Etsy alternatives: where to sell handmade items, compared on fees and listing rules
By Oleksandr Shaniuk · founder of Sellura · Updated October 3, 2026
The realistic places to sell handmade besides Etsy are Amazon Handmade, eBay, Depop and Walmart Marketplace, which bring their own shoppers, and Shopify, a store of your own. Smaller maker sites such as Folksy in the UK sit beside them. They differ most on who gets in and who finds you: Amazon Handmade and Walmart review you before you can list, and a Shopify store starts with no shoppers at all.
- Etsy's fees on a $40 item with $6 shipping
- $4.82
- Rates read on etsy.com, 3 Oct 2026
- Lowest marketplace fee on that sale (Depop)
- $1.97
- No selling fee, 3.3% + $0.45 (US)
- Platforms that review you before you list
- 2 of 6
- Amazon Handmade and Walmart
- Shopify's Basic plan, on top of card fees
- $39/mo
- Or $29/mo yearly. You bring the buyers
On fees, take one US sale, a $40 item with $6 shipping, at each platform's published rates on 3 October 2026. Etsy takes $4.82, Depop $1.97, eBay $6.66, and Amazon Handmade and Walmart $6.90 each. Shopify's $1.63 is card processing only, with a Basic plan of $39 a month on top. So the useful answer is rarely "leave Etsy". It is "add the marketplace whose shoppers buy what you make, with a listing written for it".
The short list: what one $40 sale costs on each
The calculator runs one sale through each platform's fee rules: a $40 item, $6 shipping charged to the buyer, $12 of materials. Change any number to recompute.
Shopify's cheap row is card processing on a store you pay $39 a month for and bring the buyers to. Amazon Handmade and Walmart stay closed until they let you in. Fees are the easiest difference to compare, and here the whole spread is $5.27.
Run your own numbers
The postage label is left out on purpose: it costs the same whichever marketplace the order came from, so including it would subtract one number from every row and tell you nothing. 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. | $1.63 | 3.5% | $32.3770.4% margin |
| DepopUS seller, listing not boosted (a boosted sale adds 12%). Rates verified 2026-10-03. | $1.97 | 4.3% | $32.0369.6% margin |
| EtsyUS seller, no Offsite Ads on this order (an Offsite order adds 15%). Rates verified 2026-10-03. | $4.82 | 10.5% | $29.1863.4% margin |
| eBayThe “most categories” rate, no store subscription, payment processing included. Rates verified 2026-10-03. | $6.66 | 14.5% | $27.3459.4% margin |
| Amazon HandmadeApproved Handmade seller, so the monthly Professional fee is waived. Rates verified 2026-10-03. | $6.90 | 15.0% | $27.1058.9% margin |
| WalmartThe “Everything Else” category row; the other 35 rows charge differently. Rates verified 2026-10-03. | $6.90 | 15.0% | $27.1058.9% margin |
The spread between the cheapest and the dearest row on this sale is $5.27. 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.
| Where | Good fit for (our read) | Fees on $40 + $6 shipping | Apply first? | Title limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Etsy | Good fit for (our read)Things you made, designed, handpicked or sourced | Fees on $40 + $6 shipping$4.82 ($0.20 + 6.5% + 3% + $0.25) | Apply first?No (ID check, one-time set-up fee) | Title limit140 characters, plus 13 tags |
| Amazon Handmade | Good fit for (our read)Handcrafted goods only | Fees on $40 + $6 shipping$6.90 (15%) | Apply first?Yes, application reviewed | Title limit75, plus 125 of Item Highlights |
| eBay | Good fit for (our read)Vintage, supplies, one-of-a-kind | Fees on $40 + $6 shipping$6.66 (13.6% + $0.40) | Apply first?No, monthly selling limits | Title limit80, no tags |
| Depop | Good fit for (our read)Clothing, jewelry, accessories | Fees on $40 + $6 shipping$1.97 (3.3% + $0.45) | Apply first?No, needs Depop Payments | Title limitNone published, up to 5 hashtags |
| Walmart | Good fit for (our read)Registered businesses with a sales history | Fees on $40 + $6 shipping$6.90 (15%) | Apply first?Yes, business verification | Title limit150 (50 to 75 advised) |
| Shopify | Good fit for (our read)Makers who already have an audience | Fees on $40 + $6 shipping$1.63 (2.9% + 30¢) plus a $39/month plan | Apply first?No, it is your own store | Title limit70-character page title |
US seller, no Etsy Offsite Ads, no Depop boost, eBay's most-categories rate, Walmart's 15% rows. Rates and limits re-read on each platform's own page on 3 October 2026, matching the calculator's fee models.
