Ditched Etsy for my own site, 3 months in and I'm not sorry

After 14 months on Etsy I got tired of the $0.20 listing fees plus 6.5% cut eating into my candle profits, so I moved everything to Shopify for $39 a month. Traffic is slower but I keep 100% of each sale and my regulars actually prefer buying direct. Anyone else make the switch and see their margin jump like I did?

1 comments

1 Comment

bettywilson22d ago

You mention keeping "100% of each sale" like that is the whole story, but you are forgetting what Etsy does for you. That 6.5% is paying for the millions of people who search "scented candles" every day and land right on your shop. My first year on Etsy, I got steady orders from strangers I never had to market to. On your own site, you are paying for ads or social media time to get the same foot traffic, and that costs way more than $0.20 a listing. I moved to my own site two years ago and my margins are actually worse after I add up the ad money and the time I spend posting on Instagram. Your regulars may follow you, but they are not enough to keep the lights on.