Once you have an idea for a hand-made product you’d like to sell, you’ll need to set up an online shop where you can list it and attract buyers to make a purchase.
In this article, I’ve rounded up all the best marketplaces and e-commerce shops where you can sell your hand-crafted items and make money online.
We’ll start with the big online marketplaces everyone knows already, like Esty, eBay, and Amazon, etc.
Then we’ll cover the other online marketplaces that exist, besides just the big ones.
Each listing below has a quick overview of the highlights for each platform with a link to find out more information.
Let’s get into it!
Related article: How To Make Money Selling Hand-Crafted Items Online
Etsy
Everyone has heard of Etsy by now. It’s been around a long time and was the first major online marketplace I discovered years ago that focused on hand-made and hand-crafted products to buy and resell.
Etsy looks incredible and is one of the best looking online marketplaces to set up a shop on in my opinion.
I actually like the theme on Etsy better than on Amazon or eBay. It’s a very calm and relaxing experience that elevates the perceived value of the products being sold.
Since Etsy is the number one marketplace for handmade items, I think it makes sense for every creator to open a shop there.
eBay
Just about everyone knows about eBay by now. eBay has a little bit of everything for sale.
For a long time, eBay was the only site you could use to have an online auction for buying or selling anything used online. Then, eBay allowed fixed-priced listings with a buy-it-now feature.
These days I find eBay mostly valuable for buying retro & vintage items, antiques, and anything collectible.
The reason I think eBay’s great for reselling hand-crafted products is because of all the traffic the site gets.
If you can study the category on eBay for hand-made items, then see what has sold, you’ll be able to get some really good market research. Then make a competing product to sell which will probably do well because you know there’s a history of people buying a similar item.
Handmade by Amazon
Just like eBay, everyone has heard of Amazon, and when they launched the Handmade by Amazon Marketplace it was to directly compete against Etsy.
Amazon has so many things going for it, and I think it’s a fantastic place to be selling your hand-made products on.
Amazon has an easy-to-use online review system for the products, which is very helpful for shoppers to do product research, and for sellers to get feedback on a particular item. (Note: Etsy and pretty much all online marketplaces also have product reviews.)
Amazon has a lot of web traffic, a nice mobile app, and customers that don’t mind buying expensive products. All of that together makes it a great place to try and sell your hand-made products.
Facebook Marketplace
Facebook launched its own marketplace back in 2016. I’ve used it on and off over the years to sell items locally, and most of the time it works quite well for me.
All though on Facebook Marketplace, occasionally you do get a lot of people messaging you about an item, but then never follow through with a purchase. Many other people I’ve spoken with have told me about the same problem, and since I’ve never experienced that on other marketplaces, I thought it was worth mentioning.
With Facebook’s Marketplace, you can list handmade products under a number of categories and also have the option of shipping.
Overall, Facebook is not one of my favorite Social Media platforms anymore, but it still has a lot of web traffic, so it makes it an ideal place to list items for sale. Especially if your ideal customers are over the age of 35.
Instagram’s Creator Marketplace
Instagram does not need an introduction. It’s been the number one photo-based social media site for the last decade or so. Within the last several years, however, it’s become more of a balance of photos and video.
Most recently, short-form videos have been introduced, and it’s really changed the feel and overall experience on the site.
But, even with the changes, it still has a lot of traffic and an opportunity for creators to open an online store on Instagram’s creator marketplace.
For someone who is using social media to promote and show the world their hand-made creations and products, setting up a shop on Instagram makes 100% sense in my opinion, and is certainly worth the time and effort.
To find out more about getting qualified, I highly advise you to check out this helpful article to get started: About The Creator Marketplace on Instagram.
eCrater
eCrater has a lot going for it because you can open a 100% free online store. Unlike Etsy or eBay where they limit your free listings, eCrater has no listing fees whatsoever.
The tradeoff for the free listings and online store however is that the overall web traffic is not as high as the bigger sites like Etsy, eBay, or Amazon.
Nevertheless, they do have a section for listing your hand-crafted items for sale. And currently, there are over 200k listings for sale just for the hand-made category.
For eCrater, it’s been around since 2004 and is definitely worth researching more in my opinion, so you can see if it’s a possible option for you to sell on.
Bonanza
Bonanza has been online since 2008, and its slogan is “Everything But The Ordinary”.
For myself, that slogan really makes me think “Wow, I’m going to have some fun shopping here.”
For hand-made and crafted items that are super creative and not something I’d normally see at a big retail store, I immediately think of shopping at Bonanza.
