When it comes to e-commerce payment processing, merchants want to know the best way to sell items online.
Is it Amazon, eBay or Esty? Or is it hosting your own website storefront? You, the merchant, should determine the best way to sell products online based on your individual needs as well as what each channel offers.
From accepting credit cards and currencies, let us look at the different options you have as an e-commerce merchant.
| Amazon | eBay | Esty | Your Own Storefront with an Instabill Merchant Account | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acceptable Credit Cards | Visa MasterCard Diners Club American Express Discover JCB | When selling goods on an eBay store, you cannot process credit cards. You can only accept payments from other PayPal account holders. | Visa MasterCard American Express Discover PayPal | Visa Visa Electron MasterCard American Express Diners Club Discover JCB China UnionPay |
| Acceptable Currencies | USD | 24 different currencies (PayPal’s acceptable currencies) | 23 different currencies | More than 160 different currencies |
| Fees | For 40 items or less per month: $0.99 per sale plus additional selling fees. For 40 items or more per month: $39.99 per month plus additional selling fees. | Merchants must pay to list items on their eBay store as well as a final value fee. According to ResourceNation.com, this is no less than 12% of the total sale. | Merchants pay $0.20 per listing as well as a 3.5% transaction fee on each item’s sale price. Each listing lasts for four months before expiring. | The only fees you pay when selling goods on your own website are standard merchant account fees. |
| Products, Industries, and Categories | Baby Products Books Camera & Photo CDs & Vinyl Computer Games Video Games DVDs & Videos Electronics Kitchen & Houseware Musical Instruments Office Products Sporting & Outdoors Toys & Games Tools Home Improvement | Apparel Books Music Cameras & Photos Car Electronics Cell Phone Devices Computers Consumer Electronics Domain Names DVDs & Movies Motors Parts Networking PDAs & Pocket PCs Pro Audio Equipment Video Games Video Game Systems | Esty is a niche website for artists. You can sell handmade creations, but mass-produced, commercial items are not permitted. You can sell vintage goods as long as they are at least 20 years old as well as crafting supplies. | Instabill has merchant account solutions for more than 40 different e-commerce industries. Our solutions range from low risk to high risk, including online apparel, dating websites, and adult credit card processing. |
| URL | You do not receive a unique URL when selling on Amazon. | You do not receive a unique URL when selling on their eBay store. However, their unique seller ID is attached to their eBay store URL. | You do not receive a unique URL when selling through their Esty’s shop. However, their unique shop name is attached to their Esty.com URL. | Since you are hosting your own website and domain, you can pick your own URL as long as it is available. You can create sub-domains too, including a blog to drive more traffic to your site. |
| Website Management | When selling on Amazon, you are only able to list items to sell. You are not given a unique shop or store, so there is no website to manage. | Regardless of what eBay store package you purchase, you can only have up to 15 customizable web pages. Although the eBay header is smaller on premium and anchor stores, it is still appears less professional than hosting your own website storefront. | When selling on Esty, you are only able to list item to sell through your unique shop’s name. You can manage your store’s profile as well as upload a profile image. | Since you are hosting your own domain name, you are fully responsible for managing your entire website. You can create as many pages on your website as you want, optimize for SEO, create your own categories, pick your own shopping cart, and even host your own payments page. However, Instabill will host your payments page for you to help lower your e-commerce risk. |
Benefits of Hosting Your Own E-Commerce Website
There are many benefits of a third party hosting your e-commerce store. It can also, however, limit your ability to build your brand identity. The benefits of hosting include:
- Freedom to customize and design the look and feel of your website: The graphics, navigation, logo placement, social media integration, etc.
- Optimize your website for search engine result pages.
- Price your goods or services based on your business and not your competition.
Even if you choose to host your own e-commerce website, it is still a good idea to leverage different e-commerce platforms. Websites such as Amazon and eBay have numerous competitors, but they also have millions of online shoppers looking for items to buy—eyes that may not find your e-commerce site.
Benefits of Credit Card Processing with Instabill
When working with Instabill, you can open multiple merchant accounts to avoid volume restrictions and make certain you meet all of your customers payment needs. Additional benefits of getting an Instabill merchant account include approvals for high risk businesses, offshore credit card processing, company registrations and our forte: Expert customer support.
To apply for an Instabill merchant account, contact us online or call us toll-free at 1-800-318-2713.
