Different ways to sell online
There are different methods of selling online and each comes with different levels of complexity. In general, the more control you want over your internet store front, the more complicated it would become. The most popular ways to sell online are the following; Ebay, Amazon, or your own site.
The simplest is using Ebay which is an auction site. All you need is an account with them then start posting auction listings. Ebay will charge you different fees for different features like photos on the listing, highlights, etc. They do have very good instructions on how to create your auction items.
You can also use Amazon to create your store front called the Z-store. Z-store more like a retail store where you set prices to your items and people browse and purchase your items. They will handle all the transactions and credit card processing for you. They charge a fairly high percentage per transaction for their services.
The most robust way to sell online is having your own site. However, this is the most complicated. But, it will give you control over your customer experience, look and feel, and integration of your customer data with other
systems. This method of selling online will require a merchant account and web hosting. Usually, the monthly cost for having your own site is around $60 consisting of web hosting, gateway cost, and merchant account. Then all you pay per transaction is around 2.3% to Visa and MasterCard, 3.5% to American Express, etc.
The best way to determine which method best suits your business is to determine what your needs are for your online store.
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