How to Leave Etsy and Start a Shop with Squarespace (and why you should!)
Etsy is an American e-commerce company that has been around since 2005. They’re known as a marketplace for handmade, vintage, or craft items, and a lot of small creators have used the platform as a way to create full-time (or additional) income for themselves.
In early 2022, Etsy released news that the platform was going to increase fees for sellers (despite an all-time highs in overall sales 🙄). This led to outrage amongst long-time sellers and even a strike in protest during the second week of April.
If you’re among the creators who are fed up with the platform’s ridiculous increase in prices (without any good reason) or a small vendor looking to start your e-commerce business, maybe it’s time to consider ditching Etsy and taking your shop into your own domain (literally).
We think the best method for starting your own online shop is to keep your products on Etsy and make the move to your own platform gradually! If you're already running a successful Etsy shop, there's no reason to shut it down right away. Start your own online storefront and direct your audience there instead. Overtime, if you start to make enough sales through your online store, then you could consider shutting down your Etsy, but it might not be necessary! Having your shop in multiple places (if you can handle the management) can be a good idea. But putting all your eggs in the Etsy-basket means you're subject to their changes, their algorithm and their fee's forever.
Etsy VS Squarespace
One of the best things about Etsy is that it’s an easy-to-use platform with a built-in storefront. It gives you access to an existing audience and streamlines the selling process.
The downside however, is the lack of control. When you build your shop on an outside platform, your business becomes subject to the whims of that platform. In this instance, Etsy decided to randomly increase fees and as a result, your profit margins are going to be cut.
Alternatively, Squarespace allows you to take full control over your business. From branding to pricing to messaging…owning your storefront gives you more flexibility on running your business in a way that serves not only you, but your clientele.
We’ve already written an in-depth article covering the differences between Etsy and Squarespace, but for a quick summary, here’s what we’ve found.
Pros of using Squarespace Commerce:
Low barrier to entry.
Squarespace Commerce is so easy to get started with! We’ll run you through the process step-by-step later on in the article 🙂
No transaction fees.
While a Squarespace Commerce plan does still cost money, it is a fixed cost. No transaction fees means that the profits that you make on your sales are entirely your own. This model of operation makes it easier for you to scale your business and ultimately will save you money in the long term.
More control over your business, branding, design, and marketing.
Having your own e-commerce storefront means that you have full control over what it looks like. From the customization of the layout to the marketing behind each of your products, Squarespace allows you to modify virtually every component of your digital shop.
Cons of using Squarespace Commerce:
Potential tax complications
One of the biggest drawbacks of managing an e-commerce business on Squarespace is that the sales tax information cannot be imported automatically and needs to be entered manually. This can get tricky if you sell worldwide.
No product upsell options.
A simple and easy way to make more money in your business is to upsell additional items at checkout. With Squarespace Commerce, the “related products” feature unfortunately only appears on the product page and not on the cart page. This decreases the likelihood that clients will purchase additional items at checkout.
Checkout is limited to one currency and one language.
This is concern mainly for businesses that operate globally but is also a good fact to keep in mind if you have the vision of growing your business internationally.
For additional drawbacks to using Squarespace Commerce, we love this article by SF Digital!
Squarespace E-Commerce Inspiration
As mentioned previously, one of the biggest advantages that Squarespace Commerce has over Etsy is the flexibility in design and customization. Etsy shops all feature a uniform storefront and therefore, it’s pretty easy for your shop to get lost in the crowd. Having your own customized storefront on Squarespace on the other hand, can make the shopping experience more engaging and therefore lead to higher conversion rates.
Here are five unique storefronts that we’ve found inspirational!
1. Aesop Wines
We love that the storefront features bright, bold, colors and moving animations. They make use of Squarespace’s new scrolling blocks for a marquee effect as well as fun frames to highlight their products. The shop itself also displays different sections and categories so that the customer experience is easy to follow.
2. Studio Luxe
In perfect alignment with the brand name, Studio Luxe highlights a luxurious and clean storefront. Their products are displayed in a simple grid but the storefront utilizes design elements like lines and boxes to focus the customer’s gaze on important product features.
3. Natural Quirks
Natural Quirks showcases a bright and bold storefront for their unique floral & fauna-inspired prints. The header features a simple animation that mimics the movement found in nature and their Squarespace shop exhibits their colorful pieces against a neutral cream backdrop.
4. Alexandra Grecco
Alexandra Grecco is the prime example of a minimal accessories shop done right. Bold elements are all the rage right now, but there’s still something to be said about timeless all-white aesthetics (especially in the context of weddings). This Squarespace storefront keeps it on-brand with a bright display and plenty of preview photos.
5. Coskmik
This fun, pastel storefront evokes childhood memories of eating ice cream on hot summer days. The products are clearly displayed in bold blocks and while the design elements are quite simple, the color choice makes a huge statement.
How To Create A Squarespace Shop
If you’re ready to leave Etsy and sell with Squarespace, here’s a quick run-down of how to get started!
Sign up for a Squarespace account.
Select your Commerce template. You can either choose from one of Squarespace’s pre-made templates or upgrade to one of our templates!
Design your digital storefront with all the branding in place.
Add products to sell. Upload all photos and product descriptions to your shop.
Connect a payment processor. Squarespace supports Stripe, Apple Pay, Paypal, and Square.
Set up shipping and tax options.
Promote your store!
This was only a simple outline of how to create a Squarespace shop but if you’re looking for more in-depth instructions on how to use Squarespace Commerce, we have an entire article on it, or see the video below! Check it out and learn the ins and outs of adding products, optimizing for SEO, how best to utilize their commerce functions (payments, marketing, shipping, accounting, and more)!
We also have a huge range of other free resources on our site that can help you with customizing your new Squarespace store!
How to upload custom fonts to Squarespace
How to add a pop-up in Squarespace
How to optimize images for Squarespace
How to add a chatbox to your Squarespace site (for free!)
5 easy writing tricks for better DIY copy
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