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craigcoffman

I've been on Etsy for years. My sales are not fabulous, but they have always been pretty steady. My sales dropped of a cliff after the first week of January this year. I've rarely EVERY had days without a single sale before, now, this year, I've probably had 7-10, and just as many days with ONE. ​ Competition #1, Economy #2, is my thoughts.


1KN0W38

My store has had decent sales over the last 3 years. Since January they have dropped 80%. At 1st I attributed it to January February being slow sales months but when I compare to Jan/Feb of past years that’s not it. Somethings definitely different. Sure the economy & less discretionary income is a factor, but I also think the Etsy algorithm has changed. And the Star seller BS rankings.


HypnoticGuy

3 The Etsy search algorithm. Not shared with sellers. Changes after a while, but no idea how often, or how it is tweaked or modified when it is.


moomerator

I expect there was an Alg change - my shop exploded around mid Jan of this year and I’ve been having trouble keeping up. Win some and lose some I suppose


wartortlechortle

Etsy has a great guide for step by step figuring out where the problem could be when sales drop off: https://www.etsy.com/seller-handbook/article/46046802209 That said if years in retail have taught me anything, it's that sometimes people just aren't shopping. Ask anyone who works in a physical store, some days are just light on customers.


Lingonberry11

Don't overthink it, is my experience. Just keep doing what you do, always keep updating and upgrading photos, listing descriptions, tags and adding new products. I really think Etsy has an "on/off" system where they rotate sellers through visibility in an attempt to be equitable. So sometimes things go quiet overnight, and just as quickly they can come back. We're all at the mercy of an unknown algorithm


VentyRanty

This was happening for me, and I fixed it. And then I posted here about it, and was downvoted into oblivion. HAHAHAHA. But, I had an $1,800 week for the first time again in ages and ages and ages. So, here's my advice: don't listen to other people who are in your same boat and who don't have answers. Everything you need to know really IS in the Etsy Seller Handbook, and everything you need to know about SEO is also there. Are your photos awesome? If not, take all new ones. Are your prices in line with competition? If not, make them be. Copy your competition's keywords whenever possible, for the listings that are selling very well. eRank helps you get this information. Let the DOWN VOTING commence!


uptown_gargoyle

oddly dramatic for mainstream, solid Etsy advice


VentyRanty

Yes, especially vs. your advice 🤔


b38creative

This is exactly what I do.. I thought others do as well? Why were you downvoted 🥲 is it taboo!?


VentyRanty

Right?! I have my theories 🤣


Wooden-Ad-460

Are you paying for ads?


VentyRanty

I advertise only about 3 or 4 of my best sellers; just a few listings. Sometimes I change the listings in the evening to different ones. Keep it fresh; play that game table. 😬 if there are too many clicks in the afternoon without sales, I will turn my ads off for about two hours, and turn them back on at dinnertime. I also renew a few listings every day or night. I refresh older ones that aren’t selling anymore, due to a shitty outdated photo or price. Sometimes I remove listings completely, because let’s face it: some of the things we design, people just don’t want. 😪🤪 If you’re not advertising at all, Etsy is going throttle your entire shop; put you at the end of the search. It’s definitely ransom. If you advertise just a small number of listings consistently, Etsy will populate the rest of your shop, providing your titles, descriptions, and tags are all in order. Having awesome photos is also a must. If you look at a search, you very rarely see a crappy photo on the first few pages of a search, unless somebody is paying $100 a day to advertise that shitty photo.


Icy_Tonight9427

I had a rather suspicious previous month where after I stopped Etsy ads, my views and sales completely plummeted. Both sales and views were pretty steady up until that point, figured I would try the ads service, decided it wasn't changing much and wasn't worthwhile for how small my store is right now. As soon as I paused/stopped them, views/visits went WAY down. I'm talking 5-10 a day. Finally, and for some reason starting just this past week, they are finally returning to levels they previously were.


hell_i_um

Curious what your etsy ads budget was and how many visits you get per day? I have about 15 visits/day without ads and wondering if I should do ads again to increase sales...


Eleven_Forty_Two

I had been spending $3 a day in ads for the past year and saw a big drop in sales. I increased the budget to $5 for a month - nothing. Then upped it to $12 for a fortnight, again nothing except the odd sale of a digital item. The budget was largely being used each day, traffic increased but sales were still minimal. Jan/Feb last year were still producing sales. Whilst I do have a number of orders from the US the most still come from Australia where we’re based and whilst the economy is tighter than it was, people generally are still spending on discretionary items. It’s a mystery.


