Etsy vs. Amazon Handmade: The Ultimate Guide for Artisanal Sellers

Learn the pros and cons of selling on Amazon Handmade vs. Etsy so you can choose the best online marketplace for your handmade items and grow your sales.

Marketplaces are as old as human commerce. From the bazaar to the farmers market, they exist in every culture. Today, they also exist online. For artisans, this is a particularly impactful innovation: It’s no longer necessary to find a physical space to sell your handmade products.

Although dozens of online marketplaces exist, two of the most popular and established options are Amazon Handmade and Etsy. Both provide artisans and online business owners a simple, secure platform for earning money from a large audience. Read on to learn how they compare.

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What is Amazon Handmade?

In 2015, the ecommerce giant Amazon launched a smaller marketplace, Amazon Handmade, designed for small businesses and individual creators who sell handcrafted goods. Amazon Handmade integrates into the larger Amazon marketplace of mass-produced products, so some customers might not be intentionally looking for handmade goods.

What is Etsy?

Etsy is an online marketplace for vintage and handmade goods from around the globe. Founded as a small Brooklyn shop in 2005, Etsy has grown into an ecommerce hub with a global customer base of nearly 90 million active buyers in 2024. Those buyers are often intentionally seeking handmade goods, and some are looking for products with personalization options.

Amazon Handmade vs. Etsy

Where you choose to set up your professional seller account will depend on your target audience (Are you selling to craft enthusiasts or casual ecommerce shoppers?) and your ecommerce business model. If you sell a high volume of products at relatively low individual price points, Amazon's fulfillment centers and free product listings might make Amazon Handmade the right choice.

On the other hand, if you require fewer listings and expect to bring in a larger dollar figure per sale, then Etsy’s lower percentage cost per individual transaction will likely compensate for the 20¢ every four months that you pay for each product listing.

Here’s a breakdown of Amazon Handmade vs. Etsy:

	Amazon Handmade	Etsy
General website and user interface	Intuitive, user-friendly, and easy to set up	Intuitive, user-friendly, and easy to set up
Advertising	Pay-per-click (PPC) onsite ads; sponsored product placement with option to choose keywords	Pay-per-click (PPC) onsite ads; pay-per-purchase offsite ads
Listing fees	No listing fees	20¢ per product every four months
Subscription fees	$39.99/month for requisite Professional Seller subscription	No subscription fees for regular plan; Etsy Plus for $10/month; possible setup fee (<$30) depending on location
Selling fees	15% of sale price	6.5% of sale price; 3% + 25¢ payment processing fee
Signup process	ID, tax, and banking info required; must undergo approval process	ID and banking info required
Fulfillment services	Offers warehousing and fulfillment	No warehousing or fulfillment service
Seller support	Chat, email, and phone	Chat and email

General website and user interface

Amazon Handmade and Etsy are both intuitive and user-friendly for buyers and sellers alike. Both platforms make it easy to set up an online store without prior web development knowledge. Both also provide a mobile app and a professional seller dashboard to help you track order and sale information.

Advertising as an Etsy seller vs. advertising as an Amazon seller

Both Etsy sellers and Amazon Handmade sellers advertise their products onsite through a pay-per-click (PPC) model, meaning you’ll pay only when a customer clicks on your ad. Both marketplaces use a bidding system to determine placement. Amazon’s sponsored product placement lets you select keywords, giving you control over when your ads will appear.

Etsy lets you create offsite ads, too. You’ll only pay for these Etsy ads when a customer clicks the advertisement, then makes a purchase from your shop within 30 days. If your shop makes less than $10,000, you’ll pay Etsy a 15% fee. If your Etsy ad makes more than $10,000, you’ll pay Etsy 12%.

Amazon Handmade vs. Etsy listing fees, selling fees, and start-up costs

Amazon Handmade and Etsy charge selling fees as a percentage of the total sale amount. At 15%, Amazon’s selling fee is higher than Etsy’s 6.5%. However, Amazon does not charge payment processing fees, and Etsy does. For sellers in the US, the Etsy payment processing fee is 3% + 25¢.

Etsy charges a listing fee of 20¢ per product every four months. Unlike Etsy, Amazon doesn’t charge listing fees. That said, Amazon requires Amazon Handmade sellers to enroll in the company’s Premium Seller plan, which costs $39.99 for the first month. After that, Amazon waives the cost of Premium Seller. Etsy does not require sellers to purchase a subscription, but may charge a set-up cost depending on where you’re based. This cost varies, but is less than $30.

