We Compare Shopify vs eBay: Discover Our Winning Choice in 2024

What’s the Difference Between Shopify and eBay?

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When it comes to choosing between Shopify and eBay, it’s important to understand one thing: although they’re both ecommerce platforms, they offer very different things.

Shopify is a purpose-built ecommerce platform that allows you to create your very own online store from the ground up. It gives you all the tools to create a brand that you can manage yourself.

When you get started with Shopify, you’ll have a blank canvas, and it’ll be up to you to put in all of the design work. It also means you’re in charge of uploading and shipping your products, as well as marketing them, too.

On the other hand, eBay is an online marketplace. Whereas Shopify is similar to owning your own brick-and-mortar building, eBay is the digital equivalent of leasing a stall in a public forum. As well as being able to sell unique and original items, eBay is also well-known for its many secondhand stores and auction-like bidding process.

Shopify gives you a ton of creative freedom to apply your own branding to your website, but your eBay store will always be hosted on the eBay platform, and therefore will always come with the eBay branding.

That’s not to say you won’t have any customization potential at all. Paying a monthly subscription will allow you to open an official eBay Shop. This gives your store some extra selling features, and more customizability – although it still remains limited.

Pros and Cons

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Shopify Pros and Cons

eBay Pros and Cons

Getting Started and Ease of Use

Which one is more straightforward?

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Which one is more straightforward?

The Winner

eBay is easier to use than Shopify

In terms of pure simplicity, eBay is the most straightforward out of the two to start selling with. The process to sign up and list your products couldn’t be easier. However, it’s worth bearing in mind that the Shopify creation and upload process does lead to a more complex and fully fleshed-out store.

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If you’re worried that building an online store might be a complex and lengthy process, we’re here to set your fears to rest. Both Shopify and eBay are perfect if you’re looking for a pain-free way to get started in the ecommerce world.

When you register with eBay, you can choose to create either a Personal or a Business account. We recommend a Business account for anyone selling a large number of items, otherwise, the Personal account should be fine.

No matter which you pick, you’ll be asked a series of questions, before being directed to your dashboard. Be prepared to fill in a few more details if you’re setting up a Business account – they’ll need some extra information to verify you and your business!

Once you’ve been directed to your dashboard, eBay will immediately invite you to list your first product. Even better, it’ll take you through the process step-by-step, prompting you to enter all the relevant information when it’s needed. Listing products takes less than two minutes, and as soon as you hit that final ‘List It’ button, your online store is all set and ready to go!

Shopify’s setup is a bit more advanced. complex. Don’t worry though – it’s not difficult! There are just a few more steps involved. Like eBay, you’ll need to answer a few questions about your business when you register. Once you’re in the Shopify dashboard, however, you can use the useful task sheet to tick your way through the setup process.

Unlike eBay, you’ll be building a store from scratch, so it’s not quite as simple as just adding your products. You’ll also have to design and create your website. Shopify has a frontend editor that takes care of this, allowing you to change your color scheme and font, as well as add content and pictures that reflect your brand.

When you want to add products, you’ll need to navigate back to the dashboard and use the left-hand toolbar to upload your items. Although fairly self-explanatory, it might take you a while to find your way around, but it’s important to remember that Shopify needs a more time-consuming process in order to create a unique and fully branded website.

Pricing and Value for Money

Which builder gives you better bang for your buck?

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Which builder gives you better bang for your buck?

The Winner

Shopify is better value for money than eBay

Shopify and eBay both offer plenty of plans to choose from, but for the price you pay, Shopify comes with a much better set of features, all of which aim to turn your online store into a roaring success.

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When picking an ecommerce platform, overall cost and value for money are some of the first things that people look at. After all, there’s no point falling head over heels for a certain ecommerce solution, and then realizing that it’s way outside of your budget. Luckily, both Shopify and eBay offer a range of plans that should appeal to everyone.

Shopify has three premium plans to choose from: Basic Shopify ($29 per month), Shopify ($79 per month), and Advanced Shopify ($299 per month). Take a look at the features each plan offers in the table below:

Even Shopify’s cheapest plan comes with an impressive array of ecommerce features to help you power everything from a small starter shop to a large, complex superstore. Plus, this list only scratches the surface. Thanks to Shopify’s massive app store, you can use apps to expand your functionality even further!

In comparison, eBay’s offering looks a little uninspiring – however, the good thing about it is that you don’t need to sign up for an eBay Store subscription if you don’t want to. Instead, you can register as a private seller, on a personal account.

If you do choose to upgrade to an eBay Store subscription, you’ll have five plans to choose from.

You can choose to pay for your store on a monthly or yearly basis, but if you’re looking to save some cash, you’ll pay less in the long run if you commit to a year when you first sign up.

