So if Ebay is good for clearing junk or selling unbranded cheap stuff and Amazon is a fairly effective way of selling brand name stuff where would your own website fit?
Well quite simply in the niche between those two fields.
Our own personal experience over the past 5-6 years is that a Website is pretty good at selling stuff that simply doesn't fit into those two broad categories for one (or more) of the following reasons...
1) It doesn't actually have barcodes - i.e. is handmade, custom made or made by such small enterprises that they can't afford to go down the barcode registration route. (we sell craft kits made and sold by a 3 person company they have no desire to sell millions of them)
2) It is a very unusual thing in your region - so lots of imported goods would fit here (Polish language DVDs would probably be quite successful on a UK website offering quick UK shipping!)
3) It has a small dedicated following - so the potential customers are able and willing to search out stuff (Manga back issues spring to mind)
4) It isn't too price sensitive - if only 3-4 sellers are selling the item then the sellers not buyers set the price and so price comparision (the Amazon way) is irrelevant.
5) The distributor or manufacturer has actually banned sales via EBay or Amazon - getting more common for high end products.
So if you're thinking of your own website, score your products against the 5 items above. If you score 3 or more then a website is probably the best/only way to go. But first do some research...
Go to google and (thinking like a buyer) type in a search looking for your product. Try not to use part numbers or industry terminology but really use language or words that a first time buyer might try.
If in the first page of results, 5 are for amazon (and actually end up in the right place) then give up and sell on Amazon. If any Amazon/EBay ones end up at the wrong product and/or 5 of the results are for overseas sites or for discussion threads then you have a decent chance of getting good results selling through your website.
So summary
EBay - good for unbranded and or secondhand or clearance lines (we all make mistakes) getting a reputation for cheap tat
Amazon - think of it as a price comparison site rather than a shopping mall and focus on mainstream brands
Own Website - specialist stuff where competion is fairly low or your stuff is so specific no-where else will do.
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