This is an extension of a Facebook message that I posted a few months ago that went quite viral so I feel it's worth the point of extending on it and adding as a blog.
If you make or sell your own products, it tends to be a good idea to advertise on various platforms, whether this is your own website, Etsy, Ebay, Amazon or even our very own Made In Cymru marketplace, list your items to different audiences can only help contribute towards sales, everyone does it, you don't just find Adidas trainers on their own website.
A big mistake that I see plenty of sellers make though is directing their own Social Media traffic to the most expensive platform to make a sale, this from what I can see tends to be Etsy, who seem to increase their charges more frequently than Covid variants are found.
Obviously the best place to send your social traffic is your own website that you have built to showcase your products, there will be no additional charges other than your payment processing fees, this option might not always turn out to be the cheapest though. How much do you pay a month for your website? Does it actually cost more than sending your traffic to an alternative marketplace?
I come across a lot of sellers websites that look fantastic, you can see it's been build with so much love going into it but sadly unless you have some basic SEO knowledge, the chances are, your products will never be found in Google.
I always say to clients that you can have the nicest, most professional looking website in the world but unless it's found in Google, it's pointless.
If you are playing the long game and you are trying to build a brand, then a website is definitely the way to go, you don't need to take payments though, you could always direct your traffic to one of your alternative listing that cover the costs of payment processing fees.
If you don't have a website and you are listed on a few marketplaces, please don't just send them to Etsy without comparing fees first.
Etsy charge more per sale than most over marketplaces I have come across so if you have an alternative listing elsewhere considering sending them there instead.
Just because it is the biggest marketplace doesn't make it the best option each time.
Remember this is YOUR traffic that you are sending to a site, not traffic that Etsy has created.
