Shopify vs Etsy Fees and the Cost of Running Both

By Milan Dhameliya · · 9 min read

Compare published Shopify and Etsy fees, then calculate whether adding a Shopify store pays off while Etsy stays open—including acquisition and sync costs.

Shopify generally charges less per comparable sale than Etsy, but adds a store subscription and the cost of bringing shoppers to your website. When comparing Shopify vs Etsy fees, a second store pays off only when the savings on orders it replaces, plus the contribution from genuinely new orders, exceed its additional operating costs.

That is a different question from asking which platform has the smaller percentage. If you keep Etsy open, its remaining orders and listing costs stay in your budget. This guide explains the published fees, then gives you a practical worksheet for deciding whether to stay on Etsy, add Shopify, or plan a wider move.

Start with the fees that actually apply to your shop

The figures below are published US rates in USD, checked November 2, 2026. They are a comparison baseline, not a quote for every merchant. Sellers in the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Ireland should substitute their local payment rates and applicable charges before using the worksheet.

Etsy: listing, transaction, and payment charges

Etsy's fee breakdown lists a $0.20 listing charge, payable even when an item does not sell. Listings expire after four months; renewal and additional quantities sold can create further listing charges. Etsy also charges a 6.5% transaction fee on the item price and amounts charged for shipping and gift wrapping.

Payment processing is separate. For a US bank account, Etsy Payments charges 3% + $0.25 per order. Its calculation includes shipping and applicable sales tax. The country-specific processing table uses bank-account location, so displaying products in USD does not make a non-US seller eligible for US processing rates.

Do not describe Etsy as simply “6.5%.” Equally, do not treat every deduction from an Etsy deposit as a selling fee. Advertising, shipping-label purchases, refunds, and the timing of available funds need separate treatment.

Shopify: subscription and payment processing

Shopify's US pricing page lists Basic at $39 per month on monthly billing, or an effective $29 per month billed yearly. Its standard online card rate through Shopify Payments is 2.9% + $0.30. The annual option involves a different commitment; use the billing basis you intend to purchase.

The same page lists a Basic premium online card rate of 3.5% + $0.30 and an additional 1% for international online transactions. Basic also lists a 2% third-party transaction fee when applicable, separate from the external provider's processing charge. Build your comparison around your intended provider and card mix, not the lowest advertised rate.

For a deeper explanation of processing, billing, and payouts, see our Shopify Payments pricing guide. Here, the decision is whether the store as a whole earns its additional cost.

What a comparable order tells you—and what it cannot

Consider an illustrative $100 single-item order with no shipping charge, gift wrap, sales tax, currency conversion, or advertising attribution. This is a calculation example, not a client result or a quoted product price. Assume US Etsy Payments and a domestic standard online card through Shopify Payments on Basic.

The resulting difference is $6.75. Shopify's own comparison also uses a $100 US order, but separates Etsy's listing fee from its transaction-and-processing figure. Keep that distinction visible when comparing calculators.

Dividing the published $39 monthly Basic subscription by $6.75 produces a fee-only threshold of six such orders. That is not a recommendation to launch at six orders. It assumes those orders would otherwise have incurred those Etsy costs, that you can acquire them without extra spending, and that no additional operating cost exists.

A listing charge already paid is not refunded merely because a customer later buys elsewhere. In your real calculation, count only listing charges that the alternative genuinely avoids. The same applies to any subscription you keep paying on both sides.

Build two calculations instead of one break-even headline

My recommended worksheet separates orders into three groups: orders that remain on Etsy, orders Shopify plausibly replaces, and new sales that would not otherwise have occurred. These are planning assumptions to test, not categories either platform can identify perfectly for you.

Orders that Shopify replaces

For a comparable order, calculate the Etsy costs avoided, then subtract Shopify's variable payment and selling costs, any extra acquisition spending, and any change in fulfillment or service cost. Keep the product price and quantity consistent unless the change itself is part of your plan.

Incremental contribution from replaced orders = avoided Etsy costs - new Shopify variable costs - additional acquisition and operating costs

A positive result gives you something to put toward the new store's fixed costs. A negative result means selling more of that same order mix does not solve the problem. Recheck the acquisition approach, pricing, product mix, or operating design before increasing the sales forecast.

Orders that are genuinely additional

For a new Shopify sale, calculate revenue less product cost, payment fees, delivery subsidy, acquisition spending, and other variable costs. Do not add “saved Etsy fees” to that contribution: there was no corresponding Etsy order in the baseline.

