Bol.com or Amazon: it's one of the most frequently asked questions among (starting) online sellers in the Netherlands. Since Amazon.nl went live in March 2020, Dutch entrepreneurs have had two full-fledged marketplaces at their disposal. Amazon.nl is no longer a newcomer: both platforms are established players with their own strengths. In this article, we compare bol and Amazon on the points that really matter to you as a seller: reach, costs, logistics, and competition.
Marketplace reach in the Netherlands and Belgium
Bol has been the largest online marketplace in the Netherlands and Belgium for years. To illustrate: in 2023, bol achieved a turnover of over €4 billion, while Amazon.nl remained around €1.2 billion. For a large part of Dutch consumers, bol is still the starting point for a product search, and the platform is fully tailored to the Dutch and Belgian markets.
Amazon.nl has firmly established itself in the Dutch e-commerce landscape since its launch and is growing steadily. The major advantage of Amazon is its international network: with one sales account, you can relatively easily expand to marketplaces such as Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, and Spain.
In short: if you want to reach the maximum audience within the Netherlands and Belgium, bol is the strongest channel. If you want to think internationally from day one, Amazon offers the shortest route to multiple European countries.
Cost structure: how do the platforms earn from you?
Both platforms charge a commission per sold product: usually a fixed amount plus a percentage of the selling price that varies per category. The exact rates change regularly, so always check the current commission tables of bol and Amazon before calculating your margins. The most important structural differences:
- Bol: no fixed monthly costs. You only pay commission when you actually sell something. That makes bol easy to get started with.
- Amazon: choice between an individual plan (you pay per sold item, €0.99 per piece) and a professional plan with a fixed monthly fee of €39. On top of that, you pay referral fees per sale, for most categories between 8% and 15% of the selling price.
Which structure is more advantageous depends strongly on your category, price point, and volume. Therefore, always calculate both scenarios with your own numbers.
Logistics: Logistics via bol (LvB) vs. Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)
Both platforms offer a fulfillment solution where they take over the storage, shipping, returns, and customer service of your products. At bol, this is called Logistics via bol (LvB), at Amazon Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA).
LvB is fully tailored to the Benelux: your stock is close to your customers and your products get extra visibility within the platform. FBA excels in international scale: your stock can be sold and shipped from multiple European distribution centers. In both cases, you pay storage and shipping costs per item, and with long-term inventory, costs add up. Good inventory management is therefore essential for your margin on both platforms.
Competition and price pressure
On both marketplaces, competition has increased in recent years. For A-brands and generic (white label) products, you often see multiple suppliers under the same EAN competing with each other on price. On Amazon, there's the added international dimension: you're also competing with experienced FBA sellers from all over Europe and beyond.
The lesson is the same on both platforms: if you only compete on price, you'll lose in the long run. Be unique in your assortment, build your own brand, and create strong listings and reviews. This way, you'll sustainably differentiate yourself from resellers who fight price wars with identical products.
Where's the best place to start as a Dutch seller?
For most starting sellers in the Netherlands, bol is the logical starting point: the platform is Dutch-speaking, has low costs, and you're directly on the marketplace where Dutch and Belgian consumers buy the most. Once you have a profitable assortment and processes in place on bol, Amazon is a strong second step to expand internationally.
And remember: it's not an either-or choice. The biggest entrepreneurs have an and-and mindset and eventually sell on both platforms. Just don't start in two places at once; first, build one channel well.
How Boloo helps you win on bol
At Boloo, our greatest knowledge and most profitable expertise lie in selling on bol. With Boloo, you do product research to find promising products and niches, track your revenue and profit in real-time, and automate recurring tasks like invoicing and emails to customers. This way, you'll have time for the things that really make your business grow. You can try Boloo for free for 7 days.
