Etsy was launched in 2005 and quickly became a global marketplace for handmade goods. It is home to millions of artists selling their crafts and creating lucrative businesses. These artisans sell creative, unique, handmade goods and vintage treasures. In 2023, Etsy had 97.3 million active buyers worldwide, generating a whopping revenue of $2.748 billion in that year alone. It is a go-to place for every art lover. Etsy provides powerful tools, support, and education to empower entrepreneurs.
While everything about Etsy revolves around making businesses blossom, why are sellers leaving and finding Etsy competitors? There are a good number of reasons.
Although Etsy began as a dedicated space for creative makers, it gradually became crowded. Sellers started to face heavier competition and higher fees—it no longer is a home to artists. This is why sellers on Etsy have started to look for similar sites.
| Read Also: How much does Etsy charge to sell your products Why Your Etsy Account Suspended and How to Recover it? |
This blog explores all of Etsy’s best alternatives and competitors to help you decide to make the switch.
As an Etsy seller, if you’re to venture into print on demand business, here’s a list of best Etsy print-on-demand partners.
Table of Contents
What is Etsy?
Etsy is a Brooklyn, New York-based company founded in 2005. It’s a major worldwide e-commerce platform where you can sell handmade items, vintage finds, and almost anything else.
How Does Etsy Work?
If you’ve never used Etsy, you must create an account by selecting the “Sell on Etsy” option. The instructions will take you through the initial steps, after which you can:
- Set up store preferences.
- Pick a store name.
- List items in your store.
- Pick payment and billing preferences.
- Launch your store following identity verification.
If you sell digital products, here’s a complete guide on how to sell digital downloads on Etsy.
Pros and Cons of Etsy
Due to recent adjustments, many sellers are searching for Etsy alternatives to complement or replace their existing stores.
One such adjustment, for example, is removing shop branding from listing pages. Before deciding, it’s critical to consider Etsy’s benefits and drawbacks.
Here’s what you need to know:
Pros
- Etsy has been in the industry for over 15 years, and buyers turn to Etsy to buy handmade and unique items.
- Setting up a shop on Etsy is easy, and the site offers several tools and resources for keeping it up and running.
- Etsy has a free plan where sellers can build a shop without much investment, unlike e-commerce platforms, which require upfront payment.
- Etsy has a huge customer base and a lively, supportive community.
- Etsy provides tools and features such as shop manager, listings manager, star seller status, ads and promoted listings, sales and coupons, shipping labels, Etsy payments, and a mobile app.
Cons
- Sellers on Etsy face colossal competition; hence, finding loyal customers is far-fetched.
- Spike in transaction charges from 5% to 6.5%.
- Etsy can suspend a shop if a seller does not adhere to the policies.
- There are mass-produced items on Etsy and faded handmade items.
- Sellers dislike the service provided by the customer support team. They have to look for resolutions in the forums.
- Over 9 million active sellers on Etsy in 2024 indicate that most markets are largely saturated.
Etsy Pricing
Etsy offers 2 plans.
Etsy Standard: A free plan is available for all sellers.
Etsy Plus: This plan costs $10/month and offers a monthly credit budget for listings, Etsy ads, and advanced shop customization options.
For more details on pricing, visit this link.
Overview of Etsy Competitors
We’ve prepared two separate lists for competitors of Etsy:
- Competitors who are marketplaces and
- Ecommerce Website Building Sites
While marketplaces focus on selling handmade products, e-commerce sites provide advanced features and functionalities to scale higher than marketplaces.
| Read Also: What sells best on Etsy |
Let’s explore all of them.
Etsy Competitors: Marketplaces
Below is the list of marketplaces that are competitors of Etsy.
Bonanza
Source – Bonanza
One of Etsy’s niche competitors is Bonanza. It is an online marketplace designed for entrepreneurs to eliminate technical work and help them build profitable businesses. This marketplace offers various customized tools for every seller’s needs.
