Building an e-commerce empire requires you to make several important decisions. When you’re considering which platform will be the most effective in displaying your products and attracting customers, you may be faced with a tough choice. When the options are Etsy vs Shopify – which one should you use for your e-commerce brand?

In fact, there’s no simple answer to this. Both of these platforms are used by companies big and small to market and sell their products online.

Yet, although these are powerful tools, each platform has its pros and cons for you to consider.

To help you determine which is best for you, let’s talk Etsy vs Shopify for your e-commerce brand.

Etsy vs Shopify 

Each of these online selling platforms are high quality options for any e-commerce brand. But, there are distinct differences you need to consider before setting up shop.

In our Etsy vs Shopify debate, let’s lay out some pros and cons of using Etsy to sell online.

Pros of Etsy

• Requires no knowledge of website building or coding management
• Easy uploading feature and adding of descriptions, tags
• One centralized marketplace for your products, branding and company info
• Payment process set up through Etsy
• Access to a large consumer base around the world
• Etsy is a respected brand name that will give your company positive recognition
• Can set up a shop in little to no time and start selling right away

Cons of Etsy

• Pricing fees for selling: 20 cents to list, 5% transaction fee and Etsy payments collects 3% + 0.25 cents payment processing fee when an item is sold
• One page marketplace and feed of images leaves little room for creativity
• Small branding elements in the corner of your page
• Only able to use pictures to show your products, no video option
• Limited to what you can include –  lacks a formalized about section, blog component, marketing landing pages
• Your website will be hosted through a Etsy URL

To continue our Etsy vs Shopify discussion – let’s talk about the pros and cons of using Shopify

Pros of Shopify

• Professional level site that is used by e-commerce brands all over the world
• Creative templates that allow you to change and alter your site to whatever you choose
• Built in Shopify widgets that up your selling experience
• Customization options to make your site unique
• Recognized as a leader in e-commerce development
• Ability to add photos and videos into posts / product lists
• Multi-page options for about, contact, blog and other relevant sections for your brand
• Ability to integrate with Instagram to sell through your socials
• Easy to build and start accepting payments right away
• SEO capabilities

Cons of Shopify

• Shopify fees: Monthly subscription of $29 plus 2.9% and 30 cents for each transaction
• Individual site for your brand with no access to database of users, requires you to develop your own audience and strong marketing methods
• Templates that require some knowledge of design
• Startup cost to purchase subscription and domain

Etsy vs Shopify Conclusion: Etsy is best for beginning sellers and smaller companies while Shopify caters to more established, large scale e-commerce brands.

With Etsy’s ease of setup and little requirement of design knowledge, this makes it a great platform to use when you’re first starting to sell online. Although they have multiple fees, you are able to reach a large audience of people with their international customer base. Etsy is a powerful tool for small e-commerce shops.

But, if you’re looking for a more individualized platform with your own branding and URL – then Shopify is the best choice for you. Shopify has features such as creative templates, integrated design elements and SEO capabilities to push the visibility of your site across the web. There’s no wonder it’s the go-to choice of many e-commerce brands.

So, if you’re deciding between Etsy vs Shopify for you e-commerce brand – consider the pros and cons we have listed above. Determine what level your business is at and what capabilities you look for in a selling platform.

Whichever tool you decide to use, Etsy vs Shopify, you will build a marketplace that is perfect for your unique and successful e-commerce brand.

Do you have an e-commerce brand that is hosted on Etsy or Shopify? Which platform do you prefer for selling online?

Send us your thoughts & opinions on social at @h_collective !