Amazon Handmade vs Shopify: a marketplace's buyers or your own store's margin
Von Oleksandr Shaniuk · Gründer von Sellura · Aktualisiert 1. November 2026
Amazon Handmade brings the buyers and takes 15% of every sale. Shopify takes no commission, and you have to bring the buyers yourself. On Amazon Handmade you pay a referral fee of 15% of what the buyer pays, at least $0.30 an item, and after the first month no monthly fee once Amazon approves you. On Shopify you pay a plan, $39 a month for Basic billed monthly in the US or $29 a month billed yearly, plus card processing of 2.9% + 30¢ per online order on Basic with Shopify Payments (Amazon's and Shopify's own pages, read 1 November 2026).
- Amazon Handmade referral fee
- 15%
- at least $0.30, no monthly fee once approved
- Shopify commission
- 0%
- you pay the plan and card processing
- Shopify Basic card rate, US
- 2.9% + 30¢
- online, with Shopify Payments
- Shopify Basic plan, US
- $39/mo
- or $29 a month billed yearly
In money: a $40 order costs $6.00 on Amazon Handmade and $1.46 in processing on Shopify, before the plan. At $40 an order Shopify's fees come out lower from about 9 orders a month on the monthly Basic plan, or 7 billed yearly (our calculation). What no fee table prices is the traffic: on Amazon the shopper is already searching, and on Shopify nobody arrives until Google, social posts or ads send them. Below: one sale, one month, who brings the buyer, and how to run both.
The short answer, by where your buyers are
The fee gap is large, and it is not the whole decision. Amazon Handmade's 15% buys a place in a search shoppers are already running. Shopify's low fee buys nothing but the checkout, so the cheaper option on paper is only cheaper if you can fill it. Our read of both:
| If you | Lean to | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Are starting with no audience | Lean toAmazon Handmade | WhyShoppers are already searching Amazon, and there is no monthly fee once approved |
| Sell fewer than about 9 orders a month at $40 | Lean toAmazon Handmade | WhyShopify's $39 plan costs more than the referral fees you would save |
| Already have buyers from Instagram, a mailing list or markets | Lean toShopify | WhyYou keep about 96% of a $40 order instead of 85% |
| Sell high-priced pieces | Lean toShopify, on fees | Why15% of a $150 piece is $22.50, card processing $4.65 |
| Make products Amazon may not accept as handmade | Lean toShopify | WhyHandmade takes only approved makers and handmade products |
Our read, not a rule. Fees are our calculation from Amazon's Handmade referral fee page and Shopify's US Basic rates, read 1 November 2026, before shipping, taxes and ads.
Sources: Amazon Seller Central: Amazon Handmade, Referral fees (15%, $0.30 minimum, Professional plan fee waived), checked 1 November 2026 · Amazon Handmade programme page (apply first, $39.99 Professional plan waived after the first month), checked 1 November 2026 · Shopify: credit card processing fees (US online rates by plan, published 22 October 2026), checked 1 November 2026
What one sale costs on each
Amazon Handmade charges 15% of the total the buyer pays, item plus shipping and gift wrap, or $0.30 an item, whichever is greater, plus FBA or shipping charges if you use them. Shopify charges no commission. A Shopify Payments order pays a card rate set by your plan, in the US 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic, 2.7% + 30¢ on Grow and 2.5% + 30¢ on Advanced for standard online cards.
Use another payment provider instead of Shopify Payments and Shopify adds a third-party transaction fee on top of that provider's own charge: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced, by its pricing page. That is the closest thing Shopify has to a commission, and it is why Shopify Payments is usually the cheap default where it is available.
