The short version
- Both platforms allow the same basic model - fulfil from a real wholesale supplier, never buy from another retailer and have them ship - and suspend accounts for breaking it, but the rest of the two platforms are genuinely different businesses to run.
- Amazon requires supplier branding removed from every box and invoice as an explicit written rule, with returns handled by you directly - eBay expects the same outcome but polices it less explicitly, through buyer disputes rather than a named packaging rule.
- eBay is the easier, cheaper place to start - lower fees on most categories, less competition for a brand-new seller's first listings, and a market that rewards a well-run small shop rather than one already dominated by huge accounts.
- Amazon brings you far more built-in traffic, at the cost of thinner margins, more competition, and Amazon's own habit of competing with the sellers on its own platform.
- Whichever you pick, the two things that actually decide the outcome are the same on both: a supplier you can rely on, and a price that survives every fee.
The same rule, enforced differently
Both platforms draw the same line: sourcing from a genuine wholesale supplier or manufacturer who fulfils the order is allowed; buying the item from another retailer or marketplace after it sells, and having that retailer ship it, is not - and both treat it as a suspension-worthy policy violation, not a performance issue. eBay's own policy states this in terms of who you buy from. Amazon states essentially the same requirement more explicitly around what a buyer is allowed to see: you must be the seller of record on every order, and a supplier's branding, logo or paperwork must not appear anywhere the customer can see it - on the box, in the invoice, or in a packing slip. The outcome each platform wants is identical. Amazon just writes the packaging part down as its own named rule, where on eBay it falls out of the general expectation that a buyer never discovers who really sent their order.
Fees, competition, and who you are up against
eBay charges a percentage-based final value fee that varies by category, plus a small per-order fee - the same structure this site's own fee calculator works from. Amazon's fee structure is broadly comparable on the referral-fee side, but a dropshipper selling through Fulfilled by Merchant is also competing directly against Amazon's own Prime-badged, next-day listings, including Amazon's own stock in some categories - a form of competition eBay simply does not have, since eBay itself does not sell inventory against its own sellers. For someone starting from zero, eBay's market rewards a well-run small shop more readily; Amazon's rewards scale, speed, and a Prime badge a new seller usually cannot match on day one.
Who actually touches the order
This is the biggest operational difference, and it is easy to underestimate before you have run either. On eBay, you place the order with your supplier yourself, add the tracking number to the eBay order once the supplier sends it, and answer the buyer directly if anything goes wrong - the whole loop most of this blog is about. Selling through Amazon's own fulfilment network changes that: Amazon can store, pick, pack and ship the item, and the listing inherits Amazon's own delivery promise. It is a genuinely different job - less hands-on order by order, but only available in the way that suits a dropshipper if your supplier can get stock into Amazon's fulfilment network in the first place, which is its own real logistics step most pure dropshippers do not have.
Which is actually the more realistic place to start
For a first dropshipping shop with no existing brand, no stock sitting in a fulfilment centre, and a limited budget, eBay is usually the more realistic starting point: lower fees in most categories, a market that does not pit you against the platform's own inventory, and room for a well-run small account to actually be seen. Amazon's traffic and Prime badge are real advantages, but they suit a seller who already has the volume, the margin, or the brand to make Amazon's fee and competition structure work - which is a second-stage decision more often than a first one. Nothing here says never sell on Amazon. It says know which stage of the business each platform actually suits before choosing where to put the first real effort.
Where Sellhelm fits
Sellhelm is built specifically for the eBay side of this decision - pricing after eBay's own fees, an order desk built around eBay's order flow, and listings built from eBay's own template system. That is a deliberate choice, not an oversight: eBay is where a new dropshipper can realistically start well, and building one tool that does that properly beats trying to do both platforms adequately.
Questions people ask
Is dropshipping allowed on both eBay and Amazon?
Yes, on the same basic condition: you fulfil from a genuine wholesale supplier or manufacturer, never by buying from another retailer or marketplace and having them ship to your customer. Both platforms treat breaking that rule as a suspension-worthy policy violation.
Does Amazon dropshipping have stricter rules than eBay?
The underlying rule is the same, but Amazon states the packaging requirement more explicitly - you must be the seller of record, and a supplier’s branding must not appear anywhere the customer can see it. eBay expects the same outcome, enforced more through buyer disputes than a single named rule.
Which is cheaper to start dropshipping on, eBay or Amazon?
eBay, for most new sellers. Its fees are generally lower on comparable categories, and a new account is not competing directly against the platform’s own inventory the way an Amazon Fulfilled by Merchant listing can be.
Should I dropship on both eBay and Amazon at once?
Most sellers are better off doing one properly first. Running both from day one usually means neither gets the attention - supplier vetting, pricing discipline, order handling - that actually decides whether a dropshipping shop works.