The 7 Best Etsy Alternatives

Key Points

• Shopify is tailored specifically to the needs of online merchants, it is very similar to Etsy.
• Amazon Handmade is a good Etsy alternative.
• Squarespace is an excellent platform for marketing your wares designed from scratch.

Selling products demands a significant investment of time and energy, which you may not have if you are not a full-time entrepreneur. If you want to attract customers, you must showcase your products in an easily accessible location or have a professional-looking website.

If you sell on more than one platform, keeping track of your inventory is critical to avoiding accepting orders you cannot fulfill. Integration of credit cards, PayPal, and other payment gateways, tax and shipping cost calculation, and anticipated shipping dates are all required for successful online sales.

Before sending your goods, you must pack them (or prepare them to be packaged). Moreover, accepting returns necessitates additional administrative tasks such as refund processing and transportation cost management. Thankfully, Etsy is around!

You probably already know that Etsy is a fantastic online marketplace for turning your hobby into a profitable business. Founded in 2005, Etsy has grown in popularity because of its solid reputation as an efficient marketplace for selling high-quality, one-of-a-kind handmade goods.

Etsy is an exciting place for sellers to start and grow an online business since it has more than 45 million users and high brand recognition. Etsy not only provides a ready-made market, but also a website-building tool for creators in the form of Pattern.

Yes, Etsy is awesome… yet, it is not immune to the competition!

And, you could be among the thousands seeking a new e-commerce platform because of the recent 30% rise in seller fees on Etsy.

Listed here are the seven best Etsy alternatives and competitors you may want to try. Let’s explore them below!

Shopify: Great for Makers Seeking Assistance to Build a Brand

The fact that Shopify is tailored specifically to the needs of online merchants has made it a household name among those looking for an alternative to Etsy. No matter how many unique things you plan on selling, Shopify has everything you need to set up a thriving online store and get them in the hands of your customers.

When compared to Etsy’s competitors, Shopify stands out since it gives you the option to sell offline at events like pop-up stores and craft fairs. In contrast to Etsy, Shopify requires you to create your own customer base from the ground up.

Thus, you will need to put in some time and energy upfront to migrate your Etsy business to Shopify and establish credibility for your brand-new online store.

Thanks to Shopify’s wealth of templates, you do not have to settle for the second best. Multi-channel selling and in-built marketing capabilities also make it simple to spread the word about your online shop and monitor sales once it is up and running.

Pricing

In place of traditional listing costs, Shopify users pay a monthly subscription fee (starting at $29/month) in addition to the standard credit card processing fees for each sale. Shopify payments are free of charge for the customer.

Since you are required to pay Shopify’s monthly subscription fee whether or not you make any sales, it is best suited to companies that receive consistent orders.

Pros

• No transaction fee when getting paid
• Biennial subscription plans with a 20% discount
• Easy to use on existing website
• Unlimited bandwidth

Cons

• No free plan is available
• Requires serious marketing
• Expensive add-ons

Amazon Handmade: Great for Sellers Looking for an Automated Fulfillment Service

On Amazon Handmade, sellers can connect with shoppers looking to buy unique, handcrafted products. Using Amazon Handmade, sellers can list their wares in one convenient location and keep track of orders in one convenient place.

Amazon Handmade is a new section of Amazon that makes it easier for customers to find goods that have been actually created as opposed to the typical mass-produced items available on the site.

Approval as a seller enables you to advertise your items, handle orders, and automate delivery via Amazon’s Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) service from a centralized interface. Amazon Handmade vendors are exempt from fees, so you just pay referral fees. However, it charges a higher fee than Etsy, 15% versus 6.5%.

Pricing

To start making money with your handmade goods, you need to sign up for a Professional selling account first, which costs $39.99 a month.

You do not pay anything after the first month of your approval, which saves you about $480 annually. However, only Handmade-approved sellers are eligible for this promotion.

There is no price to list a product, but there is a 15% referral fee on all sales. Unless an item is priced below $5, Amazon Handmade’s fees are greater than Etsy’s. You can learn more about the costs involved with selling on Amazon.

By becoming a seller, you will also be able to enjoy many additional benefits, such as shipping through FBA, insightful analytics, buyer search, and access to stellar customer support, which hands-down beats what you get from Etsy.