Bonanza claims you’ll find everything but the ordinary, and the products range from art, antiques, crafts, beauty, and fashion to everyday essentials like phones and pet supplies.
Bonanza boasts a user-friendly interface, and sellers prefer it for its zero listing fees. The stand-out feature is importing listings from other marketplaces like Etsy, eBay, Amazon, and Shopify. Unlike Etsy, Bonanza has built-in marketing tools such as automatic syncing with Google Shopping, customizable promotions and discounts, and affiliate programs. Bonanza also provides detailed analytical reports.
Selling on Bonanza can be costlier than on Etsy as Bonanza is suitable for small to large businesses, while Etsy is the right choice for budding entrepreneurs.
Key Features
One-click Publishing: Bonanza provides one-click publishing to reduce manual effort and time. With one click, sellers can publish listings in major buyer channels such as Google Shopping, TheFind, Nextag, and PriceGrabber.
Automatic Sync: This seller-centric marketplace keeps the products in sync across all selling channels like eBay, Amazon, Shopify, and Etsy. Connect to other marketplaces from your Bonanza account and import listings from eBay, Amazon, Shopify, and Etsy.
Webstore: Vercado by Bonanza is a website builder that allows you to create a customized booth for your business. It allows you to get the store up and running quickly without navigating to the technical aspects. This website builder is suitable for small, medium, and large businesses.
Editing Capabilities: The ‘Booth batch editor’ is a tool for managing your listings. It lets you edit the items in bulk instead of manually editing each item.
Integrations: Bonanza allows you to integrate with Google Shopping for increased visibility.
Pros
✅Customer support team is available on various channels for quick resolution.
✅Provides access to an affiliate network of 100+ blogs and content publishers.
✅It has zero listing fees.
✅Bonnaza provides customized marketing campaign tools.
Cons
❌Brand visibility is limited compared to the other marketplaces.
Pricing
Sellers are charged a $14.99 account set-up fee and a $0.25 transaction fee on all sales made for sellers without an active membership subscription.
In addition to the transaction fee, sales made on Bonanza are subject to a Final Value Fee. The Final Value Fee depends on the Final Offer Value (FOV). FOV is the amount the buyer paid you for the item sold, plus any portion of the shipping fee that exceeds $10.
For more detailed pricing, visit this link.
Best Suited For
- Businesses of all sizes, from sole proprietors to high-volume producers and distributors.
Amazon Handmade
Source – Amazon Handmade
Amazon Handmade is one of Etsy’s biggest competitors. It is a marketplace dedicated to artisans selling unique handmade products. This platform allows artisans to sell in 80 countries.
It is a place for makers selling products in various categories: Accessories, Artwork, Baby, Beauty and personal Care, Clothing, Shoes, and handbags, Home, Outdoor and home Care, Jewelry and watches, Kitchen and dining, Pet Supplies, Sporting Goods, Stationery and party Supplies, and Toys and games.
Both platforms have a well-established community of crafters, artists, and designers selling unique items. Amazon has enormous traffic than Etsy from which you can benefit.
Setting up is much easier on Etsy, and you can start selling in hours. Amazon has to verify your application process, and this will take time.
Compared to Amazon, Etsy is cheaper. It allows you to set up a shop for free and charges $0.20 to list an item, which takes a 3.5% commission. Amazon has a monthly subscription fee, while Etsy offers free and paid plans.
Amazon offers superior customer service, while Etsy falls short. Due to increased demand from sellers, Etsy stopped offering live chat, leaving sellers frustrated.
Etsy has more sellers than buyers, making it super competitive. Amazon has many more sellers than Etsy, but there are many more buyers on Amazon, too. Additionally, Etsy has limited customization options. Your store will have etsy.com. Please note that both platforms reserve the right to shut down your shop for any reason.
Key Features
Amazon Fulfillment: Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a program that lets you outsource order fulfillment to Amazon. When a seller signs up for FBA, they offer customers free, two-day shipping through Prime. When a customer makes a purchase, the Amazon fulfillment team picks, packs, and ships the order. They also provide customer service and process returns for those orders. Thus, sellers can spend less and increase sales.
