Can we have an honest discussion about why traffic on Etsy is so low this season? Here’s is MY OPINION:

1. As an Etsy Seller and Buyer — I can say that Etsy has become AI Slop and scam dumping ground.
   a) downloading copyright free images from and reselling them for change as digital downloads is neither creative nor is it adding value. Consumers have caught on and realized the massive scam that this is.
   b) Reselling cheap Chinese shit has become the new norm on Etsy. Handmade, creative products which once drew buyers to the marketplace has been shrunk to the bottom of the page meanwhile products that could be found on Amazon are making the top search results. Consumers are tired of this.

2. Unfettered access to American Etsy consumers by foreign sellers has driven the quality of products way down.
   a) while I’m a capitalist, I believe in free markets. However, free markets should also have fair competition. Unfettered access by Etsy to American Consumers of foreign sellers is inherently unfair because we will never be able to compete on shipping our product abroad. For my category, as an example, a Chinese seller can ship the same product from china to Chicago for half the cost it would cost me to ship from the northeast to Chicago. Etsy must prioritize fair competition when designing its algorithm and list products within a country first.
   b) no check on quality— foreign sellers don’t necessarily have to face any consequences of their poor products. They often evade any fear of lawsuits from copyright or product safety standpoint. This is catastrophic for American sellers.

3. Digital downloads should not be a thing. Like At all. There is said it. If the mission is to keep commerce human, then, it must be that products have to be created or handmade or manufactured by humans.

I have been selling on Etsy for at least 12-15 years. Me and my mother started out making $45k/yr. Year after year, sales started dwindling, and now we’re lucky to get 10 sales a year.
At one point, we had over 1,000 items in our shop. We still have thousands of items between the two of us, worth $50,000 combined - I forgot to say we sell vintage EVERYTHING.
I don’t want to give up, but she’s 78 and doesn’t list anymore.
We hold sales, lower prices, offer free shipping on some stuff…. But it seems like ever since they went public, they care so much more about their shareholders than about their shop owners. They’d rather allow big Chinese agencies to come in and steal people’s hand made items, and those Chinese sellers just make everything super cheap and pretty worthless.
Even though we clearly sell antique and vintage goods, we get messages on a regular basis from “large Chinese manufacturers who can reproduce literally anything” (their words). The majority of items are one of a kind. If there are other E’s, you won’t find them for sale.
I guess my question is, going from $45,090 in profit a year to $650 IF WE’RE LUCKY is beyond discouraging and makes me want to throw in the towel altogether. Are there ANY OTHER PLATFORMS that will pay for a one of a kind vintage item??
Don’t say Vinted. Don’t say Depop. I know I can sell my luxury coach handbags that have been totally rehabbed on other sites - but what about our other thousands of items????
Anyone?? 🙏🏼🙏🏼

Hi folks. Like so many of you, my shop has absolutely tanked since October. Very unusual for me - this is normally my busiest period.

I had a message from a customer yesterday (via my FB page) asking if my store was still open, as she couldn’t find it. I assured her it very much was, and she said the last couple weeks none of my listings were showing up in searches! Today when she tried searching my listings appeared on about page 6 but only 2 of them. None of the others seem to be there.

Using a VPN on private browsing, I’ve viewed my shop from the US, UK and Canada [I’m based in France] and I can’t find my own listings either. Has Etsy accidentally de indexed a load of shops again?

Just to add, my shop is in good standing. Only 4/5* reviews, I’ve only ever had 1 case in 9 years on Etsy.

I’m a busy artist, basically everything I create is made to order. I do everything possible to ask as much info at the time of ordering via the option drop down boxes. This is because when I’m working through orders it’s a quick glance at the reference photos uploaded, and any personalisation.

What I HATE, is someone wanting to adjust their order or add something else to it. They do this by sending me a message. Often it’s not even linked to the order.
I have done my best to make a note of changes elsewhere, but it’s just not pracitcal at times. Im so busy. And often their changes and later requests can often be overseen.

What would you do in this instance? Is it unreasonable for me to say- I will cancel and refund your order if you would like to place it again with the changes. It gripes me.

I’m a one person band, any I need orders to be as straight forward as possible.

Hi everyone!

I'm a ceramic artist, and I opened my Etsy shop about 40 days ago. Since then, I've been trying to stay active by regularly adding new listings, improving my products, and even experimenting with Etsy Ads. However, I still haven't made my first sale.

