Earning money with bol or Amazon: easier than a webshop
You're exploring the possibilities of selling on a sales platform like bol.com or Amazon, so the chances are you find these options more attractive than setting up your own webshop. And rightly so. As a starting entrepreneur, it's quite challenging to handle all aspects of online sales: building a webshop, purchasing, advertising, marketing, shipping, customer service.
Bol.com and Amazon take a significant part of these tasks off your hands. Moreover, both platforms, with millions of visitors per month, can ensure that your product(s) get the attention of your target audience faster than with your own webshop.
Is it also an option to sell on bol and Amazon?
If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, you can't lack a strong mindset. Of course, you can't split yourself in two. Good news: as an online entrepreneur, you don't have to. Selling on one platform doesn't rule out the other. The most successful entrepreneurs have a 'and-and' mindset, not an 'either-or' mindset.
Bol and Amazon have a lot in common
These two large sales platforms are popular among online entrepreneurs for a reason: they take a lot of hassle out of your hands and make it easy to get your product under the attention of your target audience thanks to their high number of daily visitors.
Bol vs. Amazon: who is your target audience?
The fundamental difference between bol and Amazon? Bol.com is active in the Netherlands and Belgium with 12.5 million customers. Amazon sells worldwide to 300 million customers. An important question: do you want to launch your product mainly in the Netherlands and Belgium or do you see more opportunities on the international market?
What about the costs on bol and Amazon?
If you choose to sell through bol.com, you create a sales account for free. For each product sold, bol then charges a commission. This commission varies per product category and ranges from 4% to 25%.
If you choose to sell through Amazon and expect to sell more than 40 products per month, you'll pay a monthly subscription of €39. If you expect to sell less, you'll pay €0.99 per sold product. Amazon then charges a commission, which can be up to 40% of the selling price.
The logistical options of bol and Amazon
Both sales platforms offer the possibility to take the logistical process off your hands. The way both platforms charge for this differs. Amazon charges storage costs, but at Bol.com, you only pay when you actually make sales.
Bol.com ships packages via their warehouse in Waalwijk. Amazon has no logistics center in the Netherlands; packages go to the distribution center in Germany.
Who offers the best customer service, bol.com or Amazon?
At both bol.com and Amazon, you can rely on employees handling customer questions and returns properly. Amazon communicates in multiple languages.
For service to you as a seller, there's a clear difference. Amazon makes it relatively difficult to get in touch (via contact form). Bol.com sellers can use a phone number, contact form, and email address. Dutch communication with bol.com is also available.
Selling via bol or Amazon: which one do you choose?
The most important question is whether your product is more suitable for the Dutch-speaking market or for the whole world. One doesn't rule out the other. Do you see opportunities in the Netherlands and Belgium? Then starting with bol.com is a good choice.