Amazon Seller App: Manage orders and inventory. Find products to sell, analyze data, and interact with customers on the go. You can also create listings and create and edit professional-quality product photos through the app.
Promote Your Products: Promote your products using no-cost promotions and pay-per-click advertising. Advertise on Amazon by creating coupons, offering percentage-off, buy 1 get one offer. Use lightning and 7-day deals on events like Prime Day. You can also create sponsored product ads, sponsored display ads, and feature up to 3 products using sponsored brand ads.
Product Reviews: Amazon Handmade offers an ‘Amazon Vine tool’ for eligible brands to generate product reviews. You can enroll a product in Vine tools and get 30 reviews per product page.
New Seller Guide: Amazon introduced the ‘New Seller Guide’ for companies looking to grow. It offers a set of brand, logistics, pricing, and promotional services, such as Amazon Global Selling, Amazon Business, and Product Opportunity Explorer. These tools are free and help businesses reach more customers.
Pros
✅Amazon Handmade has an application process for handmade goods sellers to ensure the shop has genuinely handmade products, thus ensuring a close community of artists.
✅Leverage Amazon’s presence internationally and reach hundreds of millions of customers across the globe.
✅When you sign up for an Amazon Pro account, you’ll waive the professional selling fee of $39/99 per month.
✅There are no hidden fees when you join Amazon Handmade.
Cons
❌It has higher fees compared to other marketplaces.
Pricing
Amazon Handmade offers two selling plans.
Individual: It is priced at $0.99/item sold. This plan includes access to listing and managing products, tools for revenue calculation, an Amazon seller app, and a service provider network. It is ideal for businesses selling less than 40 items per month.
Professional. This plan costs $39.99/month and includes various tools and features required to grow and manage a business.
Best Suited For
Makers of handmade goods. These makers have to go through an application process.
eBay
Source – eBay
Next up on our list is eBay, another competitor for Etsy. It’s been operational since 1995 and is the most popular platform for resellers worldwide. It has every product listed. It’s a place to find vintage items, art, antiques, collectibles, and more.
In the vintage sector, eBay is one of Etsy’s main competitors. Although you can buy handmade products on eBay, the marketplace isn’t built for them.
eBay follows a simple process: listing items, getting seller protection, and getting paid.
eBay noted a massive traffic of over 901.09 million in March 2024, making it the next biggest after Amazon. More traffic leads to enhanced visibility for your products, thus improving sales. Another advantage of eBay is that its SEO team focuses on bringing traffic from Google to the shop. eBay also protects and safeguards its sellers.
One drawback is that its customization is limited, which is also the case with Etsy. While Etsy makes it easier to set up a shop, eBay’s unfriendly user interface makes it challenging to accomplish a task and takes longer.
eBay also has heavier fees, including a commission fee ranging from 8% to 11%, compared to only a 3.5% commission fee with Etsy. You must also pay removal fees if you delete an item from the listing.
Key Features
Seller Hub: Seller Hub in eBay is a centralized location for all your selling tools. You can manage listings, monitor business, view payouts, and analyze performance. Seller Hub also gives you recommendations on how to make necessary improvements.
Marketing Tools: Create promoted listings to boost your online visibility. With Promotions Manager, you can attract new buyers and increase repeat customers by offering coupons, order discounts, shipping discounts, and more.
Storefront: When you subscribe to an eBay store, you get a customizable storefront and access to tools like the promotions manager and promoted listings.
eBay App: The eBay app on Google Play Store has 4.75 Million reviews with a rating of 4.7. Take advantage of the app to manage listings, fulfill orders, and respond to buyers on the go. Also, get real-time alerts about deals, auctions, and order updates,
Insights Tool: eBay provides a ‘Terapeak’ tool to get insights into competitors and improve listings.
Inventory Management: This platform allows you to list, bulk upload, and integrate with APIs and third-party tools.
