Five reasons to ditch Amazon and eBay and switch to Wholee Prime this Christmas

Mired in lockdown driven strife, the festive season is now upon us and with it a record-breaking surge in online Christmas shopping.

For many, Amazon and eBay are the easiest choice for online retail, but are they really your best option?

Here are five reasons to abandon Amazon and eBay and switch to Wholee Prime, the ethical, low price online retail disruptor that’s storming the global online retail market this Christmas.

1. The Lowest Price

Ignore the marketing hype surrounding ‘Black Friday’ sales and ‘Prime Day’ exclusives on Amazon and eBay. Instead, new entrants to the online retail market, such as Wholee Prime, are starting to challenge the dominance of these e-commerce giants. Wholee Prime, for example, is unique in its model. It works directly with the manufacturer cutting out unnecessary mark-up costs from marketing and commission fees, which, in some instances, are equivalent to as much as 50 to 100 per cent of the production cost. This unique business model also shields consumers from so-called ‘price gouging’. The phenomenon has swept across Amazon and eBay this year, and has seen goods soar during peaks in demand. At the height of the pandemic, price gouging on Amazon and eBay led to essential items, such as hand sanitiser and toilet roll, to be priced at ten times its pre-COVID price. The Sun newspaper recently reported on the criticism eBay’s faced following the re-selling of Aldi’s Christmas toys at ten times their original price. Ultimately, these pricing strategies come at the expense of you the consumer.

2. Safety from scams

This year’s seen a dramatic rise in the number of fraudulent scams Amazon and eBay users have fallen victim to. Hackers have exploited the coronavirus pandemic, resulting in a 400 per cent increase in online scams since April this year. In October, The Guardian reported that scammers have used the pandemic to take advantage of thousands of anxious consumers. Many Amazon users have faced bogus calls from ‘Amazon staff’ to discuss new deals and promotions, only to have private information stolen. eBay frequently fails to protect its users and is regularly accused of avoiding the responsibility of fake listings that they permit to be posted on their site. Consumer safety on Amazon and eBay is regularly under threat with the online retail giants often doing little to protect their users. It should not be the consumer’s responsibility to avoid these scams. Instead, they need an online retailer that has appropriate measures in place to protect their customers.

3. Effective Customer Service

Consumers regularly complain about a poor standard of customer service when shopping online. eBay faced recent criticism following a fraudulent case in which they were caught shifting the blame to PayPal and the Royal Mail after a customer received a faulty item from the site in spite of their online policies that guarantee customer support and protection. The Guardian reported that eBay adopts a ‘money back guarantee’ policy for customers should their purchase be damaged or flawed, which they often fail to uphold. In the example above, eBay claimed they could no longer honour the agreement as the customer had also opened a claim with PayPal. Wholee Prime, in contrast, is committed to honouring its customer service agreements.

4. Win-Win situation for manufacturers

Typically, those selling goods via e-retail sites face high charges. Amazon not only charges a $40 monthly subscription fee to their sellers, but also takes a commission cut ranging from 15 to 45 per cent of a product’s sale price. There is also an additional $0.99 fee for each item sold. These fees levied upon third party merchants are applied to half of all the items sold on Amazon. Combined, they netted the retail giant a staggering $10 billion in the most recent quarter of 2020. Wholee Prime’s zero-mark up policy means manufacturers don’t pay any commission fees or alternative hidden costs. Wholee’s pricing policy encourages manufacturers to use its shopping platform driving down consumer prices and increasing the range of goods available.

5. Fair and lowest shipping cost

Online retailers who use independent and third-party sellers often require consumers to pay additional shipping costs. The more items purchased by a consumer from third-party retailers see delivery costs spiral. At eBay, merchants themselves set their shipping fee rates, which often leads to customers being overcharged. Though Amazon offers ‘Amazon Prime’, like eBay it also relies on third-party sellers outside of the ‘prime’ service. This creates a varied and inconsistent cost for consumers where they are often overcharged for shipping fees. At Wholee Prime, the shipping cost is always consistent, irrespective of the number of items per order or the seller you buy from. With their efficient global logistics service, consumers are guaranteed the lowest shipping cost every time.

Coronavirus and the global pandemic mean that many consumers will have no choice but to shop online for their loved ones’ gifts this Christmas. While the internet offers great variety in the goods available it also offers variety on where we buy them from. It’s important that we consider both this Christmas.