The short answer: at a $50 average order, a Shopify store on the Basic plan costs less in fees than Etsy from 12 orders a month. Below that, Etsy’s per-sale fees cost less than the store’s $39 monthly plan. If a quarter of your Etsy orders come from Offsite Ads, the store gets cheaper from 8 orders. Fees are only half of it: Etsy brings you buyers, a store does not.
Etsy or your own store: monthly fees
From 12 orders a month, your own store (Shopify Basic) costs less in fees than Etsy at this order size.
Etsy
$104.00
a month in fees, $5.20 per order
Own store (Shopify Basic)
$74.00
a month: $39.00 plan + card fees
Offsite Ads, plan and billing
Fee by fee, one order
Etsy, no Offsite Ad
Etsy pays you
$44.80
Fees $5.20 (10.4% of $50.00)
Fee by fee
Processing is charged on the total including sales tax (0% here); the transaction fee is not.
Own store (Shopify Basic)
You keep per order
$46.30
Fees $3.70 (7.4% of $50.00)
Fee by fee
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Fees only: Etsy brings buyers, a store doesn't, so the cost of finding visitors (ads, social, email) is yours on top. One item per order, no sales tax, buyer in your country.
Fees verified Oct 20, 2026 from each platform's own fee pages. Each line links to its source.
Fees at 10, 50 and 200 orders a month
| Orders a month | Etsy | Own store (Basic) |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | $52.00 | $56.50 |
| 50 | $260.00 | $126.50 |
| 200 | $1,040.00 | $389.00 |
A $50 item, no shipping charge, no Offsite Ads, Shopify Payments and monthly billing. Etsy’s fees grow with every order; the store’s plan stays the same, so the gap widens as you sell more.
Why the lines cross
On Etsy you pay per sale: a $0.20 listing fee for each item sold, a 6.5% transaction fee and 3% + $0.25 for payment processing. On a $50 order that comes to $5.20, with nothing to pay in a month you sell nothing.
A Shopify store turns that around. The Basic plan is $39 a month whether you sell or not, and each card payment costs 2.9% + $0.30, so $1.75 on the same order. Each order saves you the difference, and the plan is paid off once those savings add up to $39.
Order size moves the line. At a $20 average order the store costs less from 27 orders a month; at $100, from 6. Paying for the plan yearly ($29 a month) brings it to 9 orders at $50.
Offsite Ads move the break-even lower
When a buyer reaches your Etsy listing through one of Etsy’s ads on another site and buys within 30 days, Etsy adds an Offsite Ads fee: 15% of the order while your shop has sold less than $10,000 in a year, and 12% for good once it has. The fee is capped at $100 per order. Shops that never reached the threshold can opt out.
At $50, a shop passes $10,000 a year at about 17 orders a month, where the mandatory rate begins. Every order that comes through an ad makes the store look better: with a quarter of orders from Offsite Ads, the break-even falls from 12 to 8 orders. Your Shop Manager shows what share of your sales came from them.
What the fees leave out
- Buyers. Etsy’s fees pay for a marketplace people already search. Your own store starts with no visitors; ads, social media and email cost money and time, and none of that is in the numbers above.
- Etsy’s set-up fee. Etsy charges a one-time fee to open a shop but does not publish the amount; it shows during sign-up.
- Apps and themes. Paid Shopify apps and paid themes are extra. Their prices vary, so they are not counted here.
- Shipping. Both charge on the shipping you collect: Etsy’s transaction fee includes it and Shopify’s card fee applies to the whole order. Labels come on top on both; compare them in the cheapest way to ship.
Etsy’s own website option, and selling on both
Etsy also sells its own standalone website, Pattern, as an optional subscription. Etsy charges no transaction fee on Pattern sales; payment processing still applies.
| Fee | Amount | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Pattern website subscription (optional standalone site) | $15.00 | optional; no Etsy transaction fee on Pattern sales, processing fees still apply |
You don’t have to choose one: you can keep Etsy for the buyers it brings and add a store for repeat customers. Shopify charges for marketplace orders synced into your store above a monthly allowance:
| Fee | Amount | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Synced marketplace orders over 50 per month | 1%, max $99.00 | synced marketplace order value, per month |
Every fee on each side is on its own page: what selling on Etsy costs and Shopify’s plans and cost per order. To weigh them against eBay or Amazon too, put one sale through every platform.
Etsy is a trademark of Etsy, Inc. This content is not created or endorsed by Etsy, Inc. Honest Fees is independent. Shopify may pay us a fee if you sign up through our link; that never changes the numbers above. Ready to compare plans? See Shopify’s plans.
Common questions
Is it better to sell on Shopify or Etsy?
On fees, Shopify once you sell enough; on buyers, Etsy. At a $50 average order, a Shopify Basic store costs less in fees than Etsy from 12 orders a month. Below that, Etsy's per-sale fees cost less than the $39 monthly plan. Etsy also brings buyers, which a store does not.
How much does Etsy take compared with Shopify?
On a $50 order, Etsy takes $5.20: a $0.20 listing fee, 6.5% transaction and 3% + $0.25 processing. Shopify takes $1.75 in card fees on the Basic plan, plus $39 a month for the plan.
Does Shopify take a percentage of each sale like Etsy?
No commission if you use Shopify Payments, only the card fee (2.9% + $0.30 on Basic). With an outside payment provider, Shopify adds 2% on Basic on top of that provider's fees.
When should I move from Etsy to my own store?
On fees alone, when your orders pass the break-even for your order size (12 a month at $50). Count the cost of bringing your own visitors before you move, since Etsy's buyers don't follow you. You can also run both.
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