Seller Templates: You don’t have to create a listing from scratch. Use the templates to create listings that are consistent across platforms.
Pros
✅eBay is the world’s largest marketplace, connecting buyers from everywhere.
✅It allows sellers to learn from other sellers through community forums, events, and more.
✅eBay offers protection to their sellers to keep the community a safe place.
✅This platform provides a customer support team for any assistance.
Cons
❌Final value fees vary from 3% to 15% depending on the type of product you sell.
❌It has limited customization.
❌Sellers go through high competition for regular listings
❌Complex policies and rules can lead to account suspensions.
❌eBay charges their sellers heftily on listing fees, final value fees, and other commissions.
❌Customers are dissatisfied with the customer service experience.
❌Sellers face massive competition from one another due to the heavy load of products sold.
❌Delivery of products is often delayed.
Pricing
It has 5 pricing plans.
Starter: Priced at $4.95/month, this plan is ideal for occasional sellers.
Basic: Priced at $21.95/month. This plan has additional tools to help businesses grow.
Premium: This plan costs $59.95/month and is suitable for large businesses.
Anchor: This plan costs $299. 95/month and gives you access to dedicated support.
Enterprise: This plan costs $2999.95/month and includes all the benefits with the lowest fees and highest discounts.
Best Suited For
- Every type of business. Small business owners to enterprise-level companies with huge inventories.
Walmart
Source – Walmart
Walmart is one of the fastest-growing e-commerce platforms in the U.S. It aims to simplify selling and scaling for its sellers. Walmart’s marketplace allows sellers to reach over 120 million shoppers. Walmart offers powerful tools for every aspect of your business.
Compared with Etsy, Walmart has straightforward fees. They do not charge listing or transaction fees. They only take referral fees ranging from 6% to 15%. However, only when choose Walmart Fulfillment Services, Walmart covers shipping, returns, or customer service otherwise sellers must cover these services, so selling on Walmart would exceed Etsy.
Key Features
Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS): WFS is an end-to-end fulfillment service similar to Fulfillment by Amazon. Sellers ship their inventory, and WFS stores it, ships orders, and manages returns through this service. WFS aims to provide a scalable and efficient solution for sellers to grow their business.
Walmart Connect: With Walmart Connect, sellers can promote their products to customers actively searching for them. It provides and supports sponsored search ads for products, sponsored brands, and sponsored videos. This tool maximizes the brand’s visibility through sponsored search ads.
Listing Quality: The Listing Quality Dashboard is a feature that provides a score on items and allows you to make improvements and optimize listings. This tool’s recommendations help sellers improve the item’s content and discoverability.
Walmart Brand Portal: This tool allows brands to protect and manage their intellectual property. You can manage your registered brands, intellectual property claims, and authorized representatives. You can also submit claims, monitor them, and track their status.
Marketing: SEO marketing is another tool by Walmart that focuses on improving the reach and traffic for Google Shopping ads.
Pros
✅This e-commerce platform provides many innovative solutions to run businesses successfully.
✅Walmart charges no fees for setup.
✅Offers a simple joining process.
✅Offers self-fulfillment operations for faster delivery and streamlined shipping setup through Walmart API.
Cons
❌ Prices set by sellers must not interfere with Walmart’s Price Parity Rule and Price Leadership Rule.
❌ Fewer audience compared to Amazon.
Pricing
Walmart has no costs involved. It charges the sellers with a referral fee per item sold.
Sellers can get in touch with the sales team for pricing.
Best Suited For
- Walmart is suitable for professional sellers and brands of all sizes.
Etsy Competitors: E-Commerce Sites
Below is the list of e-commerce websites that are competitors of Etsy.
Shopify
Source – Shopify
Shopify is an all-in-one commerce platform that unifies all e-commerce functionalities in a single dashboard. With Shopify, you can build and customize an online store and sell anywhere, across the web, mobile, in-person, brick-and-mortar locations, social media, marketplaces, and pop-up shops.
