11 Ethical Online Marketplaces For Sustainable Shopping (2024)
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We’ve researched high and low for the best alternatives to online marketplaces like Amazon and Wish — these are our favorite ethical marketplaces that offer a wide range of products without sacrificing sustainability and ethics.
Finding fair trade and sustainable products can involve lots of research (and time!). Instead, you can turn to these shops that curate their products based on their own set of values, including fair labor standards, organic ingredients, and give-back initiatives. Once you find a shop you trust, you can turn to them for anything on your list, whether it’s fair trade clothing, sustainable home goods, or organic skin care!
Why look for ethical online marketplaces?
Seeking out ethical online marketplaces to purchase our favorite products helps support businesses that prioritize ethical practices, sustainability, and social responsibility. Giant online retailers like Amazon and Wish have faced criticism for their environmental impact, labor practices, and monopolistic tendencies, raising concerns about the ethics of supporting such platforms. Actively choosing to shop at ethical marketplaces helps our dollars reach marketplaces that value and respect sustainable business practices and fair labor practices.
Ethical online marketplaces also offer a more curated selection of products, including unique and artisanal items that may be harder to find on larger platforms. By shopping on these platforms, we can discover a diverse range of goods while supporting independent sellers, artisans, and small businesses. And especially when it comes to purchasing gifts, smaller marketplaces offer a treasure trove of options that cater to various interests and preferences. Whether it’s handcrafted jewelry, eco-friendly home decor, or artisanal food products, these platforms provide unique and thoughtful gift ideas that support local economies and craftsman people.
Our team has searched endlessly for alternatives to mega retailers like Amazon and Wish. We’ve selected the marketplaces below thanks to their sustainable practices, range of products offered, and many are even certified B Corps. They are our go-to places when looking for fair trade and ethically sourced products.
Do you have a favorite? Drop it in the comments below, and we’ll check it out. ✨
Best Overall | Best For Home | Best For Grocery
1. Uncommon Goods
Best For | Unique and personalized gifts
Price Range | $-$$$
If you can’t make it to the sprawling crafts marketplaces but you really want to find those high quality items, Uncommon Goods is your answer. Stocked with gorgeous, whimsical, and useful goods all made by artisans and craftspeople, you’re bound to find something for every person on your list for every gift-giving occasion all year round. (And if the person on your list is you and the occasion is It’s Friday, we won’t tell!)
2. Thrive Market
Best For | Groceries, natural bath & cleaning products, wine & coffee
Price Range | $–$$
An online market founded on the principle that every person should have “access to healthy products, reliable information, and affordable prices,” Thrive Market makes healthy living easy and affordable for everyone. Whether you’re shopping for natural wines, fair trade snacks, cruelty-free bath sets, or even pet products, this one-stop-shop has what you need.
3. Etsy
Best For | Custom, vintage & handmade goods, furniture, clothing, jewelry, decor
Price Range | $–$$$$
Etsy is your one-stop shop for all things handmade, vintage, custom, upcycled and unique. This global online marketplace supports small businesses and entrepreneurs by providing a platform that makes it easy to buy and sell artisanal goods, in the comfort of your own home. As you explore the site, you’ll discover hundreds of thousands of beautifully crafted furniture, clothing, jewelry, home decor and more. Shop with ease knowing you’re supporting small businesses generate meaningful income!
4. Credo
Best For | Clean beauty and skincare
Price Range | $-$$
If you are interested in clean beauty but feel overwhelmed by the research needed to find the right brands at your favorite shops, Credo is your new best friend. With their commitment to sustainable, ethical, and transparently clean beauty, they take the guesswork out of hunting down genuinely safe products so you don’t have to be duped by greenwashing. All brands are free from the 2700+ ingredients on their Dirty List®, giving you peace of mind that everything you buy there is truly clean.
5. Package Free
Best For | Reusable bath & body goods, home & kitchen, bulk buying
Price Range | $–$$$
Package Free pushes the boundaries when it comes to sustainable home, kitchen and personal care products. This curated online marketplace offers goods in either reusable, refillable, compostable or recyclable options, and 100% plastic free packaging. Package free also collaborates with eco-friendly brands that support the planet, which makes it easy to discover new sustainable brands! Eliminate single use products and plastics simply by trying their kits, or even subscribing to have them auto shipped on your schedule. It’s a win win!
6. Back Market
Best For | Refurbished tech
Price Range | $$–$$$$
Back Market is a global marketplace specializing in premium refurbished tech. Their mission is to offer a reliable, affordable, and accessible way to offer the gadgets we need, while still doing our bit for the planet. Collaborating with top refurbishers who adhere to strict standards, every device is guaranteed restored to perfect working condition. Featured in reputable sources like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, you can save up to 70% on essential devices like laptops, smartphones, accessories and more! By choosing refurbished devices, you’ll not only save money but also contribute to significant reductions in raw materials usage, water consumption, e-waste generation, and carbon emissions. A win for you and the planet! 🌎
7. Ten Thousand Villages
Best For | Fair trade jewelry and kitchen wares
Price Range | $–$$
For over 70 years, Ten Thousand Villages has been a pioneer of the fair trade movement, laying the groundwork for sustainable change in over 30 developing countries. The shop provides a space for people to take charge of their own lives and build something for themselves. We love that each product is created by independent small-scale artisan groups, co-ops, and workshops. Everything here is crafted with love, local materials, and time-honored skills.
8. GOODEE
Best For | Artfully and ethically designed home goods and decor
Price Range | $$-$$$
For a marketplace that gets specific about promoting good design with good values, GOODEE can’t be beaten. Check out products by ethics, like carbon reduction, heritage craft preservation, poverty reduction, and more to find home goods and decor that are more than just beautiful. From candles to bath & body, kids’ lifestyle goods and outdoor furniture, find pieces with a story that are also good for people and the planet.
9. Rêve En Vert
Best For | Sustainable luxury products
Price Range | $$$–$$$$
Rêve En Vert is a sustainable luxury shop committed to bettering the world through its fashion and lifestyle marketplace; the brand only features designers who operate with respect for people and the planet. Expect to see organic, re-made, local, and fair trade collections of clothing, jewelry, gifts, and accessories.
10. BLK + GRN
Best For | All natural bath, beauty, and wellness by Black artisans
Price Range | $
With the market for Black women’s beauty and wellness products flooded with synthetic and toxic chemicals, Dr. Kristian founded Blk + Grn, hoping to normalize clean products for Black women while also funding the Black women entrepreneurs creating them. Blk + Grn is chockfull of natural skincare, hair care, menstrual products, and more, along with a vibrant list of artisans with their goods and bios. Everything is thoughtfully chosen and quality-tested by Black health experts, not to mention shipped in eco-friendly packaging.
11. DoneGood
Best For | A centralized market & browser plug-in for do-good products
Price Range | $$–$$$
DoneGood makes mindful shopping easier than ever with its platform. Browse over 200 brands for ethical and sustainable products, often with DoneGood coupon codes! The company has partnered with brands like Nisolo, BOLD Swim, and so that you can find everything from home goods to body scrubs. Best of all, DoneGood has created a plug-in to give you the best ethical, affordable alternatives when you shop mainstream through Google and more.
Featured image includes model Shelly Cochrane wearing shirt, pants, and shoes by Reformation; earrings by Mejuri; necklace and rings by Apse
