Etsy Alternatives for Selling Handmade Products

The best Etsy alternatives for handmade sellers are Amazon Handmade, Big Cartel, Folksy, Ecwid, and eBay, plus your own Shopify or WooCommerce store. Each one trades Etsy’s large built-in audience for something else: lower fees, more control over branding, or a UK-focused buyer base. The right choice depends on whether you value reach or margin more.

Key takeaways

• Etsy’s fees are the main push factor: Etsy charges $0.20 per listing, a 6.5% transaction fee, and 3% + $0.25 payment processing per US sale, plus a 15% Offsite Ads fee on ad-driven orders (Etsy).
• No single replacement: marketplaces (Amazon Handmade, eBay, Folksy) give you traffic; store builders (Big Cartel, Ecwid, Shopify) give you control and lower per-sale fees.
• Region matters: Folksy is the strongest pick for UK makers, while Amazon Handmade and eBay have the widest global reach.

Why look for an Etsy alternative?

Etsy charges sellers three fees on every sale: a $0.20 listing fee, a 6.5% transaction fee on the full order including shipping, and a payment processing fee of 3% + $0.25 for US sellers, with a further 15% Offsite Ads fee when a buyer arrives through an Etsy-placed ad (Etsy). On top of the cost, the marketplace is crowded, so new shops struggle to get seen. Those two issues, fees and visibility, are why most sellers start looking elsewhere.

The trade-off to keep in mind: Etsy’s fees buy you a huge, ready-made audience of handmade buyers. Leave Etsy and you usually pay less per sale but have to bring more of your own traffic.

The 8 best Etsy alternatives at a glance

The table below compares the main options on fees and who each suits best, so you can shortlist before reading the detail.

Amazon Handmade

Amazon Handmade is Amazon’s artisan section, and it charges a 15% referral fee on each sale in exchange for access to Amazon’s global audience and Prime shipping. There are no per-listing fees, which suits sellers with larger ranges. It fits makers who can handle volume and want reach more than a craft-specific community.

Big Cartel

Big Cartel is a store builder, not a marketplace, and its biggest draw is that it takes no commission on sales. A free plan covers up to five products, and paid plans add more listings for a flat monthly fee. It suits small-scale artists who want a simple, branded store and to keep their margins, accepting that they must drive their own traffic.

Folksy

Folksy is a UK marketplace for handmade goods. Basic sellers pay 15p plus VAT per listing, while a Folksy Plus plan (a flat monthly or annual fee) allows unlimited listings, and all sales carry a 6% commission plus VAT (Folksy). For UK makers wanting buyers who specifically value British craft, it is the closest like-for-like Etsy alternative.

Ecwid

Ecwid adds a shop to a site you already run, whether it is built on WordPress, Joomla, or plain HTML. It has a free plan and does not charge its own transaction fee, so it suits sellers who already have a website or blog and want to add selling without rebuilding. Paid tiers add more products and features.

eBay

eBay is a global marketplace with auction and Buy It Now listings, and it charges roughly a 13% final value fee plus a monthly allowance of free listings. Its audience is broad rather than handmade-specific, which makes it strongest for vintage, collectible, and one-off items that benefit from a very large pool of buyers.

Goimagine

Goimagine is a handmade-only marketplace that runs on subscription tiers and donates 100% of its profits to charities helping children. It suits makers who want a small, mission-driven community and buyers who value where their money goes, rather than the largest possible audience.

Storenvy

Storenvy combines a free, customizable storefront with a shared marketplace, so your products can appear both on your own branded store and in front of marketplace browsers. It suits sellers who want a free store first and marketplace exposure as a bonus.

iCraft

iCraft is a strictly handmade marketplace that charges a flat monthly listing fee and takes no commission. Its handmade-only policy means buyers arrive expecting genuine craft, which suits sellers who want to avoid competing with mass-produced or drop-shipped goods.

How do you choose the right Etsy alternative?

Match the platform to your single biggest priority, because no option wins on everything. Weigh these factors in order:

1. Audience vs control. Marketplaces (Amazon Handmade, eBay, Folksy) bring buyers; store builders (Big Cartel, Ecwid, Shopify) give you branding and lower fees but no built-in traffic.
2. Total fees, not just one rate. Add listing, transaction, payment, and subscription costs together before comparing.
3. Region. Folksy is UK-focused; Amazon Handmade and eBay are global.
4. Integrations. Check it works with your payment, shipping, and email tools.
5. Time to set up. A free, simple store you actually launch beats a feature-packed one you never finish.

What this means in practice

Most handmade sellers end up using more than one channel: a marketplace for discovery and their own store for margin and repeat customers. Start with the platform that fixes your biggest Etsy frustration, whether that is fees, visibility, or branding, then expand once it is running. If you decide to move to a fully owned store, our guide to building an eCommerce website covers what the migration involves.