15 Best International Marketplaces for eCommerce Business
Online marketplaces are here to stay. They give customers an easy way to shop a variety of goods from a diverse range of brands. As an eCommerce seller, marketplaces may seem competitive but they give you the ability to reach your buyers at scale.
In this post, we will look at the best international marketplaces and how you can find winning products to sell worldwide.
Table of contents
15 Best Online Marketplaces
Here are the 15 best eCommerce marketplaces for third-party sellers:
1. Amazon
It’s no surprise that we start our list of top online marketplaces with Amazon. It has a global presence and accounts for a larger market share than any other site. There are plenty of features to make your life easier as a seller. This includes an advertising platform that allows you to create paid ads to drive traffic to your products. Additionally, with the Amazon FBA program, you can send your goods to an Amazon store and then ship them when a customer places an order.
When you sell on Amazon, you need to pay commission fees between 8% to 25% of the sales price. The exact amount depends on the product category. If you sell more than 40 items a month, you’ll need to enroll in a Professional account that has a $39.99 monthly fee. There are also fees if you use the Amazon FBA program to fulfill your orders.
In addition to the main US market, there are 19 international Amazon marketplaces. Some of the most popular ones include:
Japan
Canada
Mexico
United Kingdom
Germany
France
Australia
2. eBay
eBay has been one of the most popular marketplaces for many years. It originated as an auction-style site where individuals could sell their goods. Now, it is a full-fledged marketplace with plenty of useful tools and features for third-party sellers.
There are hundreds of millions of buyers so you’ll have a massive audience interested in your products. When you sell on eBay you can list a few items for free. If you want to list a lot of products, you’ll pay a listing fee for each product. eBay also charges a Final Value fee, essentially a commission on each order.
3. Walmart
Walmart.com is a fast growing eCommerce marketplace created by the well-known brick and mortar retailer. It has a huge audience as many people trust the company and enjoy the fast shipping and in-store pickup options. Walmart Marketplace used to only be available to sellers in the US but now sellers from around the world can sign up to sell on Walmart.
Walmart does have an approval process for sellers so you’ll need to have a somewhat established business to be accepted. The marketplace charges referral fees that vary based on category. These can range from 8% to 20%, with most categories having a 15% fee.
Like Amazon, Walmart has an advertising platform that enables you to market your products. There is also a fulfillment network that you can use to have Walmart stores and ship your products.
4. Etsy
Etsy is an online marketplace for selling vintage and handmade products. It is popular among small businesses and people planning to sell online for the first time. With tens of millions of buyers, there are plenty of people to whom you can show off your unique goods.
Unlike some sites, Etsy charges a $0.20 listing fee for each product that you want to sell on the marketplace. There is also a 5% transaction fee as well as a payment processing fee for each order.
5. AliExpress
AliExpress is an online marketplace run by the eCommerce giant Alibaba. It features products in pretty much any category you can think of and there are several solutions to help you sell effectively. When customers buy products they can choose from 38 payment channels and 51 currencies.
AliExpress is available in more than 200 countries so your business can reach buyers all over the world. When you sell a product, you’ll pay a fairly low commission fee between 5% and 8% of the order value.
6. Lazada
Lazada is the most popular online marketplace in Southeast Asia. It features tons of products in a variety of categories. Some of the best-selling items are electronics, fashion, and home goods. Lazada doesn’t charge a sign-up fee or commission fees so you can start selling at no cost.
7. JD.com
JD.com is one of the largest eCommerce sites in China. It gives international sellers a great opportunity to tap into the massive Chinese eCommerce market. As a seller, you have the option to sell your items directly on the site or to sell them to JD.com who then resells them to customers.
If you sell items directly on the site, you’ll pay a 2% to 10% commission fee on every sale. Be aware, that you’ll need to pay a $1,000 annual membership fee to sell on JD.com
8. Bonanza
Bonanza is an eCommerce site similar to eBay. You can find both individual and business sellers listing products for fashion, home, collectibles, jewelry, and more. The marketplace has a robust marketing platform that you can use to customize your shop and run advertisements.
To sell on Bonanza, you need to pay a $25 monthly subscription fee or a $255 annual fee. When you sell a product, you’ll also be charged a 3.5% commission fee.
9. Newegg
Newegg is a popular online marketplace based in the US. The site’s product categories consist primarily of electronics and technology items. There are advertising and merchandising programs you can use to get more visitors to your products. Plus, Newegg offers the Shipped by Newegg fulfillment service for sellers that want the company to store and deliver their products.
As a seller, you’ll pay commission fees ranging from 8% to 15% depending on the specific product. There are several tiers for seller membership plans which range from free to $99.95 per month in cost.
10. Wish
Wish is a widely popular eCommerce marketplace with over 300 million active customers. The main draw of the site is extremely low-cost items across a wide range of categories. Sellers benefit from low commission fees and there are no charges for listing products.
Unlike most online marketplaces, Wish uses a revenue-sharing model. This means a portion of all the site’s proceeds are distributed evenly amongst sellers. In the end, you can expect to keep about 85% of the sales price for yourself.
As of recently, Wish is now an invite-only marketplace. To sell on the platform, you need to complete a questionnaire that will be reviewed by their team. If they decide to let you sell, you will receive an invite.
