You’ve decided to give selling your art online a try, and one of the first questions that comes to mind is…should I open an Etsy shop or my own website? There isn’t a right or wrong answer to this. In fact, it really depends on where you’re at in your business and what will suit your needs as a business owner. This article will give you a run down of the pros and cons of both so you can figure out what works best for you and make an educated decision!
Quick backstory: I started selling embroidery on Etsy in 2011 as a hobby. I went full time in my business in 2020. I still sell on Etsy, but I also sell on my own website now because I believe there are benefits to selling on both.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. This means that I earn a small commission if you choose to purchase through one of the links at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I personally use and love.
Why You Should Sell On Etsy
There are many benefits to selling on Etsy, and it is an exceptional and easy platform to use for new business owners because it’s easy to use and it already has a built in audience.
It is hard to get traffic to a brand new website, but Etsy already has shoppers that are most likely looking for the product you’re selling. Unless you have a large social media following that you can direct to your website, it may be a good option to first start out on Etsy.
Here are some of the reasons why you may want to sell on Etsy.
Easy To Setup
The Etsy website is easy to use and it’s relatively easy to set up your own shop. Etsy has a lot built in that makes it quicker and more efficient to set up than building a website from scratch. It doesn’t take long to set up your shop’s about section, shop policies, and shop listings.
Creating your products is easy in Etsy’s interface because it includes a lot of drop down selections and it guides you through all the details you should include in the listing to give the customer a clear idea of what the product is.
It’s so important to have shipping and return policies in your shop, and Etsy makes it super convenient to create this by having options available to select. That way you don’t have to write all of the policies out from scratch!
Adding product listings is easy and there are a lot of different ways you can tailor the listing to your product’s needs. Etsy allows you to add up to ten photos and one video per product listing. It also allows you to add custom text fields for custom products. You can also add variations (i.e. for different color options)
Low Overhead Cost
It’s rather inexpensive to open up an Etsy shop. Each listing cost $0.20.
Compared to how much you will pay for a domain, hosting, and shopping integrations on a website, the initial cost is way lower.
Etsy does, however, take 6.5% of each total sale, so you’ll have to do the math and figure out which of the two is more cost effective for you in the long run. If you aren’t selling super expensive items or a a large volume of products then the fees are relatively manageable.
Built In Audience
Etsy has a huge audience of over 90 million active buyers. This means your products are more likely to be seen by a large amount of people that are ready to buy! When you start your own website, it’s going to take a lot of time and effort to optimize your site to get traffic from Google. It can be even harder to get people off of social media and on to your website unless you already have a massive following. Etsy listings will take way less time to start getting seen.
Business Analytics
There are detailed analytics you can view about your shop. You can see revenue, favorites, keywords people are using to find your listings, the conversion rate of your shop, and much more. This all comes built in so you don’t have to worry about setting anything up to see it.
Google Shopping Integrations
Etsy advertises your listings outside of Etsy through offsite ads. There are a lot of different opinions and feelings about this because Etsy takes a larger percentage of the sale if someone purchases your item from Google. (You can read the policies here) However, this will potentially get your item seen by an even larger audience.
Tools And Bookkeeping Integrations
Etsy has partnerships with a variety of companies to help you run your business. Here are a few I personally utilize.
- If you’re selling in person, you can integrate Square with your shop.
- You can connect Quickbooks with your shop so you can more easily keep track of taxes.
- Integrate Pinterest so you can share your listings for more traffic
Some other integrations that are available are:
- Crowdfire
- Outfy
- Aweber
- Mailfold
- Socioh
- Marmalead
- Erank
- MockupEditor
- FotoFuze
- Corjl
- Vela
- TaxJar
- TaxCloud
- DextCommerce
- Craftybase
- Putler
Shipping On Etsy
You’re able to purchase and print shipping labels in your Etsy shop at reasonable rates. This makes it super convenient and easy so you don’t have to wait in line at the post office or use a third party to purchase labels online.
Reasons You Should Sell On Your Own Website
You Own Your Website
When you sell on social media or Etsy, you’re using a platform that you don’t entirely own. You are subject to algorithm changes, policy changes, and the potential for your account getting deleted for one reason or another. When you buy a domain and set up a website, you own it! You will feel so much more secure knowing that you have control over it.
Less Fees To Sell Products
You’ll have to pay up front and yearly for your domain, website theme, shopping integrations, etc. But once you’ve gotten everything set up, the fees will most likely be lower than what Etsy takes per sale.
This will be especially important as your business scales and grows and will ultimately save you money in the long run.
Increases Brand Awareness
I still love selling on Etsy, but it’s hard to stand out as a brand on Etsy. When you ask someone where they got a product, they’ll most likely say “from Etsy!” instead of from your particular shop. This is because your options are pretty limited when it comes to the design and branding of your Etsy shop.
Another thing that happens is that Etsy will recommend products from other shops underneath your listings, so everything seems to blend together.
When you have your own website, you are in full control of the shopping experience and branding your customers will be exposed to.
Allows You To Make Money In The Long Run
Having your own website allows you to make more money in the long run because it allows you to implement different features on your website that Etsy doesn’t offer.
- Having a website allows you to create blog posts that will attract traffic to it. If you start getting enough traffic to your website, you can make money off of ads, affiliate marketing, etc.
- You’ll be able to easily collect emails on your own website, which helps to develop stronger relationships with your customers. Customers that know like and trust you will be more inclined to turn into repeat customers!
- You can also offer subscription services on your website, which is another feature that Etsy does not support.
I hope this helps you make a decision on whether to use your own website, Etsy, or both! If you’re ready to start your own website, I highly recommend using SiteGround for hosting. Their servers are fast (this helps make your site fast which Google rewards!), the customer service is great, and their prices are affordable.
And if you’d like to start on Etsy, you can use my referral link which will give you 40 free listings! I also recommend you read the 9 things you should do before opening an Etsy shop to help you get started.