As a creative person you are likely to want to share your handmade items with others. Fortunately, selling your goods online has become much easier: Simply choose the right marketplace for your products, take high-quality photos, give your items a professional finish with personalized labels or hangtags and you're ready to go!
If you are familiar with our blog, then you know that we think Etsy is an excellent platform for selling handmade goods. But it's not the only online marketplace out there and there are some interesting alternatives to Etsy that are worth looking at.
Why Look at Alternatives?
Etsy is a large international platform that allows you to reach millions of customers around the world. The popularity of Etsy offers a lot of potential, but also means that there may be too much competition from other sellers.
Price-wise, Etsy is very attractive and offers many useful tools and add-ons for marketing and selling your unique items. You need to consider whether the total cost is worth it for you and fits into your budget: Comparing what other sites offer before making a decision definitely makes sense.
Another important point to keep in mind is that each marketplace has different rules. Etsy's policies are fairly straightforward, but may not be tailored to your specific needs.
We want to help you find the right platform! In the blog post "What is Etsy?" we gave you an overview of the largest online portal. In this article we'll introduce you to alternatives to Etsy that are worth considering.
Amazon Handmade
You've heard of Amazon, right? But you might not have heard of its online platform for handmade products: Amazon Handmade.
Not everyone can sell their products here. You have to apply to become a seller and prove that the items are handmade by you or a small group (e.g. family members or employees). As with Etsy, mass production is not welcome! And digital products, electronics and food are not allowed to be sold on Amazon Handmade either.
Products: Handmade products, also prefabricated items with own design or upcycled used items
Potential Customers: Large global reach (about 197 million).
Price: Referral fee of 12%; No fees for joining, creating a shop and listing your products
Number of Articles: Unlimited
Customization: Good degree of customization; Detailed product descriptions can be added
Effort: Substantial when setting up, very detailed information required to increase visibility
Pros: - Global reach
- Large user base
Cons: - Sale of digital products, electronics and food prohibited
- Limited analytical tools
- Low customer retention (minimal contact with customers)
Zazzle
Zazzle is the perfect place for graphic designers, photographers and artists. Customers use your artwork to personalize items in the shop, such as mugs, cards and accessories. It couldn't be easier: you upload your designs and Zazzle takes care of the printing, shipping and customer service.
Products: Wide range of customizable products
Potential Customers: 30 million
Price: Seller receives approx. 15% of the selling price
Number of Items: Unlimited
Customer Retention: Minimal contact with customers
Effort: Minimal, just create and upload your designs
Pros: - Zazzle does most of the work
Cons: - No possibility of offering your own products
- Only suitable for designs / artwork
Storenvy
Storenvy is a lesser-known platform that specializes in artwork, crafts and homewares. You can set up an attractive shop within 5 minutes - even without any technical know-how. Storenvy provides you with tools to manage and market your shop and also offers additional apps and integrations.
Products: Artwork, crafts and homewares
Potential Customers: 1 million
Price: 15% commission
Number of Items: Up to 20 - up to 5000, depending on what plan you choose
Customisation: Storefront can be customised with HTML and CSS
Effort: Moderate, customization is required
Pros: - Customizable storefront
- Analytical tools
- Discount codes and other marketing tools
- Can be linked to own domain
Cons: - Customization requires more effort
- Limited customer support
Productswithlove
This aspiring online marketplace, founded in 2018, is aimed at sellers of DIY items from the European Union and Switzerland. However, the platform is also intended as a meeting place for creative people, both buyers and sellers. Whether in the blog, the forum or the Facebook group, like-minded people can exchange ideas and find inspiration here.
Products: Handmade products from the EU and Switzerland
Potential Customers: 2000
Price: 3% sales commission, no listing fee, $24 - $74 per year (depending on the plan you choose)
Number of Items: Unlimited
Pros: - Support from seasoned sellers, programmers and lawyers
- Individual items or the entire shop can be highlighted (for a fee)
- Help with importing products from Etsy
Cons: - Small target audience
Fairmondo
If you're passionate about sustainability, you've come to the right place. This is a cooperative that wants to offer a fair alternative to conventional online trade. Fairmondo promotes fair, sustainable products and supports organisations that fight corruption. Products can also be exchanged, lent and given away here. The marketplace is open to individuals and commercial traders alike.
Products: Fair Trade, eco-friendly and homemade
Potential Customers: A few thousand
Price: -No listing and selling fees for individuals
-7% sales commission (maximum $34) and 4% for fair products (maximum $17) for commercial sellers
Pros: - Fair and environmentally conscious
- Automatic donation to an initiative against corruption (1% of each transaction)
- Products from small producers and used rarities
Cons: - Very few potential customers
Shopify
Maybe your dream is to have your own online shop instead of selling your goods through a marketplace. With this cloud-based shop system, you can make that dream come true! Simply put, Shopify is a modular system for creating online shops. The system includes all the tools you need to sell your products and is easy to use even without any programming skills.
Products: Any
Potential Customers: Anyone with Internet access
Price: Monthly fee depending on plan / membership ($29/month -$299/month), 1.5 - 3% commission, marketing expenses can vary
Number of Items: Unlimited
Customisation: Highly customisable
Customer Retention: Very close contact with your customers
Pros: - Free choice of design, categories, prices, discounts and much more.
- No programming knowledge necessary
Cons: - You will need to establish your own customer base
As you can see, there are several sales platforms for handmade goods! Of course, you can find more information about the individual marketplaces online. We hope that this short overview will help you choose the right platform for you.
