Amazon vs Walmart vs eBay for Indian sellers
Most Indian sellers assume Amazon is the only option and never look further. Each of the three big US marketplaces rewards a different kind of seller, and picking the right starting point can save you months. Here is an honest comparison of Amazon, Walmart, and eBay on the things that actually decide your outcome — approval, fees, fulfillment, and competition.
Amazon: biggest audience and best fulfillment, but the most competition and highest total fees.
Walmart: less crowded, strong trust, stricter approval — best second channel.
eBay: easiest to start, great for used/refurbished/niche, weaker for new-brand scaling.
Most sellers: launch on Amazon, add Walmart once stable, use eBay opportunistically.
What's in this guide
The honest one-line summary
Amazon has the largest buyer base and the best logistics, which is why everyone starts there and why it is the hardest to stand out on. Walmart has fewer sellers and strong shopper trust, but vets who it lets in. eBay is the easiest door to walk through and still excellent for certain categories, but it is not where most new physical-product brands scale fastest. None is universally best — the right answer depends on your product and how much competition you can tolerate.
Getting approved on each
eBay is the most open — almost anyone can register and list quickly. Amazon is also broadly accessible: with a US entity, EIN, and documents you can open a seller account without a long vetting process. Walmart is the strict one, reviewing applicants and historically favoring sellers with a US presence and a marketplace track record. The practical implication: you can be live on eBay or Amazon fast, while Walmart rewards you for having already proven yourself elsewhere.
All three want a legitimate US footing. Our US LLC + EIN service gives you the entity and tax ID that every marketplace application expects.
Fees and what they really cost
Amazon charges a referral fee per sale plus FBA fulfillment and storage, and a Professional plan monthly fee — stacked, these are the highest total cost of the three. Walmart skips the monthly subscription and charges category referral fees broadly comparable to Amazon. eBay uses insertion and final-value fees that can be lower for low-volume sellers. The headline is that Amazon's convenience is real but expensive; the other two can be cheaper to simply be present on, especially while testing.
Before committing to any channel, run your product through the FBA fee calculator and profit margin calculator.
Fulfillment options compared
Amazon FBA is the gold standard — fast Prime delivery that lifts conversion, at the price of storage fees. Walmart offers WFS, its FBA equivalent, which similarly unlocks fast-delivery tags. eBay leans on seller-fulfilled shipping or managed programs, giving you more control but less of a built-in speed advantage. For an overseas seller, the strongest setup with any of them is a US warehouse holding buffer stock that feeds the marketplace fulfillment network in batches.
A US warehouse plus FBA/WFS prep lets one inventory pool serve all three marketplaces.
Competition and discoverability
Amazon's vast audience comes with vast competition; winning visibility often means paying for it through ads, at least initially. Walmart's thinner seller base means a well-listed product can be seen with less spend. eBay's search rewards competitive pricing and seller reputation, and certain niches — collectibles, parts, refurbished goods — have devoted buyer bases there that Amazon does not serve as well. Match your tolerance for competition to the platform.
Which marketplace fits your product
New branded consumer products with broad appeal: Amazon first, for reach and fulfillment. The same products once you have traction: add Walmart to capture a less contested audience. Niche, used, refurbished, parts, or collectible items: eBay can outperform both. High-margin products that can absorb ad spend do well on Amazon; thin-margin products may prefer Walmart's lower fixed costs. Be honest about which bucket your product is in.
The sequence most Indian sellers should follow
For most sellers we work with, the winning sequence is: launch on Amazon to validate the product and build fulfillment muscle, add Walmart once operations are stable to diversify away from Amazon dependence, and use eBay opportunistically where your category has a natural audience there. Crucially, the US entity, EIN, warehouse, and freight you set up for the first channel are reused for the next — so multi-marketplace is mostly incremental effort, not a fresh build each time.
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