No need to worry about your expired product listing, comprehensive analytics, and amazon-sponsored ads, which are some of the reasons why Amazon Handmade is a great alternative to Etsy.

Pros

• Shipping handled by Amazon
• No monthly expense
• Pay as you make a sale

Cons

• Have to deal with a high 15% fee on goods
• A tedious application procedure

Weebly: Great for Etsy Sellers Looking for Improved Online Presence

Given its recent merger with payment supplier Square, it is no surprise that Weebly, a website builder with an emphasis on eCommerce, is seeing rapid growth. Although it lacks the capacity of more advanced sales and data tools, it has the lowest initial cost and is very simple to use compared to its competition.

Weebly is a user-friendly website builder that allows its customers to quickly and easily build professional-looking websites with simple drag-and-drop interfaces. It provides a large variety of customizable themes for your website’s presentation. Unfortunately, there is no built-in gateway for making payments, thus it relies on third-party services like Square and PayPal instead.

Pricing

Weebly does not offer any trial, but it provides you with a free plan with limited features. If you are new to the eCommerce world and still figuring out your budget, you may find the free plan to work just fine for you. Also, remember, if you opt for the free plan, you will also have to live with annoying Square ads.

For $6/month, you can sign up for the Weebly Personal Plan. Users that care most about having their own domain and selling digital items online should consider upgrading to this plan. For a professional plan, you have to spend $12/month, annually. In return, you get unlimited storage, phone assistance for when you need it, and no Square advertisements, in addition to everything in the Personal plan.

For the best eCommerce experience, you may want to try the Weebly Performance Plan, starting at $26/month. The full suite of Weebly’s capabilities is yours for this low price. This encompasses more demanding functionalities, including product evaluations, abandoned cart emails, and sophisticated eCommerce data. PayPal is also an option for payment processing with this package.

No matter your pricing plan, you may add as many items as you like. The only costs involved are the membership fee (or nothing at all if you go with the free plan) and any transaction fees levied by your payment processor. Advantages include a free domain name, one year of free SSL encryption, and email and phone assistance.

Pros

• Impressive eCommerce features with a free plan
• Ability to list unlimited items free of cost
• Quick access to email and chat support

Cons

• Missing its native payment gateway
• Absence of advanced inventory management tools

Squarespace: Great for Etsy Sellers Ready for the Next Big Step

Because of its user-friendliness and adaptability, Squarespace is an excellent platform for marketing your wares designed from scratch.

Merchants can now set their shop online in style without learning HTML or using a graphic design program. Within minutes, you can offer special discounts, create new coupons, and utilize various automated shipping options.

Squarespace makes it simple to migrate from Etsy, allowing you to retain your items and product URLs, making it one fine alternative to Etsy if you seek to switch platforms. If you focus on content creation to advertise your items, you may take advantage of Squarespace’s sophisticated blogging capabilities and social media marketing tools to promote your products.

Pricing

While no free plan is up for grabs, Squarespace’s entry-level eCommerce package is still cheaper than several competitors. The following are the costs of its monthly subscriptions that include eCommerce features:

• Business Plan: For $26 a month, you can enjoy this entry-level plan, which offers unlimited digital and physical products, with a 3% fee on transactions.
• Basic Commerce Plan: Just by paying $35 a month, you upgrade to this commerce plan, which offers all the features of a “Business” account but without any transaction fee.
• Advanced Commerce Plan: Pay $54/month and enjoy all the features from the Basic Commerce plan and a USPS shipping calculator, advanced analytics, abandoned cart recovery, and the ease of selling subscriptions.

Overall, Squarespace is one fine Etsy alternative, especially with its sophisticated inventory management system that makes it simple to track stock levels and identify hot sellers. And, with those built-in advertising features, you can generate interest in your online shop.

Pros

• Free domain for the first year
• Around-the-clock support
• Unlimited bandwidth
• Sell on Facebook and Instagram
• Impressive blogging tools

Cons

• Fewer payment options
• Limited eCommerce features
• Insufficient video storage

Big Cartel: Great for Creatives Dealing in Limited Products

Big Cartel is yet another interesting alternative to Etsy, with a similar community and services geared toward people selling art and handmade goods.

Since the free version of Big Cartel includes access to both a custom domain and aesthetically pleasing website templates, it instantly becomes more attractive for “ex-Etsy” users.

