meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Side Hustle School

#2409 - Q&A: “Should I sell on eBay, Etsy, or Shopify?”

Side Hustle School

Chris Guillebeau

Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship,, Careers, Small Business, Business, Side Hustle

4.73.3K Ratings

🗓️ 6 August 2023

⏱️ 6 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Selling on multiple platforms can increase revenue, but also generates more headaches. For a busy side hustler who can only be in one place at a time, how should you choose?

Side Hustle School features a new episode EVERY DAY, featuring detailed case studies of people who earn extra money without quitting their job. This year, the show includes free guided lessons and listener Q&A several days each week.

Show notes: SideHustleSchool.com

Email: team@sidehustleschool.com

Be on the show: SideHustleSchool.com/questions

Connect on Twitter: @chrisguillebeau

Connect on Instagram: @193countries

Visit Chris's main site: ChrisGuillebeau.com

If you're enjoying the show, please pass it along! It's free and has been published every single day since January 1, 2017. We're also very grateful for your five-star ratings—it shows that people are listening and looking forward to new episodes. 😎 🙏🏼 

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Side Hustle School features a new episode EVERY DAY, featuring detailed case studies of people who earn extra money without quitting their job. This year, the show includes free guided lessons and listener Q&A several days each week.


Show notes: SideHustleSchool.com

Email: team@sidehustleschool.com

Be on the show: SideHustleSchool.com/questions

Connect on Instagram: @193countries

Visit Chris's main site: ChrisGuillebeau.com

Read A Year of Mental Health: yearofmentalhealth.com


If you're enjoying the show, please pass it along! It's free and has been published every single day since January 1, 2017. We're also very grateful for your five-star ratings—it shows that people are listening and looking forward to new episodes. 😎 🙏🏼 


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hey, Silas Lurs. Thanks for tuning in today. My name is Chris Gilebo. Coming up on the podcast, we've got a question from Paul.

0:18.0

I enjoy making this podcast every single day, seven days a week. And several of those days each week, we hear from our listeners. If you have a question, you can always send that into me.

0:26.0

At Silas School.com slash questions, love to know what you're working on, what you're thinking about, and how we can help you. How we can help you get closer to making extra money without quitting your job. Preferably a lot of extra money. That's actually better than a little extra money, although, you know, extra money in general is good.

0:41.0

Now when it comes to Paul, he is on the cusp of launching his woodworking business, selling a variety of handmade products.

0:48.0

So far so good, but where is he going to sell them? You know, lots of different options. In his case, he's thinking about Etsy eBay or Shopify could be something else as well, but, you know, that's what he's starting with. And he's unsure which of these platforms might give him the best odds of success.

1:03.0

Okay, so let's see if we can solve this problem for Paul, help him understand the information he needs to make that decision and perhaps help somebody else as well. Like if you've got something you want to sell, and you don't have all the time in the world to list on three or five or 10 different platforms, how do you make the decision to be the most profitable and best set you up for the success you want to have in the future, right?

1:23.0

Because that's a core principle of side hustle school. What you do now affects the options available to you in the future.

1:28.0

I want you to be able to make some choices and take some small actions today that will allow you to have a different even a better life, three months from now, six months from now, a year from now and so on.

1:38.0

So let's look at Paul's question. It's coming up. Got a little shout out to our sponsor. I appreciate them. I appreciate our listeners, even more listeners, hang tight. Should I sell on eBay, Etsy or Shopify? That's today's episode.

1:53.0

This episode is brought to you by Shopify. The all in one commerce platform to start, run and grow your business,

2:00.0

whether you're selling flaky soul or fine art prints. Shopify covers all your sales channels to simplify selling online and in person.

2:08.0

Plus, they provide industry leading tools and 24 seven supports we can not you grow. This is possibility powered by Shopify.

2:15.0

To sign up, visit shopify.co.uk slash podcast23 or lowercase.

2:23.0

Hey there, my name's Paul and I'm calling in from Austin, Texas. I've been honing my woodworking skills for a couple years now and crafting a variety of items from bespoke furniture to unique small decor items with a growing inventory and a drive to turn my hobby into a profitable side hustle.

2:50.0

I'm considering various online platforms to sell my products. At C, eBay, Shopify and stuff like that, they're all on my radar. But I'm unsure which might give me the best odds for my particular product range.

3:01.0

Is it possible that certain items sell better on specific platforms? If that's true, how can I figure out which one would be most beneficial for my handmade wooden items? I would really appreciate some guidance on this.

3:15.0

Paul, thank you for the question. Let's start with this part here. I'm unsure which might give me the best odds for my particular product range. Is it possible that certain items sell better on specific platforms? Easy answer. Yes, absolutely. Some items and some categories are much better on one platform compared to another.

3:36.0

For example, if Paul were reselling women's clothes, in this case, posh mark. That's where you want to go to resell clothes. Obviously, you can do that on eBay, some people do. You can set up a Shopify store, some people do, posh mark and a couple of other platforms really focus on fashion.

3:53.0

Yes, it definitely makes a huge difference because you want to think about where the buyers are. Not just what are the tools that make it easiest for you, what's the platform that you're most comfortable with. Really, you have to make most of these decisions, I would say, based on what the best odds of connecting with the most potential buyers.

4:12.0

Okay, so largely depends on what you're selling. Etsy, for example, let's just run through them here. Fantastic for unique handmade and vintage items. It has a community of buyers who value craftsmanship and are willing to pay for one-up-a-kind pieces sometimes, at least, let's say. So Etsy might be a good bet. eBay, I don't know about eBay as much for what is this handcrafted bespoke furniture, unique, small-dick or items could work. It also has this large buyer base, so that's definitely an option.

4:41.0

Meanwhile, Shopify is giving you more control, more branding opportunities, definitely a lot more work, but there are a lot more features. So if you're going to build a full-fledged online store, that's the way to go.

4:52.0

The problem, the number one problem here, is you're responsible for driving your own traffic, unlike Etsy and eBay. So I actually think, you know, of the three, Shopify is the least viable option in this case for Paul and for what he is selling.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Chris Guillebeau, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Chris Guillebeau and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.