Etsy and Shopify do two different jobs. Etsy puts your pieces in front of people who are already browsing for something handmade, vintage or one of a kind. Shopify gives you a store of your own, with your brand on every page and your customers on your own list. If you make jewelry, accessories or handmade skincare, and you're wondering whether Etsy is still enough or whether it's time for your own store, this is for you. You may not even have to choose.
In short
Etsy brings you people who are already searching, and it takes a share of every order. For a shop in the Netherlands that's 6.5% plus 4% + €0.30, before listing fees and any Offsite Ads.
Shopify gives you a store of your own, your brand on every page and your own customer list, and you bring the visitors yourself. You pay a monthly plan plus payment fees, from €21 a month billed yearly and €0.29 for an iDEAL payment.
You can run both, so you don't have to leave Etsy on the day your store opens.
Weighing Etsy against your own store?
Book a free call and we’ll go through your numbers together.
I'll say this first, so you know where I stand. I'm Karina, and at Design by Karina, a strategy-first boutique Shopify agency in Rotterdam for premium fashion and beauty brands, we design and build Shopify stores for brands across the Netherlands and Belgium, turning what makes your brand different into a reason to choose you. So we're on the Shopify side of the table. Still, I'd rather tell you honestly when Etsy is fine for now, because opening a store too early costs money you could be spending on the product.
If you're still working out where to sell in general, start with Selling online as an independent fashion brand. If you're also looking at bol.com, read Bol.com or your own webshop?.
What Etsy is good at
Etsy is a marketplace, and the search is already built in. People go there looking for something, type it in and find your piece, so you can start selling before you've worked out how to bring anyone to a website of your own. For handmade jewelry, accessories, made-to-order pieces and small-batch beauty, that's a nice place to begin, as long as what you make fits the way people search on Etsy.
The other side is that your listing looks like every other listing, because Etsy decides the template. Your brand story, your size chart, the way you explain a ritual, all of that gets less room than it would on a store you own.
If you're running a full ready-to-wear label, with seasonal collections and a strong look of your own, Etsy alone will start to feel tight. That doesn't mean you have to leave. Etsy can stay one of the places you sell, while your Shopify store becomes the place your brand lives.
What Shopify is good at
Shopify is your own webshop. You decide how the photos look, where the size chart sits, how you explain the ingredients or the ritual, which reviews show up and what the emails say after someone buys. That matters a lot in fashion and beauty, because people can't try the product on, so the page has to do what you would do in person.
VYOLA is a good example. It's a Belgian atelier that makes body chains, tops and belts by hand and to measure, so the big question is always size. On its Shopify store, the size chart, a field for your own measurements and the fit guarantee all sit right on the product page. That's hard to do inside a template someone else decided on.
The catch is that nobody walks in by themselves. You bring the people, through search, email, social and any ads you decide to run yourself. It's more work, and I won't pretend it isn't. What you get for it is the relationship. The customer is yours, so the next time you have something new, you can tell them directly.
Etsy fees (official, checked November 5, 2026)
These come straight from Etsy's Help Center (Fees and taxes for selling on Etsy, Payment processing fees and How Etsy's Offsite Ads work, checked November 5, 2026):
Fee | What Etsy publishes |
|---|---|
Listing | $0.20 USD per listing (also on renewals). Listings expire after 4 months. Charged whether or not the item sells. |
Transaction | 6.5% of the total order amount in your listing currency, including shipping and gift wrap if you charge for those. |
Payment processing (Netherlands) | 4% + €0.30 per order via Etsy Payments. |
Payment processing (Belgium) | 4% + €0.30 per order via Etsy Payments. |
Offsite Ads | Only on orders that come from one of Etsy's ads on another site, when a buyer clicks the ad and buys from your shop within 30 days. 15% of the order total if your shop has never made $10,000 in any 365-day period, 12% if it has. Never more than $100 per order. Shops that have never reached $10,000 can opt out in Shop Manager. Once a shop reaches it, it stays in. |
Currency conversion | 2.5% when Etsy converts your funds to the currency of your payment account. |
Shop set-up | One-time, non-refundable. The cost varies by location, and you see it during set-up. |
A few things to keep in mind. The fixed fees in US dollars are converted to the currency of your payment account at the market rate when they're charged. VAT may apply on seller fees, depending on where you are. And fees change, so look at Etsy Help again before you price a collection.
