When it comes to handmade, custom, or vintage items, Etsy has a strong reputation among shoppers and sellers alike. In fact, there were more than 5.3 million Etsy sellers as of Q3 2022.
While it’s one of the most well-known platforms out there for selling unique products, it’s by no means your only option.
Whether you want to build your own store or tap into leading local or global online marketplaces, you’ve got plenty of options to explore.
In this article, we’ll look at a few of the most popular Etsy alternatives, so you can figure out which is best for you.
Online store Etsy alternatives
Want full control over your brand? Consider building your own ecommerce store over joining an online marketplace. Here are a few of the top names in ecommerce.
1. Shopify
Price: Ecommerce plans start at $39/month, plus transaction fees
→ Click Here to Launch Your Online Business with Shopify
Just like Etsy is one of the biggest online marketplaces out there, Shopify is one of the biggest ecommerce platforms. With more than one million users, Shopify is a trusted Etsy alternative for entrepreneurs who want to create their brand experience from scratch.
While this may sound intimidating if you don’t have any web design or development expertise, that’s not an issue. Shopify has tons of pre-designed themes for you to choose from. All you need to do is upload your images and text, customize the user experience (UX), and you’re off to the races.
The main thing to consider is that, unlike Etsy, you won’t be able to tap into a marketplace full of customers who are ready to shop. Just like you build the store, you’ll also need to build the traffic and customer base—which means you’ll need to be ready for some in-depth online marketing. Fortunately, Shopify has plenty of tools to help market your business.
2. Big Cartel
Price: Free for up to five products, plans start at $9.99 for up to 50 products
Like Shopify, Big Cartel allows you to create an independent online store and use your own branding. Its developers have tailored its resources to facilitate crafters, artists, and entrepreneurs selling handmade goods.
Big Cartel offers templates you can customize to match your brand image. There’s also a sophisticated sales tax tool that minimizes admin duties for the store owner. Further, the platform offers a range of marketing apps to help spread the word about your business.
However, Big Cartel is primarily an ecommerce platform, with no Etsy-like customer base. This means you’ll need to build your own audience and also find ways to retain customers. If you already boast a dedicated customer following, Big Cartel is one of the best Etsy alternatives for turning your creative talents into a business.
3. Squarespace
Price: Ecommerce plans start at $18/month, plus transaction fees
Squarespace is another Etsy alternative makers can use. Its stunning templates make it easy to stand out online—plus, they look good on mobile. You can take advantage of Squarespace’s strong inventory system and attract customers with built-in marketing tools.
Squarespace also lets you import your Etsy storefront, allowing you to keep your product URLs and items in the process—making it one of the easier alternatives to Etsy if you’re looking to go independent.
However, Squarespace requires more time and patience to set up, whereas on Etsy you can create a shop and start selling in less than an hour. That said, you could invest in outsourced web design to speed up creation if you have the budget.
4. Wix
Price: Ecommerce plans start at $17/month, plus transaction fees
Wix is a website builder with user-friendly templates and ecommerce abilities that make it easy to sell handmade and custom-made goods online. The platform lets you track orders, set tax and shipping rules for different locations, offer promotional coupons, and accept credit card and PayPal payments.
Wix also offers an Etsy integration to help you keep your product listings. However, reviews and ratings indicate various issues, from technical difficulties to slow loading times. If you don’t have a pre-existing Etsy account, this should not be a concern, because you won’t need to perform any migration.
However, Wix may not be the best choice if you’re looking to sell thousands of products. With this platform, you can only add a maximum of 100 pages to your website. Also, there’s no integration for newer sales channels like TikTok, so you might want to check out these Wix alternatives if you’re looking to sell on trending platforms.
5. Weebly
Price: Plans start at $6/month, plus transaction fees
If you’re looking for an affordable Etsy alternative, Weebly is your best bet. This platform has everything you need to sell products online, including inventory tracking, shipping tools, abandoned cart recovery, gift cards, and coupons. You can also optimize the SEO settings of your product pages through the Weebly editor and integrate other marketing features via the Weebly App Center.
When it comes to templates, Weebly’s designs might seem a bit lacking compared to other website builders. However, they’re good enough to keep visitors on your website. Plus, you can customize them to your liking, meaning you can tweak every visual element to fit your branding and design needs.
The downside of Weebly is that some of the articles on its Help Center are outdated. If you get stuck at a certain point, you may have to wait a while to get help (Weebly’s support, while good, isn’t the quickest).
