Podcast Episode 38: 7 Marketplace Sites Like Etsy to Sell Your Products On
Apr 28, 2022
Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/gDJPhBHmlg8
Hey guys!! Welcome back to the show this week! How are y’all? I hope you are feeling inspired and creative and capable and future focused in your lives and your Etsy shops. And if not--- well then perhaps this is the perfect place for you to be today. Lollll--- and I’m super glad you’re here. I love spending this time with you.
Today we are exploring a totally new topic for the podcast. We’re talking about other sites that are LIKE Etsy that you might want to check out if:
- You want to grow bigger than Etsy can take you
- Etsy isn’t working well for you right now
- Your curious about other audiences, or
- You want to sell something that Etsy doesn’t allow
In full transparency, I have not personally sold on any of these sites myself—so I’m not bringing you insight from my experiences—this is totally based on research. BUT if you guys like this episode and this topic—let me know (DM me or email me)—and I’ll see about bringing in dedicated experts who can talk to us about these in more detail and from personal experience.
With that, let’s dive in to the research! The first Etsy alternative we’re looking at today is:
1. Amazon Handmade
Did you know that Amazon literally has a category for handmade items? YES—you can sell your creations on the Amazon beast in a way similar to Etsy.
Amazon handmade sellers are quite elite—but if you sell a really amazing made-with-your-hands product on Etsy—this could be SUCH a great move for you.
You have to apply and get accepted—and they are strict about their policies. They take their handmade artisan community really seriously—but that can be such a bonus for us too! It means that the space is protected and excellence is expected!
The first step is to create a professional seller account which costs $39.99/month, then you can apply to Amazon Handmade. If you’re approved, the $39.99 monthly is actually waived. And I’m sure if you’re declined you can cancel your seller account.
The rule is all products must be made, altered, or assembled by hand by you, a member of your collective, or an employee.
In terms of fees--- there is a 15% transaction fee taken by Amazon for every sale. It’s steep—but it’s Amazon! Think of the crazy traffic they could drive to your products. And just find ways to build the expenses into your sales price.
It would be a different category on Amazon, but you can absolutely sell your digital OR Print on Demands products over there too. If you’ve got some that are doing really well on Etsy, they’d likely sell on Amazon too. Something to think about!
For some of you who are really ready to scale—this could be a POWERFUL next step for you!
https://sell.amazon.com/programs/handmade
Next up we have the marketplace site:
2. Storenvy
Storenvy has been around since 2010 and had almost 2 million site visits last month in comparison to Etsy which had 388.5 million. So a lot less—but 2 million is not shabby.
Storenvy is not a specifically “handmade” site which might open up a lot of new opportunities for sellers. They do have a list of “not allowed” items (https://support.storenvy.com/hc/en-us/articles/360038742132-What-can-t-I-sell-in-my-store- )
which I will link for you in the shownotes, but it’s stuff like weapons, adult toys, hazardous materials, live animals. Of course you can’t sell someone else’s intellectual property. But otherwise, it seems like there are a lot more possibilities that we see on Etsy. They call themselves “an ecommerce platform for brands” which is a bit different from what we’re used to. Their site says there are currently 56,000 “brands” selling their products on the platform.
I like the feel of the Storenvy site. It’s not as fancy as Etsy, but it’s very clean, attractive and easy to use. It feels current which I like. I think the fact that they’re focused on attracting “brands” is bringing in high quality sellers—so the photography you’ll see on a lot listings is top notch and it just feels more professional. I was pleased to see this--- especially compared to the feel of several others we’ll look at today.
Storenvy offers a lot of customization for your shop and brand if you want it---but also the platform allows for a very simple setup just like an Etsy shop if the bells and whistles aren’t your thing.
The basic platform is free to start on but there are payment plans if you want access to more features. They also have a 15% transaction fee when you make a sale. Their motto is they don’t get paid until you do.
Our next site is called:
3. Ruby Lane
Ruby lane is a great site to sell vintage items ranging from art, jewelry, clothing, dolls, pottery, antiques, glass, silver and collectables. They get an impressive 1.5 million visits per month.
In my research I found a site called Ecommerce Bytes which puts out an annual report called the “Seller’s Choice Awards” and they rank the top ecommerce sites in the order of the seller’s satisfaction. In 2021 Ruby Lane came in third place ABOVE Etsy which was in 4th place. Ebay was #1 another site we’ll talk about called Bonanza was #2.
