There is no doubt that the online marketplace has changed how we shop forever. These days, it seems like there is a website for everything - and selling handmade products is no exception. There are two major platforms in this handmade space: Amazon Handmade and Etsy. So, which one should you use to sell your handmade products? This article will compare these two platforms and help you decide which one is right for you!
Amazon Handmade vs Etsy
Etsy has been around since 2005, and Handmade by Amazon has been live since late 2015. Both handmade platforms have pros and cons for sellers, but they are also great options for handmade sellers looking to grow their handmade businesses.
Here is a quick comparison of the two platforms:
Selling on Etsy:
Etsy has a well-established community of buyers and sellers. This can be beneficial for handmade sellers because it gives you access to a built-in audience of potential customers. Additionally, Etsy has lower fees than Amazon Handmade.
However, one downside to selling on Etsy is that it can be more competitive than other platforms. This is because there are millions of active sellers on the site, making it difficult to stand out from the crowd.
Selling on Amazon Handmade:
Amazon Handmade does not have the same level of community as Etsy. However, Amazon definitely makes up for that in the form of traffic and sales. Amazon sales are $283,000 per minute. Who wouldn't like a piece of that pie?
That being said, one downside to selling on Amazon Handmade is that it can be more challenging to get started because you are competing with big brands and mass-manufactured products.
Another huge benefit of selling on Amazon Handmade is the opportunity to use FBA (fulfilled by Amazon) for your non-personalized items. FBA items tend to sell much quicker due to the number of Prime shoppers on Amazon, and it means you don't have to do anything else once an order is placed - Amazon ships and processes the order from your FBA inventory.
So, which handmade selling platform should you use?
There are certainly pros to selling on both platforms, which is why I generally recommend selling on both platforms. The audience will be different for each of them. Being on both allows you to grow and scale your business even further by not putting all of your eggs into one basket.
I should also add: you also want to be selling on your own website because that is something that YOU own. No one can take that away from you in one fell swoop.
However, managing 2-3 different platforms can be challenging if you are just getting started in business. I would recommend starting with one, and once you have sales coming in and understand that platform, you can then add another one into the mix.
If you've been in business for a while, though, it just makes sense to diversify your handmade selling platforms and your revenue.
Still not sure if Amazon Handmade Is for You?
Join the free community of other sellers, watch how much they love Amazon, and be a fly on the wall as they grow.
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1 comment
In my opinion the biggest problem selling on Etsy these days is you are competing with a bunch of junk from overseas that is not handmade. And of course it sells very cheaply. Etsy does not seem to care at all that this is happening because they just continue to generate more fees with these shady sellers. They do not enforce any handmade rules.
I sell on both platforms because the buyers on Etsy are much Kinder and I always get five star reviews. Amazon buyers can be extremely rude and if they don’t like something they just give you a one-star review instead of contacting you and asking for a refund.
I have compared the fees and I really don’t think the fees are any lower on Etsy than amazon. As I say, I sell on both platforms and I sell probably five times as much on amazon. But right now I’m focusing on my own website because the fees are extremely minimal with the Shopify platform. And I can completely do my own thing.