I see a lot of comments on Youtube and Tiktok that Etsy isn’t worth it because of “all the fees!”

I find this logic comical because I would much rather get a portion of some money by selling on Etsy than no money to avoid fees.

So now for the answer you’re looking for…are Etsy fees worth it? Yes! They are especially worth it if you are new to making money online or you’re selling digital products.

Spsss…affiliate links may be used throughout my blog posts. If you buy through my link, I’ll get a small percentage at no extra cost to you. Thank you for any support!

Etsy Fees Breakdown

Listing Fees – $0.20 a listing

Whenever you put up a new listing on Etsy, you are charged a 20 cents listing fee.

Listings expire after 4 months. At that point, a listing will automatically renew or you can renew it manually depending on the settings you chose when you created the listing.

Pro Tip: Open your shop through a referral link to get 40 free listings! (Basically a free $8!)

Transaction Fees – 6.5% of the total sale

Etsy has to make money too! Etsy charges you 6.5% of the total order amount.

Maybe I don’t think this is a lot because I know the fees of other marketplaces.

Creative Market has a platform fee ranging from 50-70%…that’s insane!!

Teachers Pay Teachers has a 20% fee with a paid premium account and a 45% fee with a free seller account.

Compared to the alternatives, Etsy’s fees are the most reasonable.

Payment Processing Fees

Most Etsy sellers use Etsy Payments and fees vary by country.

For the U.S. it is 3% + 0.25 USD

Whether you’re selling on Etsy, Shopify, Woocommerce, Stan Store, etc. you will not escape payment processing fees. It’s just a cost of doing business!

Offsite Ads Fee

Etsy will run paid ads for your listings on websites like Google and Pinterest to help you make more sales. Why? Because when you make more money, they make more money, of course.

The offsite ads fee is 15% if your Etsy shop has made less than 10k and a discounted fee of 12% if your shop has made over 10k.

You can opt out of offsite ads if your shop has made less than 10k in a calendar year but will be automatically enrolled once you pass that threshold.

Shipping Fees

As digital product sellers, we don’t have to worry about shipping fees since we’re not mailing anything.

VAT

This is a tax that buyers in the EU and other countries have to pay for digital products. Etsy remits the necessary tax and gives it to whatever tax people it needs to get to. If you’re a US seller, you don’t have to do anything and you’re not being charged any extra fees.

Pros of Selling on Etsy

Access to millions of Etsy shoppers

A huge advantage of selling on Etsy is the built-in traffic that comes with the site. Millions of people come to Etsy every year looking to buy things and you get to put your products in front of all those eyeballs.

I struggled to make money online for years because I could never quite get the marketing part down. Bad marketing = no one sees your products = no sales = sadness

As long as you’re properly optimizing your Etsy listings, you can make sales without having to drive your own traffic to your own self-hosted site.

No Posting on Socials 24/7

Because your products can be organically found on Etsy, you don’t necessarily have to post on social media to promote your Etsy shop.

The only social media I used in the first year of my shop was Pinterest and that can easily be scheduled out with Tailwind.

If you’re camera shy or you just prefer not to have to go hard on social media marketing, the fees you pay to Etsy are totally worth it!

No Website Building

I am not a technical or coding person. I cried trying to set up my WordPress blog. Shopify is definitely more user-friendly but Etsy is the easiest way to get your shop up and running.

Opening an Etsy shop is as simple as filling out your name, email, billing info, and shop name!

Ready to open your shop? Get 40 free listings when you open it through my link!

Most people open their own e-commerce site with Shopify, which is $39 monthly. If you’re just figuring things out and not making sales right away, that fee can add up quickly.

Etsy Will Promote Your Products

Some Etsy sellers that sell physical products view this as a bad thing but I love that Etsy promotes my digital products on other websites.

As a matter of fact, Etsy marketing made up 44% of my traffic in 2022.

This fee can cut into profit margins, but as a digital product seller, it really doesn’t hurt me too much! As I said before, I rather make a sale and pay an extra 12% fee over making no sale at all!

Great Way to Learn

Starting an online business is not easy so starting your brand on Etsy and then transitioning to your own site, later on, can be less overwhelming.

You can take time to learn how to design pretty printables, make good-looking mockups, learn SEO and interact with customers.

If you want to eventually have your own website, you will want to develop those social media marketing skills.

Learn how to drive your own traffic to your Etsy shop so that when you create your own Shopify store you know how to get potential buyers to your site!

Passive Online Business…Eventually

Your Etsy shop has the potential to make sales every day without you having to do anything after listing your products. Since I don’t promote my shop on social media and my customers mainly find me on Etsy or offsite ads, my shop doesn’t consume too much of my time.

Of course, it takes lots of effort to get your shop to this point but once you do it’s amazing to wake up to sales!

Why Selling May Not Be Worth It

You’re An Experienced Seller

Etsy is great for beginner online business owners who may struggle with setting up or marketing their own site. However, if you’re not new to this, you should just create your own store website and use your skills to market your products. Save yourself the Etsy listing fees and transaction fees.

You Want to Build a Strong Brand

When you’re on Etsy, you’re on someone else’s property. Customers don’t normally remember specific Etsy shop names rather that they bought something “on Etsy”.

It’s difficult to build a memorable, household name kind of brand selling on Etsy so build your own site if that’s very important to you.

All in all, I see the value in selling on Etsy so for me it’s worth it. You don’t have to worry about constant social media marketing or running paid ads to get traffic to your own business website.

I wanted a business where I didn’t have to be in front of a camera all the time, could run from anywhere, and didn’t require tons of money for paid ads. Thanks to Etsy I got that!

What next?

Learn how to start a profitable Etsy printables shop with my course Extra Income with Printables.