Ruby Lane very much feels like an online flea market—only cleaner. It’s an antiquer’s digital paradise. I do think the site is well organized and clean looking, though! Searching is easy and everything is well laid out. If I were into vintage—I would run, not walk to check this one out.
Ruby Lane does not charge a listing fee so long as you list at least 15 items per month. So they’re rewarding consistency which is interesting! There is no cost until you sell and then they take a 9.9% transaction fee.
Anyone else thinking that Etsy’s new 6.5% fee is feeling like nothing? Lol! They really do give us a fair shake for what they give us. 😊
4. Bonanza
So let’s talk about Bonanza since I had never heard of it—but it was number two on those seller’s choice awards after Ebay! They had 3.4 million site visits last month which I was happy to see.
Bonanza is like a cross between Ebay and Etsy. Their tagline is: Find everything but the ordinary. It appears that there’s a LOT of freedom about what you can sell, but not as much customization available to your shop on the platform.
It’s not explicitly considered a handmade platform, but they did have a specific list of what’s not allowed which I’ll link for you in the shownotes: https://support.bonanza.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001173511-What-items-are-prohibited-
When I visited the site, I noticed that everything is far less polished and more informal than Etsy. It seems like it’s supposed to feel more like a craft fair. Sellers have “booths” instead of “shops” but it’s still your little corner of the site. The other nuance I read about is that buyers and sellers expect to negotiate. So while it’s not the standard culture on Etsy for a buyer to DM a seller and offer a lower price, it’s very much the culture on Bonanza. Sellers should be prepared for that and even price their items a bit high so they have some wiggle room. Buyers want to feel like they’re getting a deal.
Bonanza does not have a listing fee--- they just charge a 3.5% transaction fee on the final sale price which is a great deal. This may explain some of that seller satisfaction rating hahaha! The fee is also applied to any shipping that was charged above $10. And they have a minimum 50 cent transaction fee regardless of the final price.
For sales over $1000, the fee structure is a bit different. But my guess is that won’t apply to most of us so I’m sparing us the math. Lol!
Bonanza also has advertising available for sellers and it’s something you can choose to opt into, it’s not mandatory.
I thought this was a really interesting option. We love the low transaction fee and if we can find a happy work around for the haggle culture it seems like Bonanza is worth exploring.
And next up is a site called:
5. Aftcra
My research showed that it only gets 22.9k monthly visits which does not excite me. As a point of reference, my website—howtosellyourstuff.com got over 8k visits last month and let’s not forget that Etsy had 388.5 million. I would hope that a marketplace is getting wayyyyy more traffic than an Etsy podcaster like me. Although I’m not 100% convinced that the traffic numbers I’ve found are accurate--- but I do think, even if they are off, they’re probably giving us relative information. So most likely Aftcra has by far the lowest traffic of the sites we discussed up until now. That’s probably a reasonable assumption. I just wish accurate date for this data was easier to find!
But that aside, Aftcra is a marketplace specifically for handmade goods made in the United States. (PS—in my research I stumbled upon Folksy.com which is the Aftcra of the UK for my British friends). Aftcra defines handmade as “made by hand and not by machine, and typically therefore of superior quality.”
They allow you to sell handmade or handcrafted products, upcycled or repurposed products, and printed products. It didn’t say anything explicit about digital products--- however I did was able to find digital coloring pages so they must have some allowance for it. Unlike Etsy-- the digital and POD space on Aftcra is massively untouched. (But again, their monthly traffic appears to be really low in my opinion.)
The site is certainly simpler than Etsy, but I thought it was quite nice. They’ve done a good job creating an online marketplace that doesn’t feel sketchy to me. I don’t think there’s a ton of competition, but there aren’t a ton of shoppers either. For handmade sellers, I think this is a really nice additional marketplace to Etsy, but you’d definitely need to be prepared to send a lot of your own traffic to your shop. I’d love to see them grow and expand in the future. It could maybe become more of what Etsy initially was for makers.
In terms of costs, Aftcra has no setup fee or listing fee, however there is a 7% transaction fee when you make a sale.
Our next site is:
6. icraft
“icraft gifts” is a Canadian based company that allows sellers from all over the world to use their platform. It was founded in 2007.
