Shopify vs Etsy
Shopify vs Etsy: what each takes from the same order, with Amazon and eBay (2026)
· Nolyn research team
Shopify and Etsy are not the same kind of thing. Shopify rents you a store: low fees, a monthly plan and no buyers of its own. Etsy is a marketplace: higher fees on every sale, no monthly plan, and shoppers already searching. So the honest comparison is the same order on each, at your volume, plus what it costs you to bring buyers to a store of your own. We priced one order, a $25 item with $5 shipping paid by the buyer, on Shopify, Etsy, Amazon and eBay, using each platform's own US fee pages, read on October 26–28, 2026. The figures cover platform fees only; postage, product cost and ads are yours on every platform.
Is Shopify or Etsy cheaper to sell on?
Per order, Shopify. On a $25 item with $5 shipping, US fees checked October 28, 2026 come to $1.17 on Shopify Basic with Shopify Payments, $3.30 on Etsy, $4.48 on eBay and $5.49 on Amazon's Individual plan. But Shopify also costs $39 a month ($29 billed yearly) and brings no buyers, so Etsy stays cheaper below 19 orders a month, and every Shopify visitor is one you pay to bring.
Check what similar products sell for on Amazon US
Name a product and Nolyn reads the current Amazon US best sellers for it: price range, ratings, Best Sellers Rank and Amazon's "bought in past month" label, so you can see where your price sits before you pick a platform. New accounts get 100 free credits.
Overview
| Shopify Basic | Etsy | Amazon | eBay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fees on the $30 order | $1.17 (3.9%) | $3.30 (11%) | $5.49 (18.3%) Individual; $4.50 (15%) Professional | $4.48 (14.9%) |
| What makes up the fee | 2.9% + 30¢ card fee with Shopify Payments | $0.20 listing + 6.5% transaction + 3% + $0.25 processing | 15% referral fee (min $0.30) + $0.99 per item on Individual | 13.6% final value fee + $0.40 per order |
| Monthly cost | $39, or $29 billed yearly | None (Etsy Plus optional, $10) | None on Individual; $39.99 on Professional | None; 250 free listings, then $0.35 each |
| Same order with 8% sales tax | $1.24 | $3.37 | $5.49 (tax excluded) | $4.81 |
| Who brings the buyer | You (ads, social, email, SEO) | Etsy search, plus Offsite Ads at 15% when they sell | Amazon search and ads | eBay search and promoted listings |
| Handmade-only rules | No | Handmade, vintage and craft supplies | Optional Handmade program, 15% referral | No |
One US order: $25 item + $5 shipping paid by the buyer ($30), no sales tax, fees read from each platform's official pages on 2026-10-26 to 2026-10-28. Amazon at the 15% rate of Home and Kitchen and most other categories; eBay at the 13.6% rate of most categories.
Shopify and Etsy side by side
Shopify
Shopify is a store builder: you get a site, checkout, payments and apps, and keep the customer relationship, including their email. On the Basic plan, Shopify Payments charges 2.9% + 30¢ on standard online card payments (3.5% + 30¢ on premium cards, 1% more on international ones). Use another payment provider and Shopify adds a 2% transaction fee on Basic on top of that provider's own. The $1.17 on a $30 order is the lowest fee of the four platforms here, but the $39 plan is a fixed cost, and themes, apps and a domain can add to it. New stores get 3 days free, then $1 a month for 3 months. The real cost is traffic: Shopify does not send shoppers to your store, so the fees you save are what you have to spend to bring them.
Pros
- Lowest per-order fee: $1.17 on a $30 order
- Your brand, your customer list, your checkout
- No handmade rules: sell anything legal
- Fees stay flat as you grow; no per-listing charge
Cons
- $39 a month whether you sell or not ($29 yearly)
- No marketplace traffic: you pay for every visitor
- 2% extra on Basic if you do not use Shopify Payments
- Apps, theme and domain often add to the bill
Etsy
Etsy is a marketplace for handmade goods, vintage items and craft supplies. You pay per listing and per sale: $0.20 to list (renewed after each sale of a multi-quantity listing), 6.5% of the item price plus shipping, and 3% + $0.25 in payment processing on the total including tax. On the $30 order that is $3.30, 11% of what the buyer paid. If the buyer came through one of Etsy's Offsite Ads, add 15% of item plus shipping ($4.50 here), or 12% once your shop has passed $10,000 in a year; shops under that threshold can opt out. In exchange, Etsy brings the shoppers, and you pay nothing in a month you sell nothing.
