Etsy vs Society6: Where To Sell Artwork Online in 2024?

etsy-vs-society6

If you are an artist looking for ways to start making money from your artwork online, you probably have heard of Etsy vs Society6. But what are they and which one better suits you? Well, that’s what we are going to help you find out in this article.

Don’t worry! It’s quite easy actually because Etsy and Society6 are two platforms built for different business models, product focus, etc.

Without further ado, let’s dive in!

Introduction to Etsy vs Society6

First thing first, let’s get to know some basic information about Etsy and Society6 as well as how they work before we dig into the details.

An overview of Etsy

Founded in 2005 in New York, Etsy is a global online marketplace where artists, artisans, or vintage collectors can list and sell their unique product offerings on the platform. Though Etsy gives you multiple product options, the marketplace is still largely famous for its focus on the handmade sector.

The concept of Etsy is pretty simple like other marketplaces like eBay or Amazon– you pay Etsy relevant fees to list and sell your products on the platform. When your customers make a purchase, you’ll handle the order fulfillment process and delivery.

Etsy-vs-Society6

 

>> Relevant reading: 12 easy steps on How to Sell on Etsy for Beginners

An overview of Society6

Society6, by contrast, is an online marketplace where artists can showcase and sell their artwork on a variety of products. However, unlike Etsy, Society6 operates on the print-on-demand (POD) model. This means as an artist on Society6, you upload your designs and choose which products to feature them on.

When someone purchases an item that features your art, Society6 will handle the production, shipping, and customer service. Meanwhile, you earn royalties on each sale without managing inventory or fulfillment.

society6-vs-etsy

 

What’s selling on Etsy vs Society6 like?

Now that you have a better understanding of Etsy and Society6, let’s put some seatbelts on as we walk you through the 5 key differences between the two platforms.

1. Product focus

Key takeaways: Etsy has a broader product focus.
While you can craft and sell almost anything on Etsy (as long as it meets their handmade policy), Society6 limits your choices to only 75 print-on-demand products. Not to mention that you can sell POD and digital products on Etsy as well.

Etsy’s product focus

As a specialized marketplace for handmade products, Etsy enables sellers to sell any type of crafts that meet the platform’s handmade policy standards. For example, here are some popular product categories on Etsy:

    • Vintage clothing
    • Handmade jewelry pieces
    • Pet products
    • Home decors
    • Accessories
    • Personalized gifts
    • Craft kits
    • Craft supplies

The great part is that besides tangible handmade items, you can also sell downloadable digitals on Etsy as well. Think wall printables, social media banner templates, etc.

Another thing worth noticing is that, though Etsy was not built for print-on-demand purposes like Society6, you can team up with a Production Partner and sell your print-on-demand items on Etsy too.

Etsy-main-product-type

 

Society6’s product focus

Society6 offers a wide range of products that artists can apply their designs to and start selling. To name a few, here are some popular POD products available on Society6:

    1. Art prints
    2. Home decor items
    3. Tech accessories
    4. Apparel
    5. Stationery
    6. Furniture
    7. Bags and accessories
    8. Throw pillows
    9. Comforters and duvet covers
    10. Mugs and water bottles

As of the time being, Society6 offers around 75 different product types for artists to showcase their designs. Honestly, this is a small number compared with 1,500 items on Zazzle (another print-on-demand platform).

So, comparing Etsy vs Society in terms of product availability, we have a clear winner and it’s Etsy.

>> Relevant reading: Etsy vs Zazzle

2. Customer reachability

Key takeaways: Etsy has a much more extensive audience base than Society6
If you want to list your products on a platform with a huge existing audience to increase its discoverability, Etsy should be your go-to choice. Though Society6 is known for some POD enthusiasts, its traffic and built-in customer base are quite insignificant compared to Etsy.

Etsy’s customer reachability

As a long-established global marketplace, Etsy has gained trust among global shoppers as the leading marketplace to buy unique handmade and vintage pieces.

Evidently, per Statista’s data on Etsy’s customer base growth, the marketplace currently possesses a staggering 96+ million active buyers with around 400 million traffic per month.

etsy-traffic-in-the-last-three-months

 

Society6’s customer reachability

On the other hand, Society6 only has around 1.4 million monthly traffic and shows a month-by-month declining trend over the past 3 months.