To give you a feel for it, say you sell a necklace for €80 with free shipping, from a shop in the Netherlands. The 6.5% transaction fee is €5.20 and payment processing is €3.50, so that's €8.70 on that order, before the listing fee and any Offsite Ads. This is an example, not a real shop, built only from the table above.
Shopify works differently. You pay a monthly plan, plus payment fees on your own checkout. Here's that same €80 necklace sold ten times in one month, with no Offsite Ads on Etsy and every order paid with iDEAL on Shopify. It's an example again, built from the table above and Shopify's Dutch pricing page (checked November 5, 2026).
Etsy | Shopify Basic | |
|---|---|---|
Monthly plan | None | €21, billed yearly |
Fees per order | €8.70 | €0.29 |
Fees on ten orders | €87.00 | €2.90 |
Total for the month | €87.00 | €23.90 |
That's before listing fees, apps and VAT. A card payment on Basic costs a bit more, 1.9% + €0.25, which is €1.77 on this necklace. And in a quiet month the picture turns around, because two orders cost you €17.40 on Etsy and €21.58 on Shopify.
The table also leaves something out, and that's how those ten people found you. On Etsy the search brought them, and on Shopify you have to bring them yourself. So I wouldn't compare the two in the abstract. Put each one next to your margin and see what's left.
When to stay on Etsy (for now)
If your pieces sell well through Etsy search and you're not ready yet to bring people to your own domain, staying is a perfectly fair choice. Use the time to keep your photos, materials and shipping promises consistent, so that a Shopify store later on feels like the same brand, not a new one.
When to open (or move to) your own Shopify store
It's time to give your brand its own place on Shopify when you start to need things a listing can't give you. I'd look at these four:
A product page that explains fit or skin type right next to the button, so nobody has to message you to ask.
An email list of your own, so you can tell people about something new and they come back to you.
A checkout, returns and packaging that match the level of your product.
Room to grow, because one marketplace template only stretches so far.
You don't have to leave Etsy on day one. You can keep selling there while your store gets going, and decide later, when you can see where your orders are coming from.
One thing to watch while you run both. Etsy doesn't want your shop used to pull buyers to your own store. Its Help Center says your shop announcement and auto-reply shouldn't be used to send buyers to purchase from your personal website, and it scans messages for attempts to finish a sale outside Etsy. So let each one stand on its own, and read Etsy's Off-Platform Transactions policy before you put a link anywhere in your shop.
When you get to that point, this is the work we do. We listen first, we research who is buying and what they need to know, we decide what every page has to do, and then we design it, build it on Shopify and keep checking how real customers use it. If you're coming from Etsy, moving your products over is part of that project.
Shopify vs Etsy at a glance
Etsy | Shopify | |
|---|---|---|
Traffic | Built-in marketplace search | You bring it |
Brand | Inside Etsy's look | Yours, on every page |
Customer data | Limited | Yours |
Best fit | Handmade and made-to-order pieces people search for | Brand-led fashion and beauty |
Fees | Listing + % + processing (see table) | Plan + payment fees |
Good to know in the Netherlands
iDEAL. Etsy shoppers in the Netherlands can pay with iDEAL, and so can customers on your Shopify store. It's moving to Wero step by step, and I explain what that means in Shopify, iDEAL and Wero.
KVK and BTW. A lot of makers start as a hobby, and at some point it becomes a business. KVK looks at things like profit, how independent you are and how many customers you have. Once you count as a business, you register with KVK, and KVK passes your details on to the Belastingdienst.
Your own store has more to show. On your own webshop you have to show your KVK number, BTW number and contact details, and explain how to cancel.
14 days. People who buy online can generally change their mind within 14 days. Goods made to order or clearly personalized are the exception, so check where your made-to-measure pieces stand. Since June 2026 a webshop that sells to consumers also needs a withdrawal button.
