13 best Etsy alternatives for selling handmade items

By Phil Norris April 30, 2024

Handmade merchandise are huge cash, with the North American handicrafts market anticipated to be price an astonishing $744.1 billion by 2032.

If you wish to declare your slice of that scrumptious (do-it-yourself) pie, you might want to select the suitable ecommerce platform in your wants. One which’s:

• Straightforward to make use of
• Inexpensive
• Reliable

Etsy has lengthy been the go-to selection for promoting handmade gadgets. However lately, the platform has been beset by destructive headlines over choices to increase transaction fees and withhold sellers’ money…

…prompting many retailers to hunt out options to promoting on Etsy.

That can assist you out, we’ve rounded up 13 of one of the best Etsy options, from family names like Amazon and Shopify to lesser-known platforms like Finnalby and Artwork within the Coronary heart.

Let’s get into it…

Finnalby

Who’re they?

Finnalby is among the latest youngsters on the handmade gadgets block, having launched in September 2023. Billed as an impartial market for artisans and impartial retailers, it makes a speciality of handicrafts, wholesale merchandise, online courses, and tutorials.

👍 Execs

• Finnalby vets all merchandise listed as “Strictly Handmade” to make sure authenticity, that means you gained’t be competing with cut-price bulk producers.
• In addition to promoting handmade gadgets, you may make cash from on-line programs and tutorials. Plus you may promote the merchandise required to take part in your courses, providing you with the potential to generate a number of gross sales from the identical buyer.
• The platform provides a easy and inexpensive payment construction, charging a flat 5.5% fee on all gross sales.

👎 Cons

• Finnalby is presently solely accessible within the US, so when you (or your viewers) are primarily based elsewhere, you’ll must search for totally different Etsy options.
• The platform remains to be comparatively unknown; at time of writing, the time period “Finnalby” solely generated 90 international searches a month on Google, per Ahrefs. So that you shouldn’t anticipate a lot passing visitors.
• Its lack of name consciousness could postpone potential prospects who haven’t heard of the platform.

What do retailers say about them?

Sadly, we are able to’t inform you — they’re so new we couldn’t discover any opinions!

Charges

Finnalby fees a flat 5.5% per sale fee, with no itemizing charges or month-to-month charges.

Shopify

Who’re they?

Shopify is among the world’s largest ecommerce platforms, with Shopify retailers producing combined sales of $235.9 billion in 2023. In contrast to marketplaces like Amazon and Etsy, Shopify provides you the instruments to construct and handle your personal devoted on-line retailer, with the flexibleness to promote just about something you need.

👍 Execs

• Shopify permits you to construct your personal handmade gadgets retailer from scratch, providing you with whole management over your branding, merchandise, and pricing.
• Since you’re operating an impartial retailer, you’re not competing with lots of (or hundreds) of different retailers on the identical platform.
• With hundreds of apps and lots of of themes to select from, Shopify permits you to customise your retailer to your particular wants.
• Shopify’s prebuilt themes mean you can launch and customise your retailer with out requiring any coding abilities.

👎 Cons

• Constructing and sustaining an online store is dearer than operating an Etsy retailer.
• Organising a lovely, high-converting retailer can take days or perhaps weeks of labor.

What do retailers say about them?

“Straightforward to arrange, straightforward to make use of. Many built-in merchandise to assist me get issues executed. Straightforward-to-use built-in apps. Buyer assist is excellent. I take advantage of it every single day.”

– Jim E., G2 customer reviewer

Charges

Shopify fees a subscription of $9 – $2,300+ per 30 days, relying on the options you require. It additionally has a web based bank card processing payment, which varies relying in your value plan and placement (e.g. retailers within the US pay 2.4% – 2.9%, plus $0.30 per transaction).

Artisans Cooperative

Who’re they?

In case you’re in search of options to Etsy which can be 100% devoted to handmade gadgets, Artisans Cooperative may very well be for you. {The marketplace} has a human-driven verification course of to make sure all merchandise are made by real artisans, so that you gained’t be competing with bulk producers. This helps retailers cost a good value for his or her items.

👍 Execs

• All functions made by means of Artisans Cooperative’s voluntary verification course of are manually checked by two human reviewers, so prospects may be positive the merchandise they’re shopping for are made by real artisans.
• Retailers can entry in depth advertising and marketing and promotional assist, together with a branding package, marketing plan, and social media toolkit.

👎 Cons

• The platform remains to be comparatively unknown, with just a few hundred followers on Fb and Instagram, and minimal search quantity for its model identify.
• Membership prices and transaction charges are increased than most different marketplaces.

