The short answer: on a $29 template, you keep roughly the same money on Etsy and Gumroad at low volume, and Shopify pulls ahead once you sell around 20 or more a month, provided you can bring your own buyers. The catch is traffic, not fees.
Fee figures below are what each platform has published, used as assumptions. Pricing changes often, so confirm on each pricing page before you list anything. This is educational content, not financial advice.
The setup
You sell a $29 digital product, such as a Notion template or a prompt pack. We compare fees on one sale, then on 20 and 100 sales a month.
| Platform | Fee structure we assumed |
|---|---|
| Etsy | $0.20 listing, 6.5% transaction fee, 3% + $0.25 payment processing (US) |
| Gumroad | 10% + $0.50 per direct sale, processing assumed included |
| Shopify (Basic) | $39 a month (month to month), 2.9% + $0.30 card processing |
What you keep from one $29 sale
- Etsy: $0.20 + $1.89 + $1.12 = about $3.21 in fees. You keep about $25.79 (88.9%).
- Gumroad: $2.90 + $0.50 = $3.40. You keep $25.60 (88.3%).
- Shopify: $0.84 + $0.30 = $1.14 per sale, plus the monthly plan. One sale in a month costs you $40.14 in fees, so you lose money.
At 20 and 100 sales a month
| Monthly sales | Etsy keeps | Gumroad keeps | Shopify keeps |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 ($580) | $515.90 | $512.00 | $518.20 |
| 100 ($2,900) | $2,579.50 | $2,560.00 | $2,747.00 |
At 100 sales, Shopify leaves you about $167 more than Etsy each month. At 20 sales, the three are within $7 of each other.
The real difference is who finds your buyers
Etsy has shoppers searching for templates already. Gumroad gives you a checkout and leaves the audience to you. Shopify gives you a store and leaves the audience to you. If your 100 sales come from your own newsletter, social following or search traffic, Shopify’s math works. If you have no audience yet, Etsy’s fees buy you a marketplace, which is worth more than the $167.
Which one should you pick?
- No audience, just starting: Etsy. Test whether anyone wants the product.
- Audience of your own, simple product: Gumroad. No monthly cost, quick to set up.
- Selling 40+ a month, want your own brand: Shopify.
Not sure what to sell? Start with how to sell digital products with AI, and check your odds against print on demand, which has a different cost structure.
Who should skip this
If you have not validated demand, the fee difference is a distraction. Make five sales first, on any platform.
This is educational content, not financial advice.