For Bonanza sellers, there are no listing or monthly fees whatsoever, they don’t make money until you make money.
Bonanza is highly talked about in the reseller community, and you can find plenty of positive news about them if you use Google and do some research.
Pinterest is a visual social media platform with photos, videos, and infographics.
Each posting is referred to as a Pin. As people pin different things they like, they can organize groups of pins into various online boards.
A standard pin with just an image will allow you to link to an external webpage like a blog post or product listing. Their other types of pins for ideas, stories, and videos do not allow external links, however.
A while back Pinterest rolled out a business shopping option so you can integrate products from a Shopify store onto the platform. You can also use WooCommerce if you have a WordPress Site.
Since hand-made items are highly visual, Pinterest is a great platform to sell your hand-crafted items with.
Go Imagine
Go Imagine is a hand-made marketplace with the purpose of helping a child in need.
To find out more about the charities they work with, check out: Go Imagine Charity Partners
If you want to help support the purpose of helping children in need and selling your hand-made items online, definitely check out Go Imagine as an option.
One big difference that Go Imagine has vs. other marketplaces like Etsy, eBay, and Amazon is that Print On-Demand products are not allowed.
Big Cartel
Big Cartel is an easy online e-commerce solution for artists and makers. It’s definitely worth checking out if you are considering opening up an online store to sell your handmade crafts.
Big Cartel was created by artists, for artists. This means that they had the creative in mind when the interface for Big Cartel was programmed and designed.
To seriously consider Big Cartel as an option for you, I suggest you start by reviewing example stores that are online right now and making money.
Indie Made
Indie Made is a perfect e-commerce solution if you have an Etsy shop already and you want to integrate and start your own eCommerce store.
Indie Made will allow you to sync over all of your Etsy product listings seamlessly!
With Indie Made you get a huge selection of themes to customize, to get just the right look for your eCommerce store.
You are even provided with a blog which is a great feature if you are considering an SEO strategy for driving traffic.
Renegade Craft
Renegade Craft has been building an online community since 2003. They have an online shop and also host events to help artists and hand-made craft builders show and sell their products.
Renegade Craft’s approach to having an online shop and hosting in-person events is very unique when compared to the other online platforms we’ve covered so far. It’s helped them build a deep-rooted grassroots community for the creative small business community.
You can view the events they are hosting via their online calendar here: Renegade Crafts Events.
Society 6
Society 6 is a perfect option for artists and designers who don’t want to actually hand-craft their own items, they can outsource the hand-crafting as a Print On-Demand option instead.
Their slogan is “Designed By Artists, Made By Us, Just For You”.
All you have to do is set up an online shop, upload your images and design the product, then list it for sale. The team at Society6 will drop ship the item for you to your customer.
The range of products they have is huge, just about every category of product is covered. Some product example categories include Home, Apparel, Bags, and Tech.
Shopify
Shopify hardly needs an introduction. They’ve been around for a while now and are the most popular e-commerce platform for small businesses.
I’ve personally used them to host a number of online stores, and I had a great experience each and every time.
The big advantage of Shopify is how well they integrate with just about every social media platform that is out there. Plus, they integrate seamlessly with many print on-demand suppliers.
One of the biggest perks for Shopify, there is a huge community of theme builders and third-party apps that integrate well into the platform, so you can make a store highly customizable.
I definitely recommend you check out Shopify as an option, especially if you find out that other simpler e-commerce solutions are not cutting it for you.
Storenvy
Storenvy is all about helping Indie brands sell online. They provide you with an online store and a social marketplace with millions of customers to help generate sales.
To get started, I suggest you browse Storenvy and get a feel for the various products being offered in your chosen category, then decide if your hand-made items are a fit or not.
To test how well your products might sell on Storenvy, you can open a marketplace store for free and try it out.
Some popular categories for selling products include Clothing, Home, Art, Jewelry, Health, Beauty, and Tech.
Final Thoughts
I hope you got some useful information out of this round-up post on marketplace websites that will help you sell your handmade products online.
We covered the big marketplace websites most people know about already like eBay, Etsy, and Amazon. As well as smaller sites like eCrater and Bonanza.
Don’t forget you can use Social Media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, or Pinterest to help promote your products!
Lastly, if hosting your own eCommerce store makes sense for selling your hand-crafted items there are plenty of options with Shopify, Indie Made, or Big Cartel.
When all else fails, if you are new and just don’t know which platform to start with, I recommend starting on Etsy or eBay first.