SHOPIFY vs ETSY- Which platform should you sell on? 🧐

About this video

Kate Hayes compares Etsy and Shopify for beginners across five categories. The core difference is that Etsy is a marketplace with its own search engine that only shows Etsy shops, while Shopify lets you build and own your own e-commerce website, found mainly via Google. Etsy wins on ease of setup and, for beginners, on budget and discovery: it is free to open, charges a 20 cent listing fee per listing (active for 4 months), a 6.5% transaction fee, and payment processing, plus an offsite ads fee only on sales that come from an offsite ad, whereas Shopify charges a monthly subscription (she cites the basic plan at $39 a month, or about $29 a month paid yearly, after a trial) plus processing. Shopify wins on customization, with themes and apps for features like upsells and loyalty programs versus only a banner, icon and profile picture on Etsy, and on long-term strategy, because shoppers remember your own brand, you can add a newsletter signup and build an email list, and Etsy retains shared control and can suspend a shop. She recommends Etsy to start and get discovered, Shopify when you have an audience and consistent revenue, and notes many sellers use both. She also promotes her free Etsy masterclass based on the system she credits with bringing her shop to six figures.

Key takeaways

• Etsy is a marketplace with built-in search and shoppers; Shopify is your own website with no marketplace search, so discovery relies on Google and your own marketing
• Etsy wins ease of setup for beginners, while Shopify offers far more customization through themes, apps and plugins
• Etsy charges per listing and per sale (20 cent listing fee and 6.5% transaction fee cited) with no required monthly subscription, while Shopify charges a flat monthly subscription plus processing
• Etsy gives beginners a discovery advantage because its algorithm can rank listings higher as sales grow; Shopify requires building brand awareness yourself
• Shopify wins long-term for brand recall, email list building and control, since Etsy can suspend or close a marketplace shop

Episode details: published November 28, 2023 · 15:50 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Kate Hayes’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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