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last updated 16/07/2023

Top 7 Alternatives to Etsy 2023

Etsy is considered an ideal destination for small businesses & enterprises selling handmade products.

 

It is one of the leading marketplaces for handmade art and craft products.

alternatives to Etsy

Customers prefer shopping from Etsy as they get a wide variety of products under one roof.

 

However, Etsy shop owners have recently been a bit discontent with this marketplace. One of the main reasons is the whooping 30 percent increase in Etsy seller transaction fees.

 

In April 2022, Etsy announced an increase in its transaction fees from 5 percent to 6.5 percent. As a result, many sellers protested by going on strike.

 

Therefore, more and more small businesses are now looking for alternatives to Etsy.

 

Hello there! If you are a small business specializing in art and craft handmade products and are looking for a solid Etsy alternative, then worry not! You’ve come to the right place.

 

Etsy is a great marketplace to start with. But if you feel that now is the time to branch out and explore other online marketplaces, we are here to help.

 

In this article, we provide you with an exhaustive list of the top 7 Etsy alternatives.

 

Whether you are a small shop just starting out or a handmade product manufacturer looking to scale up, there is something on the list for everyone.

 

Finding the right Etsy alternatives becomes even more crucial if you’ve just started your handmade products business. Investing in an e-commerce platform is a big decision. You don’t want to leave any stone unturned while making a choice.

 

Whether you are looking for purely web-building Etsy alternatives or marketplace Etsy alternatives, our list covers them all.

 

Our meticulously researched list of the top 7 Etsy alternatives would help you make the best decision for your handmade product business by enabling you to make a detailed comparison of their respective features.

 

 

Why look for Etsy alternatives?

 

1.    Too many restrictive rules

 

Etsy is a great marketplace for sellers but unfortunately, it’s full of restrictive rules.

 

Etsy prohibits online shops from selling products they didn’t create or design themselves. Reselling handmade goods is not allowed on the Etsy marketplace.

 

Etsy has a set of complex rules, and not following them could get your account suspended.

 

Also, their rules keep on changing, adding to the confusion. Many sellers thus look for other options.

 

 

2.    Limited control over your Etsy store

 

Another issue with the Etsy e-commerce platform is it gives you rather limited ownership over your Etsy store.

 

That’s one reason why many sellers start looking for other options.

 

Etsy marketplace stores all your online data, making it challenging to run complex marketing campaigns or access customer data for advanced market research without running into the risk of violating a third-party agreement.

 

There are restrictions on sending automated emails or retargeting ads to customers across sales channels.

 

Sellers looking to gain more ownership of their Etsy stores and be able to run more advanced marketing campaigns eventually want to switch over to other alternatives.

 

 

3.    Hit the Etsy ceiling

 

It is another reason why Etsy sellers feel like moving onto other e-commerce platforms.

 

     They have hit the Etsy ceiling, that is, hit as high sales volumes as they could by remaining within the Etsy framework.

 

Maybe, they have reached a position where they want to expand their handmade goods business and move into mass production. Naturally, they start looking for a more flexible and accommodative platform than Etsy.

Advantages of switching to an Etsy alternative

 

Switching to an Etsy alternative can be useful for revamping your handmade goods business and taking it to the next level.

 

When you realize that Etsy is no longer fulfilling your business objectives and giving your business the desired growth, it’s time to make a transition.

 

Here are a few advantages of switching over to Etsy alternatives.

 

 

1.    Gets you the right target customer base

 

 If your Etsy products are not getting the required traffic or expected sales, your products are not being showcased to the right customer base.

 

You could test your Etsy product listing’s traffic to check if you are getting the expected traffic or sales or not.

 

If your Etsy traffic and sales are not as expected, it’s probably time to switch to an Etsy alternative.

 

 

 

2.    Better Customer insights

Advanced market research is imperative for ensuring the long-term growth of your Etsy business.

 

One of the major drawbacks of Etsy is limited customer insight. It gathers a meager amount of customer data that can be a roadblock for a business looking to undertake exhaustive customer data research and gain detailed insight into customer behavior and buying patterns.