Marketplace Etsy alternatives
While building your own store maximizes control over your brand, it comes with the tradeoff of needing to build your own audience.
Online marketplaces have the opposite tradeoff: you’ll be buying into potentially huge audiences who are ready to purchase, but you won’t have as much control over their shopping experience.
Let’s look at some of the best marketplace Etsy alternatives out there.
6. Zibbet
Price: $5/month, per sales channel you connect
If you’d like to sell your products across multiple marketplaces, Zibbet is a great tool to help connect the dots once you’re up and running. It’s a unique platform in that it’s something of a sales channel aggregator. It allows you to import products from your existing marketplace accounts like Etsy, Facebook, and Instagram.
Once you’ve connected all your sales channels, you can manage them inside your Zibbet account. This can be a massive time and money saver for entrepreneurs who are selling on multiple channels.
Zibbet helps you with tasks like syncing your inventory across all channels and publishing listings to all your channels with just one update—no more going into every single channel to make listing changes.
7. Amazon Handmade
Price: Free to join and list products, plus 15% referral fee on all of your sales
You could say that Amazon Handmade was developed to be a direct competitor and alternative to Etsy. Amazon boasts it as an artisan-only seller community, which comes with a huge audience of shoppers who are looking for artisan products.
From accessories to personal care to pet supplies, Amazon Handmade is a booming marketplace for creatives to grow their business. Note that digital and downloadable products aren’t supported on Handmade just yet.
There’s another important detail to understand before joining Handmade: first, you have to sign up for an Amazon Professional selling account, which costs $39.99/month. Then, you’ll use your Professional selling account to apply to become a Handmade seller. If you’re approved for Handmade, your monthly $39.99 fee will be waived after the first month.
8. Bonanza
Price: Free to join and list products, has 3.5% fee on all sales, plus 5.5% if using Google Shopping ads
Bonanza provides the best of both worlds: you can list your products on its marketplace and/or create your own online store. This offers a one-two punch when it comes to getting and keeping customers, while still maintaining control over your brand.
Another huge perk of this platform is the exceptionally low fees in comparison to other marketplaces: just a 3.5% base fee, plus an additional fee if you decide to advertise your products with Google Shopping ads.
Bonanza offers plenty of ways to generate quality customers: you can connect with Bing Shopping and Facebook, get featured with Bonanza's third-party affiliate marketing partners like blogs and review sites, and use its customer marketing tool to turn one-time shoppers into loyal customers.
9. ArtFire
Price: Standard shop starts at $9.99/month, plus listing and transaction fees
ArtFire is an Etsy alternative that, like Etsy, allows you to create a boutique shop to list your products and attract the platform’s network of shoppers. It has a heavy community element: business owners on the platform have the opportunity to connect, engage, and offer each other advice and wisdom.
ArtFire’s easy-to-use platform lets you customize your boutique without ever touching the code, which makes it another great option if you’re looking to get up and running as soon as possible.
The platform is meant for handmade and artisan goods, so if you’re looking to sell commercial products, ArtFire charges a commission modifier. At the end of the day, this separates ArtFire from Etsy by helping ensure that artisans aren’t competing with mass-manufactured products at lower costs.
10. Storenvy
Storenvy is a social marketplace geared toward indie brands. You can sell anything from offbeat jewelry to housewares on its platform. Storenvy also has good sales activity for books, recorded music, beauty items, and tech products.
Storenvy is unique compared to other Etsy alternatives—it offers a free online store hosted on its platform along with access to a commission-based marketplace. This means you can sell both independently and tap into the audience Storenvy attracts to its marketplace.
However, Storenvy doesn’t boast as big traffic numbers as Etsy does. It’s great for getting your products in front of an indie-loving crowd, but you might be better off with Etsy if you’re looking to gain exposure to a wider base.
Etsy is just the beginning for your business
Whether you’re interested in building a store from scratch or leveraging the power and reputation of an online marketplace, there’s a whole world of Etsy alternatives for you to explore.
Before you dive in, consider which Etsy alternative is the best fit based on your audience, time and money resources, and ultimate goals for your business.
Then make it happen!
In summary, here are the 10 top alternatives to Etsy for handmade craft sellers:
- Shopify
- Big Cartel
- Wix
- Squarespace
- Weebly
- Zibbet
- Amazon Handmade
- Bonanza
- ArtFire
- Storenvy
Which Etsy alternative are you going to try first? Let us know in the comments below.
