I want to help you build a sustainable, profitable handmade business that makes you consistent income and sales. I only ever teach or recommend marketing, social media, pricing, production and branding tips that I’ve personally used successfully in my own 7-figure handmade businesses.
I'm Mei, from Los Angeles!
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So you have some handmade products that you’re ready to sell, but if you’re watching this then you’re probably a bit unsure about where to actually sell them.
And I completely understand that—with so many options nowadays, how do you know which online marketplace is best for you and your products? This article would shed light on the 10 best places to sell your handmade products online.
In today’s blog, I want to talk about ten of the best online marketplaces where you can sell your handmade products.
One of the first things to consider when it comes to selling products online is having a presence on more than one marketplace.
This can help grow your overall sales, increase brand awareness, and can be a good safety net if something goes south with one of the platforms you’re on.
If that happens, you’ll know that all your eggs weren’t in one basket, and that you’ll at least have other marketplaces where you’ve established yourself on so that you still have income coming in.
Before we jump into the 10 places, remember: every marketplace is different and what may work for some people may not work for others.
Before setting up shop, it’s important to investigate which marketplaces are best equipped for your needs and your specific products.
Things like shipping mechanisms, fees, traffic, competition, customer base, and niches are all things to consider when researching the best marketplace to sell your items on.
Now let’s get into the list of the 10 best places to sell your handmade products online!
Shopify is an all-in-one ecommerce platform.
Regardless of other platforms you end up experimenting with, Shopify should be your base because it will also act as your website.
When selling online, it is crucial to have your own website from the very beginning.
Customers will see you as professional and credible, which builds trust and confidence, making them more likely to buy from you.
Shopify is great for both beginners and seasoned online sellers.
There are a few pricing plans that you can choose from, ranging from $29 to $299 depending on the features you’d like to have.
It’s user-friendly, quick and easy to set up, secure, and reliable.
They even take care of all the website maintenance so that you never have to worry or think about it.
Etsy is the go-to place for buying and selling unique, creative, or handcrafted products.
So as a creative handmade product maker, this would be a great option for you!
It has earned its reputation over the years as one of the most trusted and popular sites to buy and sell items.
Its popularity has resulted in both lots of traffic directed to the site, as well as a lot of competition, so keep that in mind when setting up your store.
Research the best way to optimize your product listings to increase your visibility and the likelihood of new customers discovering you.
It’s super simple to get started and can be a great way to develop a steady income over time, but keep in mind that the fees for selling and maintaining your products in the marketplace are high.
I’m sure we are all very familiar with Amazon and have even bought things for ourselves on the site.
So why not be part of the marketplace and make your own products available on there too?
Amazon is the world’s largest online marketplace, with an average of 2.45 billion visits to the site monthly as of June 2021.
Similar to Etsy, you’re going to find a lot of competition on Amazon too, but by optimizing your product listings you can break through all that noise and start making sales.
And with so many customers eager to buy on the platform, it’s only a matter of time before they buy from you.
With Amazon FBA (or fulfillment by Amazon), you don’t have to worry about storing, packing, or shipping products, making the entire process a lot more efficient.
However, with Amazon FBA, they have total control over your inventory.
They may decide to move your products to a different warehouse, making them unsellable during the process.
There’s also a fee associated with Amazon FBA, so that is something to take into consideration.
And unlike other marketplaces where you can increase brand awareness and have a higher chance of building a customer base, it’s difficult to do so on Amazon since your listing can easily be hidden when customers search for products using filters.
Depending on what you’re selling, Facebook Marketplace could be a viable option.
It’s not the best place if you’re trying to consistently sell handmade products, but could bring in some sort of a profit if you’re specific about what you’re selling.
The things that sell the most on there are household items (like furniture), baby clothing and children’s toys, shoes, electronics, and vehicles or vehicle parts.
So for us creatives, let’s say that you handcrafted a rug, crocheted some baby clothing, made a creative phone case, or designed other unique furniture items.
These are the types of items that you can sell well on Facebook Marketplace.
It’s not the most popular site and probably won’t bring in a steady income, but it could be a great way to make some extra money from time to time.
Poshmark is a marketplace for users in the US, Canada, and Australia to buy and sell clothing, accessories, shoes, or home décor.
As creatives, we know the possibilities are endless with all of the handmade products we can create in these niches.
A fantastic thing about Poshmark is that they allow sellers the opportunity to create a following and promote their products on their customers’ feeds.
It’s also easy to market yourself off the platform too.
