With nearly 90 million active buyers, Etsy is one of the biggest ecommerce marketplaces for vintage and handmade products. Etsy used to be my go-to source for unique crafts and gifts from independent small businesses and mom-and-pop shops. Over the years, I’ve even dabbled in selling jewelry and vintage on Etsy, so I’ve seen how the marketplace works from both sides.
However, in the last year or so, I’ve noticed a shift in the quality of the offerings found on the marketplace. And I’m not alone — longtime Etsy buyers and sellers alike are being impacted by the increase in dropshipping on the platform. I also heard from many small business owners (who you’ll hear more from below) who have moved their businesses from Etsy to another platform due to certain limitations they experienced on the platform.
If you’re a seller looking for a different place to sell your crafts — or if you’re like me and want to shop for unique gifts beyond Etsy — here are some of the best Etsy alternatives to consider.
So, what’s wrong with Etsy?
In its heyday, Etsy was the best place for sellers to get their handmade crafts in front of a wider audience. Etsy championed makers and made it easier for them to get discovered and market themselves.
However, now that Etsy allows dropshipping, it has become increasingly difficult to find quality products or get your small shop seen on the site.
If you’re unsure what dropshipping is, it refers to sellers who list products that they don’t actually have on hand. Once they get an order, they send it to a manufacturer or another retailer to fulfill it. Dropshipping sellers on Etsy can be deceiving for buyers who think they’re buying a handmade product directly from a maker.
As a buyer, it can take what feels like hours to sift through the products, read reviews, and vet sellers’ pages to decide what’s legit and what’s not.
I can only imagine how frustrating it is for sellers who are trying to get their products to show up in the algorithm. I was curious to hear about Etsy sellers’ experiences on the platform, so I asked a couple of small business owners for their take.
Kathy Cano-Murillo, owner of Crafty Chica, is a full-time artist who started on Etsy when it first launched. She moved to Shopify in 2019 because she felt Etsy’s fees were too high, and she wanted to have her own store to elevate the Crafty Chica brand.
However, she still uses Etsy as a secondary channel for specific products that tend to do well there, such as printables and manufactured craft supplies. “I don’t feel it is an all-or-nothing situation,” says Cano-Murillo. “It’s about finding a formula that works for you.”
Kate de Palma, owner of Scented Designs Candle Co., found herself in a similar situation. She’s had her business on Etsy since 2014, but it’s no longer the primary source of her sales.
One of the main reasons she chose to build her business off of the platform is because Etsy instituted a policy where if sellers offered free shipping for orders over $35, their shop would receive priority placement in search results. As a business with fairly heavy products (and therefore high shipping costs), this free shipping threshold did not make sense for her bottom line.
She also wanted to have more control over her customers’ journey and have her own website to direct traffic to, so she opted to build her own site on Wix.
“I was able to design a decent website and get it running fairly quickly,” says de Palma. “A few years later, as the business kept growing, Wix started to feel limiting, and I migrated everything over to Shopify because of all of its ecommerce capabilities to help my company really scale.”
Kelly Sparks, founder of Kelly Prepster Studio, spent about two years on Etsy selling handmade bracelets but switched to Shopify in 2023 after realizing how much Etsy was capping her earning potential, creative freedom, and advertising capabilities.
“Due to the amount of bracelet styles I was making each month,” she says, “Etsy’s listing fees cut into my margins significantly.”
She adds that though Shopify’s monthly plan felt out of her budget at first, it ended up being more cost-effective for her business. “I’ve been using Shopify for my small business for the last year and absolutely love it for its ease of use, customizability, and intuitive design,” Sparks says.
From the conversations I had with sellers on Etsy, the platform remains a good place to get started with selling online. However, if you want to scale your business and create something that’s fully your own, it’s worth it to look into alternative websites.
The Best Etsy Alternatives
The best Etsy alternative for sellers depends on your ecommerce niche and your goals. For example, there are some ecommerce websites that are designed for wholesale transactions, while others are meant to get your products in front of consumers.
Based on my experience as both a buyer and seller on Etsy, I’ve sought out the best Etsy alternatives.
These platforms make it easy to get your handmade products in front of a large audience, manage and market your shop, and collect payments without worrying about a ton of fees. I’ve also found them to be pleasant to use from the buyer’s side.
Best Website-Builder Etsy Alternatives
1. Shopify
From all the small business owners I heard from, Shopify is the platform most of them have moved their operations to — and they’re clearly not alone. Over 4.6 million stores use Shopify across 175 countries.
Shopify is an all-in-one platform that gives business owners the freedom and control to create their online store independent of a marketplace.
You can set up a website with custom branding, manage your inventory and sales, and own your audience all from one place. You can even integrate Shopify with your Etsy account if you aren’t ready to make the leap away from the marketplace.
Though some small business owners may find the platform’s monthly costs steep compared to Etsy (which charges listing fees and transaction fees but doesn’t charge a monthly fee), many say the price ends up being cost-effective and worth the investment as their sales increase.
Best for: If you feel like your business has outgrown Etsy and you’re ready to take it to the next level, Shopify is one of the best ecommerce platforms to help you scale.
