Where to sell online besides Etsy and Shopify?
New sellers face a dilemma when Etsy uses listing pictures for AI training and Shopify costs around $60 a month, which is unaffordable for beginners. This leaves people questioning whether it is even worth trying to start on Etsy or where else they can find an affordable online shop to launch their business.
Core Friction Pattern
Analysis of 2 peer accounts across online developer and community forums reveals that “Where to sell online besides Etsy and Shopify?” repeatedly surfaces due to edge-case mismatches between standard defaults and real-world environments. Standard troubleshooting frequently falls short, compelling practitioners to develop custom workarounds.
+4 alternative community-tested workarounds cataloged below.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
Where to sell online besides Etsy and Shopify?
- 1Selling on multiple platforms simultaneously (Etsy, personal website, Facebook Marketplace, social media shops)Did this help you?
- 2Using Etsy to aggregate small e-commerce feature costs instead of paying individual subscription fees for an independent websiteDid this help you?
- 3Using free plans on alternative platforms like Square Online or Big CartelDid this help you?
- 4Selling at local craft markets and conventions to test products without upfront platform feesDid this help you?
- 5Taking custom orders using simple online forms rather than full storefrontsDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I need help finding a good place to sell because this December Etsy will be using pictures put in listings to train AI and I’m strongly against AI! So I need something else to sell on that isn’t Shopify since when I looked into it, it said it was 60$ a month which since I’m just starting I can’t afford.”source ↗
“The main question would, i guess be is it even worth to try to start a business on Etsy or should we focus on online shop or other avenues.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 20Should I use WordPress or Wix for a new business website?
- 2Where to start when launching a new online store
- 2Why does setting up ChatGPT ads on Shopify give a crawl failed error?
- 4Where do I even start when opening a small business?
- 7Is TikTok Shop worth it compared to Etsy and eBay?
- 3Is adding another sales channel worth the extra work and fees?