Etsy vs Amazon Handmade: which one should this product be on?
By Oleksandr Shaniuk · founder of Sellura · Updated September 25, 2026
On price alone the answer is narrow and checkable: Etsy takes less of every sale above $8.18, Amazon Handmade takes less below it. On a $25 item Etsy's cut is $2.83 and Amazon Handmade's is $3.75 — you keep 92 cents more per sale on Etsy, and the gap widens as the price climbs. Both figures come from the two platforms' own published rates, and you can re-run them with your own numbers in the fee calculators linked below.
That answer holds until one clause changes it. Once an Etsy shop passes $10,000 in a rolling 365 days, Etsy's Offsite Ads fee becomes mandatory for the life of the shop at 12 % of any order it attributes to an ad. On a $25 sale that turns Etsy's 11.3 % into 23.3 % for that order, against a flat 15 % on Amazon Handmade. So the honest version is: cheaper on Etsy while you are small, and it depends once you are not. The rest of this page is what else differs — the listing, the photo, and who is allowed in.
What one sale actually costs on each
Amazon Handmade charges one fee: a 15 % referral on the total the buyer pays, with a $1.00 minimum per item. Etsy charges three — a $0.20 listing fee, 6.5 % transaction, and US payment processing of 3 % + $0.25 — which is more lines but less money on anything but the cheapest item.
The reason the two cross at $8.18 is that Etsy's fixed 45 cents ($0.20 + $0.25) hurts most on a cheap item and stops mattering on an expensive one, while Amazon's percentage never changes. Below $6.67 Amazon's $1.00 minimum takes over and Etsy is cheaper again, so the band where Amazon Handmade genuinely costs less is roughly $6.67 to $8.18 — narrower than most comparisons admit.
| Item price | Etsy | Amazon Handmade | You keep more on |
|---|---|---|---|
| $10 | Etsy$1.40 (14.0 %) | Amazon Handmade$1.50 (15.0 %) | You keep more onEtsy, by $0.10 |
| $25 | Etsy$2.83 (11.3 %) | Amazon Handmade$3.75 (15.0 %) | You keep more onEtsy, by $0.92 |
| $40 | Etsy$4.25 (10.6 %) | Amazon Handmade$6.00 (15.0 %) | You keep more onEtsy, by $1.75 |
| $75 | Etsy$7.58 (10.1 %) | Amazon Handmade$11.25 (15.0 %) | You keep more onEtsy, by $3.67 |
Computed from each platform's published rates with the same calculator that powers our fee tools. Etsy rates read 27 August 2026; Amazon Handmade the same day. Excludes shipping you charge, which both platforms also take their cut of.
Run your own numbers: Etsy fee calculator → · The same for Amazon Handmade →
Sources: Etsy Fees & Payments Policy (listing $0.20, transaction 6.5 %, Offsite Ads), checked 27 August 2026 · Etsy Payments Policy (US processing 3 % + $0.25), checked 27 August 2026 · Amazon Handmade: Referral fees (15 %, $1.00 minimum per item), checked 27 August 2026
The monthly fee Amazon waives, and what it is really worth
Amazon Handmade's headline saving is the one Amazon leads with: the $39.99-a-month Professional selling plan is waived for approved Handmade sellers after a one-time first-month payment, which Amazon puts at about $480 a year. Etsy has no monthly fee to waive, so on this line Amazon Handmade simply costs less than a Professional Amazon account would — not less than Etsy.
Read that saving for what it is. It compares Amazon Handmade against a regular Professional Amazon account, not against Etsy — and Etsy never charged a monthly fee in the first place. It is a real reason to prefer Handmade over a standard Amazon seller account; it is not a reason to prefer Amazon over Etsy.
Source: Amazon Handmade programme page (monthly fee waived for approved sellers), checked 25 September 2026
The Offsite Ads clause that flips the answer once you grow
The clause that actually changes the decision runs the other way. Etsy's Offsite Ads fee is optional at 15 % while a shop is under $10,000 in a rolling 365 days. Once the shop passes $10,000 the fee becomes mandatory and stays mandatory for the life of the shop, at a reduced 12 %, capped at $100 per order. It applies only to orders Etsy attributes to one of its ads — not to every sale — but you no longer get to opt out.
Put that on the $25 item and the comparison inverts for those orders: 23.3 % on Etsy against 15 % on Amazon Handmade. Which platform is cheaper therefore depends on how much of your Etsy revenue arrives through Etsy's own advertising, and that is a number you can only read after the fact, in your own Etsy statements.
- Under $10k/365 days: Offsite Ads is 15 % and you can turn it off.
- At or above $10k/365 days: 12 %, mandatory, permanent, capped at $100 per attributed order.
- Amazon Handmade: flat 15 % referral, no advertising fee unless you choose to run ads.
- On a $25 sale that Etsy attributes to one of its ads: 23.3 % on Etsy against a flat 15 % on Amazon Handmade.
Source: Etsy Fees & Payments Policy (Offsite Ads 15 % / 12 %, $10k threshold, $100 cap), checked 27 August 2026
The same product needs two different listings
This is the part most sellers discover after they have copied a listing across. The two platforms do not read the same fields, and the field they both call a title is almost twice as long on one as on the other.