Shopify provides all essential tools, including a comprehensive marketing suite and features to manage products, inventory, payments, and shipping. It also offers various third-party tools to grow businesses.
Comparing Etsy and Shopify, with Shopify, you will incur additional transaction fees alone. In contrast, Etsy charges you listing fees, transaction fees per sale, conversion fees, ad fees, and a payment processing fee per transaction.
Customer support is available 24/7 through chat, phone, and email. Although Etsy claims the support team is available on chat, phone, and email, most concerns are prompted via email.
You’ll enjoy customizations with drag-and-drop features with Shopify, but Etsy does not have this feature.
Key Features
Shopify Themes: With Shopify themes, you can build a website and a brand with a fully customizable website. Shopify offers built-in features such as discounts and recommendations and optimizes the website by making it mobile-friendly.
App Integrations: Leverage over 8000 third-party apps available on the Shopify app store for every aspect of your business.
Sell everywhere: With Shopify, you can reach millions of customers and publish your product on marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and Etsy and social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and online search by syncing with Google and across.
Sell Globally: Shopify is the only place that allows you to sell in multiple countries and on a large scale. You can manage all Shopify market features in admin to manage localization, shipping, duties, and compliance from a single source.
Marketing Tools: Shopify provides its own apps to scale sellers’ marketing efforts. It offers blogging and SEO tools like Shopify Magic to help people find your products.
Measure Performance: With Shopify’s pre-built reports, uncover your loyal customers, compare your store performance with others, and measure performance across multiple channels.
Pros
✅Build a website through the drag-and-drop feature without any coding.
✅This e-commerce platform offers you customizable templates to build your brand.
✅Make use of third-party apps to add more features and functionalities to your store.
✅Sell online, in person, across channels, and internationally via Shopify.
Cons
❌This e-commerce platform requires customers to choose third-party apps, incurring extra costs.
❌There are limits to design flexibility.
❌Shopify plans are pretty expensive for businesses looking to save money.
❌Templates are few to choose from, incurring extra costs.
Pricing
Shopify offers 4 different pricing plans.
Basic: This plan costs $19/month and offers 10 inventory locations, 24/7 chat support, up to 3 markets, and POS Lite.
Shopify: Priced at $49/month, offers 5 additional staff accounts apart from the features included in the Basic plan.
Advanced: This plan costs $299/month and includes 15 staff accounts, 10X checkout capacity, reports, and analytics.
Plus: This plan costs $2300/month, offering 200 inventory locations, priority support, unlimited staff accounts, and many more advanced features.
Best Suited For
- Shopify supports solo entrepreneurs as well as small, medium, large, and complex businesses.
Wix
Source – Wix
Next on our list is Wix, another competitor of Etsy. Founded in 2006, Wix offers everything merchants need to build, run, and scale their businesses.
Wix is cheaper than Etsy. Including all the basic additional fees, Etsy can cost you more than 11% of your item. Although this might sound reasonable for sellers making fewer sales, it’s a downfall for stores making huge sales.
Although Wix provides various customization options, Etsy’s ease of use stands out. Wix provides themes and custom designs, but Etsy doesn’t. Both these platforms provide shipping and fulfillment services.
Key Features
Storefront Design: It lets you create a customized website for your store, animate content, edit images, and tailor the design for mobile devices to ensure a seamless experience.
AI Website Builder: Build your website in no time with AI. Provide prompts and create a website for your business. This includes creating a custom site, adding images, and more.
Generate With AI: Wix takes a step further by using AI to create titles, product descriptions, enhanced images, email generators, and SEO metatags. AI can also provide insights into website performance and give tips on how to improve.
Website Templates: Leverage 900+ customizable templates for your mobile and web stores.
Marketing Suite: Utilize SEO tools, paid ad features, email marketing templates, social media, and blogging tools. For instance, you can create a Google ad campaign or email campaign and analyze the results of your marketing efforts. Promote your products using coupons and discounts.
