On this label
- Etsy requires every item to be made, designed, handpicked or sourced by the seller; reselling mass-produced goods is not allowed.
- More than 60% of sales in Amazon’s store come from independent sellers, according to Amazon.
- A Shopify store brings no built-in shoppers: you pay a plan fee and find every buyer yourself.
The question small sellers ask most is which platform is best. The more useful question is which platform fits this particular product. Etsy, Amazon and your own Shopify store are built on different ideas about who the buyer is, what can be listed and how the platform gets paid. Once you see those differences side by side, the choice for most products becomes obvious.
Three different models
| Etsy | Amazon | Shopify store | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Marketplace for creative and handmade goods | General marketplace selling almost everything | Software for running your own online store |
| Who brings buyers | Etsy’s search and ads | Amazon’s search and ads | You |
| What you can sell | Items made, designed, handpicked or sourced by you | Most products; some categories need approval | Anything legal you choose |
| Main costs | $0.20 listing fee, 6.5% transaction fee, payment processing | $0.99 per item or $39.99 a month, plus a referral fee by category | Monthly plan plus payment processing |
| Who owns the customer relationship | Shared with Etsy | Mostly Amazon | You |
Etsy: creative goods and the people who look for them
Etsy’s help center states that everything listed must be made, designed, handpicked or sourced by the seller, and that reselling mass-produced items is not allowed, apart from limited exceptions for curated or sourced creative items. That rule shapes the marketplace. Etsy’s annual report for 2025 says the marketplace had 86.5 million active buyers and 5.6 million active sellers, more than 100 million items for sale, and that custom or made-to-order merchandise made up about 30% of gross merchandise sales.
If your product is something you make, personalize or design, Etsy puts it in front of buyers who are already searching for exactly that. If your product is a commodity you buy wholesale, Etsy is the wrong place for it. See What Sells Best on Etsy: The Categories, the Buyers and the Rules Behind Them for the categories that carry the marketplace.
Amazon: scale, speed and strict listing rules
Amazon’s letter to sellers about 2026 fees says that more than 60% of sales in Amazon’s store come from independent sellers, most of them small and medium-sized businesses. The audience is enormous and the buyer is usually searching for a specific product, comparing price, delivery speed and reviews.
That scale comes with structure. Amazon charges a referral fee on every sale, set by category: 15% for most categories such as Home and Kitchen, Toys and Games and Sports and Outdoors, with a $0.30 minimum. Listings follow detailed rules, from a pure white background on the main image to product titles of no more than 75 characters. Some categories and brands need approval before you can list at all. Our guide to What Sells Best on Amazon for a Small Seller: Fees, Approval and Products That Fit the Rules covers which products fit those constraints.
Shopify: your store, your traffic
A Shopify store is software, not a marketplace. When we checked Shopify’s pricing page in October 2026, it listed a Basic plan for solo entrepreneurs at $19 a month billed yearly, with a 2% fee when you use a third-party payment provider instead of Shopify Payments; prices are shown by country, so check the page for yours. You get full control over branding, pricing and customer data. You also get no shoppers. Every visit has to come from your own marketing, social media, email list or search ranking.
Tip: A useful test: if you stopped all marketing tomorrow, would orders still arrive? On Etsy and Amazon, often yes. On your own store, almost never at first.
Matching products to channels
| Your product | Usually starts best on | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Handmade or personalized goods | Etsy | Buyers search Etsy for exactly this; Etsy’s rules keep out mass-produced competition |
| Your own design printed by a partner | Etsy, then your own store | Etsy allows it as “designed by a seller” with the production partner disclosed |
| Branded consumer product in volume | Amazon | Buyers search by product type; fulfillment and reviews drive sales |
| Wholesale or mass-produced goods | Amazon or your own store | Not allowed as handmade on Etsy |
| A niche brand with a loyal following | Your own store | You keep the customer list and the margin |
The rules that apply everywhere
Whichever channel you choose, federal rules travel with you. The Federal Trade Commission’s Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule requires a reasonable basis for any shipping time you state, or for shipping within 30 days if you state none. The FTC’s rule on consumer reviews, in effect since October 21, 2024, bans fake reviews and reviews bought on condition of a particular sentiment. And children’s products must meet Consumer Product Safety Commission testing and certification requirements no matter where they are sold.
You do not have to choose only one
Many sellers start on one marketplace to find buyers and prove the product, then add a second channel or their own store. That works best once your inventory and order handling are under control; see Selling on More Than One Channel: Inventory, Policies and Fees Without the Chaos. Before you choose, run your product through Marketplace Fees Compared: What Etsy, Amazon and a Shopify Store Take From a $40 Sale so you know what each sale will actually leave you.
A quick decision path
- Did you make, design or curate the product? Start with Etsy.
- Is it a standard product that buyers search for by type or brand? Look at Amazon first, after checking whether the category needs approval.
- Do you already have an audience, such as followers, a mailing list or repeat local customers? A Shopify store lets you sell to them without marketplace fees.
- Not sure? Start where buyers already are, learn what sells, then expand.