If you'd rather speak to someone now, call
+91 7219084311.
You can also email us at hello@valardigital.com
+91 7219084311.
You can also email us at hello@valardigital.com
So many people are migrating from their full-time jobs to start their own businesses by creating their personalized storefronts on e-commerce platforms.
Customers can now buy from their favorite merchants with full-fledged features ready to serve, whether it’s Etsy or Shopify.
If you’re planning to create your staggering presence in the online e-commerce market, you must plan your path.
For instance, Shopify is a great source to sell a large number of products with full customization controls, as it is ranked the second largest e-commerce platform after Wix for its unique features.
Whereas Etsy is said to be better suited for selling a limited number of products/handmade goods. Even as a widespread platform, Etsy can connect you with customers immediately after setting up your store and connecting with like-minded people.
From exploring the world of e-commerce to selling your personalized products, you can rocket launch your store from scratch from the most renowned platforms out there. But how to know which platform is right for your business? Let’s find out.
Etsy and Shopify are both effective e-commerce platforms for serving goods and services to customers. But the string cuts off between them when Shopify gives merchants full control to create their brand, whereas Etsy stands to be a marketplace associating with unique items and supplies.
Let’s explore the two different perspectives on Etsy and Shopify:
Etsy is not considered a standard hosting platform for your personal websites. Rather it’s a marketplace to bring people together to buy and sell handmade goods and services.
You can create your personal store with added products, and customers can find and buy your products through Etsy. Just like Shopify, you can ship your products to your seller’s physical addresses, but unlike Shopify, you can’t retain their email address to promote to them.
With Etsy, you must pay a certain amount to make the product available with every listing. The seller is subjected to pay a percentage of the fee per sale for payment processing, adds, and conversion per transaction. Unlike Shopify, you can take advantage of the zero monthly plan fee and can pay per sale/listing.
Factually speaking, Shopify is perfect for retail sellers with having a fifth spot on the best e-commerce platform in the market. You can sell custom-made shoes, jewelry, apparel, hygiene products, and more. Shopify stands out from others because it’s a hosted solution for e-commerce, which means you can host and manage the tech platform your store is based on.
It’s also popular for the simple, customizable features where sellers can organize by a drag-and-drop site design for its seamless experience.
You can also widen your user experience by integrating third-party Shopify Apps. These app integrations are served to enhance your store with features for marketing, conversions, and customer services.
Just as any platform out there, Etsy & Shopify has their own pros and cons. Let’s explore detailed and up-to-date information with the pros & cons of Etsy VS Shopify to make the right choice for your business:
✓ You can get a 30-day FREE trial on Etsy Plus.
✓ You can get access to the worldwide network of customers.
✓ Etsy is FREE for the base plan.
🚫 No room for any customization.
🚫 Add-ons as connivance.
🚫 Only for handmade products.
✓ Merchants have access to their customer information.
✓ Merchants can have up to a 14-day FREE trial.
✓ Simplified drag-and-drop design for designing storefronts.
🚫 Add on transaction fee after buying a subscription.
🚫 Shoppers have to pay monthly regardless of the sales per month.
✓ Etsy has a very user-friendly interface that is convenient for anyone. Set up an account, and you can start selling on it already.
✓ Shopify is also powerful when it comes to usability. You can set up your store with so many easy-to-use tools.
✓ Etsy is uniquely popular among millions of users due to its large product exposure, making it even easier to visit the site and search for your favorite products.
🚫 Shopify is known for its customizations and tools given to the user to promote your business. But one downside is you have to do all the work and take full responsibility for attracting traffic through your marketing strategies and campaigns.
🚫 Etsy is very effective for tools and features but at a certain limit. A few of them are relatively simple yet efficient, aiming to make your selling process seamless.
✓ Shopify offers tools that are feature packed with a powerful Shopify App Store to integrate into your site as convenient.
🚫 Etsy is limited to customizing your store as it handles storefront management for the layout. You need to rely on your product’s quality and uniqueness to stand out in the market.
