Integrating your Shopify store with eBay provides access to a vast user base and is a shortcut to building a global presence.
Case in point: eBay has 133 million active buyers worldwide and is open to adding new sellers, making it an attractive marketplace for Shopify brands.
While you are excited about adding this new sales channel, you cannot discount the fact that managing multiple sales channels can be overwhelming. There are high chances of encountering technical glitches like:
In this post, we will discuss easy and efficient ways to connect Shopify with eBay to save time, reduce technical glitches, improve inventory management, and centralize the accounting part.
Adding eBay sales channel helps you reach a wider and global audience. However, integrating eBay with Shopify rather than managing it as an independent channel has its own advantages. Integration mainly helps in:
You can use Shopify's first-party integration tool or third-party apps to connect Shopify to eBay. Follow these steps to implement the app:
1. Install the integration app: Go to the Shopify App Store, search for the app, and follow the installation guidelines.Check this list of both Shopify first-party and third-party apps with detailed features, prices, and benefits to make eBay Shopify integration easier:
Shopify Marketplace Connect integrates Shopify with top marketplaces like Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Etsy, and more, syncing product listings, orders, fulfillment, and inventory.
Key features:
Pricing: Free with Shopify plan for up to 50 orders per month, then a 1% transaction fee per order up to $99/month
Pros: Easy setup and reliable customer support.
Cons: High prices.
Users found switching from costly third-party apps to Shopify Marketplace Connect helpful
CedCommerce is an ecommerce solution that supports integrations for Shopify with eBay, Walmart, Amazon, and more. Beyond the basic features like product listing and order management, this third-party integration app provides advanced features such as bulk uploads, multi-account support, and dedicated account management.
Key features:
Pricing: Free up to 50 orders per month. Paid plans start at $29 per month.
Pros: Excellent customer support.
Cons: Poor user interface.
Users appreciate excellent customer support | CedCommerce eBay Integration review
Sellbrite is another third-party app that enables Shopify brands to sell products on multiple marketplaces (Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and Etsy). With Sellbrite, orders from all integrated marketplaces are pulled into Shopify, making fulfillment centralized. What stands out about Sellbrite is it supports international shipping, helping businesses to get global quickly.
Key features:
Pricing: Free up to 30 orders per month; Paid plans start at $19 per month
Pros: The interface is simple, and order centralization makes fulfillment easier.
Cons: Support is available only for a limited timezone.
Ecommerce managers usually have the following objections when connecting a new marketplace with Shopify:
This is a valid concern—adding an integration can feel risky. What if something goes wrong? What if your product listings suddenly disappear or your inventory sync fails, leading to overselling or customer complaints?
Integrations involve connecting two systems, and while they’re designed to make your life easier, there’s always that lingering worry about potential disruptions to your store’s operations. For example, you might fear that syncing products and inventory could override existing data or that order updates won’t work seamlessly, leaving customers in the dark.
Solution: To avoid such issues, thoroughly test any integration app before implementing it live. Even after having an app for synchronizing product listings and inventory information, you can still implement a regular backup of your store data as an added layer of security. There are apps also available like Rewind for automated backups.
Ecommerce managers are skeptical about whether the integration tool will work reliably and is worth the investment. Is there accuracy in syncing product and order data? What if there is any downtime? How reliable is the customer support?
Solution: Choose an integration app with strong reviews for accuracy and 24/7 support to quickly resolve issues and avoid downtime.
You are wondering if connecting the platforms will truly make a significant impact on their business and sales numbers. How will I know if there is any significant return on investment (ROI)?
Solution: You can track sales reports to check the impact on revenue after adding a new channel. Apart from the direct revenue impact from sales, integration software also saves operational costs. eCommerce automation software's ROI is also cost savings from automating manual data management and saving losses due to inventory management issues.
Ecommerce managers are also confused about whether they can build a custom app in-house that is specially tailored to their needs. The choice between a custom app and a third-party app depends on your requirements, budget, timeline, and long-term goals.
Solution: Custom app development is expensive and time-consuming. If you need a unique set of workflows/features/data-processing needs, have a higher budget, and can wait the time required to build a custom solution, custom app development is right for you. However, a third-party app is the better choice if you need a faster and more cost-effective solution.
To ensure a smooth and successful Shopify eBay integration, you can follow these best practices:
Use this checklist to choose an integration app:
Customize your listings (titles, descriptions, and tags ) to match eBay's guidelines to avoid listing errors. For instance, photos should be at least 500 pixels wide on the longest side, and titles should be up to 80 characters. Using high-quality images and adding required keywords in titles/descriptions also increases the visibility of your products on the platform. Further, ensure that you are following eBay's rules regarding sales tax, as these can vary based on your location and the location of your buyers.
Regularly check competitor prices on eBay to ensure your pricing is competitive. There are third-party apps available, like InformedRepricer, which can track competitor prices and adjust yours automatically.
Adding one more sales channel also brings the additional accounting overhead. Use an eCommerce accounting automation software like Webgility that regularly syncs data from all your marketing channels to accounting software to optimize bookkeeping.
Use third-party tools that offer centralized dashboards to draw better insights. These tools help compare channel performance side-by-side and gather key insights for forecasting and cost-benefit analysis. For instance, Webgility reporting module provides combined reports on revenue, expenses, margins, cash flow, and more.
Also read: 9 Mistakes to avoid when adding new sales channel
Webgility is an ecommerce accounting solution for multichannel businesses looking to streamline their accounting process. It connects with all popular marketplaces like Shopify, eBay, Amazon, Etsy, and Walmart and syncs orders, fees, and transaction data into accounting software (QuickBooks or NetSuite).
Using different sales channels brings different types of financial data to address: sales tax collection in the platform, marketplace fees, shipping costs, and more. Webgility brings all these data into accounting software for better financial audits, profit-loss analysis, and tax reporting.
Our customer support team also helps you with smooth implementation along the way. Look at our transparent and affordable pricing plans (Starting as low as $49) built for every size and complexity of the business.
Take a quick demo to see how to optimize the accounting side of multichannel commerce.
Shopify Marketplace Connect (formerly Codisto) integration is free for up to 50 orders per month, then a 1% transaction fee per order up to $99/month
Use apps like eBay Importer by Infoshore from the Shopify App Store to bulk import eBay orders and listings into your Shopify store.
Yes, you can integrate your website or Shopify store with eBay using Shopify native integration apps or third-party apps.