Benefits and disadvantages of having your own e-commerce
Benefits
- You can be better positioned in search engines..
- Your company projects more seriousness.
- You own your own infrastructure and you can design it with the colors, fonts, images of your brand.
- You have access to edit anything you don’t like about the design or functionality.
- You don’t have to pay a “rent” to maintain your virtual store, the most you would pay is for the hosting and domain name.
Disadvantages
- Paying an expert to design and develop your ecommerce can cost you USD 1,400 or more.
- You must have a webmaster who gives you support for technical issues that exceed your computer knowledge
- You must make agreements with shipping platforms such as DHL so that they can pick up and deliver your merchandise. These sometimes ask you for a few minimum shipments per month so as not to cancel your contract.
What is a marketplace?
A marketplace is a place where people come together to buy and sell. It is like a market on wheels but in the digital realm, in which those who buy can also sell. Suppliers can communicate their offer and buyers can purchase products and services. Sellers should not develop an infrastructure but use what the stores where they publish their content already have; They are subject to the rules and the collection of commissions from those who provide this infrastructure. Some examples of marketplaces can be Facebook, Mercado Libre and, of course, Amazon.
Pros and cons of selling on Mercado Libre
Mercado Libre is a multinational company of Argentine origin, that allows buying and selling new and used products. It currently operates in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
Pros of selling on the Mercado Libre marketplace
- Facilitates shipping and return logistics
- It has three types of accounts: Free, Classic and Premium, in the free one you can upload products, although they do not give them much visibility
- It is very well positioned and operates in several countries
- It has a large user traffic
- Platform, with an optional terminal, that makes it easier to accept card payments: Mercado Pago
Cons of selling through Mercado Libre
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- Listing your products is easy but if you want to give them more visibility, you have to pay a fee.
- For the Classic and Premium types of accounts, the percentage that Mercado Libre can keep, depending on the category of what you sell, is up to 12,5% and 20,5%.
Pros and cons of selling on Amazon
Amazon is one of the 500 largest companies in the United States. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, it is a global leader in electronic commerce. It has a direct presence in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, Canada, and China, but also serves customers in most countries of the world.
Pros of selling on the Amazon marketplace
- Being one of the leading companies by brand value worldwide, it is very well positioned
- It is one of the best-known marketplaces, if not the one that receives the most visits daily
- Various market niches can be found
- It has a first-rate logistics for deliveries and returns
Cons of selling on Amazon
- It is not a con as such, just consider that to display your products on Amazon, unlike Mercado Libre, which has a freemium option, you have to pay a monthly fee of at least 600 MXN (plus VAT), which may vary depending on the places where you sell your products.
- In addition to this fee, various sales fees are charged that can reach up to 20% of the value of the product, depending on its category.
In conclusion…
- Selling on marketplaces like Mercado Libre and Amazon is advantageous, especially if you don’t have the resources to build your own e-commerce.
- Marketplaces give you the benefit that their brands are already positioned and with that, you can reach more people.
- Developing your own e-commerce can be expensive but in the long term it is more profitable, since you will not have to give commissions to other platforms.
- If you have in mind to create an e-commerce system for your business, contact us and we will guide you as to which would be the best solution for you.
