Setting Up Your First Online Shop: Etsy vs. Shopify vs. Your Own Site

There is a particular kind of excitement that comes with deciding you are finally going to sell your art online. Maybe you have been taking commissions through Instagram, selling prints through DMs, or simply telling people, “I’m working on setting up my shop.” Eventually, though, you need somewhere more permanent for people to actually browse your work and buy it.

That is where things can get confusing.

Should you open an Etsy shop? Build a Shopify store? Or invest in a website of your own?

All three can work, but they are not really the same thing. Etsy is a marketplace where you place your products alongside thousands of other sellers. Shopify gives you the tools to create and manage your own branded online store. A website built independently gives you the greatest control over your online presence, but also puts more responsibility on you.

The right choice depends less on which platform is “best” and more on what you need from your shop right now: visibility, branding, simplicity, control, or room to grow.

Etsy: The Easiest Place to Start

Etsy is a marketplace built around independent sellers and creative products. It is particularly well suited to artists and makers selling things such as prints, handmade pieces, stationery, jewelry, ceramics, craft supplies, vintage items, and other creative goods. Etsy describes itself as a marketplace for items made, designed, handpicked, or sourced by sellers, subject to its seller policies and creative standards.

The basic idea is simple: you create an Etsy account, open your shop, choose a shop name, upload your products, write descriptions, add photographs and prices, and set up your payment and billing information. Once your shop is live, customers can discover your products through Etsy’s own search and marketplace.

That last part is one of Etsy’s biggest advantages for a new artist.

With your own website, you have to bring people to your website. On Etsy, you are entering a marketplace where people are already looking for products. Someone searching for an original print, handmade necklace, art print, embroidery, or ceramic piece may come across your listing without already knowing who you are.

The benefits of Etsy

You get access to an existing audience. This is perhaps the biggest reason artists choose Etsy. You do not have to build an audience entirely from scratch before making your first sale.

It is relatively beginner-friendly. You do not need to build an entire website or figure out complicated ecommerce systems. You create listings, manage orders through your shop, and use Etsy’s built-in selling tools.

It works particularly well for product-based art. If you make prints, handmade objects, small originals, stickers, ceramics, textiles, or other items that can be photographed and shipped, Etsy can be a natural fit.

It can help you test demand. Instead of spending significant time and money building a sophisticated online store before knowing what people want to buy, you can list a small collection and see what gets attention.

There are, however, trade-offs.

Etsy charges sellers several types of fees, including listing fees, transaction fees, and payment processing fees. A standard listing currently costs $0.20, while Etsy’s transaction fee is 6.5% of the order amount, with payment processing fees varying by country. Other fees can apply for advertising, shipping labels, currency conversion, and other services.

There is also competition. Your work is displayed beside thousands of other sellers, which can make it harder to establish a distinct brand. You are also operating within Etsy’s marketplace rather than creating an online environment that belongs entirely to you.

So Etsy is excellent if your priority is getting started and reaching shoppers, particularly when you are still building an audience.

Shopify: Your Own Store Without Building Everything From Scratch

Shopify sits somewhere between a marketplace like Etsy and a completely independent website.

Instead of putting your products inside an existing marketplace, Shopify gives you the infrastructure to create your own ecommerce store. You choose a theme, add your products, customize your pages, connect a domain, configure payments and shipping, and launch the store. Shopify’s online store tools also allow you to create pages, menus, collections and even a blog.

Think of it this way: Etsy gives you a stall inside a busy creative market. Shopify gives you the shop itself.

You still do not have to build the technology from the ground up. Shopify handles much of the ecommerce infrastructure behind the scenes, including the tools for displaying products, processing orders and managing your store. You can also expand the store’s functionality through themes and apps.

This makes Shopify particularly appealing when you want your online shop to feel like a proper extension of your artistic brand.

You can use your own domain, choose your fonts and visual identity, organize your products into collections, create an About page, publish a blog, and build a customer experience that feels distinctly yours.

The benefits of Shopify

You have much more control over your brand. Your store does not have to look like a marketplace listing. You can create an environment that reflects your visual identity.