Below, you can see what features come included with each plan:

Although eBay offers a cheaper Starter plan than Shopify, the features you get with it are pretty limited, and won’t be enough if you want to grow your business. Outside of this, though, both platforms come with similar costs.

However, it’s still hard to ignore the fact that with Shopify, you just get more for your money in terms of features, marketing tools, and store customization. eBay’s plans are targeted towards sellers who favor marketplace selling over a dedicated online store.

Payment Options and Fees

Which one has the most payment options and the best transaction fees?

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Which one has the most payment options and the best transaction fees?

The Winner

Shopify has more payment options and better transaction fees

Shopify earns the crown in this category thanks to the fact it supports over 100 different payment gateways. Plus, by using Shopify Payments, you can avoid paying any transaction fees on top of commission, unlike with eBay, where a whole score of fees is deducted from your profits.

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As a dedicated ecommerce platform, Shopify offers a whole range of ways for your customers to pay you. It supports over 100 different payment gateways, including big names such as PayPal, Stripe, and Google Pay, as well as smaller, more obscure options, too.

Shopify’s own payment gateway is aptly called Shopify Payments, and there are a bunch of reasons to use it – not least because you won’t need to pay any transaction fees to have your payments processed. If you don’t use Shopify Payments, you’ll have to cover these additional costs yourself from your sales. Below, you can see how much you’ll have to pay:

Historically, eBay’s payments have all been managed by PayPal, however, this changed in June 2021. Since then, eBay has introduced its own managed payments solutions, where payments are transferred directly into your bank account, rather than through PayPal first.

One benefit of this is that buyers can now choose between a number of different payment methods, rather than being restricted to PayPal. Payments can now be made via:

• Visa
• Mastercard
• American Express
• PayPal
• PayPal Credit
• Apple Pay (Mobile-only)
• Google Pay (Mobile-only)

However, there are some drawbacks, too. You’ll still need to pay a number of fees for each order. The exact amount depends on the category your listing fits into, and include:

• Insertion fees
• Final value fee (plus, those on shipping)
• Good ‘Til Canceled listings fee
• Payment processing if you don’t use eBay Payments

Additionally, you’ll need to wait a while for the money to enter your bank. Previously, PayPal provided a same-day transfer, but now it could take up to two days for funds to become available, and then a further few days before they appear in your bank account.

The only good thing is that you can decide how often you’d like payouts to happen, choosing between a daily or weekly release of funds. This just means that your money will be held by eBay until your designated payout day.

Since June, eBay has made managed payment compulsory, so there’s no way for you to opt out, as you can with Shopify Payments. Vendors who’d rather not use it have no choice but to pack up shop and go elsewhere.

Design Flexibility

Which one has better customizability?

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Which one has better customizability?

The Winner

Shopify has better design flexibility

There’s really no competition here – Shopify is the clear winner thanks to its more advanced editor and higher levels of customization. With eBay, you can design a unique storefront, but you’ll always have to contend with eBay’s logo and branding colors.

Visit Shopify

Let’s get one thing out of the way: design customization is pretty poor on eBay.

No matter what plan you choose, your store will always be hosted on the eBay platform, meaning you won’t be able to get away from its logo and branding. As we mentioned earlier, on eBay your store is just one stall amongst thousands in a very crowded marketplace. There’s only so much you can do to make it your own.

That’s not to say there aren’t any customization tools at all. If you’re a paying eBay store subscriber, you’ll be able to add a header image and tweak the color scheme to fit your branding, but that’s about it.

The options are even less if you’re a personal seller. Changing your store profile pictures is about the only thing you can do.

Shopify, on the other hand, provides a blank canvas. There’s a ton of different ways to build a store that reflects your brand and products. It boasts over 100 stylish templates, 10 of which are free and come in a variety of color options.

You can also filter and search for themes that are particularly suited to your industry. For example, if you run a beauty business, and use videos to showcase your items, there are themes available that come with product videos included.

Don’t panic if you pick a theme that doesn’t have everything you need, though – you can always add it in later!

Once you’ve picked your theme, Shopify’s editor gives you the tools to make it your own. Here, you can rearrange the layout, change the color scheme, and add your own content and images. Shopify even comes with an impressive range of stock images, just in case you don’t have any of your own yet!

Unlike eBay, Shopify gives you a huge amount of creative control and freedom, so you can create your ideal online store. 

Ecommerce Tools and Features

Which one has the best selling functionality?

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Which one has the best selling functionality?

The Winner

Shopify has the best tools for selling online

eBay comes with a modest set of ecommerce features, but it can’t compete with the sales behemoth that is Shopify. Purpose-built for selling, Shopify has all the tools you need to support and grow online stores of all shapes and sizes.

