Where to Sell 3D Prints: Shopify vs Etsy vs Amazon vs TikTok Shop
Real fees, real trade-offs, and a decision rule — not a rigged comparison table.
Every platform takes a different cut of the same sale, and every comparison of them prints the percentages and leaves you to do the arithmetic. Put your own price and part in below and read what is left on each — then pick by the thing that matters more than any fee.
Per sale · platform fees + our make cost
PLA Basic
One sale, five storefronts. What is left on each?
Shopify2.9% + 30¢ card fee
$15.80kept
Shopify takes $1.00 · we charge $7.20 · 2.9% + 30¢ card fee · plus the plan: $39/mo, or $29/mo paid yearly
Etsy$0.20 listing · 6.5% · 3% + 25¢
$14.07kept
Etsy takes $2.73 · we charge $7.20 · $0.20 listing · 6.5% · 3% + 25¢ · Offsite Ads adds 12–15% on orders it brings
TikTok Shop8% referral
$14.88kept
TikTok Shop takes $1.92 · we charge $7.20 · 8% referral · most categories since 4 Aug 2026
eBay13.6% + 40¢
$13.14kept
eBay takes $3.66 · we charge $7.20 · 13.6% + 40¢ · most categories; 30¢ on orders of $10 or less
Amazon15% referral + 99¢ per item
$12.21kept
Amazon takes $4.59 · we charge $7.20 · 15% referral + 99¢ per item · Individual plan; Professional is $39.99/mo instead of 99¢
platformmake costyours. Before shipping, which Etsy, eBay and Amazon also take their percentage of. Fees as published by each platform for most categories, read September 2026 — check your own category.
Price your real fileWhat the numbers above do not show
The fees differ by a few dollars a sale. The traffic differs by everything.
The tradeA marketplace rents you its buyers and takes a cut. Your own store keeps the cut and makes you find the buyers.
Pick by the one thing you already have
- No audience yet
- Etsy. Buyers are already searching for gifts, decor and personalised pieces; you only need to show up in the results. The fees are the price of that search.
- You can film it
- TikTok Shop. A satisfying fifteen seconds is the storefront, and the cut is the lowest of the marketplaces.
- You want to own it
- Shopify. The lowest cut per sale and the customer list is yours — but nobody arrives unless you send them.
- People search it by name
- eBay. Replacement parts, knobs, clips and collectibles — the things a buyer types a model number for.
- You want reach
- Amazon. The biggest crowd and the biggest cut; strongest for practical products with obvious search terms.
Most shops end up on two
The pattern that works: a store you own as the home base, and a marketplace beside it for discovery. The same products, the same files, fulfilled the same way — reaching two different kinds of buyer. Shopify with Etsy is the common pair; Shopify with TikTok Shop if the product films well.
That is cheap to try because the channel never changes how an order is made. All eleven storefronts we connect — Shopify, Etsy, Amazon, TikTok Shop, eBay, Walmart, WooCommerce, Wix, Squarespace, Magento 2 and BigCommerce — feed one floor, so adding the second is connecting an account, not building an operation. The full walkthrough is in how to sell 3D-printed products online.
To see one sale itemised down to the last fee, including the ones charged on shipping, try the Etsy profit calculator.
FAQ
It depends on what you already have. Etsy for a fast first sale with no audience, TikTok Shop if you can make video, Shopify if you want to own a brand, eBay for parts people search by name, Amazon for reach. Many sellers run a store and a marketplace side by side.
Etsy brings you buyers through its search, which matters most early. Shopify takes less per sale — 2.9% + 30¢ on its Basic plan, plus $39 a month — and lets you own the customer. Many sellers run both.
Per sale, Shopify (2.9% + 30¢ card fee on Basic, plus the monthly plan) and TikTok Shop (an 8% referral fee in most categories since August 2026). Etsy works out around 9.5% + 45¢ plus 20¢ a listing, eBay 13.6% + 40¢, and Amazon 15% plus 99¢ an item on the Individual plan, in most categories. Check your own category on each.
Yes, and it is common. Connect each storefront and orders from all of them are printed and shipped the same way, under your name.
Connect one. Add the rest later.
Every storefront feeds the same floor: orders arrive, print, and ship under your name. A price per part in seconds, no account needed.
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