grown their e-commerce platform.
Once approved, Wal-Mart does not require any setup, subscription, or monthly fees.
Simply put, Wal-Mart only charges a transaction fee, also known as a “referral fee” for every product sale that happens on their website.
Most Wal-Mart referral fees are between 8% and 20%.
- For example, Wal-Mart charges a 15% referral fee for apparel & accessories
- This means that you would save 2% on every sale if you were to sell clothes on Wal-Mart rather than Amazon
- If you were to sell furniture and decor, Wal-Mart would charge you a 15% referral fee
Having an online business is a great way to grow your revenue!
An example of some of Wal-Mart’s referral fees.
Similar to Amazon, Wal-Mart does have several categories that charge a higher referral fee percentage than Newegg.
This means that for some items, you can definitely have higher profit margins by selling your products on Newegg. Yet, adding your products on Wal-Mart’s marketplace won’t do your business harm – rather it will definitely help you grow your customer base for the long haul.
So if you are wondering how to sell products online, it’s best to say that all of these channels combined will help your business grow much more effectively together.
For more detailed information regarding Wal-Mart’s referral fees, visit Wal-Mart’s Seller Help.
For more information regarding other frequently asked questions, visit Wal-Mart’s Seller FAQ.
How to Sell Online: Final Tip to Help You Succeed
Once you set up your ecommerce website, as well as your ecommerce platforms and markets, it is important to also focus time and energy on growing your business.
One effective way of doing this is through email marketing.
Quick Email Marketing Strategy Tip
So you have subscribers on your email list – but what do you send them?
Below are some great tips and strategies on valuable content that you can provide your email subscribers:
- Discount Codes
- Promotions
- New Items & Arrivals
- Valuable or Interesting News
- Value-Driven Content: Guides, How to’s & More
The main takeaway here is that you want to give your customers, as well as your potential customers, in the form of subscribers, value.
Once you are able to understand your target audience and provide value to their lives, you will begin to develop a relationship and trust with your customers that may go above and beyond the first sale. After all, it is much easier for you to sell to a customer who is already interested in purchasing your product, or a customer who has already purchased your product – rather than to sell to a completely new customer who has yet to familiarize themselves with your product or brand. As with all businesses, having successful, repeat customers is key to growing your business.
Final Words: How to Sell Products Online Successfully
To sell products online is easy.
The first step is always the hardest part.
Once you have your website and your marketplace channels, there are other things you can do to fine-tune your online business towards success.
Most of these strategies will be geared towards marketing and advertising: another way to get your products seen.
- Email marketing is a great way to grow your brand awareness, perspective, and sales with customers who are already interested in your products
And finally, if you are looking for help to finance your online business, take a look at our helpful guide for the best e-commerce financing options now that you can use immediately to boost your capital.
For more information on this, and to stay motivated and updated on the latest online sales tips and strategies to help your business succeed, visit our blog here.