 

If you are looking for an option that gives you the freedom to gather customer data from your end, it’s time to switch to an Etsy alternative.

 

3.    More brand control

alternatives to Etsy
If you are looking for a more favorable business environment to launch your handmade products business, you must look for an alternative to Etsy.

 

Switching to other options gives you more freedom to run targeted and innovative marketing campaigns, as per the nature of your products and niche. You would no longer be limited by the Etsy algorithm and its limiting rules.

 

Etsy alternatives give you more control over branding, design, and functionality.

 

The etsy e-commerce platform is designed keeping in mind handmade goods businesses that have just started out. They cater to small sellers looking for a convenient marketplace for their artisan products. But, if you are an ambitious and growing business that desires better brand control, it’s time to move on.

 

4.    Gives you a better chance to scale up your business

 

If your Etsy handmade goods business is successful, you might want to scale up and begin producing handmade goods on a mass scale.

 

Etsy e-commerce platform is not well suited for that, so if you are an ambitious business looking to scale up, switching to Etsy alternatives is a better option.

 

Etsy alternatives give you the added advantage of growing your business without too many bottlenecks.

 

Check out our article on Are Etsy ads worth it.

Top 7 Etsy Alternatives

 

 

1.    Shopify – best alternative to Etsy

alternatives to Etsy - Shopify
Shopify is considered the best all-around e-commerce platform.

 

It was founded in 2006 and has emerged as the best Etsy alternative since then.

 

Shopify gives you complete ownership of your online store as you can create your e-commerce website, fill up the inventory, and track customer orders and requests.

 

Shopify gives you the option to set up your own customized store and create a unique brand experience from scratch.

 

It is a dynamic e-commerce platform that enables you to sell through multiple channels – an online store, pop-up shop, retail store, and social media.

 

 

Why choose Shopify

 

  • Enhanced brand control – Shopify gives you a greater degree of store ownership and brand control. It allows you to use your own domain name, thus giving you ownership of your customer list and store. It gives you more freedom to market your brand and draw in new customer segments.
  • Relaxed rules – Shopify is a great Etsy alternative because there is no limit to the kind of products and the number of products you can sell on this e-commerce marketplace. Etsy caters mostly to sellers specializing in handmade products and art and craft supplies. But Shopify allows you to sell all kinds of products including home office equipment, electronics, smartphone accessories, pet accessories, car and bike accessories, etc. It also gives you the option to sell other people’s products through dropshipping.
  • Price – The good thing about Shopify is it doesn’t charge you any listing fees. Instead, you pay a monthly subscription fee along with a standard fee for crest card processing per transaction. Their monthly subscription fee model is economical for businesses that make sales regularly.
  • Great features – Shopify offers its sellers super effective built-in marketing tools and powerful analytics. It comes with a massive app store to help you create that perfectly customized site for your business needs and also offers features like inventory management and shipping fulfillment.
  • User-Friendly – The best thing about Shopify is it’s not too high on technical jargon. It’s user-friendly and easy to set up with over 60 pre-designed themes to choose from. Each theme comes with a set of innovative features such as the product zoom option for inventory images. Shopify interface has action buttons to guide you through the whole process of setting up a store.

 

 

Shopify is best for:

 

It’s ideal for sellers who have achieved good sales and are serious about considerable business growth and possibly expanding their scope of operations. It’’s also a good Etsy alternative for sellers who would like to shift from Etsy to a self-hosted website.

 

 

Shopify Price

 

Plans start at 39 dollars per month and can go upwards to 399 dollars per month.

 

Pros and Cons

 

Pros:

 

  • Shopify is a great Etsy alternative for those who want to grow their business and build a solid brand presence.
  • It’s user-friendly
  • easy to set up and comes equipped with many innovative features.

 

Cons

 

  • Shopify is somewhat more expensive than other Etsy alternatives and the monthly subscription costs might not be feasible for sellers unable to make regular sales.
  • Also, unlike Etsy, it doesn’t give you automatic access to a marketplace full of customers who like to shop for your kind of products.
  • You need to build your customer base and traffic from scratch by investing in innovative online marketing.

