What does it cost?

Different electronic marketplaces, or e-markets, have different fees. It is free to register and participate on a basic level on many e-markets. You can then pay to get a better exposure. On other e-markets all members pay a yearly fee. Some e-markets charge an annual fee, which can be as low as a few hundred Euros, and some charge a percentage of the transaction value. Some e-markets charge the buyers, and others charge the sellers. Trading networks with advanced system integration charge high fees for large companies.

The main revenue sources for e-markets:

• Membership fee
• Fees for further exposure over and above basic product information
• Advertisement (banners and links)
• Percentage of the value of the transaction
• Flat fee per completed transaction
• Fee for hosting a company's product catalogue
• Leasing or sale of software for e-commerce
• Sale of industry information compiled
• Additional services like logistics and financial services
• Consulting fees

In the early days of e-markets transaction fee was the main revenue model. Now a membership fee appears to be most commonly used. Some e-markets are not run as profit-making companies, but rather as co-operative solutions for efficient processing of transactions. The owners trade on the platform and want to keep the cost as low as possible.

Many electronic marketplaces have become solution vendors of specific e-commerce applications. Target clients are large companies that want their own private e-market.