Pros
- No monthly fee: you pay only when you list and sell
- Buyers already search Etsy for handmade and vintage
- Simple set-up, payments included
- Offsite Ads charged only on sales they bring
Cons
- $3.30 on a $30 order, almost three times Shopify's $1.17
- Offsite Ads can add 15% to a sale
- Only handmade, vintage and craft supplies
- Etsy owns the customer relationship and the search ranking
The same order at four price points
Etsy, eBay and Amazon take a percentage, so their fee grows with the price; Shopify's 2.9% is the smallest and its 30¢ matters most on cheap items. Each fee includes the $5 shipping the buyer pays, because all four charge on it. Monthly plans are left out here and shown in the next table.
| Item + $5 shipping | Shopify Basic | Etsy | Amazon Individual | eBay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $10 item ($15) | $0.74 | $1.88 | $3.24 | $2.44 |
| $25 item ($30) | $1.17 | $3.30 | $5.49 | $4.48 |
| $50 item ($55) | $1.90 | $5.68 | $9.24 | $7.88 |
| $100 item ($105) | $3.35 | $10.43 | $16.74 | $14.68 |
No sales tax. Amazon Professional sellers pay the 15% referral fee without the $0.99, e.g. $4.50 on the $30 order. Work out your own Etsy order with the Etsy fee calculator.
Per month: when Shopify's plan pays for itself
On the $30 order, Shopify takes $2.13 less than Etsy ($3.30 − $1.17). The $39 monthly plan is covered after 39 ÷ 2.13 = 18.3 orders, so from 19 orders a month Shopify's platform fees are lower; billed yearly ($29 a month) the line is 14 orders. Amazon's Professional plan beats the $0.99-per-item Individual plan from 41 items a month (39.99 ÷ 0.99 = 40.4).
That is platform fees only. On Etsy most buyers find you through Etsy; on Shopify you pay for each one. If bringing a buyer to your store costs more than $2.13 per order, Etsy is still cheaper at any volume. Work out what yours costs with the customer acquisition cost calculator.
| Orders a month ($30 each) | Shopify Basic ($39 plan) | Shopify Basic yearly ($29) | Etsy | Amazon Individual | Amazon Professional | eBay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | $50.70 | $40.70 | $33.00 | $54.90 | $84.99 | $44.80 |
| 25 | $68.25 | $58.25 | $82.50 | $137.25 | $152.49 | $112.00 |
| 50 | $97.50 | $87.50 | $165.00 | $274.50 | $264.99 | $224.00 |
| 100 | $156.00 | $146.00 | $330.00 | $549.00 | $489.99 | $448.00 |
Fees and plans only: no apps, ads, Etsy Offsite Ads, eBay listing fees beyond 250 a month, postage or product cost.
Etsy vs Amazon: fees, Handmade and who it suits
Amazon charges a referral fee on the total sales price, item plus delivery and gift wrap, but not tax: 15% for Home and Kitchen and most other categories, never less than $0.30. On the $30 order that is $4.50, against $3.30 on Etsy. On the Individual plan Amazon also takes $0.99 per item sold ($5.49 in all); the Professional plan replaces that with $39.99 a month and pays off from 41 items a month.
Amazon Handmade is Amazon's answer to Etsy: approved makers pay the same 15% referral fee (minimum $0.30), and Amazon waives the $39.99 Professional fee after the first month. So a maker on Handmade pays $4.50 on the $30 order, $1.20 more than on Etsy, for access to Amazon's much larger audience and the option of Fulfillment by Amazon, whose fees are on top.
Some categories cost less on Amazon. Clothing and Accessories is 5% at $15 or less and 10% up to $20, but 17% above $20. Check your category in Amazon's referral fee table before you compare.
eBay vs Etsy: fees and what sells where
eBay's final value fee for most categories is 13.6% of the total amount of the sale, which includes shipping and sales tax, plus $0.40 per order over $10 ($0.30 at $10 or less). On the $30 order that is $4.48, $1.18 more than Etsy. With 8% sales tax the gap widens: $4.81 on eBay, $3.37 on Etsy, since Etsy's 6.5% transaction fee leaves tax out and only its processing fee includes it.
Listing is cheaper on eBay for most sellers: the first 250 listings a month are free, then $0.35 each, while Etsy charges $0.20 for every listing and renewal. The bigger difference is the buyer: eBay suits used goods, collectibles, parts and auctions; Etsy suits handmade, personalised and vintage goods with a story. Some rates differ by category: jewelry is 15% up to $5,000 per item on eBay.
The cost the fee table leaves out: traffic
On Etsy, Amazon and eBay, part of what you pay buys you a place in front of shoppers who are already looking. On Shopify you buy that yourself, through ads, social media, influencers, email or search. Many sellers run both: a marketplace for discovery and a Shopify store for repeat buyers who now know the brand.
