Shopify vs Etsy: Which One Should You Sell On?
Etsy brings buyers and takes a quarter of gross sales. Shopify charges a subscription and leaves traffic to you. Here is how to decide, with both companies' published numbers.
This is not really a comparison of two products. It is a choice between two business models: rent an audience, or build one.
Etsy sells you access to buyers and takes a share of every sale. Shopify sells you a storefront and leaves the traffic to you. Everything else follows from that.
Key Takeaways
- Etsy’s take rate was 24.9% of gross merchandise sales in Q3 2025 (Etsy, retrieved 2026-05-29).
- Shopify charges $39 to $399 a month plus a card rate of 2.9% + 30¢ down to 2.5% + 30¢ (Shopify, retrieved 2026-05-29).
- Etsy’s marketplace is contracting: active sellers −10.9% and active buyers −5.0% year over year.
- The honest answer is usually both, in sequence — Etsy to be discovered, your own store to keep the customer.
What Is the Actual Difference?
Etsy is a marketplace. You list inside its catalogue, its buyers find you, and it takes a share of what you sell. You are renting distribution.
Shopify is a storefront platform. You get a shop at your own domain and pay a subscription plus card processing. Nobody arrives unless you bring them.
That single difference drives every other trade-off — cost, control, customer data, and how much of your week goes into marketing.
What Does Each One Cost?
Etsy publishes a take rate — revenue divided by gross merchandise sales — which was 24.9% in Q3 2025. Roughly a quarter of gross sales value goes to the platform once its fees, payment processing, and advertising products are counted.
Shopify’s published pricing:
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | Online card rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $39/mo | $29/mo | 2.9% + 30¢ |
| Grow | $105/mo | $79/mo | 2.7% + 30¢ |
| Advanced | $399/mo | $299/mo | 2.5% + 30¢ |
Using a payment provider other than Shopify Payments adds 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, and 0.6% on Advanced.
The comparison is not like-for-like, and that is the point. Etsy’s larger share includes finding you a buyer. Shopify’s smaller share does not — you buy the buyer separately, through advertising, content, or an audience you already have.
So the real question is what your traffic costs. If acquiring a customer costs you more than roughly a quarter of order value, Etsy’s cut is good value. If it costs less, you are overpaying.
The Trend Worth Knowing
From Etsy’s Q3 2025 reporting, for the Etsy marketplace specifically:
| Metric | Q3 2025 | Year over year |
|---|---|---|
| Active sellers | 5.5 million | −10.9% |
| Active buyers | 86.6 million | −5.0% |
| GMS | $2,432.6 million | −2.4% |
| GMS per active buyer (TTM) | $121 | −1.6% |
Fewer sellers means less competition, which helps a new shop. Fewer buyers each spending slightly less, while the take rate rises, means the thing you are renting is getting smaller and more expensive.
Neither fact settles the decision. Together they argue against making Etsy your only channel.
Which Should You Choose?
| Your situation | Start with |
|---|---|
| Handmade, vintage, or personalised goods, no audience | Etsy — its buyers are already looking for exactly that |
| You already have an audience or mailing list | Shopify — you are paying Etsy for something you own |
| Repeat customers coming back deliberately | Shopify, urgently — that fee is buying you nothing new |
| Testing whether anything sells at all | Etsy — cheapest way to buy information |
| Brand and packaging are the product | Shopify — a marketplace listing flattens brand |
| Selling steadily with thin margins | Both — Etsy for discovery, your store for repeat |
The dividing line is repeat purchase. Paying a marketplace to reach a stranger is a fair trade. Paying the same share to reach someone who deliberately came back to buy from you again is margin given away for a service you no longer need.
What Neither One Fixes
Whichever you pick, two costs follow you.
Returns. 19.3% of online sales were returned in 2025 (National Retail Federation, retrieved 2026-05-29), and 82% of consumers treat free returns as an important factor. That cost is yours on both platforms.
Checkout leakage. Average documented cart abandonment is 70.22% across 50 studies spanning 2006 to 2025, with extra costs appearing late the top stated reason at 40% (Baymard Institute, retrieved 2026-05-29). Etsy controls that checkout for you. On your own store it is yours to get right — which is a risk and an opportunity.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Shopify cheaper than Etsy?
On platform share, usually yes — a subscription plus a card rate against Etsy’s 24.9% take rate. But Shopify does not include traffic, so the comparison only holds once you know what customer acquisition costs you.
Can I sell on Etsy and Shopify at the same time?
Yes, and it is the common pattern for established sellers. Etsy handles discovery by people who have never heard of you; your own store handles repeat buyers, email, and margin.
Which is better for handmade products?
Etsy, to begin with — its buyers are specifically looking for handmade and personalised goods, which is distribution you cannot easily replicate. Add your own store once you have repeat customers. See how to sell on Etsy.
Will I lose sales if I move off Etsy?
Almost certainly at first, unless you already have another source of traffic. Run both in parallel rather than switching cleanly.
What are the alternatives to both?
Plenty, and they differ on what you own versus what you rent. See websites like Etsy, Shopify alternatives, and e-commerce platforms for small businesses.
Sources
- Etsy, Inc. Q3 2025 Results — take rate 24.9%, marketplace active sellers 5.5M (−10.9% YoY), active buyers 86.6M (−5.0% YoY), GMS $2,432.6M (−2.4%), GMS per active buyer $121. Retrieved 2026-05-29.
- Shopify — plan prices, card rates, third-party payment provider fees. Retrieved 2026-05-29.
- National Retail Federation with Happy Returns — 19.3% online return rate, 82% rate free returns important. Retrieved 2026-05-29.
- Baymard Institute — 70.22% average cart abandonment across 50 studies, 2006–2025. Retrieved 2026-05-29.