Fees in dollars. Etsy's listing fee is in US dollars, so your cost in euros moves a little with the exchange rate.
Questions
Can I use Shopify and Etsy together?
Yes, and it can work well. Etsy brings people who are searching, and your Shopify store is where they get to know the brand. Just keep your photos and product details the same in both places, because someone who sees two different descriptions starts to wonder which one is right.
Is Etsy cheaper than Shopify?
It depends on how much you sell and whether Offsite Ads come into it. Etsy charges per listing and takes a percentage of each order, so a quiet month costs you less. Shopify charges a plan plus payment fees, and that plan is there every month, whatever you sell. The only way to know is to run it on your own average order, using Etsy's published fees (checked November 5, 2026).
When should a clothing brand leave Etsy?
When ready-to-wear, seasonal collections and the experience on your own pages matter more to you than Etsy search. It doesn't have to be all or nothing, because you can keep a selection on Etsy after your Shopify store is live.
What about bol.com?
It's a different marketplace with the same question behind it: where do you sell, and where does your brand live? I go through that in Bol.com or your own webshop?.
How much does Etsy take per sale?
For a shop in the Netherlands or Belgium, 6.5% of the order total plus 4% + €0.30 for payment processing, and $0.20 for each listing. On an €80 order with free shipping that's €8.70 before the listing fee. If the sale came through an Offsite Ad, that fee comes on top.
Can I turn off Etsy Offsite Ads?
If your shop has never made $10,000 in any 365-day period, yes. You can opt out in Shop Manager, under Settings. Once a shop reaches $10,000, Etsy keeps it in for the lifetime of the shop, at the lower 12% rate.
Can you move my products from Etsy to Shopify?
Yes, we do that as part of a project, so your products land in a store that's designed around them. It helps to know what comes along. Shopify's guide explains that Etsy's export only holds listings that are for sale right now, so sold-out or expired ones have to be renewed first if you want them. Reviews, customers and past orders aren't in that file and need a separate app, and you can download your Etsy reviews to keep your own copy.
Can I connect Etsy and Shopify automatically?
Not through Shopify's own Marketplace Connect app, which says new Etsy connections can't be made at this time (checked November 5, 2026). You'd need a third-party app, so look closely at what it syncs before you install it.
Can I link to my own store from my Etsy shop?
Be careful with this one. Etsy's Help Center says your shop announcement and auto-reply shouldn't be used to send buyers to purchase from your personal website, and it points to its Off-Platform Transactions policy. Read that policy first, because it's your Etsy shop that's at stake.
Does Etsy accept iDEAL?
Yes. Etsy's Help Center says shoppers in the Netherlands can pay with iDEAL. On your own Shopify store it works through Shopify Payments and costs €0.29 per payment on Basic, Grow and Advanced.
What's the best Shopify agency in Rotterdam?
I'm not neutral here, because we're a Shopify agency in Rotterdam ourselves, so I'd rather not hand you one name. It depends on what you make and what you need built. We put together a list of Shopify agencies in the Netherlands for fashion and beauty, and we're on it, so you can compare us with the others.
How much does a Shopify agency cost in the Netherlands?
It depends on what has to be designed and built, so one number wouldn't tell you much. I go through what you pay for and why prices differ in What does a Shopify agency cost?
What does a Shopify store with Design by Karina cost?
The Launch is from €4,500 and The Atelier is from €6,900. The Launch is for new and growing brands ready to launch their first Shopify store, and The Atelier is for established brands that have outgrown their current store. You hear the full price on the intro call and see it item by item in your proposal.
Your store, your numbers
Want a straight answer for your own store? Book a free call and we’ll walk through it together.
Sources
All opened and checked on November 5, 2026.
Karina Paviotti
Founder, Design by Karina
Karina Paviotti is the founder of Design by Karina, a boutique Shopify agency in Rotterdam. Before starting the studio, she worked in product design at Uber, shaping payment experiences for drivers. Today she leads every project, from strategy to launch, for founder-led fashion, beauty and lifestyle brands.
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