Multichannel Selling: Take advantage of Wix’s multichannel sales and sell on multiple marketplaces, in-person and online, such as Amazon, eBay, and Facebook.
Analytics: Track visitors’ behavior on your website to make informed decisions.
Pros
✅Automates inventory synchronization across all channels.
✅This platform offers customized reports, real-time analytics, and AI-powered benchmarks.
✅Offers Wix Help Center for helpful tutorials and articles.
✅It also provides a dedicated customer support team.
✅Offers a custom checkout experience
Cons
❌Free sites hosted on Wix have Wix branding.
❌Once you’ve outgrown Wix, transferring to another e-commerce platform is impossible.
❌For free sites, you can’t access tracking and analytics.
❌Wix has vast hidden fees.
Pricing
Wix offers 6 different pricing plans. All plans include a custom domain and 24/7 customer care. It also has a free plan.
Free: Priced at $0/month.
Light: Priced at $16/month
Core: Priced at $29/month
Business: Priced at $32/month
Business Elite: Priced at $159/month.
Enterprise: This plan has custom pricing.
Best Suited For
- Small, growing, and established businesses.
- Large businesses and big brands.
Squarespace
Source – Squarespace
Squarespace was launched in 2003 and opened doors to millions of websites since its inception. Squarespace has customers across industries such as fitness, beauty, restaurants, weddings, and enterprises, including creators, bloggers, and photographers.
It offers various tools for design, marketing, analytics, and more.
Squarespace is an all-in-one tool for opening a store and building a brand. It gives you complete control over your store, and you can customize and promote it using templates and built-in marketing tools.
With Etsy, you get limited customization capabilities, and you don’t own your store on Etsy as they suspend your store at any time. If you’re looking for a platform to build a long-lasting brand, Squarespace is the right place. If you’re just starting, Etsy might be the better place for you.
Key Features
Inventory and Order Management: The platform streamlines processes and lets you stay on top of business management. Manage your inventory and get visibility over variants and stock levels. The system will send you an update on lower inventory levels. Manage and track pending orders and get packing slips from a single interface.
Marketing Tools: Squarespace helps you build mailing lists, create email campaigns, and customize banners. Integrate with Facebook and Instagram and start selling directly from the apps. Additionally, you can monitor performance through page views and other metrics.
Squarespace AI: Say goodbye to writer’s block with Squarespace AI. Generate creative copies, web copies, and product descriptions. Humanize the content to make relevant copies and build real connections.
Automate Tax: Using ‘TaxJar,’ automate sale tax calculation, filing, and reporting.
Squarespace Mobile App: View order details, access customer information, and shipping address through the app available on iOS and Android.
Inventory Sync: You can automatically sync inventory on Squarespace with other e-commerce platforms, such as QuickBooks, Ecwid, and GoDaddy.
Website Templates: Create a website using easy-to-customize templates.
Pros
✅This platform provides simple payment and checkout options.
✅Offers flexible shipping options such as weight-based, carrier-based, flat-rate, and free shipping.
✅You can customize the invoice by choosing to include or exclude tax.
✅Squarespace supports Integrations with popular social media apps like Facebook and Instagram.
✅Provides marketing and SEO tools to build brand awareness on the web and social media.
Cons
❌This platform has some limits to design.
❌This e-commerce platform does not allow switching templates.
❌No free plan is available.
❌The customer support lacks phone-based service.
❌Does not support multilingual sites.
Pricing
Squarespace offers a 14-day free trial and has 4 different pricing plans.
Personal: This plan costs $16/month and provides access to customizable templates, a custom domain, invoices, and a mobile-optimized website.
Business: This plan costs $23/month and includes advanced web analytics and personal plan features.
Commerce(Basic): This plan costs $28/month. This plan provides tools to help grow businesses.
Commerce(Advanced): This plan is $52/month and provides all the tools required for advanced-level businesses.
Best Suited For
- Small and medium businesses looking to build a long lasting brand.