Etsy gives you 140 characters of title and 13 tags of up to 20 characters each. Amazon Handmade caps the title at 75 characters — its own guidance recommends staying under 60 — and moves the rest of the selling copy into a separate 125-character Item Highlights field, with seven backend search terms the buyer never sees. A 140-character Etsy title does not truncate on Amazon; it fails to save.
| Field | Etsy | Amazon Handmade |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Etsy140 characters | Amazon Handmade75 characters (60 recommended) |
| Second headline field | Etsy— | Amazon HandmadeItem Highlights, 125 characters |
| Buyer-visible keywords | Etsy13 tags × 20 characters | Amazon Handmade— |
| Hidden keywords | Etsy— | Amazon Handmade7 search terms × 35 characters |
| Materials / features | Etsy13 materials | Amazon Handmade5 key features |
Etsy limits read 3 September 2026, Amazon Handmade 10 September 2026, both from the platforms' own documentation. The full table for every marketplace Sellura supports is on our listing-limits reference. The practical consequence: the keywords that live in an Etsy title have to be split across three Amazon fields, and the ones that live in Etsy's 13 tags have nowhere obvious to go. Rewriting per platform is not polish — it is the difference between a listing that saves and one that does not.
Every field limit, every marketplace, dated → · Check a title against either cap, free →
Sources: Etsy Help: How to Create a Listing (140-character title), checked 3 September 2026 · Etsy Help: How to Use Tags to Get Found in Search (13 tags, 20 characters), checked 3 September 2026 · Amazon Seller Central: product title requirements (75-character cap, 125-character Item Highlights), checked 10 September 2026 · Amazon Handmade: product title best practices (recommends 60 characters), checked 10 September 2026
The main photo follows a different rule too
Amazon's main image rule is specific and enforced: the product sits on pure white — RGB 255, 255, 255, not nearly white — and fills roughly 85 % of the frame, with no props and no scene. Etsy publishes no equivalent rule for the first photo, and its own guidance is about file type and size rather than background; the styled, in-context shot that does well on Etsy is exactly the shot Amazon rejects.
So the photograph is a second thing that does not travel. One product, two shoots — or one render pass that produces both.
Both shots from one phone photo →
Sources: Amazon Seller Central: product image requirements (pure white main image, ~85 % of frame), checked 22 September 2026 · Etsy Help: Requirements and Best Practices for Images in Your Etsy Shop, checked 25 September 2026
One is open, the other is an application
Anyone can open an Etsy shop and list the same afternoon. Amazon Handmade does not work that way: you apply, and Amazon reviews the application before you can list, because the programme is restricted to handcrafted goods and exists to keep mass-produced stock out of it.
That matters to the decision in two ways. It is a delay you have to plan for rather than a step you complete, and it is also the reason the category is worth being in — the barrier that keeps you waiting is the same one keeping the shelf next to yours from filling with drop-shipped duplicates.
Source: Amazon Handmade programme page (“Apply to sell your handcrafted products”), checked 25 September 2026
So which one should this product be on?
If you are starting, sell above $8.18, and want to be listing today: Etsy. It is cheaper per sale at every realistic handmade price point, there is no application, and the styled photography most makers already have is the photography that works there.
If you are already established on Etsy and a large share of your orders arrive through Offsite Ads, or your items sit in that $6.67–$8.18 band, or you simply want a second shelf that is not a duplicate of the first: Amazon Handmade earns its place — a flat 15 %, no monthly fee once approved, and a buyer who is already in a checkout flow.
Score a listing you already have, free → · Write it for the other marketplace →
FAQ
Is Amazon Handmade cheaper than Etsy?
Only below $8.18 an item, and only in a narrow band. Amazon Handmade charges a flat 15 % referral with a $1.00 minimum; Etsy charges $0.20 + 6.5 % + 3 % + $0.25, which works out lower on anything above $8.18 and much lower as the price rises — $2.83 against $3.75 on a $25 sale. Amazon's $1.00 minimum makes Etsy cheaper again below about $6.67.
Does Amazon Handmade have a monthly fee?
The $39.99-a-month Professional selling plan is waived for approved Handmade sellers after a one-time first-month payment — Amazon puts the saving at roughly $480 a year. Etsy has no monthly fee at all, so this is Amazon Handmade costing less than a regular Amazon account, not less than Etsy.
Can I use my Etsy title on Amazon Handmade?
No. Etsy allows 140 characters; Amazon Handmade caps the title at 75 and recommends under 60. A 140-character title does not get truncated — it fails to save. The surplus copy belongs in Amazon's 125-character Item Highlights field, and Etsy's 13 tags have no direct equivalent at all: Amazon has seven hidden search terms instead.
Do I need to apply to sell on Amazon Handmade?
Yes. Amazon reviews an application before you can list, because the programme is restricted to handcrafted goods. Etsy has no equivalent gate — you can open a shop and list the same day.
Can I use the same product photo on both?
Not for the main image. Amazon requires the product on pure white, RGB 255 255 255, filling about 85 % of the frame with no props. Etsy publishes no such rule and rewards a styled, in-context shot. You need both versions of the same product.
What is the Offsite Ads fee and when does it become mandatory?
Etsy charges 15 % on orders it attributes to its own off-site advertising, and you can opt out — until your shop passes $10,000 in a rolling 365 days. Past that the fee drops to 12 % and becomes mandatory for the life of the shop, capped at $100 per order. It applies only to attributed orders, not to every sale.
Etsy is cheaper on almost every handmade price point and open today; Amazon Handmade is a flat 15 % behind an application, and becomes the cheaper shelf once Etsy's mandatory Offsite Ads fee starts landing on your orders. What you cannot do is run one listing on both — 140 characters against 75, thirteen tags against seven hidden search terms, a styled photo against a pure-white one. Paste a listing you already have into the free listing checker for a 0–100 score with one fix per weak factor, or describe the product once and let Sellura write both versions inside each marketplace's own limits. The score and the title preview cost nothing and need no card; a credit unlocks the finished listing, and plans start at $15 a month.