In a world where convenience is king, online marketplaces have become the go-to solution for buying and selling just about anything. From furniture to electronics, fashion to handmade crafts, these platforms offer a limitless variety of goods at the click of a button. The online marketplace industry is booming; in 2023 alone, the global e-commerce market was valued at a staggering $6.3 trillion and is projected to nearly double by 2027. Whether youโre a casual seller looking to declutter or a savvy shopper hunting for deals, online marketplaces have reshaped how we engage with goods and services.
What makes these marketplaces so popular? Itโs all about access and trust. Platforms like eBay, Facebook Marketplace, and Amazon Marketplace make it easier than ever to connect buyers with sellers, offering everything from specialized vintage finds to everyday essentials. In fact, 63% of all online shopping starts on a marketplace, underscoring the vital role these sites play in modern consumer habits. Ready to dive in and discover the best sites to buy and sell? Let’s explore some top options that could be perfect for your next transaction.
Truth be told, only your fantasy can find the online marketplaces that are straight out of a fairy tale. While we canโt shield you from insanely selfish people, we can help you stumble across some of the best online marketplaces. Before we do that, letโs hear the statistics from the online shopping industry.
Hereโs how ibotta weaved both the whys with facts:
Top 10 Sites To Buy And Sell Stuff Online
Shpock
Shpock stands for โshop in your pocket.โ It was founded five years ago (in 2016) in Vienna, Austria, by Finderly GmbH. Today, itโs a source of income for more than 185 people. It took Shpock no more than a year to become one of the ten most popular apps in Germany.
Since it stepped into the world of online marketplaces, success started to seep through the sole of its boots. It was named the youngest brand in the 1st half of 2018. It got to flaunt the Android Excellence App of 2018. It was titled as the โBest of 2017” app in the category “Sustainability.”
Shpock squeezed second-hand online marketplace into an app that has been installed over 10,000,000+ times till now. Users are free to forget the definitions of listing and transaction fees as it is completely free. It allows its users to sell stuff for as high as $79.99. While the variety of products wow users, the categorization doesnโt fail to surprise anyone. I dare you to name a thing you canโt sell on Shpock.
Letgo
โDidnโt Letgo let it all go?โ Is this the question that popped up in your mind just now? Yes, Letgo and Offerup online marketplaces merged together. It is only some usersโ unhappiness thatโs making us weave these words.
Letgo was launched in 2015 by Alec Oxenford. Within five years, it injected comfort so well into the roots of its usersโ lives that its merger with OfferUp left Letgo users in the lurch.
Letgo was a success, proves the fact that it was valued at more than $1 billion (as of September 2017). Why did the company decide to disappear even after continuously serving satisfaction to โtens of millionsโ visitors every month? Nick Huzar, OfferUp CEO, announced in March 2020 that the online marketplace giants merged to combine more than 20 million active users.
Letgo was 100% free. It never took users longer than one minute to post products. Usersโ love for Letgo seems to be never-ending. Check out the reviews on Google Play Store.
OfferUp
As you must be expecting, right? OfferUp isnโt just another online marketplace. Its product uploading speed is making the products sell themselves. In less than 30 seconds, it can list any item, from cloth to car, for sale. Offerup asks its users a fee in exchange for its โbumpโ feature. It’s a feature that pushes products to the top of the queue for more exposure.
There could never be a magic marketplace other than OfferUp for a serious seller. Potential buyers from around the nation pave their way to OfferUp. OfferUp is the king of mobile marketplaces in the US market.
Offerup best knows how to clutch the market share and steal the show. It was founded in April 2011 as a competitor to Craigslist. After only five years, the company got to wear the Unicorn badge. From being named as the hottest startup in 2015 by Forbes to acquiring its rival, Letgo, in 2020, OfferUp has only gone up.
Also Read: How To Build A Buy And Sell App Like Olx And OfferUp in 2021?
OLX
Olx, aka OnLine eXchange, is one of the biggest online marketplaces. It was founded in 2006 in the Netherlands. Since then, it has spread across 45 countries. Name an item, Olx holds it in its lap. Billions of visitors visit Olx every month. Today, it employees 7500 people and is valued at $2.1 billion. With its roots spread out in the entire world, it proudly flaunts its 3 million listings and over 30 million downloads.
While sellers can sell anything from the comfort of their couches, users can find categories within categories to set confusion apart from their shopping experience. Olx can also be seen flaunting its filtering capability on Google Play Store.
