How to Sell on Newegg

When Newegg first opened up its marketplace in 2011, it was a near-instant hit, quickly becoming a go-to destination for both tech-savvy shoppers and sellers.

Today, Newegg’s marketplace spans a variety of other categories outside of tech, ranging from pet supplies to apparel. And while Amazon has long been the center of attention, Newegg’s empire has continued to grow quietly with sellers of all sizes expanding to its platform for additional exposure. In 2020 alone, Newegg's marketplace made up 25% of all Newegg GMV, which clocked in at $2.6 billion.

Despite its growth, Newegg still offers the advantages of a niche marketplace: a highly focused audience, seller-centric services and less competition. Thirty-two percent of its shoppers are also repeat customers with a high degree of trust in the marketplace. 

So, is Newegg right for your company? Learn if you qualify and how to get started selling on its marketplace.

Does Newegg Make Sense for You?

Audience

There are over four million active customers on Newegg, a majority (72%) of whom are male between the ages 18 and 44 years old. The average annual income is over $75,000. Newegg further defines its audience as “progressive pioneers”—early adopters of new brands, new products, and new technology—which is a plus.  

"Because it is a targeted demographic, you have the ability to segment your focus, and that's something that should be taken into account," says Gregory Rice, senior marketing manager at Newegg. “Mass merchants aren't the whole pie.”

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The United States is Newegg's biggest market, accounting for nearly 75% of website visits. However, it is accessible by 21 different countries, including China, Australia and Canada.

Product Category

One of the most exciting developments by the marketplace has been its foray into new product categories. Traditionally known as a destination for computer parts and other tech products, Newegg.com now offers more than 32 million SKUs across 30 different categories. It features everything from baby products to jewelry, sporting goods to apparel.

Office supplies, consumer electronics, automotive and home living are particularly high-focus categories, according to Newegg, and offer opportunities for your brand to get discovered. 

“Oftentimes customers are willing to expand their purchase outside of [their favorite platform’s] core competency," says Rice about niche marketplaces like Newegg. “We're seeing [this] on Newegg when we talk about those growths outside of the core categories that we traditionally see."

Worth noting: all categories are open to refurbished items, and some are open to used products. 

Cost of Selling 

Newegg subscriptions range from free to $99.95 a month. You can create a Newegg seller account and/or sign up for Newegg Global entirely for free. But you may want to consider a paid subscription to gain access to useful account features, like personalized post-purchase emails and unlimited listings. 

The three subscription tiers include non-elite (zero monthly fees), Professional ($29.95 per month) and Enterprise ($99.95 a month). 

Note that every paid subscription comes with a special Zentail offer. More specifically, if you sign up for Zentail through Newegg (or vice versa), your Zentail plan will include unlimited Newegg orders. Meaning, your Zentail subscription price will stay the same no matter how much your business grows on Newegg!  

Every seller must additionally pay commission fees, which range from 8% to 15% depending on your product category. Newegg fees are comparable to other marketplace commission fees and even lower for certain categories.  

Qualifications

All sellers must first be approved by Newegg in order to participate in the marketplace. Newegg will check that you operate your business within the U.S. (or if you live in a U.S. territory, you can enroll in the Global Sellers program). 

You’ll need to provide a W9, bank account information and proof of applicable insurance to be considered, so make sure you have all the necessary documents in place before you pursue an account on Newegg. Make sure to also check the full list of prohibited categories, which include alcohol, used clothing, medical devices and tobacco products. 

How to Apply for Newegg

The application process itself is fairly simple. You just need to fill out an online application, which asks for basic company info, SKU count, seller type (manufacturer, distributor or retailer/reseller) and other easy-to-procure details.

Once you submit your application, the Newegg team will contact you with their decision. You can then move forward with selecting a plan and listing your items to the marketplace.

How to List Your Products 

There are various ways to get started with listing. One option is to go through a listing automation software like Zentail, which will auto-format your product data according to Newegg’s listing requirements. Zentail will also auto-map your items, a big perk considering there are over 1,600 product categories and over 20,000 unique attributes.

A second option is to list your product manually through your Seller Portal account. You can batch upload SKUs via CSV, add to an item that already exists on the marketplace (if you're a reseller) or list new items one by one. To ensure that you provide all the necessary product details, download Newegg’s excel spreadsheet that lists the requirements for your subcategory.

