Our next “Etsy Alternative” to offer your shoppers is Ko-fi, pronounced just like Coffee, as in, if you like my work, please buy me a Ko-fi!
Ko-fi is a newer player in the online platform space, but it’s becoming well known very rapidly. For a while, it was a platform a lot like Patreon, but unlike Patreon, Ko-fi charges zero fees on donations received. There’s still that Patreon aspect, where people can sign up to support you with a small monthly donation, but they’ve expanded into offering a place to host an online shop too, and they’re adding more features rapidly.
One of our members since early in the Etsy Strike – Juniper, uses Ko-fi to host xyr store.
Juniper describes Ko-fi as a one-stop hub for blog updates, a shop, monthly rewards and commissions. Xe has been using the service for a few months. We asked the following questions:
In comparison to Etsy, what’s your favorite feature or aspect?
I like the customization and having the ability to host multiple “services” in the same place (blog posts, monthly rewards). I love the way everything gets organized on Ko-fi. It’s been so nice to have all my stuff in one place. Splitting things between Etsy, Patreon and emails for commissions was such a mess for me!
In comparison to Etsy, what’s your least favorite feature or aspect?
Ko-fi has only recently started hosting shops, so a lot of key features are missing. It’s clunky, but for me personally, that’s not a big issue..
How much does it cost monthly or per item to sell things?
It costs $5/month for ko-fi Gold (not necessary to sell, but it gives extra perks like removing site fees and extra customization options).
Another thing that makes Ko-fi unique in our lineup of Etsy Alternatives is that it has built-in features for offering custom commissions to shoppers. Here is a screenshot of Juniper’s custom commissions menu:
It can be really difficult and confusing to shoppers when you set up custom commissions on a platform designed for in-stock products, so having a setup specifically designed for custom commissions is a real plus!
Ko-fi Rating
If you’ve been considering starting a Patreon, and you’d like to offer shoppers an alternative to Etsy, Ko-fi will fill both those needs for you – with lower fees!
We will have more specifics on Ko-fi available in our Etsy Alternatives database, which is coming soon to the members-only section of this site.
If you haven’t already, please join the guild!
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