2. Squarespace
Squarespace is an easy-to-use website builder that offers a lot of creative themes. The site uses drag-and-drop editing, which makes it easy to customize your ecommerce website without coding experience. I personally use Squarespace for my personal projects, and I find it extremely easy to use when it comes to setting up, editing, and managing an online shop.
Best for: With Squarespace, you can also sell services, subscriptions, and digital content. It’s also great for businesses with a physical store, as your store data syncs with your account wherever you go.
3. Big Cartel
For artists and independent sellers who create goods like t-shirts, merch, prints, and clothing, Big Cartel is a great option. The online store-building platform allows you to set up a basic website for free and add more features as you scale. You can even customize a premade theme for your website.
Big Cartel doesn’t charge a transaction fee or platform fees and offers a free forever plan. Paid plans start at $12 per month and come with more listings and an extensive suite of business tools like performance tracking, inventory tracking, and ads support.
What I like: Big Cartel has been around since 2005, making it an established and trustworthy marketplace.
Best Wholesale Etsy Alternatives
4. Finnalby
If you plan to sell retail and wholesale, Finnalby makes it easy to do both in one place. Finnalby is an ecommerce platform where sellers in all types of ecommerce niches can sell their goods. Some of Finnalby’s categories include handmade, fine art, clothing, vintage, and more.
While Finnalby takes a 5.5% commission fee, it doesn’t charge listing fees or membership fees. In comparison, Etsy charges a $0.20 listing fee and a 6.5% transaction fee.
What I like: Finnalby allows sellers to offer online courses and tutorials on the site, which can help create additional revenue streams for your business.
5. Bulletin
Bulletin is a great Etsy alternative if you offer premium products in categories like home, apparel, accessories, beauty, or lifestyle and want to expand your omnichannel strategy with wholesale. The premium ecommerce platform connects brands with retailers through a careful curation process.
Both sellers and retailers must apply and go through a review process, but once you’re in, you get access to Bulletin’s network of services, which includes wholesale order management, marketing support, shipment tracking, and payments. As far as fees go, Bulletin takes between 10% and 15% commission on orders and pays within 15 days of fulfillment.
What I like: The vetting process includes a thorough review of brands and requires retailers to produce a valid reseller ID. All of this helps prevent dropshipping and manufacturing companies from selling on the platform.
6. Faire
Faire is another option for makers who want to take the wholesale route and sell their products to retailers. Faire’s B2B ecommerce platform connects sellers to over 700,000 retailers.
Faire’s pricing and fees can be a little tricky to grasp at first. If a new wholesale customer discovers you through Faire’s marketplace, you’ll pay a 15% commission on all orders and an additional $10 new customer fee on opening orders. For any existing or prospective customers who order through your Faire Direct link, you’ll pay a 0% commission.
For example, for an order of $200 with a 15% commission, a $10 order fee, and a payment processing fee of 2.4% and $0.30, the final payout would be $154.70.
Best for: Faire is a great way to connect with thousands of retailers if you want to scale your handmade business beyond direct-to-consumer sales.
Best Retail Etsy Alternatives
7. Folksy
For U.K. sellers, Folksy is the go-to Etsy alternative. Whether you sell clothing and accessories, art, or homeware, Folksy is filled with makers selling their creative goods.
Plus, from the buyer’s side of things, anyone in the world can use the site. So, if you want to shop for British crafts, Folksy is the place to go.
What I like: Folksy curates themes on its homepage (like the National Tea Day example above) and offers a lot of tags shoppers can use to shop. In my opinion, features like these make it easier for sellers to get discovered.
8. My Community Made
My Community Made is a rare Etsy alternative that doesn’t cost sellers a thing. The platform is completely free to use with no transaction fees or listing fees. While it is free to use, it does come with a few limitations. For starters, the platform can only distribute U.S. handmade and vintage products.
What I like: I like that the account is completely free. This offers a low barrier to commitment for anyone who wants to get their business started right away.
9. Cratejoy
Cratejoy is a subscription box marketplace with over 500,000 monthly subscribers, 40,000 sales each month, and four million monthly views generated.
A subscription box is a great way to set up recurring revenue for your craft business. The cost to get started is $24.99 per month plus 1.25% and $0.10 in transaction fees.
Best for: Do you have a variety of inventory? Are you frequently creating new products? Then, a subscription box would be perfect for your business.
10. Amazon Handmade
Launched in 2015, Amazon Handmade is the retail giant’s maker-focused arm of its business. The platform is similar to Etsy in that it has a massive online presence that can help you reach millions of shoppers. However, Amazon isn’t a stranger to dropshipping, so you must be aware of that aspect if you choose to sell your handmade products on Amazon Handmade.
Best for: Reaching millions of people worldwide.
Moving Away From Etsy
Etsy can be a great place to launch your ecommerce business and get an understanding of selling online. However, while the marketplace offers a chance for new makers to get discovered or house their inventory, recent changes to the platform have made it more difficult to break through the sea of dropshipping listings.
If you’re considering starting a small handmade business, I think Etsy or another marketplace website can be a good place to start. But if you want to set your business up to scale, I believe it’s worth it to create your own website that gives you full control and ownership over your ecommerce business.