Newegg’s Buy Box and Pricing

Like other ecommerce marketplaces, Newegg rewards sellers with competitive final pricing (your item price, plus the cost of shipping and handling). Your final price doesn’t have to necessarily be the lowest price, but it should be on par with competitors on the marketplace or elsewhere. The exception is if you're running a temporary promotion—in this case you will have to offer the lowest price on the market during that timeframe.

If your pricing is ever viewed as harmful to customer trust, then your items will be promptly deactivated. Before this happens, though, you’ll receive a warning in your Seller Portal alongside the current market price of your item.  

As expected, price and fulfillment are two of the most influential factors of winning the buy box. You’ll therefore want to set your prices carefully, considering ways to increase profits while testing competitive rates. Newegg’s Pricing Safeguard tool is always available to you through Seller Portal if you need a way to ensure that you don't accidentally drive your prices too low or too high.

Fulfillment and Customer Service 

In general, you will need to be able to ship products within 48 hours. After 72 hours, orders will be automatically void and you will not get paid for thesale, even if you ship the product later on. Newegg is strict about this; you cannot extend the 72-hour processing deadline no matter the reason.

Aside from this, you will be required to respond to customer inquiries within one day. You should also be able to offer a 30-day refund or replacement period.

There are several ways that you can handle shipping on the marketplace:

• Ship yourself - Use your own preferred carrier to ship items directly. 
• Ship via SBN - Shipped by Newegg (SBN) is a service that handles everything from storage; picking, packing and shipping; returns; and customer service.
• Ship via 3PL - If not SBN, you can tap another third-party logistics service like Shipbob to handle fulfillment. 
  

Advertising on Newegg 

Newegg Sponsored Product Ads (SPA) are available to all sellers with positive reviews and great customer service. If eligible, you’ll see SPA as an available service under “Advertising” in your Seller Portal account. You can request access, though, by contacting seller support at any time. With SPA, you can enjoy higher rankings on search result pages, product pages, checkout pages and mobile devices. Note: SPAs are charged on a first-auction CPC basis.

Sponsored Headline Ads (SHA), by contrast, gives you prime real estate at the top of relevant SERPs. You can customize your SHA with your logo, tagline and link to your seller store or a particular search string. Note: SHAs are charged on a first-auction CPM model. You will be charged exactly what you bid.  

Sponsored Video Ads are a newer addition that lets you post a video, which will appear on SERPs next to other products on the grid. Videos can range from 10 to 60 seconds and are targeted based on keywords. These ads offer the unique opportunity to engage buyers and showcase your products even before your buyers click on your listing. Video ads are charged on a CPC basis.

Other Seller Services 

Newegg offers a plethora of other brand-friendly services in line with its commitment to provide white-glove support for its sellers. 

"[With Newegg,] we're here for the sellers because without the sellers, the platform doesn't have as much value,” says Rice. “[Without happy sellers,] we can't bring that product assortment to the customers that they've come to expect."

Additional services include:

• Premier Seller Program - This program gives you access to Newegg’s highest spending customers (those who spend 50% or more than normal customers). You’ll additionally receive a Premier badge and access to marketing programs. However, to be eligible, you must meet certain performance criteria.
  
  
• Newegg Shipping Label Service - Ship products from your own warehouse, but receive discounted shipping rates through Newegg’s high-volume shipping network. Unlike SBN, which allows you to ship multichannel packages, you can only ship Newegg orders with the Shipping Label Service.
  
  
• Newegg Studios - Receive professional videos and photography that helps to market your products. Newegg Studios uses state-of-the-art equipment out of its 5,000 square-foot facility houses to provide high-quality content. 
  
  
• On-Site Solutions - Highlight your products across various Newegg properties like Category Stores, Eggxtra Hot Deals and Specialty Stores. Alternatively, choose from multiple homepage placements and/or use premium A+ content to enrich listings with image hotspots. A+ content has been found to increase conversions by 60.5% and to boost sales revenue by 24% on average, according to Newegg.
  
  
• Off-Site Solutions - Advertise your products through Newegg’s social accounts, affiliate network or promotional emails. 
  

• Personalized Post-Purchase Email - This is exclusively available to Enterprise Sellers who would like to send custom offers and products to customers.  
  

Ready to Get Started?

Newegg Marketplace offers a big opportunity for your brand. With brand-centric services and a niche audience base, Newegg can help you to reach more qualified buyers and increase brand visibility.

If you need an extra hand managing multiple channels, let us know! Zentail is an official integration partner of Newegg and can help you to launch your store quickly, safely and without stress.