It is built to grow with you. You might begin with ten prints and eventually sell originals, prints, merchandise, workshops, digital products, or other creative offerings. Shopify is designed to support businesses as they expand.

You get ecommerce tools in one place. Products, orders, payments, store pages, analytics and other business functions can be managed through the platform.

You can use your own domain. Instead of sending customers to a marketplace shop, you can direct them to a website associated with your artist name or studio.

The downside is that Shopify generally requires more commitment than Etsy. You pay for a subscription rather than simply paying listing fees when you upload products. You are also responsible for bringing people to your store.

That distinction is important.

If someone searches Etsy for “abstract art print,” they may discover you. If they search Google or Instagram for your artist name, your Shopify store can be where they eventually purchase, but you still need to create the audience and traffic that gets them there.

Shopify is therefore a particularly good choice for artists who are ready to build a recognizable brand and want more control over the selling experience.

Your Own Website: The Most Control, The Most Responsibility

Then there is the option of building your own website independently.

This can mean different things depending on how you build it. You could use a website builder, WordPress with ecommerce functionality, or have a developer create a completely customized website. Unlike Etsy, you are not operating inside someone else’s marketplace. Unlike Shopify, you are not necessarily relying on a dedicated ecommerce platform for every part of your store.

Your website can become your entire digital home: your portfolio, biography, exhibitions, press coverage, shop, contact information, newsletter, blog and more.

For an artist, this can be incredibly valuable.

A potential collector does not just see a product listing. They can encounter your practice as a whole. They can read about your work, see your portfolio, learn about exhibitions, discover your studio process and then move directly to your shop.

Read our detailed guide on making your own website.

The biggest advantage here is ownership and flexibility. You decide how the website looks, how it is organized and what information visitors encounter. You are building an online presence around you, rather than around a marketplace.

But with greater control comes greater responsibility.

You may need to purchase a domain and hosting, choose and maintain your website platform, arrange ecommerce functionality, manage security and updates, organize payment methods, handle shipping integrations and troubleshoot problems. And, just like Shopify, you have to actively bring visitors to the site.

There is also the question of cost. A website can be inexpensive if you use simple tools and templates, or considerably more expensive if you hire a designer or developer for a custom site.

The Benefits of Having Your own Site

Your brand comes first. There is no marketplace competing for attention beside your work.

You can combine your portfolio and shop. This is particularly useful for artists who want collectors, galleries, curators and potential clients to see their broader practice.

You have greater control. You decide the design, structure, content and customer experience.

It can become a long-term digital home. Your website can grow alongside your career rather than being only a place to sell individual products.

The biggest disadvantage is that you have to take responsibility for almost everything. A beautiful website does not automatically bring customers. You still need marketing, social media, search visibility, email marketing, networking or another way of directing people towards it.

For this reason, an independent website can be especially valuable once you have a clearer brand, an established body of work or an audience that you can bring to the site.

So, Which One Should You Choose?

Instead of asking which platform is objectively better, ask what problem you are trying to solve.

If your biggest problem is “I need somewhere to start selling without building everything myself,” Etsy may be the answer.

If your biggest problem is “I want a professional online shop that feels like my brand and can grow with my business,” Shopify may make more sense.

And if your biggest problem is “I want a complete online home for my artistic career, with my shop as one part of it,” your own website may be the strongest long-term option.

You also do not have to choose only one forever.

An artist might begin on Etsy to test which products sell, build an audience through social media, and eventually launch a Shopify store or independent website. Another artist might already have a strong following and go straight to a branded store. Someone with an established portfolio might use their website as their main home while keeping Etsy as an additional sales channel.

The important thing is not to spend months trying to create the “perfect” shop before you actually start selling.

Your first online shop is not a final decision about your entire career. It is a starting point. Choose the platform that matches your current resources, audience, products and goals, and remember that you can always evolve as your art business does.

Etsy, Shopify and an independent website can all be excellent choices. The best one is simply the one that makes the most sense for where your art business is right now.

Editor’s Note:

Our Open Call for The Beauty of Still Life, Virtual Exhibition is closing in 72 hours. If you have been thinking to submit to our call, now is the time. Submit before August 30, 2026 and become a part of an international virtual exhibition!