Etsy or Shopify? 99% of Beginners Don’t Know This!

[@Metal_Vistas]

As a Shopify user, a few points of note: 1. Shopify has some significant up-front costs including the plan you select, a quality template can be expensive, and you will likely want to expand the basic functionality with apps - email marketing, backups, customized product listings, inventory control, etc. These are usually subscriptions and they can add up quickly. 2. SEO is very time consuming, seems to be ever changing and often it feels intentionally cryptic. 3. Shopify T.O.S. may preclude what you want to sell - gun parts, confederate flags, drug paraphernalia or sex toys, for example. You'll get one warning, on the second your store gets shut down and you lose your investment. 4. Shopify offers VERY limited point-of-sale options on the included plan, but for anything more (like inventory management) you will need to spend at least $89 per month. 5. If ALL you need is the basic point-of-sale capability, and you do not need a website, the cost is MUCH less. Another valuable video. Keep up the good work!

[@AndyBirdBuilds]

Thanks for sharing. I appreciate it!

[@simonr6793]

Andy, thanks for doing this video, my wife is a candle maker and she's never sold any. She actually loves giving them away. That said she is killing me financially. So I've told her she's got to start selling her products and now you've done this video it's answered all my questions about where to start selling them. Again thanks buddy it's really appreciated 💯% 👍 🇬🇧.

[@SirTools]

Great job on this one Andy, simple and to the point. Last year I opened an Etsy shop and could not believe the sales and visitor numbers. In the past I have always built my sites from the ground up and the SEO part failed over and over again. Driving traffic to your web store is VERY hard and you need a niche and good branding etc. Etsy is a GREAT place to start.

[@AndyBirdBuilds]

Fantastic! Thanks for watching

[@CorbyQ]

This is super helpful. Thank you for this video

[@AndyBirdBuilds]

You're welcome!

[@derrickpierce4440]

I've really been struggling with this decision, which makes this a very timely video for me. Without having done either service yet, it seems like you have the correct pathway forward. I like that you are not ruling out either service but instead taking advantage of both and generating some immediate income while building your own brand. This also allows you to start with Etsy and then implement Shopify, which makes launching two unique web platforms more palatable to one person trying to do it all. Great video; thanks for the advice!

[@AndyBirdBuilds]

Awesome. Glad you found it helpful!

[@DonTimmons-kh4dz]

Which ever way you decide to go just remember, you are the traffic. Just closed my E shop after 10 plus years, now I feel great. I was Etsy's customer, and my fellow shop owners customer as well. So I guess E lost two customers at once. No regrets though, I had fun and got to display my Artisanship. Good luck everyone, just don't drink the coolaid, be wise and you'll be fine.

[@michaelkline4800]

Are there any similar alternatives to Etsy with built in traffic? I attempted to open an Etsy shop and a week later they shut it down. I had not even added products or anything yet.

[@Lord_of_the_poor]

Dude. Great advice.

[@AndyBirdBuilds]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@1620GarageAndFarm]

Great info. I like the personal touch with a note.

[@MitchHeil]

I can't get a sale on etsy to save my life. Meanwhile I get a LOT of sales on my shopify.

[@Play4Vida]

How did you get people to your site?

[@TheRusticCraftEmporium]

I've been on Etsy for a few months and still waiting for my first sale! I might consider Shopify. How did you find it?

[@tomvolungus1511]

Would have to say Etsy then move names once established to another platform.

[@JSGenesisDesigns]

team shopify from day one, and I agree the biggest struggle,hurdle is traffic.

[@AndyBirdBuilds]

Driving traffic is no joke!

[@NavyCopMA1]

Regardless of preference, Team Shopify. I tried setting up an Etsy store a couple of different times and the first one was closed by Etsy within a day... No explanation, No emails, nothing. I spent the next several weeks and couple of months trying every trick laid out by other Etsy store users to get my shop reviewed and reopened with no luck (at the time I had one item listed, my own personal creation, etc.) I've tried a couple of other times with other email accounts and the store doesn't make it 20 minutes before it is blocked, so Etsy has lost any business I would have generated and I tell everyone to go elsewhere as there are a few alternatives that are starting to pop up. With Etsy's change of business terms and such this last year (allowing more foreign fly by night businesses to open stores and lack of infringement oversight for a lot of the foreign business, I've become an advocate for people starting elsewhere or moving their stores off the platform... Just my 2 cents. I know many that use it with no issue and, hey, more power to them if it works!

[@AndyBirdBuilds]

Thanks for sharing.

[@NavyCopMA1]

@@AndyBirdBuilds Sorry about that.. got a little long winded and whiney!

[@AndyBirdBuilds]

@@NavyCopMA1 No problem. I appreciate you sharing your experience!

[@thomaschandler4831]

⁠@@NavyCopMA1how can it be Whiney …. It’s important information to know

[@waskito3443]

is there any benefit to shopify over just owning your own website where you keep 100% of your money?

[@AndyBirdBuilds]

Good question. You're going to pay card transaction fees where ever you sell and you're going to to pay for web hosting and most likely some sort of subscription as well. So its basically the same cost

[@waskito3443]

@@AndyBirdBuilds can we get a rundown of the costs?

[@davidchoi3347]

Two Thumbs Up !!! i m always anticipating for new episode.

[@AndyBirdBuilds]

Right on! 👍

[@kwebber9248]

Etsy can kick you off any time they want. And they do....

[@shaunsullivan4611]

genius

[@jond1965]

Sounds like they both suck. Sold items years ago on eBay. Did fairly well… then a bunch of sellers started copying me. Had a flea market spot too.. same thing. Did really well at first, then other sellers started copying me. Even though they were not allowed too as per the owner… who couldn’t care less.

[@woodcraft_cz]

Oooph this video was a blow, I was hoping to hear shopify was the place to be but when I heard Etsy had the traffic I think I quietly cried inside 😅 Iv got an Etsy store and barely get 5 views a week let alone sales 😩

[@AndyBirdBuilds]

Do some research on Etsy strategy.

[@keenowl1410]

Cnc is handmade now??? 🤔🙄

[@SchemingGoldberg]

If using a drill or table saw or Dremel still counts as "handmade"... then why not?

[@dangkolache]

if you're not carving wood with your fingernails and teeth like a real man then it doesn't count as handmade