People arrive with a platform already in mind, usually Amazon, and usually because it is the one they buy from. That is not a reason. Here is what each platform actually asks of a new store.
Amazon: the largest ceiling and the most competition
The buyer base is unmatched and so is the density of sellers. Amazon rewards scale and punishes account health mistakes harder than anywhere else. It suits capital of fifty thousand and up, because winning a buy box on thin inventory is not realistic. Approval is fast; everything after it is the hard part.
Walmart: fewer sellers, a stricter door
Seller approval takes weeks rather than days and rejects a meaningful share of applicants. In exchange, the competitive set inside a category is a fraction of Amazon’s, so price pressure is lower and margins hold more steadily. It suits an owner who can wait two months before trading begins.
eBay: the lowest entry cost, and margin over volume
A store can open on twenty-five thousand and be viable, which is not true of the other three. eBay rewards listing quality and disciplined returns handling rather than advertising spend. Growth is slower and steadier. It suits a first store where the owner wants to watch the model work before committing more.
TikTok Shop: the newest channel and the shortest cycles
Discovery driven rather than search driven, which means a product can carry a quarter and then stop working entirely. Inventory has to move fast or it becomes a liability. It suits a smaller, deliberately experimental allocation alongside a store on one of the other three, not as a first and only position.
How we actually decide
We ask three questions: how much capital is genuinely set aside, how long you can go before the store needs to be trading, and how you would feel about a flat month. The answers usually point at one platform clearly. If they point at none of them, we say that too.
