Shopify vs Etsy: Which Is Better For Handmade Business Owners
You want to sell your handmade works online, but should you open a shop on Etsy or create your site with Shopify? Or can you do both? Here is the full analysis of Etsy and Shopify.
Run Etsy & Shopify At The Same Time
In this post, I will share the pros and cons of having a website on Etsy and Shopify. You don’t have to choose one of the two to start a store, you can have both. Why?
If you have an Etsy store and your online store, you can leverage the marketplace traffic. Some buyers would check the brand website to know more about your brand before placing an order.
So, I have an idea that you can give exclusive discount on your brand website or give some special deal, like buy 2 get 3 deal, for your audience, that way, it is more likely that the potential buyer will place an order on your brand site, rather than the marketplace. For you, you don’t need to pay the transaction cost (higher margin) and you can market your brand and products again to your past customers (Etsy does not allow the seller to contact the past customers).
Many marketplace sellers enclose a thank you card with a coupon code to their shop, but it does not work very well. It is best to encourage the buyers to place an order on your official website.
Start With Etsy - Pros & Cons
Pros
Easier To Reach Potential Customers
If you don’t have an audience yet, first start with Etsy or other handmade marketplaces because you get to reach millions of potential customers worldwide.
Please learn how Etsy SEO works, so you can rank higher on the search results and get your customers.
Fast To Setup Your Shop
If you have all the shop content, like product images, product information, etc, you can run your shop in just a day.
Etsy platform is very intuitive, so anyone knows how to use it in a short period of time.
Reputation & Credibility
Etsy is the go-to platform for anyone looking for handmade products. Some customers would be more willing to spend money on Etsy than a standalone online shop.
Built-In Marketing Tool
You can start displaying ads on the site easily because the Etsy team does it for you. However, you don’t get a full picture of where your money goes, as Etsy does not show the full information to the seller.
The competition for ads is also high since a lot of sellers are also spending money on ads.
Cons
Not The Best Platform For Small-Business Makers Anymore
Nowadays, you see more and more factory products claiming to be handmade on Etsy. These products are at a much more affordable price, making a big headache for small business makers.
Not Allowed To Market Your Products To Past Buyers
In Etsy Terms and Conditions, customer data belongs to Etsy, so sellers are not allowed to market their products to past customers. This is one of the main reasons why many sellers have their own online shop.
Based on research, past customers are more willing to buy from the same seller again in the future, because they know what to expect. If you cannot market your product with your past customers, you are losing money on the table. Repeating customers is very important for a successful business.
Marketplace Competition Is High
At the bottom of a product page, there’s a You may also like section, where Etsy introduces similar products from other sellers.
It makes the potential buyers shop based on the prices. If your traffic is mainly from the ads, you want the visitors to focus on your product, not other sellers’ products. It makes it hard for the sellers.
Limited Branding
One shop design for all the sellers, so you cannot change much for the design.
Without a good website design, it is difficult to show why you are different and highlight your products or brand.
High Fee
Using Etsy is not free, there are costs like listing fees and transaction fees.
You can calculate how much you pay per product. Would it be more profitable if you set up a Shopify store?
Demanding Customers
When running a store on a marketplace, review is a very important factor. Some buyers know that and make some unreasonable requests.
Build Your Online Shop With Shopify
Pros
Full Control Of Your Brand
Having your own online shop, you can decide the layout of each page, and how you want your website design to communicate with your potential customers why you are different.
You can decide the customer journey, for example, first let them know your brand, and what you offer, before they first jump into the product.
Without proper customer journey and brand design, it is easy for the customer to decide based on the price.
No Marketplace Competition
Your store only sells your products, no more You May Link This section promoting other sellers. Site visitors will only focus on your products and brand, nothing else.
Lower Fee For Sellers
If you get regular sales each month, a Shopify subscription might be lower than your Etsy cost. Marketplace cost might not seem a lot per order, but if you check it per month, it will be much higher than you expect.
Full Marketing Control
With your own online store, you get to see the analytics, like what is the product click rate, and which product is popular, but not many sellers place an order. Besides, you can know their journey.
For example, while I was running a webshop for a brand, I noticed that one product got a lot of site visitors, I added some texts about a certain product, and that product sales increased. I also added a related product to another popular product page, it generates more sales, too.
If the brand had an Etsy shop, not a Shopify store, I couldn’t generate more sales for them using this strategy. That is why I recommend using Shopify.
Maintain Stronger Customer Relationship
If you have your brand website, you can decide how you want to communicate with the potential buyer after they leave your site.
You can send them an abandon cart email with some discounts or share some more stories about your brand. This is up to you.
You can even send more brand emails to your past customers, so they know more about what you offer and get more connected with your brand, so they might place another order with you.
Cons
Fixed Cost Every Month (But It Saves Marketplace Cost!)
With a Shopify subscription, you have a monthly cost. But it might not be a bad thing!
If you get regular sales via a marketplace, you might spend less money by switching to Shopify. Most people only see the monthly cost, but ignore the fact that they are paying Etsy per transaction, not a fixed cost.
Check how much you are paying the marketplace and see if it is higher than a Shopify subscription.
Paid Shopify Theme (Free When Working With Us)
You might need a paid Shopify Theme for the desired design and style. This can add extra cost to your online store setup.
Currently, we have a special offer where we will build your Shopify site using our pre-designed theme, it has all the functions you need as a seller!
Do Marketing Yourself
Having an official website, means you need to generate traffic via different platforms yourself, like YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, etc.
It might seem a lot of work and don’t see a lot of work at the start, but it is very worthwhile. It is not a one-time cost, it is an investment that will pay back in the coming months and years.
Take my web design business for example, we did quite some work on Pinterest and Google, and we had some traffic from these two platforms.
Steeper Learning Curve
Due to the flexibility of Shopify sites, it takes more time to learn how to navigate the platform. Fortunately, Shopify has improved so much that it’s also beginner-friendly to build a basic e-commerce site.
However, if you want your site to resonate with your audience, and create a strategy-based customer journey, you need a Shopify website designer for this. If you have a customer base, it is a good investment to hire one.
Takes Time To Build Trust
Have you ever visited a website and thought: is the site legitimate?
That comes to my mind every time when I visit a site without proper setup and looks unprofessional. That is why a professional website is very important for a business, especially if you use social media to generate sales these days.
Think about what are the factors that make a professional website, besides just a website.
Conclusion: Shopify Is Perfect For Makers Who Has An Audience and Etsy Is For New Sellers Without Customer Base
Shopify is a good platform for new and existing businesses, Shopify has robust features to take your business to the next scale and it is compatible with local payment gateways.
If anyone wants to start an e-commerce site, I would recommend Shopify. However, if you don’t have a customer base yet, you can also start with Etsy and try to redirect the traffic to your site and build up your customer base via different platforms at the same time.
A successful business does not happen overnight, you need time to build a successful business.
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