Are you currently thinking about opening your own shop and scaling your e-commerce business, but unsure about which platform you should be choosing between Shopify and Etsy? I feel you, they are both extremely popular platforms for selling online. And, most important, they’re popular place for shoppers to spend their money. Now, let’s take a look at both platforms and their main features.
Shopify is a platform that lets you build your own online store. It has the tools to help you set up and run your business, from your store’s design to shipping. On the other hand, Etsy is an online marketplace that lets you list your products alongside other sellers. Now here comes the big question – how do you choose between them? When it comes to Shopify vs Etsy, Shopify is the better choice for online selling. It is an e-commerce platform build for products sellers. It is more scalable, more flexible, and offers better e-commerce tools than Etsy.
That said, the choice really depends on you – your business, your budget, and your goals. If your goal is to scale and grow then Shopify is the best overall option. If you are just starting out, selling a few homemade items a month or need something that’s super straightforward and more simple to set up then Etsy is best option for you.
Both platforms may seem similar at first, but they are very different selling platforms. Shopify provides everything your business needs to succeed. It has powerful sales tools, scalable plans, and no limits on what you can sell. Etsy, on the other hand, comes with product restrictions and basic features. Still, it’s simpler and cheaper, making it better for small-scale sellers with a niche.
Now let’s take a in depth look at both of the platforms
Shopify Overview
Shopify is not a marketplace, bit a hosted website that integrates easy tools to smoothly run your Ecommerce shop. It covers everything from selling online to selling in person. It is so much more than a small business platform. Shopify is more scalable, flexible, and offers better Ecommerce tools than Etsy.
Shopify Benefits
- Customized clean, professional website that is completely customizable to fit your brand.
- Detailed statistics about where your orders and customers are coming from, how long they spend on your sight, which pages they visited, etc. The stats are extremely useful if your goal is to grow and improve your Ecommerce Shop.
- The ability to easily sell on Pinterest and Facebook
- Shopify has thousand of apps and tools to make your shop run smoothly and expand your shop.
- Easy to use and intuitive as the business owner.
ETSY Overview
Etsy is like a marketplace for small business owners who have a handmade product they make themselves or work closely with the design and execution of a product with a local manufacturer. Etsy is a community of over a million shops from around the world.
ETSY Benefits
- Built in searchable engine
- Very easy to do, you can set up a shop in less than an hour
- You can advertise at a very small price, and work your way up as you grow.
- If you are wanting to step away from a job, but need to build something on the side first. Etsy is the perfect reason next step.
Fees
| Shopify | ETSY |
| $29/Mo for basic plan | Free to launch |
| 2.6% Commission & $0.30 per transaction | $0.2 a listing (renewed every 4 months) |
| Any add on features cost extra money per month | 5% commission fee on total displayed price |
| Payment processing fee (~3-4%) |
Email List
| SHOPIFY | ETSY |
| Email Capabilities | Does not collect emails |
| Collect email addresses of previous customers and adds them to your list | Etsy does condone collecting emails from sales to your personal lists. |
| Easy signups for emails/newsletters | Unable to reach out to past customers about new product launches |
| Optimal for growing an email list |
Creativity
| SHOPIFY | ETSY |
| Unlimited creativity | Really hard to stand out |
| Flexible on your branding options to express your brand voice & personality | Need to incorporate branding into every listing |
| Full page space to fill with logo, photos, & branding | Most customers say, “I got it on Etsy” instead of your shop name. |
| Less creative freedom |
Which platform is better for your business
| SHOPIFY | ETSY |
| You need more buildout with your branding | Limited on design – no brand recognition |
| Wide variety of powerful tools | No app store |
| Full control over your listing | Depending on your volume, Etsy fees can get expensive |
| Very scalable | Marketing are handled for you |
| Minimal – no downtime | Market place has much more traffic than your web store would |
| Higher monthly cost – could be problematic for small scale sellers. | Setup is quick and easy |
| You can sell on Etsy for no extra monthly charge | |
A few takeaway
- If you are just starting a small business or selling handmade / digital good then Etsy might be a good marketplace to get you started with low start up cost.
- Shopify is more cost efficient if your goal is to scale your business, think about your long term goal.
- Etsy is a marketplace with hundred or even thousands of shos so it will be hard for you to stand out. Difficult to distinguish from other “Etsy sellers”.
- Shopify provides flexible branding options to fully express your brand personality
- If email is priority for you, Shopify is the way to go. It is simple to optimize for email sign ups (aka. your money list).
- When you are selling on Etsy, you will also have no control as you don’t own the site. Etsy can make changes at any time. On the other hand, if you have a shopify shop, you own your site & have full creative + legal control.
Hope this post helps and don’t forget to save this post for later😊 Free free to reach out to me if you have any question or ready to elevate your shop and business to the next level @designedbybetty ✨
www.designedbybetty.com/contact
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