When a kid wants to start selling what they make, families usually end up comparing three paths: a parent-run Etsy shop, a Shopify store, or a purpose-built kids' platform like Lemonade Stand (that's us, and we'll be honest about where we're weaker, too). The table gives you the ten-second version; here's the reasoning behind it.
The one question that decides everything
Before fees or features: whose store is it?
On Etsy and Shopify, the answer is legally and practically the parent's. Etsy bans under-13s entirely and requires parent-owned accounts even for teens. Shopify requires an adult account holder. In both cases the child cannot log in to their own store, see their own orders, or run their own dashboard. Whatever the family says at dinner, the platform's answer to "whose business is this?" is: yours, the adult's.
On Lemonade Stand, the store belongs to the kid — their own login, their own shelf, their own orders and progress — and the approval belongs to the parent. Every product, price, photo, and public word waits for your okay before it goes live. That split (kid runs it, parent gates it) is the entire design.
Where each one honestly wins
Etsy wins on buyer traffic. Millions of shoppers are already there. If the goal is simply to move inventory and you're comfortable running the shop yourself, it's the strongest sales channel. For you, not for your kid.
Shopify wins on ceiling. It's real commerce infrastructure with no limits. For a 16-year-old building something serious with a parent as partner, it's a legitimate choice. For a 9-year-old, it's a truck when they need a bike with training wheels.
Lemonade Stand wins on the actual goal. If the point is for the kid to experience running a business (checking their store, setting prices, fulfilling orders, watching their earnings and savings split, earning badges for real work) we're the only one of the three where that's possible under 13 at all. And we'll repeat the honest trade-off from the table: our marketplace is young, so early customers are mostly family, friends, and neighbors. We think that's the right first market for an 8-year-old anyway. But if you expected Etsy-scale strangers on day one, that's not what this is.
What about the money?
A quick reality check parents appreciate: on Etsy, a $10 bracelet gives up a listing fee plus roughly 6.5% in transaction fees before shipping and payment costs. Shopify's basic plan costs more per month than most kid businesses make per month at the start. Lemonade Stand is a flat $3.99/month subscription (first month free) covering up to five kids' stores on one family plan. We don't take a cut of what kids earn, because the subscription is the business model. When your kid makes a sale, the money is theirs.
The bottom line
Choose the platform that matches what you're really trying to grow. If it's revenue, Etsy's traffic is unbeatable. If it's a serious teen venture, Shopify scales. If it's a kid under 13 who wants a real store of their own, with you approving everything and the platform designed so that's safe, that's exactly what Lemonade Stand is.
Related reading: Can kids sell on Etsy? What the policy actually says.
Prices and policies checked July 2026 and simplified for comparison; all platforms change their terms, so confirm current details before deciding.