Etsy or Shopify?
Have a handcrafted product you want to sell, but not sure if you should open an Etsy shop or go it alone with your own website on Shopify or Squarespace? Well, you’re in the right place. I have successfully done all three and based on my 13+ years of experience in the handmade marketplace, there is definitely an order you should follow when launching and scaling your own handcrafted business.
launch with etsy
If you are just getting started, I absolutely believe Etsy is the best place to start. It is quick & easy to launch an Etsy shop and you’ll have the opportunity to reach more people with their built-in audience. The ease of the platform is enticing, because you can fully launch in just a few hours… before you have the chance to overthink your decision.
Honestly, I think that is probably the most convincing reason to start an Etsy shop. Having a plug-in shop means less unknowns — less opportunity to analyze and talk yourself out of it.
Etsy also offers an amazing opportunity to learn about how to sell your products online. It gives you insight into your customers, which can provide valuable feedback about your product or product line.
grow with shopify or Squarespace
Etsy can be fantastic. For the first few years of our business, we only sold on Etsy. We had great success and even became a featured seller. But, we used Etsy in the wrong way. We used it in place of developing our own brand and launching our own website, which I do not recommend (unless your Etsy shop is just for fun).
Use Etsy as a tool — as a landing page — to guide your customers to a store that you own. After you launch your Etsy shop and get the hang of running your handmade business, you should launch your own website.
Platforms like Shopify and Squarespace make it so easy to design a stunning site with all the tools you need to be competitive.
We started on Squarespace and stayed with them for years. I loved the built in templates (still do). It really gives you a professional looking store front without having to hire a web designer.
As we grew, I found some of the features and tools on SS to be lacking so we migrated to Shopify and we’ve been with Shopify ever since. Shopify has an app store, which allows you to use the talents of other developers to customize your shop. And, no matter how big you get, Shopify is equipped to handle it.
That said, I would choose a trial with each platform and see which one feels right to you. Ultimately, I recommend the platform that will allow you to get your site up and running the quickest. You can always migrate if needed down the road.
conclusion
In short, the answer is to launch your shop immediately with Etsy while you work on your own e-commerce website. Don’t use Etsy as an excuse for not owning your own place on the world wide web. Etsy algorithms are always changing, so even if you find success on Etsy, that could be gone in an instant. Etsy also reserves the right to shut down your shop at any time, so if you are serious about scaling your handcrafted business, you need a shop that is all yours.
Was this helpful? If you want to get started on Etsy from the lens of my 13+ years of experience, I created a 7-day Etsy Launch List just for you. I teach you exactly what you need to do to get your Etsy shop off the ground in 7 days.