Updated for 2022: C2C eCommerce Marketplace Tips

C2C, or consumer-to-consumer commerce, is often defined as one consumer selling goods or services to another consumer online. Clarity specializes in C2C solutions. This sale is facilitated by a third party that takes care of the transaction details for a commission for bringing the parties together. C2C business examples include eBay, Amazon Marketplace, and Etsy. While one person might technically be the seller in such a situation, it’s considered consumer-to-consumer because that seller isn’t a traditional business.

The purpose of consumer-to-consumer eCommerce is to enable one party to sell directly to buyers without spending a considerable amount of money building and maintaining an online storefront. This allows the seller to keep more of their profits because they aren’t expending the capital to create infrastructure associated with a traditional business.

The buyer may also get more competitive prices if sellers on the same C2C platform compete. The most common term for these types of eCommerce platforms is “marketplace.” The idea of a marketplace mirrors real-world examples like flea markets, where a building owner will offer booths to sellers in exchange for a percentage of the profits. Clarity’s own eCommerce platform creates these marketplaces for clients who want to take full advantage of C2C opportunities. We can build them from the ground up or combine them with another business model, such as a single online store, multi-store (i.e., many franchises connected to a single product database), global multi-currency market, and much more.

C2C eCommerce Examples

eBay is an excellent C2C business example where consumers can sell to other consumers online. It was the first customer-to-customer auction site on the web, even though Buy It Now listings currently eclipse those of timed auctions. eBay makes money by charging sellers fees for the privilege of connecting them to buyers. Buyers have multiple options for paying such as credit card, PayPal, or bank debits. This ability to accept a variety of payments is one reason sellers choose eBay over other sites. The seller then utilizes eBay’s shipping software to create labels and then ships using one of the three major package carriers.

Craigslist takes a much more altruistic approach. In most cases, it works as a free marketplace for consumers to connect with other consumers at the local level. Craigslist charges to post job ads to cover its expenses, but its primary purpose is to create a free C2C marketplace.

Amazon offers the largest marketplace on the web. Buyers pay with a credit card or PayPal, and sellers receive payments facilitated by Amazon to their own bank account or PayPal account. Amazon charges one of the highest rates of any C2C site on the web, but sellers continue to use it because of Amazon’s reach.

Consumer-to-consumer eCommerce websites are a specialized type of eCommerce platform with several advantages over traditional B2C models. A C2C business:

• Needs no inventory – Since a C2C platform is just the intermediary taking a cut of the C2C transaction, inventory is a non-issue. This avoids tying up capital in inventory and eliminates the need for storage and shipping facilities. It also does away with shipping costs associated with B2B.
• Needs fewer staff – A business without inventory needs no packers, shippers, or drivers.
• Creates sellers out of buyers – Buyers who become familiar with a website as a buying platform may recognize it as a legitimate place to become a seller.
• Gets to choose their level of involvement – User agreements dictate just how involved a C2C platform is involved with the customer-to-customer business transaction. For example, Kickstarter’s user agreement states that it cannot be held responsible for the contract between the creator and their backers.
• Isn’t responsible for forgeries – Tiffany and Co. took eBay to court, claiming that eBay profited from forgeries of their high-end merchandise. Courts decided that C2C sites like eBay are not legally responsible for forgeries sold on their site.

A Robust C2C Business Model

A single person can create a traditional storefront for their small business in a matter of hours with simple website-building software. This just isn’t an option when building a custom C2C business platform. Off-the-shelf software and cheap websites simply can’t handle the traffic, the customer interface, and the millions of SKUs associated with C2C needs.

Clarity is ready to build your C2C platform to perfectly fit your business’ needs. We’ve built over 1,300 custom sites for companies across the country, providing robust security and top-tier interaction to help you realize your C2C needs. Our experience building other customer-to-customer software has also shown us what works — and what doesn’t work — in C2C business plans. Let us know what you want. We’ll make it happen.

Integrated C2C Payment Processing

The ability to process payments has scared away more than one person who had a good idea for a business. They might be experts in their field but still be intimidated by the options and complexities of accepting payments, especially when there is an international element involved. If your only familiarity with online payments is with the Cash App, PayPal, or Venmo, Clarity can help you choose a much better payment processing option for your C2C platform from the dozens available. Best of all, these payment options are seamlessly integrated into the C2C software itself so that you can focus on growing the business.

Don’t worry about security when it comes to online payments. Clarity only uses payment processing programs that utilize the highest level of payment security so that you, your buyers, and your sellers feel confident using your platform. The best security builds trust in your customers so that they keep coming back. Want to know just how secure we can make your C2C platform? We’d love to tell you.

Building Customer Relationships with C2C

Easy communication is vital to every business, and a C2C platform is no exception. Most C2C transactions take place without the buyer and the seller ever having to contact each other. They will also occur without any problems that would require you to step in and take action.

Let’s look at these relationships and why it’s so important to make communication as easy as possible. First, consider the interaction of buyers and sellers. Buyers may want to ask specific questions about an item before they buy if sellers aren’t posting the necessary information. Sellers, on the other hand, want to communicate without having to switch to a dedicated email platform. Making communication easy on both sides of the transaction keeps customers coming back to your consumer-to-consumer eCommerce offering.