Run your own numbers
The postage label is left out on purpose: when you buy it yourself, it costs the same whichever marketplace the order came from, so including it would only subtract one number from every row. Each marketplace's own calculator takes the real label cost.
| Marketplace | Fees | Take rate | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|
| ShopifyNot a marketplace: card processing only, US Basic plan — the monthly plan is not in this row. Rates verified 2026-08-27. | $1.46 | 3.6% | $26.5466.3% margin |
| Amazon HandmadeApproved Handmade seller, so the monthly Professional fee is waived. Rates verified 2026-10-03. | $6.00 | 15.0% | $22.0055.0% margin |
The spread between the cheapest and the dearest row on this sale is $4.54. That is the fee difference and nothing else: it does not say the item will sell on any of them, and Shopify's row leaves out the monthly plan.
| Order | Amazon Handmade | Shopify Basic | You keep more on |
|---|---|---|---|
| $15 | Amazon Handmade$2.25 (15%) | Shopify Basic$0.74 | You keep more onShopify, by $1.51 |
| $40 | Amazon Handmade$6.00 (15%) | Shopify Basic$1.46 | You keep more onShopify, by $4.54 |
| $75 | Amazon Handmade$11.25 (15%) | Shopify Basic$2.47 | You keep more onShopify, by $8.78 |
| $150 | Amazon Handmade$22.50 (15%) | Shopify Basic$4.65 | You keep more onShopify, by $17.85 |
Our calculation, read 1 November 2026: Amazon Handmade 15% with a $0.30 minimum, Shopify Payments US Basic online rate 2.9% + 30¢. Before Shopify's monthly plan, which the next section adds.
Amazon Handmade fee calculator: your price, your shipping → · Shopify fee calculator, with your own plan's rate →
Sources: Amazon Seller Central: Amazon Handmade, Referral fees (15%, $0.30 minimum, Professional plan fee waived), checked 1 November 2026 · Shopify: credit card processing fees (US online rates by plan, published 22 October 2026), checked 1 November 2026 · Shopify pricing (plans, third-party transaction fees, prices shown in the visitor's currency), checked 1 November 2026
One month: where your own store gets cheaper
Shopify's plan is a fixed cost, so it decides the answer at low volume. At $40 an order, each Shopify order saves $4.54 in fees against Amazon Handmade, and the $39 monthly Basic plan is covered from the ninth order of the month. Billed yearly at $29 a month, from the seventh. Below that, Amazon Handmade costs less in fees, and from the second month it charges no monthly fee at all.
That break-even moves with your price: at $75 an order Shopify's plan is covered from the fifth sale, at $15 from the twenty-sixth. Run your own numbers in the two calculators. Then add what is on no fee schedule: on Shopify, every one of those orders has to arrive through your own marketing.
| Orders a month | Amazon Handmade | Shopify Basic, monthly | Shopify Basic, yearly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Amazon Handmade$30.00 | Shopify Basic, monthly$46.30 | Shopify Basic, yearly$36.30 |
| 10 | Amazon Handmade$60.00 | Shopify Basic, monthly$53.60 | Shopify Basic, yearly$43.60 |
| 25 | Amazon Handmade$150.00 | Shopify Basic, monthly$75.50 | Shopify Basic, yearly$65.50 |
| 50 | Amazon Handmade$300.00 | Shopify Basic, monthly$112.00 | Shopify Basic, yearly$102.00 |
Our calculation: Amazon Handmade from the second month, with the Professional plan fee waived. Shopify Basic at $39 a month billed monthly or $29 billed yearly, plus 2.9% + 30¢ per order. No apps, theme, domain, ads or FBA.
Sources: Amazon Handmade programme page (apply first, $39.99 Professional plan waived after the first month), checked 1 November 2026 · Shopify pricing (plans, third-party transaction fees, prices shown in the visitor's currency), checked 1 November 2026 · Shopify: credit card processing fees (US online rates by plan, published 22 October 2026), checked 1 November 2026
Who brings the buyer, and which words they read
On Amazon Handmade the words that matter are the ones Amazon's search reads: the title, 75 characters with 60 or less recommended for Handmade, and one hidden search terms field of 249 bytes. A shopper is already typing into that search box, so a good title and the right search terms put you in front of someone ready to buy.
On Shopify the reader is Google. Shopify's own SEO help says a page title can run to 70 characters and should stay around 60, recommends a meta description of about 160, and says plainly that tags aren't used by search engines. A Shopify product page has to earn its place in Google's results, and until it does the traffic comes from what you post, send or pay for.