They had 35k visits last month according to similarweb.com which is the resource I used to check all these sites that I’m not totally confident in. The icraft site itself claims they’ve had 1.3 million visits in the past 6 months. So do with that what you will. Neither source is perfect. But if what they’re saying is true, it does make it a much more interesting platform from a shopper traffic perspective.
Icraft calls itself “THE place for everything handmade.” The info page for sellers did not give clear guidelines on what they allow—just a block of photos of handmade items. Apparently you cannot sell vintage items or craft supplies, and I couldn’t find any evidence of digital items either.
The site is pretty basic—but I didn’t hate it. Everything is far less polished—it surprises me after seeing all of the top notch photography on Etsy and again on Storenvy. There are lots of ugly, even slightly blurry pictures of products. (Although I actually saw this on several of these Etsy competitor sites) Icraft kind of reminded me of Ravelry if any of you every used that site years ago for fiber arts.
I found it easy to navigate and their search tool has a lot of features. In addition to a normal search field for keywords, you can explicitly search by city, state, and country if you care about where your item comes from.
To get started you pay a one-time $25 registration fee and they have a monthly membership of $15/month which goes down if you pay for several months up front. Interestingly they have ZERO listings fees, transaction fees, or any other fees. It’s such a different model but I thought that was pretty cool!
And finally we have:
7. Ebay
I think we really can’t complete this discussion without mentioning ebay. I guess to me it kind of feels like the wild wild west, and I’m not trying to get into a negotiation with every customer about the value of my products loll. BUT—it’s tried and true, people shop there CONSTANTLY, they get a ton of traffic—784.3 million monthly visits according to similarweb.com—which kicks Etsy’s 388.5 million monthly hits butt!
So you have to approach it with a different mentality—and if you can do that—it may be a great second stream of sales for you. Let’s not forget that it was also the #1 seller’s choice for marketplaces in 2021. While ebay does work like an auction, they have great settings where you can set a maximum low price—so you don’t have to lose your shirt—and let’s not forget that sometimes it could go the other way for you and you could sell something for more than you were hoping for.
Ebay allows you to sell almost anything from homemade goods, to used or unused items you have. They just won’t let you sell things that break laws or infringe on intellectual property. This is a lot more freedom than we see on most of these marketplace sites.
I think the ebay site feels like a simpler version of Amazon but it’s MUCH easier to get on ebay as a seller. Amazon is notorious for being difficult to get approved on or getting kicked off of—as wonderful as it can be.
In terms of fees--- the structure on ebay is more complicated so I’ll link their full description in the shownotes, but essentially, ebay charges a 10-15% transaction fee for the final value of the item (remember ebay offers a bidding system). Your first 250 listings are free and after that it’s 35 cents per listing.
Ebay fees: https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/frais-pour-les-vendeurs-particuliers?id=4822
And that’s our list today, guys! Super interesting, right? I hope it got your wheels turning—and I really think there was a possible solution in the mix for almost everyone.
Have such a great week and I’ll talk to you next time! Until then, go make something awesome! 😊
EPISODE DETAILS
If you’re looking for ways to sell even more of your products or alternatives marketplaces to Etsy, this list is for you. Today we’re going over 7 marketplaces that are similar to Etsy and what it takes to sell on them.
**“How to Sell Your Stuff on Etsy” is not affiliated with or endorsed by Etsy.com
STUFF I MENTIONED:
Amazon Handmade: https://sell.amazon.com/programs/handmade
Storenvy: what you can’t sell: https://support.storenvy.com/hc/en-us/articles/360038742132-What-can-t-I-sell-in-my-store-
STORENVY: www.Storenvy.com
Seller’s Choice Awards: https://www.ecommercebytes.com/2021/02/13/sellers-choice-awards-2021-merchants-rate-top-online-marketplaces/
RUBY LANE: www.Rubylane.com
Prohibited items on Bonanza: https://support.bonanza.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001173511-What-items-are-prohibited-
BONANZA: www.Bonanza.com
AFTCRA: www.Aftcra.com
ICRAFT: https://icraftgifts.com/
Ebay fee breakdown: https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/frais-pour-les-vendeurs-particuliers?id=4822
EBAY: https://www.ebay.com/
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HOW TO SELL YOUR STUFF SHOWNOTES: https://www.howtosellyourstuff.com/blog/sites-like-etsy
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