 

 

2. Amazon Handmade – great Etsy alternative for handmade goods

alternatives to Etsy - Amazon Handmade
Amazon Handmade is the direct competitor of Etsy.

 

Like Etsy, Amazon’s Handmade marketplace also deals with handmade products and vintage items. It’s thus one of the best Etsy alternatives for craftspersons and artisans selling their creations.

 

Just as Amazon is known for mass-produced goods, Amazon Handmade was developed as an exclusive e-commerce marketplace for artisan products. It comes with a huge audience of shoppers looking for unique handmade products.

 

Amazon Handmade is a good Etsy alternative for artisans and craftspersons looking to scale their enterprise and boost sales.

 

 

Why choose Amazon Handmade

 

  • More organized than Etsy – Amazon Handmade’s product categorization is way more organized than Etsy’s. It features 12 product categories with precise detailing tailor-made for different kinds of handmade products. For Amazon Handmade sellers, it gets easier to determine the exact product category that helps them reach the right buyer segment.

 

  • Great tools – Amazon Handmade offers you a range of sophisticated business management and marketing tools. You get the option to create listings with no expiry date and also the facility to customize product listings. This Amazon marketplace for handmade goods is also equipped with powerful web analytics. Moreover, you get access to additional features like Amazon-sponsored promotions and shipping via FBA ( Fulfillment by Amazon ).

 

  • Ease of Use – Amazon Handmade has a user-friendly interface relatively easy to navigate, although it’s mandatory to go through Amazon’s 4-step process before you can start selling.

 

  • Good Customer Service – Amazon Handmade is a good Etsy alternative because it provides better customer service compared to Etsy. Amazon’s customer service teams are available round the clock to address and rectify any issues sellers might face. Thus, you get a superior quality of customer service at Amazon Handmade.

 

  • Zero listing fee – Amazon Handmade doesn’t charge any fees for listing, unlike Etsy This is an added advantage although they do charge a 15 percent referral fee on the total sales price.

 

  • Incredible Reach – Amazon Handmade is one of the best Etsy alternatives because Amazon has an incredibly huge reach. By becoming a seller on this e-commerce platform, you get the advantage of tapping into Amazon’s huge market.

 

 

Amazon Handmade is best for:

 

It’s best for sellers who already have an Amazon Professional Selling Account and are in the business of producing handmade goods.

 

This option is also great for Etsy sellers who want to scale their business. Amazon Handmade gives access to a larger marketplace; thus it’s ideal for relatively large businesses with a substantial sales volume.

 

Amazon Handmade Price

 

To become an Amazon Handmade seller, you need to have an Amazon Professional Selling Account, the fee for which is 39.99 dollars per month. Once you get approved for Amazon Handmade, the fee is waived after the first month. So you can technically become a seller for free. But Amazon takes a 15 percent feel on all your sales.

 

Pros and Cons

 

Pros

 

  • Amazon Handmade doesn’t charge any monthly fee, you pay only once to set up an Amazon Professional Selling account and then pay a commission only when you make a sale.
  • You also get the advantage of high sales traffic and volume and high investment ROI.

 

Cons

 

  • The 15 percent fee they charge on every sale is too high and might not be feasible for small sellers.
  • Having an Amazon Professional Selling Account is mandatory.
  • Another flipside is Amazon Handmade doesn’t support digital and downloadable products as yet.

 

 

3. eBay Online Store

alternatives to Etsy - Ebay

Founded in 1995, eBay is one of the oldest e-commerce marketplaces around.

 

eBay was, in fact, the first auction website. Although it started as a marketplace for buying and selling used products, one can now find almost anything on this site.

 

eBay is a great option to set up an online store for selling vintage or crafty items.

 

It’s also one of the biggest marketplaces around, and the sheer number of items you find on their site can be overwhelming. But that’s precisely its USP. Buyers get spoilt for choice as they get access to an incredibly large range of goods from all over the world.

