Amazon vs Etsy: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Amazon reported $716.9B of revenue in FY2025 and $77.7B of net income. Etsy reported $2.9B of revenue in FY2025 and $163M of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Financial summary
Amazon
Amazon's headline revenue understates how concentrated its profit is. FY2025 net sales were $716.9B and operating income was $80.0B, of which AWS supplied $45.6B on $128.7B of sales. The North America segment turned $426.3B of sales into $29.6B of operating income, and International turned $161.9B into $4.8B. Advertising services, which Amazon reports inside the retail segments, grew from $56.2B in FY2024 to $68.6B in FY2025. Operating cash flow was $139.5B, but capital spending on AWS and AI capacity reached $131.8B, leaving free cash flow of $11.2B against $38.2B a year earlier.
Etsy
Etsy earns money from fees on a marketplace it does not stock, so gross margin stays near 72% (FY2025 gross profit was $2.07B on $2.88B of revenue). The pandemic pulled demand forward: GMS more than doubled to $10.3B in 2020, then consolidated GMS declined from $13.3B in 2022 to $11.9B in 2025. Revenue held up only because the take rate rose from 22.3% to 24.2% as sellers paid more for advertising and payments. FY2025 net income fell 46.3% to $163.0M as operating expenses rose 8.8%. In 2026 the picture improved: Q2 revenue was $668M, adjusted EBITDA was $195M (a 29.2% margin), and Etsy guided to mid-single-digit full-year GMS growth.
Revenue and profit by year
Amazon
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $716.9B | $77.7B | 10.8% | +12.4% | Source |
| FY2024 | $638B | $59.2B | 9.3% | +11.0% | Source |
| FY2023 | $574.8B | $30.4B | 5.3% | +11.8% | Source |
| FY2022 | $514B | -$2.7B | -0.5% | +9.4% | Source |
| FY2021 | $469.8B | $33.4B | 7.1% | +21.7% | Source |
| FY2020 | $386.1B | $21.3B | 5.5% | +37.6% | Source |
| FY2019 | $280.5B | $11.6B | 4.1% | +20.5% | Source |
| FY2018 | $232.9B | $10.1B | 4.3% | +30.9% | Source |
| FY2017 | $177.9B | $3B | 1.7% | +30.8% | Source |
| FY2016 | $136B | $2.4B | 1.7% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Amazon
- Online stores37.6%
First-party product and digital media sales recorded gross. $269.3B of FY2025 net sales.
- Third-party seller services24.0%
Referral commissions plus related fulfillment and shipping fees charged to independent sellers. $172.2B of FY2025 net sales.
- AWS18.0%
Cloud compute, storage, database, and AI services sold on consumption pricing. $128.7B of FY2025 net sales and $45.6B of operating income.
- Advertising services9.6%
Sponsored ads, display, and video advertising sold to sellers, vendors, publishers, and authors. $68.6B of FY2025 net sales.
- Subscription services6.9%
Prime membership fees plus digital video, music, audiobook, and e-book subscriptions. $49.6B of FY2025 net sales.
- Physical stores3.1%
Sales where customers select items in a store, mainly Whole Foods Market and Amazon Fresh. $22.6B of FY2025 net sales.
- Other0.8%
Shipping services, healthcare services, certain video licensing, and co-branded credit card agreements. $5.9B of FY2025 net sales.
Etsy
- Marketplace Revenue~69.6%
Marketplace revenue includes the 6.5% transaction fee, $0.20 listing fees, and Etsy Payments processing fees. It totaled $2,007.2 million in FY2025, down 0.7% from $2,020.7 million in FY2024, as lower GMS offset fee and payments gains.
- Services Revenue~30.4%
Services revenue includes Etsy Ads (on-site, cost-per-click), Offsite Ads fees and shipping labels. It totaled $876.3 million in FY2025, up 11.3% from $787.6 million in FY2024, and drove all of the year's revenue growth.