What do retailers say about them?

“I like that my handmade work has a spot amongst a neighborhood of different authentically handmade artisan merchandise. I actually respect that Artisans Cooperative places its artisans first. And it’s precisely {the marketplace} I need to do my purchasing in, too.”

– Artisan member

Charges

Artisans Cooperative fees gross sales commissions of 8% – 12%, relying in your membership stage. To unlock essentially the most enticing charges (and numerous different advantages), you’ll should pay a buy-in payment of $100 – $1,000.

DeviantArt

Who’re they?

DeviantArt is part-marketplace, part-social community, however wholly devoted to showcasing artworks from impartial creatives. Members add tens of hundreds of unique items every single day, from work to digital artwork to sculpture to movies. The platform has 90+ million registered members and hosts over 550 million artworks.

👍 Execs

• Sellers can faucet into an enormous, engaged neighborhood of artwork fans.
• Membership and transaction charges are comparatively low, particularly for unique commissions.
• Organising a vendor profile is fast and simple.
• Teams and boards provide you with a simple strategy to interact with different members of the artwork neighborhood, get suggestions, and promote your work.

👎 Cons

What do retailers say about them?

“DeviantArt is nice! The format is person pleasant, the neighborhood is nice and I’ve had an account on there for just a few years now.”

– Aron, Trustpilot reviewer

Charges

DeviantArt fees a membership payment of $7.95 – $14.95 per 30 days (though it usually provides discounted charges on these costs). Transaction charges vary from 0% – 20% per sale, relying in your membership tier and the product kind you’re promoting.

Handmade

Who’re they?

Handmade is one other market specializing in handcrafted gadgets, from vogue to dwelling decor to jewellery. All sellers on the platform should take Handmade’s moral pledge, beneath which they decide to handle the setting, do enterprise in a accountable approach, and respect different artisans’ mental property.

👍 Execs

• Handmade has a big viewers, with prospects in 100+ international locations.
• New sellers get free platform charges for the primary 12 months and might checklist their first 50 merchandise freed from cost.
• Lively retailers can invite as much as 5 different sellers, then earn bonuses on the gross sales they generate, providing you with a complete different income stream.
• Handmade is owned by Novica, which has partnerships with huge international manufacturers and organizations just like the Nationwide Geographic Society and the Grassroots Enterprise Fund.

👎 Cons

• The transaction and bank card charges are dearer than another marketplaces.

What do retailers say about them?

“Thanks for the boldness and perseverance in being a part of our progress course of. You might have proven us a brand new market with many alternatives to proceed rising and exhibiting the traditions that outline us.”

– Delfina Ruiz, weaver and Handmade merchant

Charges

After the primary 12 months, Handmade fees a flat month-to-month payment of $3, whereas normal itemizing charges are $0.15 per merchandise. Retailers additionally should pay transaction charges of 9.9% plus $1.95 per sale, in addition to bank card charges of three% plus $0.49.

Amazon Market

Who’re they?

Let’s be trustworthy: you understand what Amazon is. Market is the platform’s service for third-party sellers, permitting them to generate gross sales by reaching Amazon’s big buyer base. Consumers on Amazon purchase approximately 7,400 products a minute from sellers within the US.

👍 Execs

• Amazon is among the world’s most trusted ecommerce platforms. If somebody finds your merchandise on the platform, they’ll really feel fairly assured they gained’t get ripped off or have their card particulars stolen.
• Faucet into a world viewers of 310+ million energetic prospects.
• You can begin itemizing merchandise on Amazon in a matter of minutes.
• Benefit from further companies like Success by Amazon.

👎 Cons

• Competitors from different sellers is big, making it robust in your merchandise to face out.
• Relying on the forms of handmade gadgets you’re promoting, Amazon’s referral charges can eat up as a lot as 45% of your earnings.

What do retailers say about them?

“Once we launched on Amazon, I had expectations that Amazon can be about 10% to twenty% of our whole enterprise. Throughout the first six months, it was 50%. It simply exploded. And it actually modified the best way I thought of the way forward for our enterprise.”

– Dee Murthy, Co-Founder, New Republic

Charges

Amazon has two vendor plans: 

• Particular person: $0.99 per merchandise bought
• Skilled: $39.99 per 30 days

You’ll pay referral charges of as much as 45% per sale, relying on the product class. Plus there’s an additional value for companies like Amazon Advertisements and Success by Amazon, and extra charges for retailers with excessive listings volumes.