 

If you want to use eBay just for occasional selling or buying, the procedure is simple. You only need to register your email and fill in some personal data. However, if you want to create a proper eBay online store, you must subscribe to a paid plan.

 

eBay follows a multi-level customized fee structure, and the amount will depend on your region along with the total value of your items. But more on that later. Let’s first check out the reasons why eBay is a great alternative to Etsy.

 

 

Why choose eBay

 

  • Vast Marketplace – eBay’s huge marketplace creates enormous potential for growth and discoverability on this e-commerce platform. In terms of reach, eBay comes second to Amazon. The traffic on Etsy is pretty low compared to that of eBay. That’s the main reason why it’s a great alternative to Etsy. You get to tap into the benefits of a huge marketplace that can bring unexpected results for your market and brand!

 

  • Unique selling model – eBay‘s unique selling model lets users sell their products online as ‘in an auction’ or ‘buy it now’. The auction model is highly interactive and can be extraordinarily profitable for the seller. When something is put on auction, buyers get locked in intense competition and try to outbid each other. The product is then sold to the highest bidder.

 

  • Allows sale of used items – One of the advantages of selling on eBay is you can sell items in any condition. It’s the best marketplace to find unique and vintage second-hand products. This gives sellers the advantage of selling a range and variety of products without getting bogged down by too many rules.

 

  • Ease of use – eBay has an easy-to-use interface. It’s easy to set up an online store on this marketplace. eBay offers sellers a few customization options for setting up their store. Store owners get access to multiple tools for personalizing their logo, banner, picture, and shop description.

 

  • Effective tools – eBay has an effective set of tools for sellers making it a good alternative to Etsy. You get the option of selling templates to create similar listings. eBay’s unique Manager tools enable you to edit listings and monitor sales. Its mobile app is extremely hands-on and takes care of most of the selling process and store management.

 

 

eBay is best for:

 

eBay is best for ambitious sellers looking to reach millions of customers easily and quickly. It’s an ideal platform for businesses looking at a sharp growth curve by exposing their product line to a huge customer base.

 

eBay Price

 

The eBay marketplace charges its sellers two types of fees: an insertion fee or a listing fee and a final value fee.

 

Sellers can register up to 250 products every month without having to pay listing fees. After that, they’ll have to pay 35 cents per month per listing.

 

The final value fee has wide variations depending on the nature of your product. It is calculated as a percentage of your final sales price, along with 30 cents per order.

 

eBay has a complicated multi-tier pricing structure. To find out more about eBay’s pricing and the different kinds of plans they offer, you must check out their website.

 

Pros and Cons

 

Pros

 

  • Huge reach.
  • Simple Set up
  • Most of the selling operations can be done through the eBay mobile app
  • One of the oldest platforms with a solid reputation
  • Low fees compared to other alternatives

 

 

Cons

 

  • Limited options for customization
  • Unusually high level of competition for regular listings
  • eBay’s huge market size can also make it difficult for you to find the right customers by impacting discoverability

 

 

4. Wix – one of the best Etsy alternatives

alternatives to Etsy - Wix

Wix is great for sellers who want to create a stunning online store with just a few clicks.

 

It is one of the best online marketplaces for creating aesthetically pleasing websites with minimal technical effort.

 

Wix is a cloud-based platform that enables you to create a website for your online store with the help of drag-and-drop tools. The amazing Wix apparatus for website creation ensures that you can create the most perfect website without any knowledge of design skills or coding.

 

For this reason, this alternative to Etsy is truly a game-changer for businesses that want to create a visually appealing website despite a lack of technical expertise.

 

Wix does not charge listing fees and offers a variety of tools to help businesses run effective marketing campaigns and sell their products online.

 

In the next section, let’s take a look at some of Wix’s features that make it one of the best alternatives.

 

Why choose Wix


  • User-Friendly
    – Wix is one of the most user-friendly online marketplaces. That’s the main reason why you should choose Wix over Etsy. It’s super easy to set up an impressive online store using Wix tools. It is the ideal website builder.