Dubizzle
Oh Yes, we do! Have you heard the name Dubizzle? It is the leader of online marketplaces in the UAE, and it is an Olx company. Since 2005, Olx is making history in Egypt, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar under the name Dubizzle.
Dubizzleโs LinkedIn account says, โIf you can search for it, you can find it on Dubizzle! From Batmobiles to Dinosaur bones to a Boeing 747!โ And, we donโt dare to disagree with Dubizzle. Take a look at the digital face of Dubizzle.
Dubizzle customizes remarkable experiences by raining categories all over its users. Dubizzle allows its users to advertise their products too. After witnessing a user base of 4 million active buyers, who can wait to convert their products into piles of money?
Carousell
โSelling as simple as clicking, buying as simple as chatting, says the Singapore-based consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer marketplace app, Carousell. Founded 9 years ago on 14th May 2012 in Singapore, Carousell crawled its way to Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Cambodia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.
Carousell is a conglomeration of products and services. That said, you canโt only list or buy products. You can also sell your services or hire someone to do a particular job. Have a look at Carousellโs freshly added list of home services.
In 2009, 701Search, a classified firm, merged with Carousell to lift this Singapore startupโs value from US$560 million to US$850 million. Carousell sits on the play store, opening its doors wide open. Itโs free for individuals. To help businesses become brands, Carousell came up with a new subscription service โ a service that spells a premium suite of tools.
Carousell is truly a treasure trove of unique and limited edition items, proves the fact that 23 million items were sold on Carousell within four years.
Gumtree
Gumtree is a 21-years-old British-based online classified platform, committed to building an e-commerce culture in the UK. With 11.6 million unique visitors, 1.7 million live listings, and 4.5 million messages sent between the users, Gumtree is at the heart of the UKโs e-commerce culture.
With millions of users visiting the platforms, thousands of them viewing your products, how hard could it be getting found on Gumtree? Gumtree, one of the very unique online marketplaces, was born out of friendship in March 2000. Two friends Michael Pennington and Simon Crookall, committed to serving communities up and down the UK, built this platform where anyone could find everything.
WishLocal
Founded ten years ago on July 4, 2010, Wish is an e-commerce platform that brings buyers and sellers together. Today, more than 1 million merchants and 50 million customers sit on Wish while this unicorn stands at $1.9 billion. Wish is a brainchild of Piotr Szulczewski, a former Google engineer. Later Danny Zhang and Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman helped Piotr pave Wishโs way to success.
Wish doesnโt slap its users with any hidden fees. That said, sellers get to keep 100% of their sales. Take a look at Wish’s offerings. Wishโs business model stands on these four pillars.
Mercari
This e-commerce platform has recorded 50 million+ downloads in the US alone. Mercari was founded in February 2013 in Japan. It created history by becoming the first Japanese company to earn the unicorn badge. Mercari has also made it into the Fast Companyโs annual list of the worldโs most innovative companies for 2021.
Mercari app is the marriage of security, scalability, and customization. Other online marketplaces murmur a lot about Mercari, and the reason resides in its features.
Mercari presents its users with a clear pool of products. Simplicity is embedded into the platform, and so is the support. Not to mention a pile of payment gateways that sit on the Mercari app to provide users with a seamless payment transaction experience.
Etsy
An American e-commerce company that narrowed its focus to homemade items and craft supplies stood out among a slew of software. Etsy stole the show. Founded 15 years ago in 2005, Etsy, today, is home to 60 million items. It houses 2.1 million sellers and 39.4 million buyers. It is popular as a side-business with most sellers being women.
In 2018, Etsy registered a total sales of US$3.93 billion. In the same year, it garnered revenue of US$603.7 million. What seemed to be a simple idea, turned out to be a source of ecstasy for millions. Etsyโs ecstatic fans really filled this stadium with craft supplies. Anything one can imagine, one can find on this online marketplace.
If you’re a business owner looking to capitalize on this trend, launching your own online marketplace can be a powerful way to reach new audiences, drive revenue, and create a unique, tailored experience for your customers.
Ready to bring your marketplace idea to life? Appscripโs marketplace app development solutions provide everything you need to build a feature-rich, scalable platform. Whether you’re looking to create a niche marketplace or the next big multi-category app, our team has the expertise to turn your vision into a seamless, user-friendly app that stands out in todayโs crowded marketplace. Get in touch with us to start building your marketplace and join the e-commerce revolution!