Do keep in mind though that it can be a bit time consuming.
Poshmark works very similarly to social media platforms, in that the more time and effort you put into taking great pictures, promoting yourself, and interacting with your audience is the key to making more sales.
But I totally understand that constantly having to do this might not be realistic for everyone, and it could make sales unstable and unreliable, so I wouldn’t suggest relying on Poshmark as a steady source of income (at least not at first), but rather as an option for making some extra cash to save.
Also keep in mind that they take a flat commission of $2.95 for sales under $15, and a 20% commission for sales over $15.
Still, it could be a great place to grow your brand’s presence since the type of consumer is more likely to be looking for what you’re selling.
Faire is an online wholesale marketplace that allows retailers to find brands who are selling items that they would like to stock up on for their own shops with.
The first step for you would be to apply to sell on Faire.
Once you’re approved, you can then create an online storefront on the Faire marketplace where you list all your products.
Retailers can search for products like yours that they would purchase at a wholesale price to sell at their own stores.
It is free to set up shop on Faire, but once you start selling your goods, they do take a commission from each order.
They will take a pretty big commission of 25% from the first order a retailer places with you, but for all the following orders from that retailer, the commission is 15%.
This is another great wholesale marketplace for users in the US and UK.
Something unique about Abound is that they offer flexible commission options starting at 8%, essentially allowing you to choose how much commission they take from each of your orders.
They try to make the selling process as easy as possible for their makers by promoting your brand via email, processing payments, and taking care of returns.
They do all this because they understand that the quality of the marketplace depends on the quality of the products each maker creates.
It is their way of taking the pressure off creatives so that they can continue to create amazing handmade products to sell on the marketplace.
A couple of cons are that payouts seem to be slow on the platform and that some makers have had some trouble getting their first orders.
It appears that brands with more than 50 items are prioritized in the algorithm, so it could make it difficult for smaller brands to get seen at first.
This is another wholesale marketplace where suppliers such as yourself can market their products on the platform for retailers to purchase.
There are over 3,000 US or Canada-based brands found on this marketplace, and buyers can purchase goods directly from you, the seller.
You might not believe it, but on Tundra you keep 100% of your revenue. Yep, that’s right!
There are no transaction or commission fees.
It’s quite literally a dream come true.
Buyers are even screened before being able to make purchases on Tundra to ensure they are legitimate companies, ensuring that resellers aren’t able to buy your products in bulk only to resell on third-party marketplaces.
Ebay is one of the oldest and most well-known online marketplaces and is still popular to this day.
It’s not the best choice for every creative, but if you’re selling vintage items or craft supplies, it can be a good option for you.
Ebay is also known for its bargains and finding good deals on items, so that’s something to consider if you aren’t keen on lowering your prices.
On the other hand, you can use that to your advantage as you see fit.
Ebay is super easy to use, and you can reach customers from around the world.
Keep in mind though, that selling fees are high and you may get messages from people asking for free shipping or even lower prices than what you are offering.
If you haven’t heard of this marketplace yet, you aren’t alone.
It’s fairly new and is being marketed as an alternative to Etsy.
Everything on the site is handmade, from jewelry to home décor, kitchenware to bath and beauty, to art and games, and so much more.
Since it is newer, data is still being collected on it, but sometimes the best time to try something out is when it’s just starting up to give you that edge as it begins to grow.
Since all products sold on the platform must be handmade, it is meant to attract customers specifically looking for handcrafted products.
Something that makes Goimagine stand out from the crowd is that they don’t charge commissions fees.
Instead, they charge based on the number of items you have in your shop, starting at $2.50 a month for 25 products up to $10 a month for 1,000 products.
And all of their profits are donated to children’s charities.
Remember: not all marketplaces are created equally.
Each one is unique and has their own pros and cons, so please don’t forget to do your research to see which platforms would benefit you the best before picking which platforms to use.
Once you figure out which of these 10 marketplaces would be the best for you and your brand, my advice would be to create a storefront for at least 3 of them.
Trust me, you don’t want to have all your eggs in one basket, and diversity and flexibility is so important when making a living as a creative!
When setting up shop, remember that it’s important to manage your energy.
It does take time and effort to set up your shop on each platform, so take it one step at a time so you don’t burn out.
We made it through the 10 best places to sell your handmade products online!
I truly hope this was helpful to you and that you investigate these platforms yourself.
Are there any other platforms you know about that you can share with us?
Let me know in the comments below!
And don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more great handmade business tips and tricks!
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