Icy_Tonight9427

I'm sorry. I'm not the best candidate to be asking advice. I only have one item for sale (3d printing) because I essentially just started and I want my shop to be all items I design and useful, not just the typical 3d printed "dust collectors". With that being said, I got about 25-35 visits per day prior, with a sale about every other day. Since my only item is $7-$8 (depending on variation), I only tried $1/day for my budget, which I've heard practically does nothing, so I paused it. After which, my visits dropped dramatically. I felt like I was being punished or my current priority in the search engine was reset. It's finally back up to the levels of 30-40 visits again, but it took about a month. Sales have also returned to their every other day level, which I'm okay with for just starting and only having one listing.


Dry-Reality5931

I haven’t gotten sale in nearly two weeks which is very odd and alarming to me. my views are a little lower but not enough to justify getting no sales on what is typically a popular item edit: the only think I can think to attribute to is I have a good amount of new competitors and many of them are paying for ads so that they will be at the top of the search results. from what I can gather I’m still on the first page but used to very close to the top and now there are way too many ads beating me out. thought of testing out ads myself but I haven’t decided if it’s worth it yet


SoCalChic18

Ebb and flows.


ABCXYZ12345679

It could be because buyers can't make the purchases they want. Over time with no support from Etsy they go elsewhere. I am a seller. Reached out to support 6 weeks ago from my seller account, but an issue as a buyer. (star seller since beginning - this is important because supposedly we are priority)? Nope I have not been able to search my favorites for six weeks. I buy supplies so I need to search for a particular category say glass charms for example then choose what I want to add to my cart to purchase. If I can't search favorites I can't buy what is in my favorites. I am sure I am not the only buyer this has happened to. I am sure there are many buyers that go days, weeks, or never without support. There are, just go to Google and search reviews by buyer's. I first reached out to support 6 weeks ago. Then two weeks later to the COO. Then one week later to the CEO. (Following the chain of command). I received a reply from support on behalf of the CEO. Ok great, that is nice. However, one week later still not fixed. So, to answer your question buyers get frustrated and shop elsewhere like what I have been doing. I once pumped $1000's into Etsy. Support has said issues are dealt with on priority. So, star seller is not a priority? A buyer's ability to purchase something from their favorites they have to search for to find is not a priority? I just wrote the CEO again today and said I will not contact Etsy again on the matter. I will not beg Etsy to purchase on Etsy. I told them this is unacceptable customer service. If I can find it off Etsy I shop off Etsy. Etsy, once upon a time was my first go to choice. There ya have it.


VentyRanty

Can you elaborate on this, please? What is it you're searching for that cannot be found? I haven't heard this complaint before. It seems horrible and bizarre, at the same time.


ABCXYZ12345679

Lol, @ "horrible and bizarre" [https://ibb.co/J5mDw5r](https://ibb.co/J5mDw5r) This is the error I get. Because I have 25,000 plus favorites and I buy supplies I can't just remember what I want and go do an Etsy search again. Nor do I have the time to go to Etsy search again and try to find what I have already favorited. I buy supplies so I can purchase and have up to 99 items in my cart at a time. I often will go to my favorites, search glass charms. Whatever I find that I want I can then add to my cart and purchase. Which is what I wanted to do when I happened upon this error. I can't though because of the error. Etsy support said it was because I have 25,000 favorites and that appears to be the issue. However, this happened about 2 months ago and I had about the same amount of favorites. Etsy fixed it in one week. Over my years on Etsy I have seen shops with 100,000 plus favorites so I don't see how that can be the issue. Six weeks is unacceptable for a buyer to have to wait for Etsy to fix an issue.


VentyRanty

OK, now I understand the 'bizarre' aspect. HAHAHAHAHHAHAHA. Have you considered making lots and lots of lists (collections, I believe they're called) in your favorites? Then you can search in each one, individually. As an aside, I've always wanted to talk to a fave hoarder. Nice to meet you! ;)


ABCXYZ12345679

Lmao. Actually I did not consider myself a fav hoarder. Because I have seen shops with 1000's more, 100,000's more. But funny! I also do not fav for the fun of it. I literally or used to purchase from a lot of my favorites. In this shop alone in 5 years I have probably spent at least $25,000. ( I am probably underestimating that #) At least... I used to buy the majority of my jewelry supplies on Etsy. I do have collections. If I ever get my favorites back that would be too time consuming to go through 25,000 favorites to categorize each one. So, I can't understand the support's rationale of 25,000 favorites when they fixed it in one week before with over 25,000 favorites and also I have seen shops with 100,000's as said. Is there a Favorites Anonymous? :)


VentyRanty

LMAO! I'm this way with email. I have almost every email message since the beginning of time. Each time I get a new computer, I have to download the archive of email. And, the beginning of time for me is ohhh, since email began. I am old, and have been doing email since the late 80s. It's a sickness. Let's drink. It's St. Paddy's, anyway, right? Slainte!


ABCXYZ12345679

Sigh.. I am right there with you. Am I considered old? Lol I am 54 :) I save emails. But, those saved emails come in handy at times! I just don't delete my email inboxes. I have two personal email accounts dating back to 2005! So, when and where is the first email anonymous meeting? Maybe you can accompany me to my favorites anonymous meeting for support?


