We get a number of enquiries from potential customers asking us to compare the inherent business model of iScripts MultiCart to that of existing marketplaces. Customers used to ask how its similar to Amazon market place model. Recently we are getting questions on how it’s comparable to Dawdle.com and Etsy.com.

Our Chicago neighbors Dawdle.com is a new online marketplace specifically for gamers. Main point of the site is to make it “moronically easy” for gamers to list, buy or sell games. The site caters to both individual sellers and professional sellers. The site does not charge any listing fees. Dawdle charges a commission (12% for public) when a transaction is completed. Dawdle charges  buyers and sends the money less commission to the sellers by direct deposit. This  is similar to the business model of iScripts MultiCart. Additionally, Dawdle has a Priceline like name your price method.  This is not part of iScripts MultiCart, as the idea behind iScripts MultiCart is to create storefronts and not auction sites.

Etsy is a peer to peer marketplace for handmade items. Brooklyn based Etsy describes their site as a crafty cross between Amazon and Ebay and Your Grandmas basement. Here users list the items for sale. There is a $0.20 listing fee per item. Once its sold, similar to eBay buyers pay directly to seller through paypal. Seller ships the item to buyer. When the transaction is successful Etsy charges a small commission (3.5%) to the seller’s credit card on file. There are few differences from this model and iScripts Multicart model. First of all in MultiCart buyer pays to the main store not the seller. This is to provide the security of paying to a well known merchant instead of some stranger somewhere. I would be very skeptical to pay to stranger compared to an established business. Another reason for not having a peer to peer payment is that, it limits you to buy from one seller during a transaction. With iScripts MultiCart model a single transaction can include items from multiple sellers. However if you choose to follow Etsy model, it can be achieved by MultiCart with some simple customizations. Also Etsy has a listing fee and iScripts MultiCart does not.

Another business with a similar business model to that of iScripts MultiCart is Amazon marketplace. There seller lists an item at Amazon.com. Buyer buys it. Buyer pays Amazon.com. Seller recieves the order and ships the item to buyer. Seller gets a check from Amazon, after deducting the commission. Some of the advantages with Amazon Model is that I, as buyer am paying to a Amazon. Not to some schmuck in a basement somewhere. That’s huge confidence booster. For the seller Amazon does the marketing, payment processing etc.. for a small fees. This allows the seller to focus on what they do best making widgets as fast as they can and make them well. For Amazon they transfer the product manufacturing, fulfillment etc.. to the seller. They utilize their brand name and powerful online store technology to earn revenue. This is a win-win-win situation. This is the same model iScripts MultiCart follows. As I mentioned earlier in another post, we created this model before Amazon adopted it. No, I am not going to ask for royalty from Amazon.

DaWanda.com is the European version of etsy.com. This marketplace sells unique handmade items and tailor-made items. DaWanda charge a commission of 5% when an item is sold. They payment is going from buyer to seller just like eBay.com or Etsy.com. There is no listing fees for sellers. iScripts Multicart software would require only some minor changes to clone the DaWanda business model.

If you want to create an online marketplace with multiple vendors support take a look at iScripts MultiCart script. If we are close to what you are looking for, we can customize the software to cater your specific needs.