WooCommerce
Source – WooCommerce
WooCommerce is another big competitor of Etsy. It was launched in 2008 as WooThemes and later renamed to WooCommerce in 2017. It is a flexible, open-source commerce solution built on WordPress. WooCommerce’s unique selling points include its flexibility and scalability.
WooCommerce is a free, open-source platform empowering small and medium businesses to sell anything, anywhere. It’s a plugin you can download on your host and start using.
The main advantage of WooCommerce over Etsy is its customization capabilities. While Etsy provides features to personalize your store, they are limited to store banners, layouts, etc. With WooCommerce, you have access to themes and custom designs. It also offers plugins with functionalities like social media integrations, advanced product filters, and personalized recommendations.
Etsy also supports integrations with social media sites like Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Google Shopping.
Key Features
WooCommerce Themes: Get complete control in customizing every part of your online store without having to code. Create custom themes across industries like Arts, Gifts, Health, Fashion, Beauty, etc.
Integrations: Market your products on social media platforms, across Google networks, and third-party marketplaces like Pinterest, Amazon, and eBay.
Customized Checkout: Using WooCommerce block-based checkout, create customizable checkout and order confirmation pages. Customized checkout processes increase conversions and reduce friction, thereby increasing sales.
WooCommerce Shipping: The WooCommerce dashboard displays shipping rates on your store. You can print labels directly from WooCommerce and save on shipping.
Woo Mobile App: Take advantage of the app to create products, process orders, and track data in real-time.
Multichannel Selling: Reach new audiences and increase sales by selling across multiple channels, including popular marketplaces like Amazon, social media platforms like TikTok, and search engines like Google.
Pros
✅You can hire an agency from WooExpert agencies to build your store.
✅This platform offers hundreds of extensions and themes to streamline your business.
✅You can customize your store with advanced features.
✅Get access to a dedicated support team.
✅WooEnterprise is another service by WooCommerce for high-volume stores.
Cons
❌WooCommerce is not suitable for non-wordpress sites.
❌There are hidden costs.
❌WooCommerce lacks legal documentation, which could lead to problems for users in countries other than the U.S.
❌This platform has limited customization capabilities.
Pricing
WooCommerce offers a 14-day free trial. Upgrade to any paid plan for just a dollar for the first three months.
It has two plans.
Essential: This plan costs $39/month after 3 months and provides tools to launch an online store.
Performance: This plan costs $70/month after 3 months. The plan’s features allow you to scale your store.
Best Suited For
- Small and medium businesses looking to build a customized store.
- Enterprise businesses.
Big Cartel
Source – Big Cartel
Big Cartel is a site similar to Etsy and a niche competitor to Etsy. It is a platform for small and creative businesses. Founded in 2005, it is a home to creators selling t-shirts, art, prints, jewelry, and more.
Big Cartel is an e-commerce platform with a user-friendly design that allows you to build your online store without worrying about setting up WordPress or another type of website. Bigcartel has generated over $2.5 billion in sales and now powers 64,000+ online stores.
This platform charges no transaction fees, whereas Etsy charges 6.5%. Both platforms allow easy setup. Big Cartel offers templates that are missing with Etsy.
Both of these platforms lack built-in marketing tools and instant payout options. Etsy has a huge customer base and allows you to sell unlimited products.
Etsy additional charges include a 6.5% transaction fee for every item sold, a 4% + 0.30 EUR payment processing fee, and a 15% offsite ads fee (if you sell through their ads). It is tough for a beginner to afford Etsy.
Big Cartel’s highest pricing plan is $29.99/month. However, Its Free plan only allows 5 products and payment processing can take up to 7 days.
To sum up, choose Etsy if you’ve no restrictions on budget and go for Big Cartel for a cost-effective solution with few functionalities operating slower and limitations in its free plan.
Key Features
Custom Shop: Big Cartel offers various templates suitable for mobile and desktop. These themes, which are available for free, can be used to customize your store by coding. All these themes, whether free or paid, include high-quality product images and consistent design across devices.
Promote Via Ads: Create and run ads on Google and Facebook and use targeting options.