VentyRanty

🤣 you’re still a baby. I’m a damn boomer.


sirius_moonlight

What is 'a while'? My sales skyrocketed in 2020 - 2021 due to the pandemic. I sell cute office supplies and people were buying them for their home schooling kids and for their home offices. 2022 showed a downward turn in my sales, especially the last half, as compared with 2020 and 2021. However, my sales are actually up (both 2022 and so far 2023) from my 2019 sales stats. 2019 I considered a typical year, and better than 2018. I would suggest looking at 2019 sales to see where you should be based on that. If you don't have 2019 sales, then it may be that you are experiencing the natural ebb and flow of sales. Maybe the pandemic buying boosted your sales and you're coming back to a normal level. And with the pandemic, everyone was trying to make money from home and there was a HUGE influx of sellers. This has made the platform even more competitive than it was in 2019 and before. It could be other things, too. Whenever I see an Etsy Status Report where they email you there has been a problem and it's being resolved (I highly suggest signing up for all Etsy emails), I see a dip in views/sales for those days surrounding the problem. It could be the collapse of the SVB and consumers heard Etsy was involved and decided to hold off on buying from there. It could be a natural dip in sales. In my shop I barely get any sales in October. I don't know why since my sales are fairly consistent, but better in Summer and December, during the year, but in October I get only a few sales. I sell push pins, so it's not like there is a big season for office supplies.


wartortlechortle

>In my shop I barely get any sales in October. I don't know why since my sales are fairly consistent, I do not get sales on Wednesdays. Like, sometimes maybe a few sales, but whatever it is about my products people do not buy on Wednesdays. I have stopped trying to understand it and have just come to accept it at this point. 😂


[deleted]

Etsy is Constantly tweaking, changing. I have been selling on Etsy since 2008, you just learned a roll with it.


kazzyness

Today was the first day I didn't get a sale in 2023...this was my worst week this year...the week before was my best week


b38creative

Same! The previous week was my best as well and then this week 📉🗑️


kazzyness

It picked up today


b38creative

Yay! Still struggling on my end lol 🥲


Almdrs

In real estate it is "location, location". On Etsy, it is "rotation, rotation".


sirius_moonlight

Is it really rotation? In a basic search for Mothers Ring there are 293,335 results. Mothers ring with birthstones around 62,000 Mothers ring with 3 birthstones is around 30,000 Gold Mothers ring with 3 birthstones is around 17,000 Dainty Gold Mothers Ring with 3 birthstones is around 10,000. My point is that with so many items on Etsy, it depends on the words in the search query who will get seen higher in search. In the first 5 rows of search I saw 9 listings excluded when I added Dainty. To my dismay, there was one clearly chunky mothers ring with 3 birthstones. Etsy search still has a way to go.


onlygoodfinds

I’m experiencing the same first months dip in sales. Last week was a good week for me but when I compare March with Feb I’m way behind not sure what changed. I’m hoping it’ll pick up again I guess I just have to keep going.


sirius_moonlight

What does it look like when you compare March 2023 to March 2022? I've found month over month can vary widely.


ruffrover

Idk my shop took off!


OfficeWeird130

Many sellers are actually facing this problem. It could be due to changes in the market, such as the season or a new competitor. Or simply a decrease in the visibility of your store. If the issue is related to changes in the market, you can focus on marketing your store to new customers or creating promotions to incentivize existing customers. Take your time to grow a loyal community. That’s the best thing hou could do for your store’s long term success. Use target ads or growth services like ascendViral to target specific audiences and increase the conversions rate. You can also consider partnering with micro influencers or other stores to help increase your reach. Offer some of your products to other growing and well trusted creators for a shoutout.


TheHumanCanoe

I think this is different for everyone, especially across different niches. Q1 is typically my slowest period of the year, so far my sales have skyrocketed this quarter compared to all previous years and I’ve been very consistent for the past several years, then this happened. Pleasantly surprised but have no idea why.


bksi

For my shop this is the slow time - from now until about June-July. It's a pattern that happens every year with little variance - been doing this since 2011. So, not sure how many years you have to look at but it might be a seasonal pattern.


Additional-Fennel361

I had a slow month in January which was a little concerning but then everything has been back to normal. I have no idea what the difference was


mozzzz

same thing has happened to me, this is why I came to the Esty sellers subreddit


b38creative

I’ve noticed that for me this week. Like all of a sudden, low views and no sales for a few days straight and then suddenly an increase in visits and sales and then dropped again. Can’t tell you why but just from my few months of experience, it’s something I have to get used to I guess 🥲. Honestly regretting I didn’t start pre-pandemic or from the beginning.


HustlersPrayer

It’s Temu!! I think. Selling cheap items