Etsy's Offsite Ads show what a marketplace charges when it goes out and finds a buyer for you: 15% of item plus shipping on the order, $4.50 on our $30 example, capped at $100 and paid only when a sale happens. If your own ads bring a customer for less than that, and they come back, a store of your own wins.
Where Nolyn fits, and where it does not
Nolyn, our product, has no Etsy or Shopify data: it cannot show you what sells on Etsy or estimate a Shopify store's revenue. What it does is read live Amazon US and TikTok Shop US listings and answer research questions with them: what similar products sell for, which listings show the most sales, what their reviews complain about. That helps when you are deciding what to make or stock and at what price, whichever platform you sell on.
New accounts get 100 free credits, enough to try a product research task before paying.
Which one should you choose?
- You are starting out with handmade or vintage goods and no audience
- Etsy
- You sell fewer than 19 orders a month and do not plan to buy traffic
- Etsy
- You already have an audience (social, email, wholesale buyers) or a working ad budget
- Shopify
- You want your brand, your customer list and no handmade rules
- Shopify
- You are a maker who wants Amazon's audience
- Amazon Handmade (15% referral, Professional fee waived after month one)
- You sell used goods, collectibles or parts
- eBay
- You want to check what similar products sell for on Amazon US or TikTok Shop US before you price
- Nolyn (100 free credits)
Check what similar products sell for on Amazon US
Name a product and Nolyn reads the current Amazon US best sellers for it: price range, ratings, Best Sellers Rank and Amazon's "bought in past month" label, so you can see where your price sits before you pick a platform. New accounts get 100 free credits.
Questions
Is Shopify cheaper than Etsy?
Per order, yes: $1.17 on Shopify Basic with Shopify Payments against $3.30 on Etsy for a $25 item with $5 shipping (fees checked October 26–28, 2026). With Shopify's $39 monthly plan, Etsy stays cheaper below 19 orders a month, or 14 if you pay Shopify yearly, before counting what you spend on traffic.
Can I sell on both Shopify and Etsy?
Yes. Many sellers list on Etsy for discovery and run a Shopify store for repeat customers, and keep stock in sync with an inventory app. Each platform charges its own fees on the orders it handles.
Is it better to sell on Etsy or Amazon?
Etsy is cheaper per order for most categories: $3.30 against $4.50 (Amazon Professional or Handmade) or $5.49 (Amazon Individual) on a $30 order. Amazon has the larger audience and offers Fulfillment by Amazon. Handmade sellers can use Amazon Handmade, where the $39.99 monthly fee is waived after the first month.
Is eBay or Etsy better for selling?
Etsy is cheaper on a typical order ($3.30 against $4.48 on a $30 order) and suits handmade and vintage. eBay suits used goods, collectibles and parts, and its first 250 listings a month are free, where Etsy charges $0.20 per listing.
Does Shopify charge transaction fees?
Not with Shopify Payments, where you pay the card rate: 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic for standard online cards in the US. With a third-party payment provider, Shopify adds a 2% transaction fee on Basic on top of that provider's fees.
What does Etsy charge per sale in 2026?
For a US shop: $0.20 per listing, 6.5% of item price plus shipping, and 3% + $0.25 payment processing on the total including tax, plus 15% (or 12%) when the sale came from Offsite Ads. That is $3.30 on a $25 item with $5 shipping.
Sources
- Shopify: Pricing, United States (Basic $39/mo or $29/mo billed yearly; online standard card rate 2.9% + 30¢, premium 3.5% + 30¢, international +1%; third-party transaction fee 2% on Basic; 3 days free, then $1/month for 3 months), read from a US connection · checked October 28, 2026
- Etsy: Fees & Payments Policy (listing $0.20, transaction 6.5% of item + shipping + gift wrap, Offsite Ads 15% / 12% capped at $100; last updated Oct 5, 2026) · checked October 28, 2026
- Etsy: Etsy Payments Policy (US payment processing 3% + 0.25 USD on the total sale amount, including tax; last updated Jul 31, 2026) · checked October 26, 2026
- Amazon: Selling on Amazon pricing (Individual $0.99 per item sold, Professional $39.99 a month; referral fee 15% with a $0.30 minimum for Home and Kitchen and Everything Else) · checked October 28, 2026
- Amazon Seller Central: Selling on Amazon fee schedule (referral fee on the total sales price: item price plus delivery and gift wrap charges, excluding taxes) · checked October 28, 2026
- Amazon: Amazon Handmade (15% referral fee or $0.30, whichever is greater; Professional plan fee waived for approved makers after the first month) · checked October 28, 2026
- eBay Help: Selling fees (13.6% final value fee on the total amount of the sale up to $7,500 for most categories, plus $0.40 per order over $10 or $0.30 at $10 or less; total includes shipping and sales tax; 250 free listings a month, then $0.35) · checked October 28, 2026
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