Shopify vs Etsy: Which is better for online businesses?

Shopify and Etsy are two of the most popular platforms for selling products online, although they take different approaches. Etsy provides a product page that connects to a large online marketplace. Shopify allows sellers to set up their own branded online store and manage sales, inventory, shipping, and payments from a single platform.

How do you choose between Etsy vs Shopify for small business? This article will give you an overview of selling on Shopify vs Etsy to help you decide which one is the right fit for your business.

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Shopify vs Etsy: Quick overview

	Shopify¹	Etsy²
Monthly fees	Starter: $5 Basic: $25 Shopify: $65 Advanced: $399 ShopifyPlus: $2,000 ($1/month for the first 3 months)	Basic $0 Etsy Plus: $10
Additional fees	Transaction fees: 0.5-2% or 0% when using Shopify Payments	Listing fee: $0.20 for each item Transaction fee: 6.5% or 3-4% with Etsy Payments Ad fees: variable Offsite ad fees: 12% or 15% Currency conversion: 2.5%
Shipping discounts	Yes³	Yes
Integrations	Thousands of sites and apps, including Facebook and Instagram, Google, YouTube, TikTok, Walmart, Amazon, eBay, Etsy, HubSpot, Mailchimp, Power BI Connector, Tableau, QuickBooks, Xero, Zendesk⁴⁵	Wide range of sites and apps including Etsy On Sale, LeadDyno, Mad Mimi, Mailchimp, Marmalead, Outfy, Printful, Quickbooks, ReferralCandy, Seller Tools, ShipStation, TaxJar, Vela⁶⁷
Customization	Yes	No
Customer support	24/7 live chat, phone, and email Online help center⁸	Chat, email, and callback request Online help center and community forum⁹
Great for:	Businesses that want their own domain and customizable storefront Sellers with a wide range of products to list Businesses looking for a range of third-party integrations	Occasional sellers Sellers of arts, crafts, and other handmade goods New businesses not ready for full branding

Pros and cons of Etsy vs Shopify

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using Etsy vs Shopify for your online store? Below, we look at the pros and cons of both to help you compare their strengths and weaknesses.

Etsy pros and cons

Pros	Cons
Etsy’s marketplace has close to 90m buyers¹⁰ Built-in audience of buyers for handmade and vintage items Easy to set up and maintain a store Increased marketing spend to promote its sellers’ stores	Saturated market High listing, transaction, and advertising fees Only accepts craft supplies, handmade, and vintage items No access to customer emails to build a marketing list

Shopify pros and cons

Pros	Cons
Customizable templates Sell products in different currencies and languages Wide range of third-party integrations Generous shipping discounts Free email marketing	Use of third-party payment providers incurs transaction fees High transaction fees on the Starter plan Limited number of free themes Some functionality can be complicated; requires installing an app

Shopify vs Etsy fees

An important consideration for any seller is the comparison between Shopify fees vs Etsy fees. How do they compare? Which one works out cheaper for sellers?

Shopify fees

Shopify has a monthly subscription model with five tiers. The plans range from $5 for its Starter option to $2,000 for a ShopifyPlus package. In addition, Shopify charges transaction fees for each sale of 0.5-2%, although subscribers to its Shopify Payments do not pay these fees.

Etsy fees

The main difference between Etsy fees vs Shopify fees is that Etsy does not charge a monthly fee for its basic membership. But it does offer a $10 monthly Etsy Plus subscription with an expanding set of tools for growing businesses.

Another difference between Etsy vs Shopify fees is that Etsy also charges listing fees of $0.20 for each item. It adds a transaction fee of 6.5% for each sale, or 3-4% if sellers use Etsy Payments. Currency conversion is charged at an additional 2.5%.

Sellers can set a budget to pay for Etsy Ads. They also pay a 12-15% fee for sales that came from clicks on off-site ads.

Key features of Shopify and Etsy

Ease of use

How easy is it to start selling on Etsy vs Shopify?

Shopify makes it straightforward to set up a basic online store, with a drag-drop tool that allows you to customize how it looks. However, it also offers more advanced features that require third-party integrations, which can get complicated.

The ability to add product personalization tools works in favor of Shopify vs Etsy for print on demand. Businesses can sell products in their Shopify store with live previews for customizable details, such as colors and graphics, whereas sellers on Etsy need to collect customers’ requirements and create separate print files based on their choices.

