Controversial headline, I know. But I wanted to share a few of the reasons I moved my shop from Etsy to Shopify ...
THE 'TotalEclipseOfTheArt' USERNAME ON ETSY WAS ALREADY TAKEN:
Yes, this is a kind of minor point, but from the start I couldn't have the shop name I wanted. Someone created an Etsy account already with that name, and even though it was currently an inactive account (I went through a whole thing trying to get my hands on the handle), I couldn't name my Etsy account TotalEclipseOfTheArt. I had to instead name it TotalEclipseByAlex, which was a ballache because I like consistency, and it didn't match my branding nor my social media handles.
WHEN PEOPLE BUY FROM AN ARTIST ON ETSY, ETSY GETS THE CREDIT:
Meaning, when someone buys something on Etsy, they say, "Isn't this amazing? I bought it on Etsy!", so Etsy gets the credit. I don't like that. I'm guilty of saying the same thing - in the past - so I make sure to give credit where credit is due now.
I'M TIRED OF JUMPING THROUGH HOOPS:
Etsy has a lot of moving targets behind the scenes, and while it can be an incentive to a lot of creators, I didn't find it helpful. Blame my PDA, but I immediately shut down when I think I'm being made to hit an unattainable target or I'm being unnecessarily put under pressure.
THE RANDOM AND UNEXPLAINED CLOSURES FREAKED ME OUT:
I follow a few accounts on Instagram that have very established Etsy shops (10k+ sales etc.), and Etsy recently shut their accounts down without any reason (and no, these individuals didn't sell anything sketchy or weird). These people went through months of emails, calls and procedures to get their shops back up and running, and that doesn't sit right with me.
LACK OF CUSTOMIZATION:
Etsy is a platform, therefore there is not much wiggle room when it comes to customizing. While Etsy is great, as someone who has designed a few websites over the years, I soon realised there was a lot I wanted to personalize and tweak with my shop, but I couldn't do that with Etsy.
I did wait a long time and thought a lot about whether I should stick with Etsy or start my own site, and ironically, the month after I made Star Seller on Etsy, I decided I wanted to move away from it.
To not completely drag Etsy, it was a great starting block for me. I didn't have to invest in the time or money of creating an online store from scratch only to find 3 months-in I didn't want to keep painting the moon over and over (and over) again, and then close everything. It was great practice to see what products and ideas did and didn't work.
My Etsy shop is currently on 'vacation mode'. In time I may reopen it. I noticed some people use their Etsy shop to sell to certain countries or continents, so I may reopen it for that.
Alex - Total Eclipse of the Art