11. Cratejoy
Cratejoy is the first eCommerce marketplace where sellers can list subscription boxes. These products are a great way to drive recurring revenue while exposing customers to a diverse range of your product assortment. There are no membership or listing fees to sell on Cratejoy. Only a simple 11.25% transaction fee for each order.
12. Rakuten
Rakuten is a large online marketplace popular among shoppers in Japan. There are over 100 million active users, giving you the ability to reach a huge audience base. When you sell on Rakuten, you get a dedicated shop that you can customize to your needs. You’ll need to pay a $39 monthly selling fee, a $0.99 per item sold fee, as well as a commission fee.
13. Allegro
Allegro is one of the largest European eCommerce marketplaces. The site features items in a wide range of categories and customers purchase over a million products per day. Some of the marketplace’s most popular categories include sports, health, beauty, and fashion.
The main challenge when selling on Allegro is language. Polish is the only language used by the site. As a seller, you’ll pay a commission fee for each order. Allegro also charges a monthly subscription fee.
14. Cdiscount
Cdiscount is one of the most widely shopped eCommerce marketplaces in France. With over 23 million unique users each month, you can get your products in front of a large number of ready buyers. To sell on Cdiscount, you’ll need to pay a 39,99 euro monthly subscription fee. There are also commission fees for each sale. These vary depending on the product category.
15. Shopee
Shopee is an online market, popular among shoppers in Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and parts of South America. The marketplace features products in all sorts of categories including fashion, gaming, exercise, home, and more. When you sell on Shopee, you don’t have to pay any commission fees or listing fees.
How to Find Best Selling Products for International Marketplaces
If you want to come up with a winning product idea, you’ll need to know how to find top-selling items. Below, we will look at some effective ways to find good ideas for selling internationally.
1. Use AMZScout Tools
When looking for products to sell online, many businesses turn to Amazon for their product research. Trends on the marketplace are usually a sign of market-wide trends. Plus, Amazon research tools make it easy to see what sells well and what products should be avoided.
For instance, with the set of AMZScout tools, sellers can quickly find the sales history for any item to assess its viability on other marketplaces. Here is how you can use AMZScout to find good products:
Open the AMZScout Product Database. If you’re new to the platform you can sign up for a free trial.
Enter your product criteria. Use the search filters to refine the results based on the characteristics that are most important to you. For example, you can set a filter to only show products with over 1,000 monthly sales. There are also several ready-made Product Selections that will automatically apply a set of filters.
Click Find Products to generate the results. You can then review the products to find those that are a good fit.
Take note of the products that interest you as you’ll want to perform research on other platforms to validate their viability.
2. Google trends
Google Trends is a free platform that shows how interest in specific search terms is changing over time. With it, you can know which products are gaining interest and which ones are losing interest.
The data allows you to see a search term’s popularity going back for years. You can use this to uncover the seasonal trends for different products. Once you have this information, you can refine your product research to not include products that are overly seasonal.
3. Social Media
Social media is effective for marketing your products. It is also a great place to find new selling ideas. Go to popular platforms like Pinterest, Instagram, and TikTok to see what types of items people are talking about and sharing. After you find some interesting products, you can research them further by looking at similar items on various markets and using the AMZScout research tools.
4. Reports
Reports showing trends and sales data are another way to find good products as an eCommerce seller. Start by looking at the Amazon Trends report.
Each year, Amazon releases a trend report highlighting a category of products that have seen the most interest over the previous year. In it, you can find items hand-picked by Amazon that are set to see major growth.
AMZScout also has weekly and monthly Amazon reports that show trending products and categories. These reports include analysis from both Amazon sales history and performance in Google Trends. You can use these trends for ideas for other marketplaces.
For more reporting insights, you can review statistics sites such as Statista. These will show you sales volume for different eCommerce industries so that you can get an idea of a product’s overall demand.
What Products Sell the Best on International Marketplaces?
Now that you know some of the best places for selling internationally, let’s look at a few of the products that perform best on international marketplaces:
1. Baby products
Baby products enjoy consistent demand around the globe as people continue to have children. Parents need a variety of different goods to take care of their new kids including bottles, clothes, diapers, and more. As a seller, you’ll have a lot of options to choose from and can easily build a brand around complementary products.
2. Pet goods
This is another category that enjoys sustained demand. People all over the world love their pets. As such, they will not hesitate to open their wallets for items to make life better for their furry friends. Some popular pet products include water bowls, chew toys, litter mats, and collars.
3. Toys
Like baby goods, toys are always in demand as children look for new and creative ways to have fun. There are plenty of popular products in this niche so you can specialize in a specific line of toys or sell a broader range of items.
4. Clothing
Clothes are one of the most popular items on many online eCommerce sites. By selling these items internationally, you are able to tap into a larger audience base. You have the option to sell more generic apparel. Or, you can come up with creative designs that satisfy both local and international buyers.
5. Jewelry
The desire for jewelry is a global trend that will likely never go away. These products are great for selling internationally as they are small and you can ship them for cheap. Plus, there are plenty of types of jewelry to sell, whether it’s earrings, bracelets, or necklaces.
Conclusion
There are many good marketplaces with large customer bases. By embracing a multichannel strategy, you can reach more people compared to selling through one platform alone. Check out some of the marketplaces on this list and see which are a good fit for your business.