To avoid these costs altogether, consider establishing your storefront on a platform like Shopify rather than selling solely on an online marketplace. With Shopify, you’ll only be on the hook for payment processing costs (which stand around 3%). To maximize your reach, you can integrate Shopify with Etsy and Amazon through Shopify’s Marketplace Connect app. While this can help you get your products onto Amazon’s general marketplace, you might need to list your products on Amazon first to get them on Amazon Handmade, given Amazon Handmade’s strict seller approval process.

Signup process

Both Amazon Handmade and Etsy require banking information and personal identification verification to open a shop. Amazon’s signup process, however, is more rigorous. You must provide tax information and wait for your Handmade application to be approved. This process ensures you’re selling truly handmade products, rather than mass-produced ones.

Fulfillment services

Both Amazon and Etsy offer free shipping options and let sellers select their shipping methods and rates, but only Amazon provides a warehousing and fulfillment service.

Amazon offers the Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) program, in which sellers ship their products to an Amazon warehouse for storage. Once a product is purchased, Amazon handles the fulfillment logistics. Etsy provides shippers with discounted shipping labels but does not warehouse goods or handle shipping for sellers.

Pros and cons of selling on Etsy

Here are the pros and cons of selling on Etsy:

Pros of selling on Etsy

• Low initial startup costs. Etsy’s 6.5% transaction fee is less than Amazon’s 15%. Even with the additional 3% + 25¢ payment processing fee (for US sellers), you’ll still pay less per sale with Etsy than with Amazon Handmade.

• High-intent niche audience. Etsy’s brand revolves around handmade goods, and its almost 90 million active buyers go there specifically to shop for handmade and vintage items.

• Storefront customization. The paid Etsy Plus plan ($10/month) allows you to customize the look and user interface of your Etsy store with banners, featured listings, and restock request functionality for your customers. To maximize the value of this feature, you’ll want to come up with a memorable brand name and brand identity.

Cons of selling on Etsy

• Recurring fees. Etsy’s 20¢ listing fees recur every four months. For an Etsy seller with 100 listings, that means $20 upfront, and if no products sell, another $20 four months later. These Etsy fees could pose a problem if you sell a high volume of products at low price points.

• No fulfillment services. Etsy shop owners are responsible for inventory storage and shipping logistics. While Etsy provides easy-to-use printable labels, you’ll still need to print, box, and ship your products (or partner with a third-party distribution vendor).

Pros and cons of selling on Amazon Handmade

Here are some of the benefits and drawbacks of selling on Amazon Handmade.

Pros of selling on Amazon Handmade

• Massive customer base. As of February 2024, Amazon was the fourth most visited website in the US. Since Amazon Handmade products are integrated into the larger Amazon ecommerce site, selling on Amazon Handmade can put your products in front of a huge global customer base.

• Complimentary Professional Plan. You’ll need to pay for the $39.99/month Professional Plan when you sign up, but after a month, Amazon will waive the subscription cost. Perks include automated prices to remain competitive and bulk listing and pricing tools.

• No listing fees. Amazon doesn’t charge product listing fees, so you only pay if you make a sale.

Cons of selling on Amazon Handmade

• Amazon competes with its own sellers. Amazon has several in-house brands that it promotes alongside those offered by its vendors, so Amazon Handmade sellers are effectively in direct competition with the world’s largest ecommerce company.

• Higher selling fees. Although Amazon Handmade sellers receive Amazon’s professional selling plan at no cost, the 15% Amazon Handmade fee charged on each sale is higher than Etsy’s.

Amazon Handmade vs. Etsy FAQ

Is Amazon Handmade cheaper than Etsy?

No, Amazon Handmade and Etsy offer competitive pricing, so items may be more or less expensive, depending on the products and the seller.

Is Etsy or Amazon better?

Etsy and Amazon Handmade are both good options for selling handmade goods. Etsy offers a selection of handmade and vintage goods, while Amazon offers a much wider selection of items, including handmade goods in its smaller Amazon Handmade marketplace.

Is Amazon Handmade profitable?

Yes, Amazon Handmade can be profitable. The platform provides access to a massive customer base, plus it doesn’t charge listing fees, making it a great option for entrepreneurs and craftspeople who want to monetize their skills. Additionally, Amazon Handmade offers advertising tools to help sellers promote their products.

What is the best site to sell handmade items?

Etsy is the most well-known option for selling handmade items online. Other sites you might want to consider are Amazon Handmade, Shopify, and eBay.