Compare fees on your own price, all six side by side → · Every title, tag and description limit, with dates →
Sources: Etsy Fees & Payments Policy (listing $0.20, transaction 6.5%), checked 3 October 2026 · Etsy Payments Policy (US processing 3% + $0.25), checked 3 October 2026 · Etsy Help: How to Open an Etsy Shop (what you can sell, ID check, set-up fee), checked 3 October 2026 · Etsy Help: How to Create a Listing (140-character title), checked 3 October 2026 · Etsy Help: How to Use Tags (13 tags), checked 3 October 2026 · Amazon Handmade: Referral fees (15%), checked 3 October 2026 · Amazon Handmade programme page (handcrafted only, application), checked 3 October 2026 · Amazon Seller Central: product title requirements (75 characters, Item Highlights 125), checked 3 October 2026 · eBay selling fees (13.6% most categories, $0.40 per order over $10), checked 3 October 2026 · eBay Help: selling limits, checked 3 October 2026 · eBay Developers Program: listing title (80-character maximum), checked 3 October 2026 · Depop: Seller fees and charges (no selling fee, US processing 3.3% + $0.45), checked 3 October 2026 · Depop Help Centre: How to list an item (up to five hashtags, Depop Payments required), checked 3 October 2026 · Walmart Marketplace pricing (referral fees by category), checked 3 October 2026 · Walmart Marketplace: seller registration guide (requirements), checked 3 October 2026 · Walmart Marketplace Learn: Product Detail Page overview (name up to 150 characters), checked 3 October 2026 · Walmart Marketplace Learn: SEO best practices for item setup (50 to 75 characters), checked 3 October 2026 · Shopify pricing (US: Basic $39 a month, card rate 2.9% + 30¢), checked 3 October 2026 · Shopify Help: adding keywords (page title up to 70 characters), checked 3 October 2026
Amazon Handmade: when it beats Etsy
Amazon Handmade is the nearest thing to Etsy: a part of Amazon open only to handcrafted goods, entered by application. Once you are approved, its required $39.99-a-month Professional plan is waived after the first month, and each sale pays 15% of what the buyer paid, shipping included: $6.90 here, $2.08 more than Etsy.
It beats Etsy on orders Etsy charges Offsite Ads on, placed within 30 days of a click on one of Etsy's ads. Etsy then adds 15% of the order, or 12% once your shop passes $10,000 in sales over 365 days, when the fee becomes compulsory for the life of the shop. That takes Etsy's $4.82 here to $11.72, or $10.34.
Etsy vs Amazon Handmade: both sets of rules, side by side → · Amazon Handmade fee calculator →
Sources: Amazon Handmade programme page (application, $39.99 plan waived after the first month, Etsy import), checked 3 October 2026 · Amazon Handmade: Referral fees (15% of the total the buyer pays), checked 3 October 2026 · Etsy Fees & Payments Policy (Offsite Ads 15% or 12%, 30-day attribution, $10,000 threshold), checked 3 October 2026 · Amazon Seller Central: product title requirements (75 characters, Item Highlights 125), checked 3 October 2026
eBay: one-of-a-kind pieces, vintage and supplies
eBay lets you list without paying up front: up to 250 listings a month carry no insertion fee ($0.35 each after that), against Etsy's $0.20 per listing. The cut on a sale is bigger: 13.6% of the total including shipping in most categories (15% for jewelry) plus $0.40 per order over $10, payment processing included. That is $6.66 here.
eBay has no tags, so the words Etsy's 13 tags carried must fit an 80-character title and the item specifics. In our reading it suits things buyers search for precisely: vintage, craft supplies, one-of-a-kind work.
eBay listing SEO: the 80-character title and item specifics → · eBay fee calculator →
Sources: eBay selling fees (250 free listings, 13.6%, Jewelry & Watches 15%, $0.40 per order), checked 3 October 2026 · eBay Help: selling limits, checked 3 October 2026 · eBay Developers Program: listing title (80-character maximum), checked 3 October 2026
Shopify: your own store, your own buyers
Shopify takes no commission and no listing fee. An order costs card processing, 2.9% + 30¢ on the Basic plan with Shopify Payments ($1.63 here), and the store costs $39 a month, or $29 a month billed yearly, after a 3-day trial and three months at $1 (US prices, 3 October 2026). Another payment provider adds 2% per order on Basic.
The cost the pricing page cannot show is the buyer. No marketplace search sits in front of your store, so most visitors come from work you do: Google, social posts, email, a card in a parcel. Our arithmetic: Shopify saves $3.19 a sale against Etsy here, so the plan pays for itself at about 13 sales a month (10 billed yearly), before any spend on bringing buyers in.
Shopify product SEO: the page title and description Google reads → · Shopify fee calculator →
Source: Shopify pricing (US: Basic $39 monthly or $29 yearly, 2.9% + 30¢, other providers 2%), checked 3 October 2026
Depop: clothing, jewelry and accessories
Depop has the lowest marketplace fees here: no selling fee in the US, UK and Australia, only payment processing, 3.3% + $0.45 in the US on item, shipping and tax. That is $1.97 here. A sale through a boosted listing adds 12% (UK and US sellers, listings since 23 March 2026).
