Etsy vs Amazon Merch for Print on Demand: A Complete Comparison
About the author
Louplr Team
Louplr Team shares practical guidance from building AI workflows for prompts, artwork, mockups, and listings used in real print-on-demand production.
Etsy and Amazon Merch are both major platforms for POD sellers, but the experience of selling on each is almost completely different. Understanding these differences helps you decide where to invest your time, or how to leverage both effectively.
The Fundamental Difference
On Etsy, you run a shop. You control your branding, listing presentation, product descriptions, and customer interactions. You choose your own fulfillment partner and set your own prices with full visibility into costs and margins.
On Amazon Merch, you upload designs. Amazon handles everything, product creation, pricing (you set a royalty), listing, fulfillment, and customer service. You are essentially a design supplier to Amazon's retail machine.
Traffic and Competition
Amazon's traffic dwarfs Etsy's. Amazon receives over 2 billion monthly visits compared to Etsy's approximately 400 million. But Amazon's competition is proportionally fiercer. Your product is displayed alongside millions of others with minimal brand differentiation. On Etsy, you can build a recognizable shop with loyal customers.
Product Types
- Amazon Merch focuses primarily on t-shirts, hoodies, phone cases, and PopSockets. Limited wall art options.
- Etsy with a POD provider (Printify/Printful) offers posters, canvas prints, mugs, tote bags, stickers, and hundreds of other products.
- Amazon KDP (separate from Merch) handles low-content books like journals and planners.
- Etsy also supports digital downloads: a product type Amazon Merch does not offer.
Earnings Structure
On Amazon Merch, you earn a royalty per sale, typically $2 to $8 per item depending on the product type and your set price. You do not see or pay the production costs; Amazon calculates the royalty after all costs.
On Etsy, you have more control over pricing and margins. You pay the production cost, Etsy's fees (roughly 10-13 percent), and keep the rest. With smart pricing, your per-sale profit on Etsy can be significantly higher than Amazon Merch royalties.
The Verdict
Etsy is better for building a brand, selling diverse product types, and earning higher per-sale margins, Amazon Merch is better for volume, passive design uploading, and reaching the largest possible audience with minimal effort per listing. Many sellers use both, Amazon for volume-based royalty income and Etsy for higher-margin branded sales.
