So I've been trying both venues now for the past few months, and I feel like I am leaning towards Ebay. Here is why I feel that way at this moment in time... mind you this could change this afternoon!
I feel like Ebay gets way more hits than Etsy for collectibles and antiques, even (prepare to be shocked...) Vintage clothes. Etsy makes you feel that it's less expensive up front than Ebay to sell something, it's .20 cents for a listing, and it'll stay live for 4 months. If it does sell, they currently charge a 3% sellers fee, and if you use their checkout it's a fee similar to Paypal. Seems cheaper than Ebays almost 10% fee when your item sells. But when I list an item on Ebay, in about a day I find that it has gotten more views than an item on Etsy gets in weeks.
My theory for this is Etsy has ads that you can purchase for a certain amount per day that will push your items to the top of the search engine. I have never opted to do the ad just because I prefer using good search words and I never really have gigantic stock on my Etsy store. I also think the aforementioned lack of items in my store has hurt my chances on Etsy as well. I haven't and probably will never completely list every single item I sell on Etsy. It's a lot of work, for not that many views. You really need a large inventory and almost daily listings to get views on Etsy.
Ebay on the other hand doesn't gank your items chances of being found if you use common search words for that item. I like to peruse other similar items, and I look at the Sold Items category. I look for a highly successful item, basically it sold for a lot of $$$. Then I somewhat plagiarize their listing if it's a similar item. This has worked well for me and I feel like it's a lot less effort in the long run.
Pure and simple for me, and the type of selling that I do, I really like Ebay. I will continue on Etsy. But I kind of like the gamble that Ebay presents. I will keep you up to date with any new thoughts or feelings on the subject! Hope this helps you in your online antique sales journey!
Feel free to comment below on any thoughts you have on the matter.