Depop's seller guide starts in your closet and its listing form asks for brand and condition, so in our reading it suits handmade clothing, jewelry and accessories more than homeware. It has no title field: the description's first line does that job, with up to five hashtags and no published length limit.
Depop SEO: the first line, five hashtags and auto tags → · Depop fee calculator →
Sources: Depop: Seller fees and charges (no selling fee, 3.3% + $0.45, Boosted Listings 12%), checked 3 October 2026 · Depop Help Centre: How to list an item (brand, condition, up to five hashtags), checked 3 October 2026 · Depop Help Centre: Selling on Depop (original photos, no stock images), checked 3 October 2026
Walmart Marketplace: scale, if you qualify
Walmart Marketplace charges no setup or monthly fee, only a referral fee per sale, by category, on the total including shipping. Most maker categories, such as Home, Kitchen, Decor & Garden, pay 15% at this price: $6.90 here. Jewelry pays 20% up to $250.
The cost is getting in. Walmart checks your business with federal and state agencies before you can sell, and its registration guide asks for the following. The first item rules out anyone selling under a Social Security number:
- A business tax ID or business license number. A Social Security number is not accepted.
- A history of marketplace or e-commerce success, in Walmart's words.
- A GTIN or UPC for each product, or an exemption you request (Walmart's example is handmade jewelry).
- Fulfillment through Walmart or a US warehouse that handles returns.
Walmart listing SEO: brand-first names and key features → · Walmart fee calculator →
Sources: Walmart Marketplace pricing (no setup or monthly fees, referral fees by category), checked 3 October 2026 · Walmart Marketplace: seller registration guide (requirements, GTIN exemption), checked 3 October 2026 · Walmart Marketplace Learn: business verification, checked 3 October 2026
Other places makers sell: Folksy, Big Cartel, fairs and shops
Two maker platforms outside that list publish plain prices. Folksy is a UK marketplace for things you made or designed yourself, plus craft supplies: UK-based sellers only, buyers anywhere, paid through PayPal. Big Cartel builds you a small shop site of your own, like Shopify.
| Plan | What it costs to be there | When something sells |
|---|---|---|
| Folksy Basic | What it costs to be there15p + VAT per listing | When something sells6% + VAT |
| Folksy Plus | What it costs to be there£7.50 a month or £75 a year, listings free | When something sells6% + VAT |
| Big Cartel Gold | What it costs to be thereFree, up to 5 products | When something sellsYour card processor's fee only |
| Big Cartel Platinum | What it costs to be there$15 a month after a 7-day trial | When something sellsYour card processor's fee only |
Read on folksy.com and bigcartel.com on 3 October 2026. Card processors such as PayPal and Stripe charge their own fees, not quoted here.
- Social selling: Instagram or Facebook posts that link to your shop, or Facebook Marketplace for local pickup. It works best with a following.
- Craft fairs and markets: a stall fee instead of a commission, and buyers who hold the piece before paying.
- Local shops: consignment for an agreed share of each sale, or wholesale at a lower price. Get the terms in writing.
Sources: Folksy: selling on Folksy (plans, fees, UK sellers only), checked 3 October 2026 · Big Cartel pricing (Platinum $15 a month, 7-day trial), checked 3 October 2026 · Big Cartel: Gold plan (free, up to 5 products), checked 3 October 2026 · Big Cartel Help: processing fees explained (no Big Cartel transaction fees), checked 3 October 2026
Don't leave Etsy, add to it
Nothing in the Etsy policies we read stops you listing the same item elsewhere. What Etsy prohibits is taking an Etsy sale off Etsy (see the warning below).
What does not transfer is the listing: each marketplace reads different fields at different lengths. Write each one for its own marketplace from one set of facts, in this order:
Write one fact sheet
The item in a buyer's words, then material, size, colour, who it is for and your brand. Every listing starts here.
Choose by shoppers, not by fees
The fee gap between marketplaces on the $40 sale is under $5. The right shoppers are the whole sale.
Write each title to its own limit
80 characters on eBay, 75 on Amazon Handmade, a short first line on Depop, brand first on Walmart.
Move the tag phrases
Item Highlights and search terms on Amazon Handmade, item specifics on eBay, hashtags on Depop, key features on Walmart, meta description on Shopify.
End the other listings when a one-off sells
A one-of-a-kind piece live in two places can sell twice.