 

  • Great features – This platform provides you with access to great support features such as 24*7 customer support, abandoned cart recovery, ample storage space, and a free domain name for the first year. It enables you to set tax and shipping rules for multiple locations, track orders, accept PayPal and credit card payments, and offer promotional coupons.

 

  • Ideal for creating an online shop– It is the best platform for businesses that want to set up an online store. This website builder offers close to 71 e-commerce-specific templates with tailored industry features to make your journey as a seller convenient and hassle-free.

 

  • Impressive Shipping and order fulfillment functionality – It’’s super easy to organize, track orders, and issue refunds through the Wix dashboard, thus improving customer satisfaction,

 

Wix is best for:

 

It’s ideal for sellers who want to create an impressive website for their business that gives a professional look without the hassle of getting into design skills, coding, or managing a website.

 

Wix Price

 

This platform offers one free plan and several premium plans ranging from 16 dollars to 159 dollars per month. Their core plan which comes at 27 dollars per month is considered ideal to start. Paid plans also include 300 dollars in advert vouchers.

 

 

Pros and Cons

 

Pros

 

  • Ability to create a fully functional online store efficiently and quickly without much technical knowledge
  • Integration with third-party apps
  • Advanced design capabilities
  • Free domain name for the first year

 

Cons

 

  • Not ideal for big businesses looking to sell thousands of products
  • This platform allows you to add only up to 100 pages to your website
  • No integration with social media sales channels like TikTok

 

 

5. Instagram Shopping – Platform for Selling Handmade Products

alternatives to Etsy - Instagram Shopping

Instagram is the new age marketplace.

 

Over 100 million people tap on Instagram shopping posts every month, making it a sought-after product by businesses to market and sell their services and products.

Instagram shopping is a great option to choose over Etsy because you get to tap into the already existing huge user base of Instagram. This saves you a lot of marketing effort.

 

Since Instagram is primarily a visual platform, it’s ideal for selling visually appealing products like art, jewelry, apparel, etc.

 

Using this platform for creating your online store is fairly simple. All you need to do is create a business account and enable shopping. Once this is done, you can start creating posts showcasing your products and tag them with the required information – .size, price, specifications, etc. When a user clicks on a product tag, they’ll be taken to your product page where they can learn more about the item and purchase it if they like.

 

Why choose Instagram Shopping

 

Social media has been a game changer for the online shopping scene.

 

For sellers, it’s a win-win situation since they get access to a vast consumer base at a cost substantially low compared to ecommerce platforms like Etsy.

 

Every social media channel has its perks and benefits for selling products. Let’s take a look at a few of the advantages of selling on Instagram shopping.

 

  • Massive reach – Instagram, with its massive reach, scores over Etsy in terms of tapping into new prospective markets. Even though it’s not an ecommerce site and your audience isn’t there to specifically buy products, they typically spend a lot of time there and that makes it a really lucrative medium to market and sell your products.

 

  • Great features -It enables you to tag products in photos, promote those products directly on your page, shop from the app itself without having to go to any third-party platform, and integrated checkout procedures for streamlining transactions.

 

  • Price: The biggest advantage of selling on Instagram is its extremely low price point. Creating an Insta business account for selling your products is entirely free, listings are free as well, but you’ll have to pay for ads.

 

  • Effective Marketing tools – This popular social media platform gives sellers access to a range of effective market research tools such as Instagram Shopping Insights, a great analytical tool with metrics such as button clicks and product views.

 

  • Mobile optimized – This is one of the greatest advantages of selling on this social media platform. It’s an app specifically designed for mobile use. Mobile optimization is becoming a must for e-commerce marketplaces as the latest market research indicates that mobile sales account for more than 50 percent of total online sales.

Instagram Shopping is best for:

 

Selling on Instagram is ideal for small businesses with a limited budget who manufacture products in small quantities and want to start selling their products.

 

It’s also good for businesses wanting to tap into new markets and test the water. Since selling products on Instagram doesn’t involve any cost except for advertisements, it makes sense for an emerging brand to incorporate this platform into its marketing strategy.