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When it comes to online stores, selling is the name of the game, so having a comprehensive suite of ecommerce tools is vital.

As a marketplace that specializes in secondhand auctions, eBay’s selling features are pretty basic, although there are some awesome tools in there that will help to elevate your store to the next level, such as:

• A shopping cart function
• An advanced search with filters
• Product reviews
• A wish list
• Product favorites

If you’re an eBay Stores subscriber, you’ll also be able to access the Promotions and Markdown Manager, both of which allow you to set up discounts and sales on your products in order to boost your sales.

If you want more comprehensive ecommerce control, you’ll need to upgrade to eBay’s Selling Manager Pro. It allows you to manage your products more effectively, save store listing templates, and track your inventory. You’ll also be able to view sales reports, and automatically schedule listings or relist unsold items.

Selling Manager Pro is free if you’re on the Premium, Anchor, or Enterprise plan, otherwise, it’ll cost you an extra $15.99 per month.

A lot of what Selling Manager Pro offers for a fee, Shopify gives you as part of your monthly plan. You’ll be able to sell an unlimited number of products, and you’ll also have access to Shopify’s powerful inventory manager. That’s not all either. Here are just a few of the ecommerce tools Shopify offers:

• Multi-channel selling across social media platforms and marketplaces (including eBay!)
• Discount codes
• Abandoned cart recovery
• Gift cards
• Shipping labels
• Third-party shipping rates and exclusive discounts for Shopify users
• Fraud analysis
• In-person POS (Point of Sale) app
• Global selling in 133 different currencies

With all of these features at your fingertips, it’s no wonder that Shopify’s backend editor and interface have the flexibility to host a variety of different store types. Everything is purposefully designed to make selling easier, right from uploading your products all the way to shipping them off.

Plus, if there’s anything missing, you can always use Shopify’s massive app store to fill the gaps. But beware – as much as we love this flexibility, lots of the premium apps cost extra, which can hike your monthly cost up dramatically!

Marketing Tools and Features

Which one has the best potential for growth?

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Which one has the best potential for growth?

The Winner

Shopify is better for growth and expansion

Shopify boasts robust marketing features to help you increase your brand’s reach. Its analytic tool is excellent, whilst its app store allows you to connect your store to email marketing and various social media platforms. Plus, its SEO features will help you rank higher in the search engine results.

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Increasing traffic to your online store is one of the key ingredients for selling success. But visitors won’t flood in without a little encouragement – this is where marketing and SEO tools shine. Below, we’ll look at what both eBay and Shopify offer to help increase your potential customers and skyrocket your sales.

Help and Support

Which builder is best for getting you out of a sticky situation?

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Which builder is best for getting you out of a sticky situation?

The Winner

Shopify provides the best help and support

Shopify provides a number of ways for you to get help and support if you need it. Whether you’d prefer to email or speak to someone on the phone, Shopify can accommodate your needs. They also have an excellent help center that’s full of useful advice.

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Shopify aces this. It offers multiple ways for you to contact its agents, and also provides a few options if you’d rather not speak to someone. Likewise, eBay has a comprehensive help center, as well as offering chatbot and live chat assistance. However, there’s no easily accessible email support, and it’s generally a bit harder to find the right answers than it is on Shopify.

Below, you’ll see what help and support methods Shopify and eBay both offer:

Using eBay With Shopify

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The good news is that if you don’t want to, you don’t have to use one of these platforms over the other. You can use both at the same time!

This means that you can have a fully customized, professional-looking online store with Shopify, whilst also using eBay as an additional sales channel and expanding your audience. All you need to do is head to the Shopify app store and download the eBay app to get started.

Once downloaded, Shopify will lead you through the integration process. There’s even an option to import your products all at once.

Selling across both platforms is the ideal solution for anyone looking to grow their business and expand their brand. eBay comes with a huge ready-made audience, which is great if you want to boost your traffic and get more exposure.

What’s more, using the two together means you can work around some of the restrictions that come from just selling on eBay.

However, it might not be the best option for everyone. Managing your own store requires a lot of commitment, so if you only want to sell a few items on the side, it might be better to just stick with eBay. We only recommend opting for a multi-channel method if you’re ready to grow your store and take it to the next level.

Although both Shopify and eBay allow you to create an online store and sell products, fundamentally, they’re very different platforms. Shopify is a fully-formed ecommerce solution, whereas eBay is a marketplace that specializes in second-hand sales.

We’ve covered all of their key differences in this article, but if you want a reminder, take a look at the table below:

Overall, we recommend Shopify as the best option out of the two. It’ll give you much more scope to grow and your store will look more professional in the long run. Plus, if you really want to use eBay, you can integrate it with your store via Shopify’s app store!