As a handmade business owner, you have about a million decisions to make when it comes to how you’re going to run your business. One of the first is to decide what platform you’ll be selling on. Two of the most popular options for handmade business owners looking to start a website are Etsy and Shopify. Both platforms have pros and cons, making it hard to decide which one is best. Today, we’ll look at the differences between Etsy and Shopify, and help you make an decision about which platform is the right fit for your specific business.
What is Etsy?
Etsy is an online marketplace where sellers can sell handmade products, vintage, or supplies. They have grown quickly as a platform and have over 90 million buyers annually, making it a top option for many sellers looking to start a business.
What is Shopify?
Unlike Etsy, Shopify isn’t a marketplace. Instead, it’s more of a website builder that gives you your own URL to send your customers too. Shopify is definitely the gold-standard for product based business owners looking to have their own website.
Pros and Cons of selling on Etsy
Built in customers
With over 90 million buyers in 2022, there no easier way to get traffic quickly to your products. Etsy buyers often come to the platform to purchase a product that is meaningful, custom, or personalized. And they are searching for every type of product you can imagine.
Low fees
In addition to bringing millions of buyers to the platform to shop each year, Etsy has some of the lowest fees for any platform. There are no monthly fees required and most sellers pay less than 10% per sale for transaction and processing fees. When you compare the fee percentage to the thousands of customers Etsy can bring you each year, it’s easily apparent that selling on Etsy is a bargain compared to a platform like Amazon where fees are much higher or Shopify where monthly fees can add up quickly. Want to learn more about Etsy fees? Read all about them in the Etsy Handbook here.
Easy set up
You can set up your Etsy shop and create your first listing in less than an hour. The set up process could not be easier. This is great for sellers who don’t have a lot of time or don’t want to spend a lot of time on the tech aspects of their website.
Limited customization
Unfortunately, on Etsy you aren’t able to customize your shop beyond the basic graphics including your shop banner and icon. You can certainly elevate your branding with gorgeous listing photos to make up for the lack of branding customization.
You also aren’t able to customize your listing formatting. For example, you can only have 2 variations on Etsy and can only have 10 photos and one 15 second video.
Limited control
Another disadvantage of selling on Etsy is the limited control over the platform. As a seller, you are subject to Etsy’s policies and guidelines, which can change from time to time. You also aren’t allowed to sell any product you want on Etsy. Each listing to be handmade, vintage, or a supply.
Pros and Cons of selling on Shopify
Very customizable
One of the most significant advantages of Shopify is the customizable templates. The platform offers hundreds of templates that can be customized to fit your brand and style. This allows businesses to create a unique online store that stands out from the competition. Changing the look of your website dramatically can be fairly simple if you know what you want.
There’s an app for that
If you want do something special on your website like track inventory, add pop ups, create complex listings with multiple variations, add a password protected page for selling wholesale, or create an affiliate program there’s an app on Shopify that can help you with that. Most of these apps aren’t free though, so you’ll want to prioritize your expenses.
Monthly fees
Shopify has multiple plans, and pricing has crept up over the years. The entry-level Basic plan now starts at $39 a month, and that’s before you add any apps for the features most product sellers actually need. For an established business, that’s easy to absorb. For someone still figuring out if they even have a viable product line, that’s real money going out the door every month whether you make a sale or not.
You need to send all of your own traffic
Shopify isn’t a platform that sends customers to you, so you need to send all of your own traffic through marketing, ads, or Google search. This can often be much, much slower than getting traffic from Etsy unless you already have a large audience to send to your listings.
Plan to spend more time getting started
With more customization options comes a lot more set up time. Making a gorgeous website on Shopify can be frustrating when you can customize literally everything. You’ll also want to remember that the choices you make have a direct effect on your website’s conversion rate (how many sales you get per 100 visitors). Mismatched colors and fonts, difficult to navigate menus, and unsearchable collections can cause visitors to leave without purchasing.
Which platform is better for a handmade business?
Here’s my actual take. If you don’t already have an audience, Etsy search beats social media and it beats a brand new Shopify store every single time. Etsy is actively sending buyers to you who are already searching for what you make. A Shopify store sends you nobody. You’re responsible for every visitor, which means ads, content, or an email list you probably don’t have yet. Paying $39 a month for a platform with zero built-in traffic while you’re still proving out your product is a fast way to burn cash before you’ve even confirmed people want what you’re selling.
There is, of course, no cut and dry answer to this question because every business is different. If you are an already established with a big audience who can easily afford monthly fees, ads, to hire a website designer, Shopify can often be the right answer for you.
This isn’t a permanent choice between the two. Plenty of sellers start on Etsy, build up sales history and product-market fit, and then add a Shopify store later once they have traffic they can actually redirect. At that point Shopify makes a lot more sense, because you’re not starting from zero on trust or an email list. Think of Etsy as where you prove the business works, and Shopify as where you eventually build the version you fully control.
If you don’t have a social media audience or email list or if you don’t have a lot of extra time or tech experience, Etsy is probably the best option for you. It’s cheap, easy to set up, and can get you traffic easily.
Not sure if your shop’s problem is traffic, conversion, or something else entirely? The Etsy Sales Audit walks you through all three in about 20 minutes, so you know exactly where to focus instead of guessing. Grab your free audit here.
FAQ: Etsy vs. Shopify
Is Etsy or Shopify cheaper?
Etsy wins on cost, especially early on. There’s no monthly fee, just a small listing fee per item and a percentage per sale. Shopify’s cheapest real store plan runs $39 a month before you add any apps, so you’re paying that whether you sell anything or not.
Can I sell on both Etsy and Shopify?
Yes, and a lot of successful sellers eventually do. Most start on Etsy to get traffic and prove their products sell, then add a Shopify store later once they have some audience or email list to send to it. Starting with Shopify alone means you’re building traffic from nothing while also trying to figure out your product.
Which platform is better for beginners?
If you don’t already have a following, an email list, or ad budget, Etsy is the easier starting point. Buyers are already searching the platform for what you make, so you’re not stuck generating every bit of your own traffic on day one.
Do I have to choose one platform forever?
No. Plenty of sellers start on Etsy and expand to Shopify once they’ve built up sales history and some audience of their own. It’s a sequence, not a permanent decision.
