Business Model

Online marketplace

Marketplace and Platform Models

An online marketplace is an e-commerce business model in which a platform lets multiple third-party sellers list products or services for sale to buyers, rather than selling its own inventory directly, and typically earns revenue through a fee charged on completed sales rather than an upfront cost to sellers. Because many independent sellers contribute listings, marketplaces can offer wider selection and availability than a single retailer's store, while buyers benefit from being able to compare prices and sellers for similar goods. Well known examples include Amazon, eBay and Taobao for general retail, business-to-business platforms such as EC21, and service and gig-work marketplaces such as Uber, Airbnb and Upwork.

Facts
Core Mechanism
An online marketplace is an e-commerce platform where the operator handles the transaction between buyer and seller, while the products themselves are supplied and fulfilled by third-party retailers or wholesalers listed on the site rather than by the platform itself. 1
Revenue Mechanism
Marketplace 1
Online marketplace
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Connections

Associated With

Amazon operates one of the world's largest online marketplaces, hosting third-party sellers alongside its own retail listings.

Consumer-to-business transactions, in which an individual offers a good or service to a company rather than the reverse, are typically carried out through the same online marketplace platforms that support consumer-to-consumer trade.

An online marketplace is defined in its own description as an e-commerce business model, letting third-party sellers list goods on a shared platform rather than each running its own store.

Source Wikipedia, Jeff Bezos
Sources
1. Wikipedia, Online Marketplace
Wikipedia
  • Lead section
    In an online marketplace, consumer transactions are processed by the marketplace operator and then delivered and fulfilled by the participating retailers or wholesalers.
  • Lead section, revenue mechanism
    An online marketplace (or online e-commerce marketplace) is a type of e-commerce website where product or service information is provided by multiple third parties.
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Wikipedia, Jeff Bezos
WikipediaAssociated With: Jeff BezosView the Source
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