Etsy vs Amazon Product Comparison

About the Etsy vs Amazon Product Comparison

Etsy vs Amazon, one product at a time

Most Etsy vs Amazon comparisons talk about the two marketplaces in general: fees, audiences, how hard it is to get started. The question a seller has is narrower: for this product, which marketplace has the buyers, the room and the margin? This Etsy vs Amazon tool answers it for one product phrase. Type something you sell or plan to sell, such as "wall art" or "dog toys", and it reads the same idea on both marketplaces, lays the figures side by side and gives a plain verdict on where to start.

It is built for Etsy and print on demand sellers who wonder whether a product would do better on Amazon, and for small Amazon sellers who wonder whether Etsy buyers want it too.

What it compares

• Demand: the estimated sales of the Etsy listings found for the phrase in the last 30 days, against the units sold each month in the closest Amazon niche.
• Demand per competitor: those sales divided by the number of equal-sized sellers that would split them the same way. It is shown for context and not scored, because Amazon's competitors can only be counted from the top products read.
• Room for a new seller: the share of sales the 3 biggest Etsy shops take, against the share the 3 biggest Amazon brands take.
• Price after fees: the typical price on each marketplace and what is left once the marketplace's own fees are paid.
• Growth, conversion and returns: whether Etsy sales and Amazon searches are rising, how often views or searches turn into orders, and how many of the Amazon niche's orders come back. Growth and conversion measure different things on each side, so they are shown but not scored.

How the verdict is decided

The verdict comes from fixed rules, not from AI. First, a marketplace has to show steady demand: at least 50 Etsy sales in 30 days for the phrase, or at least 300 Amazon units a month (about 10 a day) with 1,000 or more searches. Then four checks each give a point to the side that is clearly ahead: demand (twice the other side or more, because the two marketplaces are measured differently), room for a new seller (15 points lower), price after fees ($2 and 15% more) and returns (an Amazon return rate of 10% or more counts for Etsy). Only figures both marketplaces measure the same way are scored. The side two or more points ahead is the one to start on. Closer than that, both can work.

An example

This example uses made-up but realistic numbers. Say a phrase shows 2,400 Etsy sales in 30 days at a $24 average price, and its Amazon niche sells about 4,000 units a month at a $19 median price. Amazon sells more, but not twice as much, so demand is level. The top 3 Amazon brands hold 45% of the niche while the top 3 Etsy shops hold 8%, so Etsy takes the room point. After fees, a $24 Etsy sale leaves about $21.27 and a $19 Amazon sale leaves $16.15 before FBA, so Etsy takes the price point too. Etsy leads 2 points to 0 and the verdict says to start on Etsy.

Amazon Handmade vs Etsy

Amazon Handmade is a store inside Amazon for handcrafted products, not a separate marketplace. Sellers apply to join it, and each approved product carries a Handmade classification. Amazon says Handmade products now appear when customers search and browse in its standard categories, so a Handmade listing competes for the same searches as every other product in its niche. That is why this tool reads Amazon as one market: the demand in the Amazon column is the demand a Handmade listing sells into. It does not split Handmade products out, and a new Handmade listing still has to earn its place in those results.

Fees on each marketplace

On Etsy (US, at the time of writing in 2026), a sale costs the $0.20 listing fee (charged again when an auto-renewing listing sells), a 6.5% transaction fee on the order total including shipping and gift wrap, and payment processing of 3% + $0.25 on the order total including shipping and sales tax. Offsite Ads cost 15% of an order that comes through one of Etsy's ads, or 12% for shops that have made $10,000 or more in any 365-day period (for those shops the ads are required), and never more than $100 an order. They apply only to ad sales, so the comparison leaves them out; the Etsy fees calculator shows every fee line by line.

On Amazon, the referral fee depends on the category. It is 15% in many, such as home and kitchen, toys and games and pet supplies, with a $0.30 minimum, and lower or higher in others: jewelry, for example, is 20% up to $250. Amazon Handmade charges 15% or $0.30, whichever is greater. The tool uses 15% for every niche and adds the FBA fee when Amazon's data for the niche has it. FBA fulfillment fees are based on a product's size and weight, with storage charged each month. A Professional selling plan costs $39.99 a month; for approved Handmade sellers it is waived after the first month. Work out the numbers for your own product with the Amazon FBA calculator.

Where this comparison stops

• Estimates, measured differently. Etsy sales are estimated from signals on the listings eMarketInsight tracks; Amazon figures come from the niche data Amazon gives its sellers. That is why a side has to be twice as large to win a demand check.
• One phrase, one niche. Etsy is read for the exact phrase you type. Amazon resolves it to the closest niche it tracks, and the niche name is shown because it can differ from your words.
• Your costs are not in it. Product cost, shipping, packaging and advertising come on top of the marketplace fees.
• US data. Etsy prices and fees are for the US, and the Amazon figures are for Amazon.com.

To go deeper on one side, the Etsy product research tool adds a 90-day trend and the top listings and shops for the phrase, and the Amazon keyword research tool lists every search term in the niche.

How to read the results

Type a product in two to four plain words, the way a buyer would search for it, such as "coffee mug". As you type, the box suggests Etsy phrases that sell; pick one or press Compare. The page then shows:

1. The verdict: start on Etsy, start on Amazon, both can work, neither shows steady demand yet, or not enough data to call it, with the reasons in plain words.
2. The four checks: demand, room for a new seller, price after fees and returns, with the marketplace ahead on each one, or level where the two are close.
3. The comparison table: the Etsy phrase and the closest Amazon niche side by side, row by row, with the side that is ahead marked. Each row says what the figure means on each marketplace.

Read the verdict first, then the rows behind it. A product that wins on demand but loses on room and price after fees can still be the harder place to start. When one marketplace has no data for the phrase, its column stays empty and the verdict says why: try the words buyers use on that marketplace.

Each comparison uses one of your daily lookups, shared by every research tool on the site: 3 a day without an account, 10 with a free account and more on paid plans. It uses no credits, and a product compared in the last 24 hours opens again at no cost.

Frequently asked questions