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Top Alternatives to Selling on Etsy
Etsy has a strong hold on the handmade, vintage, and custom gifts market. So, Business.org asked business owners: “What are the best alternatives to selling on Etsy?” With so many options for creators to sell their goods and services online, we were delighted to receive over 100 responses from business owners around the world, who recommended over 40 alternatives to Etsy!

In 2020, there were over 81 million active Etsy buyers perusing the site for their next purchase.1 Perhaps as a result of COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, sales grew over 125% year over year (YoY) during the second quarter of 2020.2 In fact, Etsy counted over $10.28 billion in total sales for 2020—a growth of 106.84% since 2019! 3, 4

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Although billions of dollars in sales mean more revenue for the over 4.37 million sellers on Etsy, the platform’s fees and payments can be a deterrent for long-term growth.5 In fact, looking at the list of Etsy’s fees in the United States, it’s easy to see why. Its list includes seven fees that will impact every seller on the marketplace:
- Listing fee: $0.20 for each listed item
- Auto-renew fee: $0.20 per listing every 4 months
- Transaction fee: 5% of the listing price
- Offsite advertising fee: 12%–15% per order
- Etsy payments fee: 3% + $0.25
- Shipping transaction fee: 5% of the listed shipping costs
- Transaction fee: 5% of the total item costs
*Data effective 9/28/21. At publishing time, amounts, rates, and requirements are current but are subject to change. Etsy will automatically deduct all fees owed from your payment account.
That led us at Business.org to see what other alternatives are out there for business owners . . .


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We broke it down and found that over 23% of respondents recommend Shopify as the best Etsy alternative. This makes sense: we’ve named it the best platform for ecommerce! But also, Shopify has the largest ecommerce market share in the US at 29% and over 2.3 million online Shopify stores.6

Business.org received 104 total responses from global business owners with 160 recommendations across over 40 different brands! Shopify was clearly the top choice with Amazon and Amazon Handmade, Big Cartel, and Zibbet close behind.

There are a lot of options for business owners to choose from! In January 2021, eMarketer estimated that worldwide retail ecommerce would exceed $4 trillion in 2021 with the US expected to reach $843 billion in sales.7,8 This estimate means that ecommerce would have a 15.3% market share of retail sales in the country.8

In the first half of 2021, the US had reached $437.5 billion in ecommerce sales, with $3.248 trillion in total retail sales across any medium.9,10 This gives ecommerce sales a 13.47% market share—and an ever-growing pot of revenue for online retailers!


With the ecommerce market growing rapidly, you want to position your goods and services at the top of everyone’s list. And if Etsy is not the place for you, we hope that these other recommendations can help! Business owners around the world have built stores on Shopify and used Amazon Handmade to reach new customers. Now it’s up to you . . . and we at Business.org are here to help every step of the way.
Still wondering if there are other options? Check out our list of top free ecommerce platforms for more choices.
Related content
Sources
- Statista, “Number of active Etsy buyers from 2012 to 2020” Feb. 2020. Accessed Sept. 27, 2021
- Digital Commerce 360, “Sales spike 146% on Etsy’s marketplaces in Q2,” Aug. 7, 2020. Accessed Sept. 27, 2021.
- Statista, “Annual gross merchandise sales (GMS) of Etsy Inc. from 2005 to 2020” Feb. 2021. Accessed Sept. 27, 2021.
- Backlinko, “Etsy User and Revenue Stats: How Many People Shop on Etsy in 2021?” Apr. 27, 2021. Accessed Sept. 27, 2021.
- Statista, “Number of active Etsy sellers from 2012 to 2020,” Feb. 2021. Accessed Sept. 27, 2021.
- Oberlo, “Ecommerce platform market share in the USA,” Sept. 2021. Accessed Sept. 28, 2021.
- eMarketer, “Worldwide ecommerce will approach $5 trillion this year,” Jan. 14, 2021.
- Oberlo, “Ecommerce sales by country in 2021,” May 5, 2021
- U.S. Department of Commerce, “Quarterly retail e-commerce sales, 1st quarter 2021,” May 18, 2021.
- U.S. Department of Commerce, “Quarterly retail e-commerce sales, 2nd quarter 2021,” Aug. 19, 2021.
Disclaimer
At Business.org, our research is meant to offer general product and service recommendations. We don't guarantee that our suggestions will work best for each individual or business, so consider your unique needs when choosing products and services.