Track Performance: Big Cartel offers a real-time sales dashboard to monitor key metrics and support Google Analytics for insightful data.
Mobile App: Use the app to manage products, and orders, and sell everywhere. The app has over 10,000 downloads, 155 reviews, and a 3.5 rating.
Integrations: Big Cartel allows you to connect with various apps, including Mailchimp, Instagram, and Zapier, to promote your products and amplify your reach.
Pros
✅No listing fees or hidden fees.
✅Artists can offer discounts and run promotions.
✅Take help from tutorials and resources available for free.
✅Contact the support team for any queries.
✅Big Cartel provides shipment and inventory tracking.
Cons
❌Big Cartel customers find using the app very annoying. They complain about its bugs.
❌This platform is not for large and enterprise-level businesses.
Pricing
With Big Cartel, users can forever enjoy a free plan named Gold.
Gold: A free plan. This plan covers everything a business needs to sell online and in person.
Platinum: This plan costs $12/month. It is suitable for businesses with more inventory and shipments.
Diamond: Priced at $24/month. This plan offers features to scale your business.
Best Suited For
- Makers, artists, and small brands looking to open a store and start selling.
Conclusion
We believe this guide helped you to gain a perspective on Etsy competitors. We understand it must be difficult to migrate from one platform to another.
We advise you to understand your business requirements and explore the alternatives clearly. Each of these platforms listed has its benefits. Examine these platforms carefully and choose the right tools that stand out for you and your business.
FAQs
1. Who are Etsy’s main competitors?
Etsy’s main competitors include eBay, Amazon Handmade, and Walmart, each offering unique platforms for artisans and vintage item sellers.
2. What makes Amazon Handmade a strong competitor to Etsy?
Amazon Handmade offers a large customer base, strong logistics, and the backing of Amazon’s robust e-commerce infrastructure, making it a strong competitor to Etsy in the handmade goods market.
3. How does eBay compare to Etsy in terms of selling vintage items?
eBay offers a broader marketplace for a variety of items, including vintage goods, making it highly competitive due to its auction-style selling format and large user base.
4. What advantages does Shopify offer over Etsy?
Shopify provides sellers with their own customizable online store, greater control over branding, and avoids the listing fees common on Etsy, catering to businesses looking to scale.
5. Is Big Cartel suitable for beginner sellers?
Big Cartel is suitable for beginner sellers, especially those with smaller product lines, as it offers a simpler, more user-friendly interface and affordable plans.
6. Are there any niche platforms that compete with Etsy?
Big Cartel, Folksy, and Redbubble are the niche platforms that compete with Etsy. These marketplaces are known for crafts, arts, and handmade goods.
7. What should sellers consider when choosing an alternative to Etsy?
Sellers should consider factors such as the target audience, fees, site traffic, customization options, and the type of support the platform offers.
8. Is there a better alternative to Etsy?
The better alternative depends on the seller’s specific needs. Platforms like Shopify or Big Cartel might be better for those wanting more control, whereas Amazon Handmade, Walmart, and eBay could be superior for reaching a larger audience.
9. Does Etsy have a competitor?
Yes, Etsy has several competitors, including Amazon Handmade, eBay, Walmart, Shopify, Wix, WooCommerce, Squarespace, Big Cartel, Redbubble, Folksy, Bonanza, and more.
10. Is Shopify or Etsy better?
The choice between Shopify and Etsy depends on the seller’s needs: Shopify is better for full-scale business operations and brand control. Etsy is ideal for reaching a dedicated audience interested in handmade and unique items.
11. Is there an Etsy equivalent in India?
Yes, platforms like Authindia, Craftsvilla, and Mirraw serve a similar market in India, focusing on handmade, vintage, and ethnic products.
12. Who is Etsy’s biggest competitor?
Amazon Handmade and eBay are considered Etsy’s biggest competitors due to their size, customer base, and diverse product offerings. E-commerce platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce are also the biggest competitors.