Therefore, if you are looking for a marketplace with an extra large built-in audience that you can leverage, Etsy would make more sense than Society6. Sure thing, you will have to put out some effort to be seen, but you certainly have more visibility and exposure than Society6.

society6-traffic-in-the-last-three-months

 

3. Selling costs and fees

Key takeaways: Generally, Etsy costs more but also has more earning potential.
Comparing Etsy fees vs Society6 fees, Etsy charges you various fees for listing and selling on the platform. However, the platform’s huge audience and earning potential justify their fees. Meanwhile, though Society6 only costs you a few dollars per month, you might have to spend the budget on more paid ad campaigns.

Etsy’s selling costs and fees

These are three main fees you need to factor in if you are planning to open an Etsy store:

    1. Listing fee: Etsy charges $0.20 per listing. If an item remains unsold after four months, the listing expires, and you’ll need to pay another $0.20 to renew it. This also applies if you choose to renew a listing that sold within four months.
    2. Transaction fees: Upon making a sale, Etsy takes 6.5% of the total amount paid by the buyer. This percentage includes the item’s price, shipping cost, and any additional charges like gift wrapping. For instance, if you sell an item for $10 with $2 shipping, Etsy will take 6.5% of $12.
    3. Payment processing fees: Etsy charges an additional fee for handling payments. This is 3% of the total sale price plus 25 cents in the United States. As an example, if you sell an item for $10, Etsy will deduct 30 cents (3% of $10) plus another 25 cents, totaling 55 cents for processing the payment.

Besides the three selling costs above, there are some optional Etsy fees you might want to be aware of, such as:

    • Offsite ads fee: If Etsy promotes your item on external websites and it results in a sale, they will deduct an additional 12% to 15% from the total sale amount.
    • Currency conversion fee: When you need to exchange money from one currency to another, Etsy applies a 2.5% fee for this service.

Society6’s selling costs and fees

On the other hand, the cost and fee structure of selling on Society6 is entirely different from Etsy. Specifically, the platform doesn’t charge you for listing and selling your products. Instead, it operates on a subscription base.

In Society6’s case, the higher the plan you choose, the more designs you can upload. Here are Society6’s three main pricing plans:

    • Free | 10 design uploads: With the free plan, you’ll earn a fixed royalty rate of 10% of the net sale on every product sold.
    • Basic ($4.99/month) | 100 design uploads: With the Basic plan, you have 100 design uploads and unlock the ability to set your own royalty rate.
    • Pro ($12.99/month) | 10,000 design uploads: With the Pro plan, you have up to 10 thousand design uploads and gain insights into your best-selling products.

If you just look at the price, you would think selling on Society6 would cost less. However, the biggest drawback is that your profit margin would be very thin (you can increase the royalty rate, but this also means your products become less competitive).

Another thing is that, as we said earlier, Society6 has a much smaller traffic. This means you might need to spend more on paid ad campaigns to reach your potential shoppers and drive sales.

4. Control over your store

Key takeaways: Etsy gives you more control over your store than Society6.
It’s obvious: if you want to have full control over your store’s operations, branding and profit margin, Etsy is the clear winner. Though Society6 lets you set the royalty rate, you have very little control over everything else.

Etsy’s control over your store

Though you still have to follow some certain rules when selling on Etsy, we believe the marketplace gives you full control over your store’s operations. To name a few, you can manage your product listings, descriptions, branding, and order fulfillment.

Of course, this means you will have to spend more time managing your store and selling. However, it also means you can control your product quality, customer satisfaction, branding, and most importantly, your profit margin.

Society6’s control over your store

By contrast, Society6 comes with very little store customization. You’ll need to be on a paid plan to set your own profit margin (royalty rate) regardless of whether you make sales that month or not.

It’s also worth noting that to view your store performance and analytics, you will have to subscribe to the Pro plan while every Etsy store has detailed analytics from the get-go.

And since Society6 operates on the print-on-demand model, it shares the same drawbacks with other POD platforms like Zazzle or RedBubble: you don’t have much control over your business. Though you don’t have to worry about production or fulfillment, you can’t control your product quality and profit margin since you can only earn the royalty differences.

5. Sales and marketing

Key takeaways: Both Etsy vs Society6 give various selling tools but with different focuses.
Etsy provides sellers with a wide range of sales and marketing features to manage and sell their own physical items. Meanwhile, Society6 offers a suite of features specifically for print-on-demand models.

Etsy’s sales and marketing

Etsy provides various tools for sellers to sell and manage their crafts.