Who’re they?

My Community Made (MCM) isn’t particularly devoted to handmade gadgets, however it is centered on supporting small companies. Retailers on the platform promote every part from customised gifts to classic treasures to distinctive artworks throughout a variety of classes, together with vogue, jewellery, and inside design. All merchandise on {the marketplace} are made within the US.

👍 Execs

• Most likely the most cost effective of all of the options to selling on Etsy.
• The MCM group ensures all merchandise on the location are handmade, self-designed, or classic — so that you gained’t be competing with bulk producers or dropshippers.
• Sellers can add key phrases to their product metadata to face out in search outcomes on the platform.
• Prospects can comply with your retailer and get updates if you add new merchandise, growing your possibilities of driving repeat gross sales.

👎 Cons

• Lacks the model consciousness of bigger platforms like Amazon and Etsy.
• Just for merchandise made or designed within the US.
• Higher restrict of fifty product listings at a cut-off dates scalability.

What do retailers say about them?

“I began promoting on My Group Made early final 12 months. I even have an Etsy store. MCM is by way more user-friendly, and the charges, if any, are affordable. I don’t really feel misplaced on this platform as I do on Etsy. Vendor assist is past superb. There’s all the time a fast response and an answer to any downside, even when you’re not that techy.”

– V. Chin, Trustpilot customer review

Charges

My Group Made doesn’t cost any transaction charges. You possibly can checklist as much as 5 gadgets at a time with a completely free account, or improve to the Fundamental Package deal for $5 per 30 days to checklist 10 occasions extra merchandise.

IndieMade

Who’re they?

IndieMade launched in 2010 with the imaginative and prescient of offering creators with a user-friendly internet presence to advertise their merchandise. In contrast to platforms like Etsy and Amazon, IndieMade isn’t a market. As a substitute, it’s an impartial web site builder that enables retailers to create their very own on-line area.

👍 Execs

• Use IndieMade to create your own, unique website, with full management over your retailer’s look and advertising and marketing.
• Easy payment construction; you solely pay for the options you want, with zero transaction charges.
• In case you already promote on Etsy, you may create a retailer by means of IndieMade and checklist your Etsy merchandise in minutes.

👎 Cons

• You’ll should construct your personal viewers slightly than concentrating on guests to an present market.
• Far fewer themes and apps than different ecommerce web site builders (like Shopify).

What do retailers say about them?

“I simply can’t imagine how nice my expertise has been. I’ve used Weebly, HostMonster, and HostGator — NO one has assist such as you guys do. I want I had been with you 5 years in the past! I’m positive my enterprise can be a lot greater if I had. I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH! I’ve NEVER had such nice tech assist, EVER! IndieMade rocks.”

– Sierra, Dakotadesigns

Charges

IndieMade’s paid plans vary in value from $4.95 – $19.95 per 30 days.

Artwork within the Coronary heart

Who’re they?

Art in the Heart is a UK-based platform that helps retailers promoting handcrafted presents, artworks, and different distinctive gadgets. It began out as a bodily retailer, earlier than transitioning into a web based market in 2018.

👍 Execs

• Artwork within the Coronary heart permits you to import your present Etsy merchandise to your new storefront.
• The platform doesn’t have any month-to-month platform fees or itemizing charges.
• Create a novel storefront with its personal on-line deal with and leverage the easy-to-use vendor dashboard to trace gross sales.

👎 Cons

• Artwork within the Coronary heart takes 25% of each sale you generate.
• It doesn’t have a ton of name consciousness (particularly exterior the UK), so you may’t rely solely on the platform’s personal visitors.

What do retailers say about them?

“I’m very proud to be a vendor on the Artwork within the Coronary heart on-line retailer. It’s a really distinctive eclectic mixture of shops introduced collectively by the inspiring CEO Daybreak Birch-James. In a world stuffed with shops that inventory the identical mundane work, Artwork within the Coronary heart is a breath of contemporary air.”

– Susie Lidstone, fine artist and Art in the Heart merchant

Charges

Artwork within the Coronary heart doesn’t have month-to-month or per-listing charges — however it does cost a 25% fee in your gross sales, which is fairly steep.

Goimagine

Who’re they?

Goimagine is a market for US-based artisans to advertise and promote handmade gadgets, together with bodily merchandise and digital c/reations like graphics and pictures. In addition to supporting impartial creators, the platform is dedicated to social good, donating 100% of earnings to kids’s charities like Horizons for Homeless Kids and Reduction Nursery.