- Other Revenue
Not separately reported
Etsy does not break out a separate "other" line in its FY2025 results; total revenue is reported as Marketplace plus Services. Any residual items are immaterial.
- Subsidiary Marketplace Revenue (Discontinued)
~0% (divested)
Reverb was included until its June 2, 2025 sale. Depop is reported as discontinued operations in 2026 and was sold to eBay on July 30, 2026. In FY2025 Depop generated about $1.07 billion of GMS.
Business model and strategy
Amazon
How it makes money
Amazon runs a hybrid model: it buys inventory and sells it directly, and it rents its store, warehouses, and ad inventory to independent sellers. In FY2025 online stores produced $269.3B of net sales, third-party seller services $172.2B, advertising services $68.6B, subscription services $49.6B, physical stores $22.6B, and AWS $128.7B.
Growth strategy
Amazon's growth now comes mostly from the higher-margin layers on top of its infrastructure. Advertising services grew from $56.2B in FY2024 to $68.6B in FY2025 as Amazon added inventory in Prime Video, grocery, and its demand-side platform.
Competitive advantage
Amazon's advantages depend on scale rather than patents. It carried $534.1B of gross property and equipment at the end of FY2025, including $155.1B of land and buildings and $172.5B of servers and networking equipment, which pays for delivery speed and cloud capacity smaller rivals cannot fund.
Etsy
How it makes money
Etsy operates a pure B2C and C2C two-sided marketplace model. They do not own warehouses or delivery trucks. They simply provide the software platform connecting buyers and sellers. The core revenue engine relies entirely on 'Take Rates'. The seller pays a fee just to list an item, and then Etsy takes a large cut (often over 6.5%) of the final sale price, plus payment processing fees.
Growth strategy
Facing stagnant growth in their core market, Etsy's growth strategy is highly focused on improving 'Search and Discovery' and strictly purging 'mass-produced' goods. Because Etsy has over 100 million unique, unstandardized items, searching the site can be overwhelming. They are heavily investing in Artificial Intelligence to improve search relevance.
Competitive advantage
Etsy's absolute competitive advantage is its large, highly authentic brand identity and a highly powerful, deeply entrenched 'two-sided network effect'. Buyers go to Etsy because they know all the unique, handmade sellers are there. Sellers are forced to list their crafts on Etsy because they know all the millions of buyers are there.
Questions about Amazon vs Etsy
Which company has higher revenue — Amazon.com, Inc. or Etsy, Inc.?
Amazon.com, Inc. reported $716.9B (FY2025), while Etsy, Inc. reported $2.9B (FY2025). By last reported revenue, Amazon.com, Inc. is the larger business, with Etsy, Inc. reporting a smaller revenue base.
What is the market cap of Amazon.com, Inc. vs Etsy, Inc.?
Amazon.com, Inc.'s market capitalisation stands at $2.69T, while Etsy, Inc.'s is $6.7B. Amazon.com, Inc. carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Etsy, Inc..
Which is more financially efficient — Amazon.com, Inc. or Etsy, Inc.?
Amazon.com, Inc. generates $455k / employee in revenue per employee, while Etsy, Inc. generates $1.20M / employee. Etsy, Inc. shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Amazon.com, Inc. and Etsy, Inc. make money?
Amazon.com, Inc. and Etsy, Inc. generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Amazon.com, Inc.: Amazon runs a hybrid model: it buys inventory and sells it directly, and it rents its store, warehouses, and ad inventory to independent sellers. Etsy, Inc.: Etsy operates a pure B2C and C2C two-sided marketplace model.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Amazon.com, Inc. or Etsy, Inc.?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Amazon.com, Inc. trades at 3.8x P/S and Etsy, Inc. at 2.3x P/S. Amazon.com, Inc. commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Etsy, Inc.. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Amazon.com, Inc. bigger than Etsy, Inc.?
By last reported revenue, Amazon.com, Inc. ($716.9B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to Etsy, Inc. ($2.9B (FY2025)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Amazon vs Etsy overview