 

 

Instagram Shopping Price

 

It’s free to create a business account on this platform and start selling. You just need to pay for the advertisements.

 

 

Pros and Cons

 

Pros

 

  • Huge market reach
  • Integrated checkout system
  • No fees for selling products
  • Live shopping – Sellers can tag products while being live

 

 

Cons

 

  • This platform doesn’t allow you to create a standalone website
  • No built-in payment processing; you’ll need to use a third-party system like PayPal or Square
  • It’s a social media platform so lacks certain tools and features of an e-commerce marketplace like email marketing, etc.

 

 

6. Big Cartel – Popular Alternatives

alternatives to Etsy - Big Cartel

Big Cartel is a great place to start if you want to set up an independent online store.

 

Its biggest advantage over Etsy is that it lets you launch an independent online store and a personal website.

 

In Big Cartel, you can take charge of your own branding, unlike Etsy where the platform controls the look and branding of your shop.

 

Big Cartel offers plenty of marketing and branding tools to help artists, crafters, and entrepreneurs sell their products online.

 

Let’s check out the main features of this e-commerce platform that give it an edge over Etsy.

 

 

Why choose Big Cartel

 

Great tools for branding – Big Cartel offers various customizable templates to go with your brand image. You also get access to a wide range of innovative marketing apps to promote your business and consolidate your brand image.

 

Innovative features – Big Cartel is high on innovative features. It offers a unique sales tax tool that minimizes admin duties for the shop owner. Big Carte gives you access to many valuable e-commerce tools. It allows you to secure pages with SSL encryption, choose custom domain names, bulk edit customer orders, track inventory, check conversion rates, analyze key customer insights, etc.

 

Ease of use – Big Cartel doesn’t overwhelm its users with too many options which is its USP. It keeps things neat and simple and emphasizes functionality over anything else.

 

Great customer service – This e-commerce platform offers great customer support and provides valuable learning resources. You get access to hundreds of videos, articles, and blogs. You also have the option to contact their customer service team through email.

 

Big Cartel is best for:

 

It’s ideal for entrepreneurs, craftspersons, and artisans who want to set up their own digital store and brand. It’s a great platform to make a business out of your creative talents since the interface is user-friendly and they offer a lot of customer support.

 

 

Big Cartel Price

 

It’s free for up to 5 products, For 50 products, their pricing is 9.99 dollars per month. For 500 products, their pricing is 19.99 dollars per month.

 

 

Pros and Cons

 

 

Pros

 

  • Lower fee than most marketplaces so highly affordable
  • Strong search engine optimization
  • Ability to customize product listings
  • Great for setting up your own digital store
  • Content management and ease of use

 

Cons

 

  • Doesn’t support sellers having more than 500 products in their inventory
  • Offers only two payment options – Stripe and PayPal which can be limiting for some buyers
  • Big businesses might find its functionality limited

 

 

7. Squarespace – Platform for large-volume sellers

alternatives to Etsy - Squarespace

This easy-to-use marketplace provides a substantial degree of customization.

 

It’’s ideal for retailers who want a stylish and aesthetically pleasing store with a contemporary vibe.

 

It offers multiple tools for facilitating e-commerce transactions and allows you to add and sell unlimited products.

 

Squarespace is a great website builder that provides SaaS services for creating and hosting websites.

 

It comes equipped with a strong inventory system and a range of built-in innovative marketing tools.

 

A  rather popular e-commerce site builder, Squarespace is a balanced marketplace that combines the best elements of many e-commerce sites.

 

 

Why choose Squarespace

 

  • Great for building a website – Squarespace allows sellers to use drag-and-drop design tools along with stunning templates to create and modify website pages. Thus, it’s ideal for creating a professional website or blog.

 

  • Easy to use – Squarespace is equally good for both amateur and advanced developers. It has accessible customization tools and an intuitive website builder. Its website-building algorithm is such that you can play around and easily make advanced code changes even if your coding skills aren’t that great.

