Nobody wants to work with startups that don’t offer a clearly defined profit source. Today, the online marketplaces are growing as never before. Everybody wants to create the market around an exclusive or a niche that is thriving in the marketplace. However, many people are in a state of confusion or have no comprehension of the ways these marketplaces can generate revenue and profits !
A web-based marketplace allows the exchange of products or services across a variety of sources. The best feature of these marketplaces is that their owners is not required to have any stock. The marketplace is a business that allows the sale of inventory for users as well as providing a secure and convenient method for transactions.
eBay, Uber, Amazon and olx are a few of the more well-known internet markets. Though they are in different types. To help you to understand the concept, are some quick guideline for categories:
Types of Online Marketplaces
Products Marketplace(To buy and sell goods)
Examples: vectorgi Amazon, eBay, Alibaba, flipkart
Services Marketplace(To find and offer services)
Examples: Uber, zocdoc, Taskrabbit
Project Marketplace(Where individuals organize fundraising for new projects, and then donate or give money for them)
Example : Fundable, Kickstarter, indiegogo
Hybrid Marketplace(Where customers can buy and sell goods and services)
Example: vectorgi, olx, oodle, Craiglists
How do marketplaces generate profit?
If you’ve thought about creating your own market, you’ve probably been wondering the way these giants of market make money! !
The solution is easy They use appropriate market business models that are aligned with their vision, mission and their business strategy.
Companies in the early stages can choose the best one to fit their requirements for the start of the journey of success. Alternatively, they may choose to use a mixture of different types. Thus, they will have more options to earn revenue.
Without money the online marketplaces won’t grow into better companies that can provide excellence in their products and services. Hence to aid you in your decision-making process, is a list of six examples of marketplaces that earn profit.
Membership fee
The business model set the online marketplace in such a way every customer or merchant is charged a fee for membership to buy or sell through the market. Using this method of business ensures you earn a predictable level of monthly revenue.
Examples of these models are matrimony and dating websites. They provide an opportunity to connect with other people who are on a subscription basis. Similar examples are the housing exchange site.
However, the issue of this method is that you could end up trapped in a loop that is, no one visits your site and the vendors won’t be able to pay for placing on the market. So, it is possible to offer discounts to the initial participants, or even completely eliminate costs. Matrimonial sites offer such offers throughout COVID 19 lockdown. COVID 19 lockdown period.
2. Listing fee
Charges a fee per every advertisement. By using this type of business model, your online marketplace charges merchants the cost of listing their product or service in your marketplace.
The cost of listing can be calculated based on an amount that is flat or a proportion of the worth of the product or service. It’s usually used if there is worth in the number of ads a seller has put up in the marketplace online.
Listing fees are superior to a membership cost for those who do not want to subscribe for a long time or only wish to offer certain products. The challenge of the model for listing fees is that it’s not able to ensure value for the provider therefore the cost isn’t able to be overly expensive.
3. Commission Model
It is the most popular kind of marketplace structure and it means you’ll earn a percentage for every transaction that takes place through your marketplace.
This is a great method of business because you’re certain to make money on every transaction, and also builds confidence among customers and merchants as they are aware that helping facilitate efficient transactions is crucial for the business. After all you’ve got some stake in it.
The most significant advantage of this model is the fact that service providers do not have to pay anything until they gain some benefit through the market. This is an attractive proposition for the sellers. The best-known marketplace platforms, such as Airbnb, Etsy, eBay, Fiverr, TaskRabbit, and Uber each of them use commissions as their primary commercial model.
The most difficult part of implementing the commission model function is in providing sufficient worth to both the client and the vendor. Another problem is the cost. How big will the commission be? You can begin by offering a lower fee to encourage customers to sign up before raising it.
But, there are certain situations where the methods of commission might not be the most appropriate. Such as:
* Marketplaces in which people give away something, for example dating. No financial transactions needed, therefore it is not possible to charge commission.
* When the value of a typical transaction can be massive. With car or real estate sale such as this, it’s hard for the market to justify a cost of the commission.
4. Customer contact fee
Contact (lead fee) charges fall somewhere in between listing fees as well as the commission model. In a common lead fee structure the customers make requests via the website, and service companies pay to create an offer for those clients.
The method offers more value as compared to the model of listing fees which is that you only pay for the time you get into contact with a prospective buyer. This option isn’t always a guarantee of a successful bargain. But compared to the placement of advertisements with a high probability of an effective response is significantly higher.
An example of recent success of this type of model is Thumbtack. This is which is a B2C marketplace that offers all sorts of professional services in the local area including plumbers, guitar instructors.
5. Freemium
The reason for the model of freemium is that the base offering is completely free. Once you have your customers interested, you provide paid benefits. You can access the base version, however the more advanced versions are exclusively to VIP clients that pay for a substantial sum.
When a user is sufficiently hooked and satisfied, they’ll switch to paid version. Many OTT platforms utilize this model, including Disney + hotstar. The advantage of a freemium system is that it’s simpler to bring customers to an open marketplace.
In addition, consumers will be more likely to spend money on additional services in the first instance if they are able to evaluate what they can get from the initial offering. However, for consumers to be convinced to pay for premium features, it is essential to provide them with value. If only 1percent of users want to use an offer that is premium, but others use the website without cost, your model won’t work.
6. Featured Listing & Ads
If you are using this model of business, sellers are often able to list their products or services at no cost through an online marketplace, but in order to advertise their listings in a way that is appealing to potential buyers there must be a cost to be paid.
This allows merchants to access the marketplace. However, it is still possible to make money from sellers who want to market their services or products.