✓ Shopify offers many templates you can choose from with full fledge customization tools to help brand your store your own way.
🚫 Etsy has no room for getting a unique domain in the marketplace, making people hard to remember your website’s URL address.
✓ Shopify promotes unique domain names that are easy to remember and suits well with your brand.
🚫 Etsy charges you for listing products, transactions per purchase, and a credit card charge.
✓ Shopify Payments can be used to advent zero transaction fees, whereas credit card charges are expected with the support of various payment gateways.
✓ Etsy users have the option to start from its FREE plan with an Etsy Plus subscription for more features for $10 monthly.
✓ Shopify has in-depth subscription plans from just $29 to $299 monthly. Users can also start a 3-day FREE trial at first and gradually change the plan conveniently according to their needs. Read our in-depth review and recommendations for Shopify Price Plans for more information.
🚫 Etsy can offer customer care when needed, yet community forums are also available. Etsy email and call for support are available.
✓ Shopify offers 24/7 call & live chat support with various help options from email and an extensive helpdesk.
Although it is fair to compare Etsy VS Shopify for our better understanding and choice, we’ve looked at many differences between the better of both, but we don’t have to use one platform for its exclusive uses.
The Shopify App Store is here for you with all the necessary integrations & third-party apps to connect your Shopify store to Etsy for listing, syncing, and managing products across both platforms.
It’s not always about this VS that or 1 VS 0; you can also find your sweet spot in the middle! using these apps will help you bridge the gap between your requirements.
The apps and integrations offered by the Shopify App Store will charge you an additional fee. Still, you can use them for the best of both platforms, i.e., your own customized brand and access to a wide variety of audiences through the Etsy marketplace.
Having a bit of knowledge and understanding of both platforms will give your business a boost and an overall idea of how to grow your online business.
It's important to notice that justifying one platform over the other is how one can expect this article. Still, rather than declaring one winner in the e-commerce verse, it’ll be more sensible to highlight the reasons for using both platforms individually.
Let’s conclude this debate with a summary of why you should pick Etsy or Shopify:
Get your products exposed to a large audience: Etsy marketplace offers millions of buyers, so you can, infact, start selling right away after getting on this platform. (Shopify makes you do it all by yourself in this case.)
Avoid a $/mo fee on Etsy: you can cut costs and invest in better choices with Etsy with their FREE listing procedure. (Shopify costs around $39 monthly.)
No-stress product listing: You can list your products on an already-built store, and no need for any dilemma of which template or domain to choose.
All things handmade: Etsy serves audiences with a particular taste in handcrafted and vintage goods. You can sell under that niche and get a high chance of being on top.
Etsy Search: You can target your audience through their search data on Etsy search with those who’re also using search engines like Google or Bing. (Shopify offers only a traditional search audience that appeals to the search engines.)
Shopify is the right choice for people who want to sell their products on their own tailor-made website and want to stand alone from the market with personally customized themes and much more. Basically, it’s for the people who wanna take full control of their store.
You can consider Shopify confidently if you’re planning to start an online dropshipping business.
Shopify POS is considered one of the best platforms for small businesses to sell their local products sophisticatedly.
Tools and third-party app integrations let you list your Shopify products on Etsy. Shopify also offers 24/7 multilingual customer support.
You have to pay less for payment transactions: Shopify payment charges are typically 2.4% to 2.9% per sale compared to Etsy, which is 6.5%.
Etsy is a cheap choice when it comes to upfront costs. Etsy can be your go-to choice to sell limited products with a closed budget.
But if you want to sell for a long time with a large number of products, Etsy’s 6.5% transaction fee is not considered cheap. Which makes Shopify less expensive in the long run.
Shopify is an excellent choice If you already have an online business and want to scale it. The platform is a big hub with unlimited product inventory with tracking ability. Choosing Shopify solely depends on your product sales.
Shopify takes the cup for scaling your e-commerce business. With tons of loaded features and integrations, you can personalize your store, including tools from the app store to attract more visitors.