    • Etsy marketplace ads: You can use Etsy’s ad distribution system to show off your products to people who are looking to buy on the site such as search pages, catalog pages, etc.

Etsy-ads

 

    • Offsite ads: You can also advertise your Etsy products on other websites, like Google, Facebook, or other search engines.
    • Print-on-demand capabilities: As long as you design the art yourself, Etsy enables you to sell print-on-demand items with a Production Partner. For example, you can choose some well-renowned POD agencies like Printful, Gelato, Printify, etc.
    • Subsidized shipping labels: Etsy forms partnerships with major couriers like FedEx, USSP, DHL, etc., allowing you to buy shipping labels from these carriers with up to 30% discount

Etsy-shipping

 

    • Coupons: The marketplace comes with a built-in discount feature. This means you can attract and retain customers by offering them special promotions and coupons.
    • Social media: You can share your shop updates, flash sales, and products directly to Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter using Etsy’s built-in social media tools.
    • Square integration: For sellers who have a physical store, you can benefit from Etsy x Square integration to process your customers’ in-store payments seamlessly.

Society6’s sales ad marketing

As a POD platform, Society6 gives you various sales and marketing tools to sell your POD items.

    • Product design uploads: The platform allows you to upload your own designs and choose to apply them to selected products
    • Affiliate program: Society6 offers an affiliate program where people can sign up and promote your product for a 10% commission
    • Royalty rate settings: If you subscribe to a Soceity6’s paid plan, you can set your own royalty rates for each product easily
    • Hands-off shipping and order fulfillment: As a purposely built POD marketplace, Society6 will handle creating your products, packing orders, and shipping the products to your customers when a sales is initiated

>> Relevant reading: Etsy vs other platforms

Pros and cons of Etsy vs Society6

Pros and cons of Etsy

Pros Cons
+ Etsy has an extensive built-in audience of over 96 million active buyers and 400 monthly traffic
+ You have complete control over your store operations and profit margin
+ The marketplace provides you with strong sales and marketing functionalities
– Etsy has more selling fees than Society6
– To stand out and scale up your store, you will have to compete with over 9 million active sellers on the platform

Pros and cons of Society6

Pros Cons
+ Society6 is a popular POD marketplace
+ With Soceity’s built-in audience, your products will be more likely to get discovered than on a standalone website
– Society6 only has around 1,4 monthly traffic compared to Etsy’s huge audience base
– You have very little control over your product quality and customer satisfaction
– Royalty earning gives you less earning potential like selling a whole product you create

Which one is better Society6 or Etsy?

Now that we’ve walked you through a detailed comparison of Society6 vs Etsy, here comes a million-dollar question: “Which one is better, Society6 or Etsy?”

Well, it depends.

When is Etsy better than Society6?

Etsy would be an optimal solution if:

    • You want more creative control: Etsy allows you to manage your listings, product descriptions, pricing, branding, and shop aesthetics.
    • You’re selling unique, handmade, or vintage items: Etsy’s marketplace is known for one-of-a-kind and artisan-made products.
    • You prefer higher potential profit margins: While Etsy has fees, sellers generally can earn more per sale compared to Society6.

When is Society6 better than Etsy?

Society6 would fit your demand and business’ goal if:

    • You want a hands-off approach: Society6 handles production, fulfillment, and shipping, allowing you to focus solely on creating designs.
    • You’re primarily selling art prints and home decor: Society6 specializes in turning artwork into a range of print-on-demand products.
    • You prefer a simpler pricing model: Society6 lets you set your profit margin on top of the base price for each product.

Final words

All in all, Etsy vs Society6 are both great marketplaces for artists who want to monetize their artwork. However, each platform would have different vibes and be more suitable for different audiences.

So, Masstic team genuinely hopes this article can help you make a more well-informed decision if you’re weighing the two platforms.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Etsy and Society6?

Etsy is a handmade marketplace where artisans, vintage collectors, etc. can sell unique custom products, vintage pieces or personalized gifts. Meanwhile, Society6 is a print-on-demand marketplace where artists can upload their designs on Society6’s products and earn royalties. 

Is it good to sell on Society6?

Given that Etsy has a much larger traffic than Society6 and Etsy also supports selling POD with a Production Partner, we think Etsy would be a better choice. 

Does Society6 own your art?

No, Society6 does not own your art. This means you have full rights and ownership of your artwork if you create it.

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