👍 Execs

• Goimagine’s dedication to donating all earnings to charity appeals to ethically acutely aware shoppers.
• {The marketplace} runs its personal Maker Enterprise Academy, providing suggestions to assist makers promote on-line, construct a model, and obtain their progress targets.
• Goimagine has higher model consciousness than most impartial Etsy options, serving to retailers attain a wider viewers.

👎 Cons

• Just for retailers who reside and make merchandise within the US.
• The rules on what constitutes a “handmade product” are fairly strict, which can exclude some potential retailers.

What do retailers say about them?

“I’m a purchaser/vendor on goimagine, I like the quick responses from actual folks when I’ve a query. It’s straightforward to make use of and I’m comfortable to be on a platform that donates earnings to kids’s charities.”

– Stephanie Stone, Trustpilot reviewer

Charges

Goimagine fees a month-to-month payment of $2.50 – $10, relying on the variety of merchandise you need to checklist and the platform options you need to use. It additionally has a 5% transaction payment and a fee processing payment of two.9% plus $0.30.

Making App

Who’re they?

Making App is an Android and iOS app that enables particular person creators to host and promote their very own digital patterns and initiatives. Nonetheless, the platform has plans to broaden into further on-line areas and new product classes going ahead.

👍 Execs

• Faucet right into a ready-made neighborhood of twenty-two,000+ members.

👎 Cons

• At the moment just for makers creating and promoting digital patterns and initiatives.
• You possibly can solely promote to individuals who obtain the app on Android or iOS.

What do retailers say about them?

“As a new-ish knitter, Making places inspiration, undertaking monitoring and connecting with a educated and pleasant neighborhood within the palm of my hand––can’t think about creating with out it!”

– MKE Maker, Making App merchant

Charges

Making App fees 8% per transaction. You’ll additionally should pay Stripe’s fee processing payment of two.9% plus $0.30 per transaction and 0.25% plus $0.25 per payout (though these charges shall be waived for sellers who make <$50).

iCraft

Who’re they?

iCraft is a Toronto-based platform for artists, craftspeople, and designers who create handmade, one-of-a-kind artwork, crafts, and vogue merchandise. Retailers can use iCraft to showcase their ready-made merchandise and settle for commissions for customized orders.

👍 Execs

• iCraft’s area of interest focus and dedication to handmade creators means you aren’t competing with bulk sellers.
• The platform commonly promotes sellers by means of its “Within the Highlight” weblog and monthly newsletters.
• Promote your merchandise to an engaged viewers; iCraft attracts ~200,000 guests a month, with a median go to time of 4 minutes.

👎 Cons

• Requires a non-refundable upfront payment to hitch the platform.
• The platform appears slightly dated, which could postpone some potential prospects.

What do retailers say about them?

“I’ve discovered that my jewellery receives many extra views on iCraft than on some other venues! Being a venue just for handmade, the purchasing visitors that involves iCraft is simply in search of high quality handmade items and they’re positive to search out distinctive crafted gadgets.”

– Linda, AKA GalleriaLinda, iCraft merchant

Charges

iCraft fees platform charges of $10 – $15 per 30 days, relying on the size of your contract, plus a one-off upfront fee of $25. It doesn’t cost some other hidden charges.

Large Cartel

Who’re they?

Big Cartel provides creators the instruments to construct their very own websites promoting T-shirts, artwork, merchandise, prints, and extra. Launched in 2005, the platform has supported over three million shops and generated $2.5+ billion in international gross sales.

👍 Execs

• Get began quick with a free Large Cartel template or code your personal distinctive on-line retailer from scratch.
• Select from three easy plans, together with a beneficiant free-for-life plan.
• Combine with lots of of third-party ecommerce apps, protecting every part from advertising and marketing to retailer administration to achievement.

👎 Cons

• Affords fewer web site templates and fewer customization than Shopify (though all its templates are free).
• Restricted scalability, with an higher restrict of 500 product listings per retailer.

What do retailers say about them?

“What I like about promoting my jewellery by means of Large Cartel is how straightforward every step, from designing my retailer entrance to itemizing merchandise and managing orders, has been and continues to be. It takes all the trouble out of it, so I can spend extra time doing the factor I like essentially the most — making jewellery.”

– Anarres Metallic, jewelry maker and Big Cartel merchant

Charges

Large Cartel doesn’t take a reduce of any gross sales you generate. As a substitute, it provides a free-for-life plan that permits you to checklist as much as 5 merchandise, whereas its paid plans vary in value from $15 – $30 per 30 days (or much less when you pay yearly).

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