Amazon, eBay, TikTok Shop or Walmart: how to choose your first marketplace

The most common question I get from new brands is “Where should we start?” The honest answer is: it depends on your product, your margin and your team — not on which marketplace is trending this month. Here is the framework we use at Ecomalign before a brand lists anything.

1. Start with your margin, not the marketplace

Every channel takes a different cut. Referral fees, fulfilment fees, advertising and returns add up differently on each one. Work backwards: take your selling price, subtract product cost, shipping, the platform’s fees and a realistic ad budget. If there is nothing healthy left, the channel is wrong for that product — however big its audience is.

2. Match the channel to how people buy your product

• Amazon suits products people already search for by name or category. Demand exists; you compete on listing quality, reviews, price and ads.
• eBay rewards sellers with strong sourcing, competitive pricing and excellent service. It is often the fastest place to test products with lower setup effort.
• TikTok Shop works for products that are easy to demonstrate in a short video. Demand is created by content, so you need creators or your own video output.
• Walmart Marketplace is attractive for established sellers with reliable fulfilment and competitive pricing, and usually has less seller competition in many categories.
• Etsy is for handmade, personalised and design-led products where story and uniqueness matter more than price.

3. Be honest about your operations

Each marketplace expects fast dispatch, accurate tracking and quick replies to customers. If you cannot ship within your stated handling time every day, start with one channel and get that right. Account health problems are much harder to fix than to prevent.

4. Plan the second channel from day one

Your first marketplace is where you learn. Keep your product data clean — titles, specifications, images and barcodes in one master sheet — so that adding a second channel later takes days, not months.

A simple way to decide

1. List your top five products with real landed cost and target price.
2. Calculate the margin after fees and a modest ad budget on each channel.
3. Check competition: how many strong listings already sell the same thing?
4. Pick the channel with healthy margin and a realistic path to the first page.

If you want a second pair of eyes on those numbers, send me your product list. A short audit usually makes the right first channel obvious.