Etsy is an online marketplace that provides artists and creators with a platform to sell their handmade items. It is a straightforward platform to start your online storefront without creating a full-blown website and online store from scratch because technical and marketing challenges can be terrifying to a new online store owner!

According to Etsy, almost every product sold on its website falls under the category of arts/crafts, jewelry, and household goods. Anything made by hand can be sold on Etsy.

Although, making money on Etsy can be challenging for several reasons.

First of all, Etsy charges fees to store owners. There are listing fees, transaction fees, payment processing fees, and offsite ad fees. About 8-23% of your revenue goes directly to Etsy.

Additionally, only selling on Etsy can be very limiting compared to running your own website and online marketplace. In the e-commerce world, Etsy is relatively small when compared to Amazon and Google. Etsy only holds about 4% of the e-commerce market. So, by advertising only Etsy, you are losing out on 96% of the entire e-commerce market.

In the end, shoppers are more likely to buy from a website with a domain rather than an Etsy shop because Etsy is made to be someone's side hustle and not their full-time job. Having an online store makes your business look much more legitimate and gives the shopper more peace of mind.

There is also a rampant amount of stealing and borrowing of ideas on Etsy. It is easy to go to another, say, handbag makers website, and steal their exact layout or descriptions. (This happens more than you would think.) This could happen with your own website as well, but it is easier on Etsy because you are all in the same marketplace.

Etsy shop-owners also struggle with standing out, as it is challenging to look unique on the site due to the formatting of the website. Also, Etsy makes it way too easy for shoppers to compare pricing and products. If you are selling something similar to someone else, why wouldn't the consumer go for the cheapest option?

However, people are not sitting on their computers all day following you on every social media channel and looking at your shop daily. If you do nothing else, do NOT just post about your blog or new product once and then assume everyone will see the post. They won't.

In conclusion, the outrageous number of shops of Etsy's makes it extremely difficult to get views to your shop. If someone has to scroll through to page three to view your shop, the sale most likely will not happen.