Why I switched from Etsy to Shopify!

The most important question, WHAT COSTS MORE?

While Etsy has no monthly subscription fee…they do a great job making up for it elsewhere.

Listing Fee - .20 cents EVERY TIME you sell an item
In short, this means not only does it cost .20 cents to list your item, but if you are set up for automatic re-list, you will get charged .20 cents every time you sell the item (to re-list it). Which can add up pretty quickly if you presume that item to sell exponentially. 
Transaction Fee - 5% (item price)
No matter what the cost of your item is, you will get charged 5% of that. 
Example: If your item cost $24, $24 x 5% = $1.20
Shipping Fee - 5%
Yup, you read that right! In July of 2018, Etsy announced they are now charging YOU (the seller) a 5% fee on what your customer pays for shipping. 
For example, if a customer pays $5 for shipping, you pay .25 cents to Etsy.
Payment Processing Fee - 3% + .25 (item price)
Yup..just when you thought they took enough, there’s more. For every item sold through Etsy, they charge 3% + .25 of what your item is listed for. 
Example: If your item costs $24, $24 x 3% = .72 + .25 = .97 

Let me sum this up for you..

Your item costs $24 USD and it costs $5 to ship it.. and woohoo it sold!
Initial (and recurring) Listing Fee = .20
Transaction Fee = $24 x 5% = $1.20
Payment Processing Fee = $24 x 3% = .72 + .25 = .97
Shipping Fee = $5 x 5% = .25

$24 - .20 - 1.20 - .97 - .25 = $21.38 ($2.62 in fees)

Now in the beginning, this didn’t seem like much, right? But let's also factor in your costs and time. Personally speaking, if I’m selling a T-shirt and it cost me approx. $5 for the shirt + plus the time it takes me to make it, down goes my profit scale. In short, Etsy, you’re freakin’ CRAY! 

Now let’s chat Shopify..

When I first tried to ponder the two, I thought, “Shopify has a subscription fee, why would I do that?” The lowest subscription fee is $29, which honestly covers all the bases you need for a growing small business. In addition, the ONLY other fee is the payment processing fee.

Simply put, your item cost $24, the payment processing fee is 2.9% + .30; therefore .696 + .30 = .996 is subtracted from the $24 - .996 = $23 (vs. $21.38 with Etsy)

Shopify handles shipping directly with the buyer. (No 5% deduction)
Shopify doesn’t charge a transaction fee.
Shopify doesn’t charge ANYTHING to list your items, thus no recurring charges either!

Now, although Shopify charges that monthly fee of $29, lets consider you sell 30 items at $24 on Etsy. 

Etsy: $2.62 (fees per sale) x 30 = $78.60 in fees (WOAH..thats almost THREE months worth of subscription with Shopify)
Shopify: .996 (fee per sale) x 30 = $29.88 Umm..hi, thats a $48.72 extra deposit in your wallet. But lets say we subtract that $29 monthly fee from that - you’re STILL getting an extra $19.72 in your wallet AND your monthly fee is covered for the WHOLE month after only selling 30 items!

Now, throwing numbers aside, let’s talk marketing!

Etsy throws their “we market for you” preach right in your face, but do they? What are the odds you will ACTUALLY be on the FIRST page of an over one billion user e-commerce site? This past month, they launched a “free shipping on orders $35+” option where they ensure, you’ll move “up” on the search scale. In no benefit to you, unless you raise your prices which in turn may turn the customer away from buying from your shop at all.

Personally speaking, after only a few short months of using Etsy, I feel like my shop hit a lull. Even after adding the “free shipping” perk, and a few new items, I STILL wasn’t selling. Nor did I find my shop on the first or second, or third page.

Suddenly, Shopify is becoming WAY more appealing. Because, well, let’s be honest, most of my traffic comes from my OWN marketing on social markets like Instagram and Facebook. So Etsy, what are you really doing for me, but taking my hard-earned money?

I’ll be honest, if you aren’t tech savvy, or haven’t built a site before, it’s TOUGH. And I’m still trying to maneuver my way through an appealing site. BUT..now, so. many. POSSIBILTIES! Ive been wanting to add a blog for sometime now, AND videos. Etsy restricts any opportunity for customizing your shop. Now I have FREEDOM! No more leading my followers to a website with endless competition of shops that may be selling something incredibly similar. I may have to work harder on the social end, but now my following can go straight to my website that is custom to ME and what I’ve built. Not only a shop page, but an opportunity to read about ME and how I got here. A blog page where they can read insights on products and how-to’s. A page for VIDEOS, tutorials and walk-thru’s on how to get started. In addition, Shopify creates a catalog that allows you to sell on your Facebook Business Page Platform AND Instagram. (Instagram was tough, this will be in another blog post soon - so if you have Shopify and you want to connect it to your instagram for tagging, message me FIRST - otherwise one missing requirement and you’ll get denied, and its a nightmare to retract that).

I finally feel like I can grow my business because I made this transition, and YOU can too!

So if you’re just starting your business and you’re on the fence, if you’ve been running for some time, and you’re on the fence - I’d love to help you decide! Send me DMs, ask me all the questions! 
I hope you enjoyed my first BLOG post! 
Happy shopping, friends! 
  
I was in no way sponsored by either e-commerce site for this review.