Pros and Cons of a C2C eCommerce Business Model

The Rise of the C2C Business Model

As briefly explained already, C2C stands for “consumer to consumer”, or “customer to customer”, and it is a relatively new business model, different to the well-established B2B (business to business) and B2C (business to customer) models. Whereas in the B2B and B2C cases commerce (or eCommerce if transactions occur through online channels) the seller party is an individual, stand-alone business, in the C2C case the seller is simultaneously a consumer. To illustrate that, think about a farmers’ market. Producers are gathered on a designated day, at a designated area, to sell their produce. Producers can “rent” their spots from the council (or designated manager of the market area), on a weekly or monthly basis, or as a one-off trial. Depending the city, state, or country, there might be different rules on space pricing, rotation of sellers on the available spots, protection of producers and produce from adverse weather, a small fee for potential buyers entering the market, or anything else that the market-space provider is willing to offer. Now try to visualize this concept on an online market space, where sellers are not only related to your “five-a-day” products. This is the idea of C2C eCommerce business model, where both sellers and buyers are customers of someone else.

Farmers’ markets might have been of the first C2C examples around hundreds of years ago, but the C2C eCommerce business model is still considered relatively young. The first –and very successful– example of C2C eCommerce, almost 25 years ago, was eBay, an online marketplace where buyers would bid for the best price on items provided by sellers, by a closing deadline. Today, there are numerous other C2C eCommerce business model examples, with the list growing every day. Some international examples offering products and services for a general or more specific audience are Amazon, Craigslist, Airbnb, PayPal, Upwork, Etsy, SkillShare, Facebook Marketplace, and Uber. There are many other smaller platforms, operating on a national level, or catering for very specific items.

Advantages and Disadvantages of C2C eCommerce for Buyers

Having explored C2C eCommerce from the sellers’ point of view, this section will provide a C2C eCommerce comparison of advantages and disadvantages from the buyers’ side.

• Lower Prices: Given that sellers can avoid the added costs of middlemen, rent, staff, marketing, product and service prices can be more affordable.
• Abundance of Choice: Having a number of sellers of a specific product or service gathered under the same virtual space means that there are more options for potential buyers, based on criteria such as quality, price, customization, delivery method and time, regular supply and so on. The almost infinity of options (especially in some categories of products and services) also helps with the satisfaction of “best value for money” feeling, where the buyer feels they grabbed the best deal.
• Faster Service: The abundance of choice gathered on one platform and the absence of middlemen can lead to faster transactions, streamlining the service and saving time.
• Feel of Security: Depending on the policy of the platform, there might be some implemented security measures and background checks, protecting buyers from sellers who might be scammers.

Despite the notable C2C eCommerce advantages, there are some issues that buyers should be aware of when engaging with C2C eCommerce.

• Issues with Sellers: Many platforms try to protect their customers (of both sides), but inevitably there might be issues with the quality of products, payment handling, delivery, or communication between the parties involved, that can be a burden to buyers.

Clarity Can Help

Well, now that we've answered that question, what's next? Is your business looking for business suggestions to help facilitate a consumer-to-consumer eCommerce marketplace? Clarity can easily design and build you a marketplace to help accomplish that. With more than 14 years and 350+ combined years of experience, our team has built more than 1,300 custom websites for every need. To find out more about how Clarity can deliver your marketplace, request a free quote.

Clarity Experts on Consumer to Consumer eCommerce

Additional C2C eCommerce Information