In late February, eCommerce website Etsy announced a planned update to its advertising service. Initially billed as a “risk-free” way to bring more sales to creators on the platform, it was quickly met with widespread derision from its audience. There were a few reasons for this.
- Merchants who make more than $10,000 a year in sales will be enrolled and charged a 12 percent advertising fee automatically. There is no way for these merchants to opt-out.
- Sellers who make less than $10,000 a year are charged 15 percent instead but can opt-out, though they are still enrolled automatically.
- The advertising fee is in addition to the 5 percent shipping fee and the 3-4 percent mandatory fee for enrolment in Etsy’s payment service.
- When a shopper clicks on an advertisement that includes a seller’s products, the fee is applied to the next purchase they make from that seller within 30 days. This occurs even if the seller opts out before the purchase was made.
As you might expect, people aren’t viewing this fee increase favorably, and many are talking about abandoning the platform altogether. One can hardly blame them for that. It seems something of a pigheaded move and one which takes control away from Etsy’s sellers.
With that in mind, if you’re one of those sellers disillusioned with the advertising change, here are a few alternatives to Etsy.
BigCartel
Equal parts website builder and creative marketplace, Big Cartel is geared largely towards artists, creators, and designers. It’s free to use and incredibly user-friendly to boot. The trade-off is that in terms of customization and flexibility, it’s a bit limited.
If you want anything other basic themes and bog-standard features, you’ll have to muck about in the backend and mess with code. This means BigCartel is great for small merchants, but not so much for anyone who seeks more expansive growth. If you want to do anything other than selling individual pieces, you might want to seek an alternative.
Amazon Handmade
You probably shouldn’t be surprised to see Amazon on the list. It is, after all, the largest eCommerce platform in the world. The giant has used its clout and reach to create Amazon Handmade, a service for artists and entrepreneurs who exclusively sell handmade products. Handmade allows you to put together a custom profile for your shop and supports order personalization and multiple categories.
Perhaps more importantly, its advertising is flexible. You’re not forced to sign-up for anything. Amazon, meanwhile, collects a flat 15 percent referral fee on all sales. It’s pricier than Etsy, sure, but that price comes with access to Amazon’s massive audience and the ability to ship products through its Fulfillment by Amazon service.
Square
Square already has a pretty huge footprint amongst creatives for its easily-configurable point of sale system. What you might not know is that it also provides a platform on which you can build your own digital storefront for free. Better yet, aside from a minor (approximately three percent) processing fee on credit card transactions, you don’t need to pay a cent.
Square’s website builder is easy to use, requiring no coding and capable of integrating with a wide range of other avenues, including your own physical storefront. There are no hosting fees required, and it allows you a surprising range of flexibility in terms of fulfillment options. The visual editor is a bit limited, sure, but for the price it’s phenomenal.
Alternatively, You Could Always Make a Store From Scratch
If none of the above options appeal to you, you might consider just making your own store from the bottom-up. There are a ton of different platforms that you could use for this, including WooCommerce, WordPress, and Shopify. Have a look around, and see if any of them appeal to you.
It’s unlikely that Etsy’s advertising changes will drive everyone from the platform, in spite of how ill-advised they are. Even still, there’s likely to be an exodus of creators in the near future. If you’re among them, just remember that you have options.
For all its popularity, Etsy is ultimately one of many.