Selling on Amazon Handmade: Worth the Fees?

Basics:

Amazon Handmade, a division of the world’s largest online retailer, invites artisans to list and sell unique handmade goods. But selling fees are stiff

Expected pay: You set it

Husl$core: $$$

Commissions & fees: $40 monthly, plus 15% of each sale

Where: Nationwide (remote)

Requirements:None listed

Amazon Handmade review:

Amazon Handmade, the craft-selling division of the world’s largest online retailer is an understandably tempting place to list your handmade items. However, this site is more expensive and less versatile than its chief competitor, Etsy.

How it works

Indeed, Amazon demands that you open a professional selling account to sell here. That account costs $40 a month. Although Amazon says the monthly fee will be “waived after the first month for approved sellers,” it’s not clear whether that means it’s waived for everyone. And, either way, the site’s 15% commission on each sale is far more than you pay with competitors.

To make these fees worthwhile, this site would have to bring in a large number of unique buyers for your merchandise. And your store needs to do a fair amount of business. Amazon admittedly gets more site traffic than Etsy, but that’s Amazon as a whole. When you parse traffic for just handmade items, the traffic differential over Etsy may not be significant.

Other concerns

This site also doesn’t support the sale of every product. Where you can sell downloadable coloring books on Etsy, for example, these are not allowed here. Etsy also allows you to sell cookies, breads and other baked items. Amazon Handmade does not.

Handmade is open to artisans who make accessories, artwork, baby, beauty & personal care, clothing, shoes & handbags, home, outdoor & home care, jewelry & watches, kitchen & dining, pet supplies, sporting goods, stationery & party supplies and toys & games. If you don’t see your category listed, it’s not supported by the site.

Finally, Amazon also has a disturbing habit of using its sales data to launch operations that compete with its own customers.

Recommendations

If, for some reason, you can’t sell on Etsy, Amazon Handmade and eBay are worth considering. But if you have a high-volume store, you may want to list on all three sites.