Shopify product SEO: the page title and description Google reads → · Amazon Handmade SEO: the title, search terms and bullets →
Sources: Amazon Seller Central: Amazon Handmade, Product title best practices (60 characters or less), checked 1 November 2026 · Amazon Seller Central: Keyword attributes explained (search terms 249 bytes), checked 1 November 2026 · Shopify Help: Adding keywords for SEO (page title up to 70 characters, keep to 60, meta description 160), checked 1 November 2026 · Shopify Help: Tags (250 per product, 255 characters, not used by search engines), checked 1 November 2026
Getting started: an application or a store build
Amazon Handmade asks you to register as a Professional seller, apply with details of you, your products and how you make them, and wait for Amazon's review before you list. Once approved, each product joins the Handmade store when you add the Handmade Classification attribute, and the listing form and the checkout are Amazon's.
Shopify has no approval step, and nothing is there until you build it: the theme, the product pages, the domain, payments, shipping rates and policies. That is more work on day one and more control on every day after it.
- Amazon Handmade: apply, wait for review, classify each product, build a maker profile.
- Shopify: pick a plan, set up the store, connect payments, write every product page for Google.
- Both: product photos, a price that covers the fee, and a title written for that platform's reader.
Source: Amazon Handmade programme page (apply first, $39.99 Professional plan waived after the first month), checked 1 November 2026
Running both without writing one listing twice by hand
You do not have to choose once: the marketplace can serve buyers who do not know you yet, and the store the ones who come back. The listing does not travel unchanged. Amazon wants a 60-character Handmade title, bullet points of no more than 500 characters each and hidden search terms. Shopify wants a product title, a page title Google can read in 60 characters and a description whose opening sells the click.
Price each one for its own fee as well. To keep $40 after fees, the Amazon Handmade price has to be about $47.06, and the Shopify price about $41.50, before the plan and shipping (our calculation). Keep stock counts in step, because the same piece can sell on both at once.
Write the Amazon Handmade listing
Title around 60 characters with Handmade in it, four or five bullets, search terms with the synonyms the title leaves out.
Write the Shopify product page
A product title for people, a page title for Google under 60, and a description whose first sentences say what it is and who it is for.
Price each for its fee
Run the price through both calculators. Handmade takes 15% of the total including shipping.
Keep stock in step
When a one-of-a-kind piece sells on one, take it down on the other.
Cross-listing SEO: what to rewrite for each platform → · Amazon Handmade vs a regular Amazon seller account →
What Sellura does here, and what it doesn't
Sellura writes both listings from one description of the product. Choose Amazon Handmade and it returns a title under 75 characters without a brand, bullet points, search terms and a plain-text description. Choose Shopify and it returns a product title, an SEO page title under Shopify's 70 characters, tags for your own store's filters and a description that opens with what the product is. Each comes back with a 0–100 score that is deterministic: the same listing always gets the same number, and each weak factor comes with one concrete fix.
The score and the title preview are free on every generation and need no card, and so are the Amazon Handmade and Shopify fee calculators and the Shopify tag generator. A credit unlocks one finished listing: Starter is $15 a month for 25 credits or $150 a year, and Pro is $24 a month for 65 credits plus bulk, or $240 a year. Sellura doesn't build Shopify stores, apply to Handmade for you, run ads or track rank, and it is not affiliated with Amazon or Shopify.
Write the Amazon Handmade listing, score free → · Write the Shopify product page, score free →
FAQ
Is Amazon Handmade or Shopify better for selling handmade products?
Which is cheaper, Amazon Handmade or Shopify?
Does Amazon Handmade charge a monthly fee?
Do Shopify tags help my products rank on Google?
Can I sell the same handmade product on Amazon Handmade and Shopify?
Do I need to apply to sell on Shopify?
Start on Amazon Handmade if you have no buyers of your own yet: 15% a sale buys a place in a search shoppers already run, and there is no monthly fee once you are approved. Move volume to Shopify once your own channels bring roughly 9 or more orders a month at $40, because from there its plan and card fees cost less than Amazon's commission. You can run both, with each listing written for its own reader. Let Sellura draft both from one product description. The score and the title preview cost nothing and need no card, and a credit unlocks the finished listing from $15 a month.
Öffnet den Generator für Amazon Handmade.