Cross-listing SEO: what to rewrite for each marketplace → · Paste an Etsy listing URL, get another marketplace's headline free →
Source: Etsy Fees & Payments Policy (Off-Platform Transactions), checked 3 October 2026
One mug, six listings: what Sellura does, and what it doesn't
Sellura does steps 3 and 4 for you, from the facts in step 1. We described one product once, a handmade ceramic coffee mug (12 oz, speckled white glaze, wheel-thrown stoneware, dishwasher and microwave safe) from an example maker brand, Clay & Kiln, and ran it through the production generator's free preview on 3 October 2026 for each marketplace below.
The 0 to 100 score is deterministic: the same listing always gets the same number, each point traces to a weighted factor, and each weak factor gets one written fix. The title preview and score are free on every generation, no card (15 free previews), and so are the fee calculators and listing limits. The Listing Grader is free to try (2 checks). A credit unlocks one finished listing with every field and the CSV. Starter is $15 a month for 25 credits ($150 a year), Pro $24 a month for 65 plus bulk ($240 a year).
| Marketplace | Title (real Sellura output) | Characters | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Etsy | Title (real Sellura output)Handmade Ceramic Coffee Mug, Wheel-Thrown Stoneware, Speckled White Glaze, 12 oz | Characters80 | Score100, with 13 tags |
| eBay | Title (real Sellura output)Handmade Ceramic Coffee Mug 12 oz Wheel-Thrown Stoneware Speckled White | Characters71 | Score100 |
| Amazon Handmade | Title (real Sellura output)Handmade Ceramic Coffee Mug, Speckled White, 12 oz | Characters50 | Score98 |
| Shopify | Title (real Sellura output)Handmade Ceramic Coffee Mug 12 oz Speckled White | Characters48 | Score98 |
| Depop (first line) | Title (real Sellura output)Clay & Kiln Handmade Ceramic Mug Speckled White 12oz | Characters52 | Score98, with 5 hashtags |
| Walmart | Title (real Sellura output)Clay & Kiln 12 oz Handmade Ceramic Coffee Mug, Speckled White Stoneware | Characters71 | Score100 |
Real Sellura output, 3 October 2026. Category Mugs, brand field Clay & Kiln. Characters include spaces.
- It writes listings for Etsy, eBay, Amazon Handmade, Shopify, Depop and Walmart only, not for Folksy or Big Cartel.
- It does not list, publish or sync stock anywhere. You paste the text or import the CSV.
- It has no keyword-volume database, no rank tracking and no ads analysis.
Describe one product, see every marketplace's title and score free → · Plans and credits →
Sources: Etsy Help: How to Create a Listing (140-character title), checked 3 October 2026 · eBay Developers Program: listing title (80-character maximum), checked 3 October 2026 · Amazon Seller Central: product title requirements (75 characters), checked 3 October 2026 · Shopify Help: adding keywords (page title up to 70 characters), checked 3 October 2026 · Depop Help Centre: How to list an item (no length published for the description), checked 3 October 2026 · Walmart Marketplace Learn: Product Detail Page overview (name up to 150 characters), checked 3 October 2026 · Walmart Marketplace Learn: SEO best practices for item setup (50 to 75 characters), checked 3 October 2026
FAQ
What is the best alternative to Etsy for handmade items?
It depends on what you make: Amazon Handmade for handcrafted goods if you can wait for approval, eBay for vintage and one-offs, Depop for clothing and jewelry, Shopify if you already have an audience. On a $40 item with $6 shipping, marketplace fees run from $1.97 on Depop to $6.90, against $4.82 on Etsy.
Where can I sell handmade items for free?
Nowhere is free once something sells, but some places cost nothing until it does: eBay for up to 250 listings a month, Depop and Walmart. Big Cartel's Gold plan is free for up to 5 products, plus your card processor's fee. Etsy charges $0.20 per listing and a one-time set-up fee to open a shop.
Where can I sell handmade items besides Etsy?
Online, Amazon Handmade, eBay, Depop and Walmart Marketplace bring their own shoppers, while Shopify and Big Cartel give you a store you bring shoppers to. Folksy serves UK-based makers. Offline, makers sell at craft fairs and through local shops, on consignment or wholesale.
Is Amazon Handmade better than Etsy?
Not on most fees: on a $40 item with $6 shipping it takes $6.90 to Etsy's $4.82. It wins on orders Etsy charges Offsite Ads on, where Etsy's fees on that sale reach $10.34 or $11.72. It also needs an approved application, and its titles stop at 75 characters.
Can I sell on Etsy and other sites at the same time?
Yes. Nothing in the Etsy policies we read prevents it, but never steer an Etsy buyer to your other shop: Etsy prohibits moving its transactions off Etsy. Write each listing for its own marketplace, and end a one-off everywhere once it sells.
Don't close the Etsy shop. Add the alternative whose shoppers buy what you make: Amazon Handmade for handcrafted goods, eBay for vintage and one-offs, Depop for clothes and jewelry, Shopify if you have an audience. Run your price through the free fee calculator, then describe the product once and read each marketplace's title preview and score free, before you spend a credit.