 

  • Keeps your Etsy data intact – This is a rather unique feature of Squarespace. It allows you to import your Etsy storefront, thus ensuring you can keep your items and product URLs in the process. This makes it convenient if you are switching over from Etsy.

 

  • Great features – Squarespace offers a range of exciting features ranging from customer accounts and multichannel management to shopping feed integration and POS. It also allows you to sell digital products and subscriptions.

 

 

 

Squarespace is best for:

 

Squarespace is ideal for large-volume sellers in search of a comprehensive website solution. It’s also a good option for businesses on a tight budget who want to build a great website in the DIY mode.

 

Squarespace Price

 

Squarespace has many plans to choose from,

 

Personal: 16 dollars per month

 

Business: 23 dollars per month

 

Commerce Basic: 27 dollars per month

 

Commerce Advanced: 49 dollars per month

 

All their plans come with a free trial.

 

 

 

Pros and Cons

 

 

 

Pros

 

  • Great blogging features
  • Unlimited bandwidth
  • Strong inventory system
  • 24*7 customer support

 

 

Cons

 

  • The usability of the editor needs improvement
  • Not efficient for designing multilingual sites
  • Limited video storage

 

How to choose the perfect Etsy alternative for your business

 

We gave you a comprehensive list of 7 great Etsy alternatives for setting up your online store and start selling.

 

Now, you must be wondering how to figure out what is the best option for me. We gave you a comprehensive overview of their main features, strengths and highlighted their pros and cons. Now, your task is to do a comparative evaluation of their respective features and decide the best option for your business.

 

Here are the parameters based on which you can make the right choice.

 

 

1. Decide your priorities – You must be sure about your priorities to decide the best possible alternative.

 

Are you looking for a great website builder or simply a large ecommerce platform with a large pre-existing customer base?

 

What is the niche of your products? Are you a small business selling handmade items or a relatively large business manufacturing goods in bulk?

 

You must figure out your priorities to make the right pick.

 

 

2.Decide what features you need – Now that you have evaluated the nature of your business and priorities, the next step is to zero in on the features you require.

 

Based on your need, you must carefully review the tools and functions provided by various e-commerce marketplaces, and decide the best alternative.

 

 

3.Assess Pricing structure – Budget is the most important determinant in making the right choice.

 

Compare the pricing structures of different e-commerce sites, and make an informed decision based on your budget and priorities. Some of these platforms will levy different kinds of fees on sellers as well so make sure you go through their website and make note of all the details.

 

 

 

 

4. Go through customer reviews – Customer reviews give an authentic first-hand experience of a marketplace.

 

 Going through multiple customer reviews is a must for evaluating an e-commerce platform in its totality. If there are any red flags, the reviews would alert you to that.

 

You must analyze the customer reviews objectively. Don’t get taken either by a rosy picture or a doomsday scenario prediction! Both extremes are exaggerated. Go through as many reviews as you can and take a balanced pick.

 

 

5. Determine their ease of usage – Determining the ease of use of a given platform is crucial for all sellers.

 

It becomes even more important for a new or first-time seller. If you are spending your money on such a valuable resource, you want to make sure using it won’t become a headache.

 

   If you want to build a website on an alternative platform, make sure the interface is easy to use and intuitive.

 

 

6. Determine market size – Market size is an important factor in choosing an Etsy alternative.

 

  Huge markets provide you the opportunity to tap into a new customer base and boost sales in the long term.

 

Also, you must analyze what kind of market the platform gives you access to. If it’s a huge but highly dispersed market, you will have to create your own customer base and work hard on marketing. Another platform might have a relatively smaller user base, but if it’s a well-defined user base with a proven record of buying products from your niche, it’s a win-win situation for you.

 

Wrapping up

 

Etsy is a great e-commerce platform for handmade products.

 

It’s a great place to start if you are a small artisan or a craftsperson looking for an avenue to sell your products. But being permanently dependent on one platform doesn’t make good business sense.

 

Etsy doesn’t give it sellers brand control which is the main reason why many of them eventually want to shift to a marketplace that allows them to create an independent online store and run their own marketing strategy.

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