However, Etsy is ideal for less tech-savvy businesses. One of the advantages of an Etsy shop vs Shopify is that users can simply set up an account, upload their product descriptions and start selling.

Customization

There are several different ways to customize a Shopify store. You can choose a theme in the Shopify theme store and edit the settings to suit your store’s look. You can customize the store by adding features from Shopify apps. You can also hire a Shopify developer to create a custom theme.¹¹

Etsy offers limited customization options by comparison, as it provides a preset storefront layout for you.

Customer support

Shopify sellers have access to its 24/7 customer support via chat, email, and phone. It also provides an online help center where you can find the answers to a range of common issues.

Etsy has an online help center and community forums where you can seek advice. Etsy doesn’t make contacting its customer service staff as easy as Shopify. It no longer makes a phone number available on its website. You can fill out an online form to send an email and expect to receive a response within 1-2 days.

Marketing tools

Shopify has a plethora of marketing tools for businesses. You can create custom email campaigns from ready-made designs with Shopify Email, chat with customers using Shopify Inbox and add lead capture forms to your store.

You can build automated marketing flows and track your campaign performance. Detailed analytics and marketing reports allow you to target customer segments and build relationships through personalized marketing.¹²

Etsy gives sellers access to onsite and offsite ads to advertise their listings or stores. Etsy buys offsite ads from its partner network, including search engines and social media sites. Stats reports show you how your store is performing, the volume and source of traffic, and how customers engage with listings. Search analytics show how customers find the store from Etsy.com searches and how many sales come from the searches.¹³

Google also allows Etsy sellers to sign up for free Web Analytics for their store, although it requires a separate account with Google.

Bottom line: Is Shopify or Etsy better to sell?

Should you choose between Shopify vs Etsy for your business? It depends on your type of business.

Shopify can be great for e-commerce businesses that are building a brand and want to customize their storefront to their own design. Etsy may suit businesses that simply need a premade storefront to list their products. It is ideal for occasional sellers of handmade arts and crafts.

The biggest difference between Etsy vs Shopify is that Shopify allows businesses to build a scalable professional store with sophisticated selling and marketing tools.

When it comes to Shopify fees vs Etsy, the cost of using each platform will depend on how much your business sells. Shopify’s fees can work out cheaper for higher sales volumes, as they will cover the monthly subscription fee and transaction fees are lower than Etsy’s. However, the edge goes to Etsy vs Shopify for artists and occasional sellers, as Etsy’s transaction fees can work out cheaper overall.

Receive Shopify and Etsy payments with Wise

Whether you choose between Shopify or Etsy to sell products online, you can use Wise to receive your payments.

Etsy operates in US dollars, so you can select USD as your Etsy store currency to save money on currency conversion fees when you withdraw money from Etsy to your Wise USD account. Wise will convert the funds to your preferred currency at a better rate than Etsy’s conversion fee. You can then send the money to your local bank account.

You can also connect your Wise Business account to your Shopify account to get paid in a range of currencies.

Open a Wise Business account today

Wise is not a bank, but a Money Services Business (MSB) provider and a smart alternative to banks. Open a Wise account today to receive fast money transfers at the mid-market exchange rate without hidden fees.

Please see Terms of Use for your region or visit Wise Fees & Pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.

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Sources:

¹. Shopify Pricing - Setup and Open Your Online Store Today – Free Trial
². Fees & Payments Policy - Our House Rules | Etsy
³. Calculating Shopify Shipping rates
⁴. Sales Channels - Marketplaces and Social Media Marketing made easy - Shopify USA
⁵. The 10 Best Shopify Integrations to Make Your Ecommerce Store Grow
⁶. Etsy Integration Guide: How to Simplify Your Etsy Business - A2X
⁷. Top 10 Etsy Seller Apps to Help Grow Your Store | Printful
⁸. Shopify Help Center
⁹. How to Contact Etsy Support
¹⁰. Etsy, Inc. Reports First Quarter 2023 Results
¹¹. How To Customize Your Shopify Theme (No Coding Required)
¹². Marketing on Shopify
¹³. Marketing & Promotions – Etsy Help

All sources checked June 2, 2023.