Big Cartel knew it had to compete with Etsy for the attention of artists, so it built its site accordingly. In many ways, it is better than Etsy, especially considering its free plan includes a contact form and many pages, while Etsy just includes one.

The free plan limits you to selling only five products and has no marketing tools, but you can easily upgrade for a minimal monthly charge ($9.99) and gain access to a robust artist community for advice on promoting your business.

Pricing

You can start with the free Gold Plan, which allows you to set up a storefront for up to five products, complete with a single image for each item. You will also be able to sell in-person and online, use a custom domain, calculate taxes, offer discounts, and monitor shipments.

Upgrade to the Platinum Plan for $9.99/month and sell up to 50 products with five images per product. Other features include inventory tracking, Google analytics, and more.

Big Cartel is great for artists who only want to sell a few items at a time or those who only sell at certain times of the year. Its free plan is simple to use and requires no or minimal out-of-pocket expenses.

Pros

• Affordable monthly plans
• Simple-to-use platform
• Impressive website templates

Cons

• Limited payment options
• No marketing tools
• Not scalable

Wix: Great for Newbies with No Technical Knowledge

Wix is a web-based service that eliminates the need for technical know-how in web design and development by providing simple drag-and-drop website-building capabilities.

It offers a variety of tools and templates that you can utilize to make a polished website. There are no listing costs, and it comes equipped with a number of tools that may assist businesses to sell their wares online.

Pricing

You can sign up for Wix for as low as $27/month or as high as $59/month, depending on the plan you choose.

Wix also offers a free plan, but it has several drawbacks (such as annoying Wix ads and the inability to get paid), so it is not ideal. If you really want to make it work, you will have to be able to collect in-person payments for your sales.

To use it as an alternative to Etsy, you will need to upgrade to a premium subscription. It enables you to enjoy quality support, no limits on how much you may sell, and you can even retrieve items from abandoned shopping carts.

Pros

• Direct access to an intuitive editor
• Easy to add product videos
• Highly customizable drag-and-drop interface
• Free domain name for a year

Cons

• Inability to receive payments with the free plan
• Highly annoying Wix ads with the free plan
• Not-so-impressive inventory system

IndieMade: Great for a Standalone Store Synced with Etsy

With no listing or transaction fees, a standalone website, built-in inventory management features, and the ease of adding a blog, IndieMade is one fine alternative for those looking to say goodbye to Etsy.

Some might argue that IndieMade leaves a little to be desired in terms of personalization. Still, it is possible to make changes to the overall design, although not as many as with some other website builders.  

However, the user-friendliness of the IndieMade platform makes it simple to add media galleries to product listings. It is possible to create a blog, image galleries, calendar of events, and other pages in addition to an online store.

Pricing

You may try IndieMade risk-free for 30 days; no credit card is needed. The possibility to use a custom name and create an independent online business is included in all four of the available monthly payment plans:

• You can join with a Basic plan for $4.95 and sell up to 10 products.
• To sell up to 250 products, you need to upgrade to a Standard plan for $12.95/month.
• For unlimited products and images, together with galleries and pages, you need to pick the “Plus” account for $19.95/month.

It would not be wrong to suggest that IndieMade is the lovechild of an online marketplace and a website builder – create your online store, add new content to your site, and get your business to places. 

Pros

• Simple-to-use and professional interface
• Quality tech support
• Affordable monthly fees
• 30-day free trial

Cons

• Unavailability of an established audience
• Limited products for most plans

How Do You Choose the Best Etsy Alternatives?

If you have been on Etsy for some time, taking your business to another marketplace may sound intimidating. But, sometimes, you have to do it to help your business grow and get the best return on investment.

To make a choice, always consider how simple it is to take your business to the new platform. IndieMade, for instance, offers a simple-to-use platform. But, it is just as important to pick an alternative with additional features to customize your site. Big Cartel is a good option with its many templates, but Shopify is also right up there.

What’s more, you need to consider the cost and fees, as it is not a good idea to pay high commission rates or spend too much on listing fees, or else there would be no point in leaving Etsy in the first place.

Lastly, do not forget to consider the quality of customer support, as that is essential to get you up and running on a new platform in a new marketplace. So, consider how much you are willing to spend and what features you need to reach your audience.

The image featured at the top of this post is ©Sergei Elagin/Shutterstock.com.