It’s also important to make sure anyone using your website ¬— whether a buyer or seller — has the ability to reach you. Though they might be rare, problems will arise with transactions and someone at your company must deal with them. eBay has gotten so big that they have eliminated all ways to contact them, including phone, email, and chat. You won’t be surprised to learn they are losing sellers because of this silence, but it serves as an important lesson for C2C platforms to provide a more communicative environment.

Capturing Niche Markets with C2C

Many people wonder why they should consider C2C commerce when certain companies dominate the market. Large companies often run into the problem of spreading themselves thin as they get too big. eBay might facilitate selling everything, but they are an expert on nothing. Similarly, Etsy started as a site for artists to sell handmade items; sellers now use it to sell mass-produced trinkets and “vintage” tube televisions. This dilutes the brand and presents an opportunity for those seeking to enter the C2C market.

C2C commerce opens the door for anyone wanting to be the go-to site that specializes in a particular interest or industry. It doesn’t matter whether it’s industrial shelving or comic books, boats or camera equipment. You will run into competition, but you can dominate if you do it better than anyone else. Make the site more attractive, improve the checkout feature, and create a community. In other words, make your site so much more inviting that you become the default C2C facilitator for a particular industry or interest.

Crowdfunding C2C Sites

What is C2C doing for crowdfunding? Platforms like Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and Patreon might not have buyers and sellers like traditional consumer-to-consumer websites, but each still brings people together with a web-based platform to facilitate an exchange. Many crowdfunding sites work on the rewards system, where consumers pledge money in exchange for physical or digital perks once certain funding is reached. The primary difference between this model and traditional C2C is that the exchange might never happen if the funding goal isn’t reached.

Which crowdfunding platform is best? It all depends on the needs of the “sellers” and the kind of “buyers” it attracts. Specialized crowdfunding platforms show up to cater to specific markets and particular tasks. Much like the niche markets mentioned above, opportunities abound for crowdfunding C2C platforms that focus on underserved online communities.

B2C vs. C2C Business Models

The lines are becoming blurred when discussing B2C vs. C2C eCommerce. The term B2C suggests that a business is selling directly to the end consumer. These businesses typically have some form of infrastructure, including employees, a physical location, inventory, an ERP, accounting department — in short, overhead. Conversely, C2C platforms like Craigslist and eBay started exclusively as a way for a person who no longer wanted a used item to someone who did.

C2C changes to B2C when the selling customer becomes their own business while still working on a C2C platform. These consumers-turned-businesses can sign up as resellers of multiple products and list on consumer-to-consumer websites like Amazon or eBay. They don't have to handle checkout, the orders are sent to their vendors who pack and ship the items for them (dropshipping), and Amazon cuts them a check for their percent of the sale. Even listing items became automated when Amazon offered the option to scan UPC codes for direct uploading.

These single-person small businesses have almost no overhead; even their marketing department is taken care of via social media. The ability to share items on their interconnected social accounts — and have their products shared by customers who are rating and reviewing the products — does most of the marketing for them. On top of that, Amazon’s SEO web presence helps put this person’s listings higher than those selling on competitors’ standalone sites.

As long as sellers treat customers right, sell quality products, and take advantage of social media, it’s each to create a successful revenue stream.

Three eCommerce Models Explained

• B2B – Business-to-Business. A business sells to another business, and the second business then sells to consumers. For example, Canon manufactures cameras and then sells them to Best Buy.
• B2C – Business-to-Consumer. A traditional business sells products or services to a consumer. This model is what most people think of when they hear the word eCommerce. C2C business examples include Amazon, Alibaba, and the online sites of brick-and-mortar stores such as Target and Walmart.
• C2C – Consumer-to-Consumer. Consumers sell to other consumers with the aid of an online intermediary who takes a cut. C2C eCommerce examples include eBay, Amazon Marketplace, and Mercari. We’d love to help you join their ranks.

Clarity Can Help Build Your C2C

Now that we’ve discussed the foundations of what C2C commerce is, what’s next? If your business is looking to expand its reach by using a consumer-to-consumer eCommerce marketplace, Clarity Ventures can design and build a business model to match your needs. We will help you create exactly what you need to make your C2C platform friendly to customers, easy for you to use, and offer seamless payment processing options. Why not create an eBay-toppling auction site or help sellers find their buyers for goods and services. Either way, you’ll get a better return on your investment when you work with us. Clarity Ventures has more than 15 years and 350+ years of combined experience, and we have built more than 1,300 custom websites to satisfy every need. What is consumer-to-consumer eCommerce doing to boost our clients’ business?

Clarity's Expertise on Consumer-to-Consumer eCommerce

Additional C2C eCommerce Information

• What is Consumer to Consumer eCommerce?
• Comparing the Pros and Cons of C2C eCommerce
• The Many Applications of C2C eCommerce
• Creating Unique Content for your Audience
• Expanding Your C2C Marketplace Audience
• The Rise and Marketing Impact of C2C eCommerce
• What does B2C eCommerce Have to do With C2C?
• Empowering Consumers and Motivating Resale
• The Role of Mutual Trust in Building Loyalty
• Factors Influencing Trust in Online C2C Transactions