Currently is eBay is the biggest player in the online auction and e-commerce game. Though eBay remains a great way to make money — as well as a great place to find great stuff at a great place, it’s never wise to have all your eggs in one basket. That’s why I use multiple marketplaces to maximize my sales.

The reasons for this are several fold. But the number of reason people are looking for alternatives to eBay is that eBay has made several changes in the past couple of years. The most important of these for sellers has been the initiation of new fees for listings. As a seller you will have to pay a fee when you list your item as well as when it sells. If it doesn’t sell, you still owe Ebay for the listing fee.

There are other reasons people are looking else where as well. These include buyers who have grown weary of the old Ebay style of business. Despite the fact that there are well over 100 million eBay users, the company’s growth has slowed and people (both buyers and sellers) are finding new sites to do business.

There have been alternatives to Ebay which have cropped up in the past, Yahoo!Auctions is a good example, but many of these were not successful in part because most everyone was pretty happy at Ebay. Today, many folks are looking elsewhere, so if you are looking for an alternative to sell your products, here are a few of the best options.

eBid
My favorite non-Ebay e-commerce site is the fast-growing eBid for a couple of simple reasons. First, and most importantly, my stuff has sold well there even though it is still a much smaller marketplace than Ebay. But it’s growth quarter over quarter has been phenomenal.

The other reason why Ebid rules is that they do not have any listing fees so your costs will be lower. Some sellers use the lower costs to offer buyers better deals, but most simply pocket the difference and improve their margins. In fact, some people that I know use both eBid and eBay for simultaneous listings and to great effect. But, back to the listings.

On eBid you have the option to enroll to their basic or premium seller structure. As a basic seller you are charged 3% of the selling price per item. As a premium seller you can buy access to the site in chunks for a time. You simply pre-purchase access for a week or a month and can list and sell items during that period. It’s a hassle free way to do business and works for both volume sellers (who work as premium sellers) and smaller sellers (who operate under the basic plan).

But, clearly, the best thing about eBid is that there are not any listing fees. This is huge if you want to test out a market or have some items that you aren’t sure will sell. For this reason, eBid is my number one Ebay alternative.

Another option is netSpray which bills itself as the “Free Online Marketplace.” At netSpray there aren’t really any fees. You don’t face an insertion fee, a service fee, a final value fee or have to subscribe to the site in order to use it. Additionally, you can export your listings via a widget and place them in your own website or blog or on another site such as Facebook or MySpace. You can also include mini-listings of your item in emails if you have a newsletter or are an email marketer.

So those are a couple of options you might consider if you are looking for an ebay alternative. And of course there will always be new e-commerce sites popping up every now and again and I will do by best to keep you appraised of those. But, and here is my final word:

For most people eBay remains the best place to start out. If you are already a powerseller, you have the resources and background to conduct a successfully campaign on another site. However, if you are just looking to learn how to make money with Ebay auctions then eBay remains your best bet. Sure, sign up at eBid and netSpray but focus most of your efforts on Ebay. You can still make a lot of money on eBay if you are willing to learn the game and learn your market. Even in the face of new fees, most people are still doing well on eBay and will continue using the site.

So, hopefully that was useful. Those are my top two ebay alternatives but the list is not all inclusive. But I think those are two solid options to give you something else to look at. The thing about it is, and this is really my last word, if you want to make money on Ebay, you need to get started. The sooner you start and begin learning the better off you will be and the more money you will make. There is no time like the present to build a new financial future for yourself. So, quit reading blogs and go make money online!