When Etsy stays open, divide Shopify's added fixed costs by the contribution from eligible Shopify orders, not by the combined order count across both stores. Otherwise, a busy Etsy shop can make an almost-empty Shopify site look as though it has paid for itself.

Monthly benefit = contribution from replaced orders + contribution from additional orders - added fixed costs

Keep unchanged Etsy activity in both scenarios so it cancels out rather than becoming an imaginary saving. If you lose Etsy orders beyond those already counted as replaced, subtract that lost contribution separately. Do not subtract it again for orders already included in the replacement calculation. Run a conservative forecast alongside your expected case, and write down which assumptions you need a pilot to verify.

Give each worksheet row an order group, expected monthly quantity, contribution per order, and reason for that forecast. An existing order total is evidence of current demand; it is not evidence that those buyers will visit a different website. Mark untested traffic assumptions plainly so a fee calculation cannot hide them.

Use your statements to replace the headline percentages

On Etsy, open Shop Manager > Finances > Monthly statements > View all monthly statements, choose a year and month, and select Generate CSV. Etsy emails you when the file is ready. Its statement instructions also explain why deposits differ from the activity summary: available funds and deposit schedules affect the amount reaching your bank.

I would use a normal trading month and a quieter month. Separate listing charges, transaction fees, processing, advertising, shipping labels, refunds, and subscriptions. Preserve fee credits instead of treating every original charge as permanently retained. This is a decision worksheet, so label estimates and actual statement values differently.

For Shopify, list the chosen subscription, domain, required apps, any connector, and the work needed to launch and maintain the store. Use published prices or actual quotes for those entries. Keep one-time build and migration costs separate from recurring costs, then choose the period over which your business needs to recover the initial investment.

Add your team's time explicitly, even if you do not assign it a cash value yet. Product updates, stock reconciliation, and customer-service checks require someone to own them. A plan that depends on unassigned work is incomplete regardless of its fee advantage.

Apply Offsite Ads to the orders that incurred them

Etsy's Offsite Ads rules distinguish two rates. Shops that have always remained below $10,000 in any consecutive 365-day period pay 15% on attributed orders and can opt out. Once a shop reaches that threshold, the rate is 12% and participation is required for the shop's lifetime. Attribution generally follows an ad click and a purchase within 30 days.

Use the actual attributed charges when reviewing a past month. Applying an Offsite Ads percentage to every Etsy order exaggerates the cost; omitting it altogether understates the cost of affected orders. For a forecast, show the assumed mix separately so you can see how sensitive the decision is to it.

Then ask what would bring the equivalent shopper to Shopify. Your own advertising, content production, partnerships, or existing audience may have a cost. A lower processing charge does not establish that the total acquisition-and-selling cost will be lower.

Keeping both stores changes the implementation budget

Shopify's Etsy migration guide explicitly supports continuing to sell on Etsy and using a third-party app to synchronize listings, orders, and inventory. Importing products once and keeping two live catalogs synchronized are different requirements. Our migration tools guide helps separate those jobs before you choose software.

Do not assume Shopify Marketplace Connect will provide a new Etsy connection. Its current documentation says new Etsy connections are unavailable, although existing connections can continue. Confirm the connector you would actually use and include its published pricing in the budget.

Before expanding a pilot, I would require a small set of checks: a variant matches the intended item on both channels, a sale updates the agreed inventory record, an order reaches the right fulfillment workflow, and a cancellation receives a deliberate stock decision. Record who owns each exception. These are proposed acceptance checks, not a claim that a particular app guarantees those outcomes.

Building an independent audience also needs to respect the marketplace relationship. Etsy's off-platform transaction policy prohibits moving transactions off Etsy. Do not base the business case on persuading an Etsy buyer to complete an Etsy transaction on your new website.

Choose the next step from the evidence

Stay focused on Etsy when marketplace discovery is working, you have no tested acquisition route for an independent store, and the additional work would distract from profitable orders. The higher per-order charge may still support a better overall outcome for your current operation.

Add Shopify as a controlled second channel when you have a specific audience or product opportunity, a realistic contribution forecast, and an owner for synchronization and fulfillment. Judge the pilot on its contribution after additional costs, not on matching Etsy's total order volume.

Plan a larger migration when the independent store has demonstrated demand and the operational reasons justify moving more of the business. Our migration agency versus DIY guide helps decide which work your team can own.

If you need help defining the storefront, catalog transfer, and integration scope, our Shopify services can turn those requirements into a reviewable project. Bring the fee statements, intended acquisition route, and required workflows. Those inputs make the decision much more useful than comparing two percentages.