Shopify questionAnswer4 min read
Do I Need a Website If I Sell on Etsy or Amazon?
You can sell on Etsy or Amazon without a website. The question is whether you want to keep renting someone else's customers or start building your own.
Key takeaways
- No law or marketplace rule says you need a website, but Etsy and Amazon own the customer relationship, the search ranking and the rules.
- On a $40 Etsy sale with no shipping charged, the listing, transaction and US processing fees come to about $4.25 before any Offsite Ads fee.
- Shopify Basic costs $25 a month, or $19 billed yearly, plus card processing, and you keep the customer's email for repeat sales.
- Most sellers do best running both: the marketplace for discovery, the Shopify store for repeat buyers and better margins.
- Who it is for
- Etsy and Amazon sellers
- Time needed
- 5 minutes to read
- What you need
- Your monthly order count
You don't need a website to sell on Etsy or Amazon, and many sellers start without one. But a marketplace owns the buyer, takes a cut of every order and can change its fees or suspend your shop at any time. A Shopify store alongside it gives you a channel you control, lower fees per sale once traffic arrives, and a customer list you can market to again.
I build and fix Shopify stores, so I have a bias here. I'll be plain about where a marketplace is the better choice. All fees below were checked on the official pages on 7 November 2026.
What you give up by selling only on a marketplace
On Etsy or Amazon you rent a spot inside someone else's shop. Three things follow from that:
- The customer isn't yours. You can't build an email list from marketplace orders the way you can from your own checkout, so every repeat sale has to be won again through their search.
- The rules aren't yours. Fee changes, listing policy updates and account reviews apply to you whether or not you agree.
- The brand isn't yours. Buyers often remember "I bought it on Etsy", not your shop name.
What you gain is traffic. A new Shopify store starts with no visitors, and that's the honest reason most makers begin on a marketplace.
Etsy vs Shopify fees, and Amazon
| Cost | Etsy (US) | Amazon (US) | Shopify Basic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee | – | $39.99 (Professional) | $25, or $19 yearly |
| Per listing | $0.20, lasts 4 months | $0.99 per sale (Individual) | – |
| Commission | 6.5% of order total | 8% to 15% in most categories | – |
| Payment processing | 3% + $0.25 | Included in referral fee | 2.9% + 30¢ quoted |
| Ads fee | 12% or 15% on Offsite Ads sales | Optional | Optional |
Etsy charges a one-time shop setup fee that varies by location, and its Offsite Ads fee is capped at $100 per order. Amazon's referral fee has a minimum of $0.30 in many categories. The Shopify card rate is the one Shopify has quoted for US Basic stores, since the US pricing page doesn't list it.
Fees on one $40 sale, no shipping charged
- Etsy$4.25$0.20 listing, $2.60 transaction, $1.45 processing.
- Shopify Basic$1.46Card fee only, plus the monthly plan.
The gap of about $2.79 per order covers the $25 Shopify plan after roughly nine sales a month. Below that, the marketplace is cheaper. Run your own numbers in the Shopify fees calculator.
When staying marketplace-only makes sense
- You sell a handful of items a month and don't want another monthly bill.
- You're testing whether a product sells at all.
- Your buyers search the marketplace for exactly what you make, such as vintage or custom pieces on Etsy.
- You have no time to market a store. A website with no traffic plan earns nothing.
When your own Shopify store pays off
- You get repeat customers and want to email them directly.
- Your fees climb as volume grows, because marketplace fees scale with every order.
- You want a brand people search for by name.
- You've had a listing removed or an account review and want a backup channel.
My full Shopify vs Etsy comparison and Shopify vs Amazon comparison cover features, fees and limits in more depth.
Running both without double the work
You don't have to choose. Shopify's free Store Migration app imports product and customer data from Etsy, Amazon and other platforms, so you don't retype your catalog. To keep selling on Amazon from the same inventory, Shopify's Marketplace Connect app links Amazon, eBay, Walmart and Target Plus. The first 50 synced orders a month are free, then it charges 1% per order, capped at $99 a month. It doesn't list Etsy, so Etsy sync needs a third-party app.
By country
The fees above are US figures. Etsy's processing fee and Amazon's plan fees differ in the UK, the EU and Australia, so check the local fee page for your shop's country. On Shopify, the plan prices change by country too: UK Basic is £25 a month, or £19 billed yearly.
What to do next
- Check your margin per order on each channel with the fees above.
- Start a Shopify trial and import your listings rather than starting from scratch.
- Plan your first traffic with my guide to finding your first 100 customers.
- Get help moving. My Etsy to Shopify migration service moves listings, photos and reviews, with a fixed quote after a free review.
Free tools
Check your own store
Free, no sign-up. Each one runs a part of this guide for you.
Frequently asked questions
Is Etsy or Shopify cheaper?
Etsy has no monthly fee, so it's cheaper at low volume. On a $40 sale, Etsy's US fees come to about $4.25, against about $1.46 in card fees on Shopify Basic, so Shopify's $25 plan pays for itself at roughly nine sales a month.
Can I sell on Etsy and Shopify at the same time?
Yes. Many sellers do. Shopify's Store Migration app can import your Etsy products, and a third-party app can keep stock in sync between the two.
Do I need a website to sell on Amazon?
No. Amazon only needs a seller account. A website gives you a channel Amazon doesn't control and a customer list you can email.
Can Shopify sync with Amazon?
Yes. Shopify's Marketplace Connect app connects Amazon, eBay, Walmart and Target Plus. The first 50 synced orders a month are free, then it charges 1% per order, capped at $99 a month.
Will customers find my Shopify store?
Not on their own. A new store needs traffic from search, social media, email or inserts in your marketplace parcels. Plan that before you build.
Should a small business start on Etsy or Shopify?
If you're testing products or sell only a few a month, start on Etsy. Once you have repeat buyers or steady sales, add a Shopify store and send customers there for reorders.
Sources
- Fees and Payments Policy, Etsy
- What are the Fees and Taxes for Selling on Etsy?, Etsy Help
- What are Payment Processing Fees for Selling on Etsy?, Etsy Help
- Selling on Amazon fees and pricing, Amazon
- Shopify pricing, Shopify
- Shopify Marketplace Connect, Shopify App Store
Related services and work
I'm a Shopify developer and CRO specialist. I have built and improved Shopify stores since 2018, completed more than 1,000 projects, and hold a 4.96 average rating across 719 client reviews.
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