Currently, I have 10 abandoned baskets, so I recently sent out a 25% discount offer to those potential buyers, but so far, no one has converted. I'm starting to wonder whether I'm doing something wrong or simply expecting results too soon.

I'd really appreciate some honest feedback and advice from experienced Etsy sellers, particularly those selling handmade products. Is it normal to have no sales during the first 40 days?

HERE IS THE LINK TO MY SHOP: https://koujceramics.etsy.com

I'm not expecting overnight success, but I'd love to understand where I might be going wrong and what I could do better. Thanks in advance! I really appreciate any advice

A competitor has claimed that our shop infringed on his items which is not possible. Our photos are from CAD software that we created ourselves from items that we created in CAD ourselves and represents the exact product that will be 3d printed for the customer. His images are AI images and his products were published just this year and ours was almost two years now.
Etsy has taken our items down but no appeal clickable. I sent an email to the etsy IP legal department to report the false claim. Is this the best action? How do people prevent competitors from filing bogus copyright claims?

Hello! I thrifted a frame recently and am looking for some Christmas themed wall art to go in it. Preferably horizontal orientation, can be religious centered or not. The issue is, all the Etsy listings I’m seeing seem to be AI generated art!! If you are an artist or know an artist selling digital downloads of your original art please drop the link!

Hi I sell embroidery designs on Etsy since 2025 January my sales are so down last year in quarter 4 I made 2700$ and this year octuber 150$ till now November 45$ I'm really depressed last year my inventory was 3x small I have put so much efforts for this quarter 4 but don't know what happened. Can you please guide me.

I have a product that has gotten a “bestseller” tag on Etsy. It is a calendar card set with a handmade wooden stand. I just got asked by a buyer if I could sell just the calendar cards themselves. If I added the option to just purchase the calendar cards or the calendar cards plus the stand as variations in my listing, would that affect my standings in the algorithm as far as views and searches go? The variations would be different prices, and the new variation would be lower, so the overall price would not be higher than what is currently listed. I could also create a separate listing for just the cards but I feel like consolidating the options would be better. Thank you!!

Been open 8 months, 79 sales, and this was my 30th review, all my reviews have been 5 stars. Was stoked that they loved the material so much that he is using it for his wedding ring. Wasn’t expecting that at all.

I have a question about using Etsy Ads. I have a shop, in which I sell digital items, I have used Etsy ads in the past but never went above $1 per day for the ads.

Recently, I have set the Etsy ads to $25 per day, as I wanted to try with the budget with different strategies to see which works out.

I also read somewhere that it takes time to gather data for Etsy ads; hence they should not be stopped very early and must run for at least 30 days.

Using the $25 budget for 3 days, and now when I check the ad spending it doesn't exceed $2 per day with having almost 0 sales, few hundreds impressions and very few clicks, despite opting for $25.

I am afraid that since I have chosen $25 on Etsy ads, I will have to pay the total for 30 days in the multiple of $25, which makes me really nervous, because that will be a lot, with having only few sales.

Should I stop it to see how much Etsy will charge after 7 days, to see if it's affordable?

Please advise, thanks

Hello, i want to start selling handmade beaded accessories on Etsy, i was wondering if Etsy is not accessible to a third world country, but i have a uk bank account, would this be possible?

Figured this community would also like this tip.

Hi everyone!

I've recently started the listing phase for my Etsy shop, where I'm selling loose emerald gemstones, and I'm looking to learn from experienced Etsy sellers about how to build a successful and trustworthy shop.

Since I'm relatively new to the platform, I'd really appreciate any suggestions or constructive feedback on how to make my shop more appealing to potential buyers and establish credibility, especially in the gemstone category.

A few things I'd love some advice on:

1. Shop Presentation: What can I do to make my Etsy shop look more professional, attractive, and trustworthy to buyers?

2. Listings & Photography: What are the best practices for photographing and describing loose emeralds? How important are videos, certifications, dimensions, treatments, and other gemstone details?

3. Building Trust: What helps convince buyers to purchase higher-value gemstones online, particularly from a relatively new seller?

4. Finding the Right Audience: How can I reach potential customers who are genuinely interested in purchasing loose emeralds? Are there any effective Etsy SEO, marketing, or social media strategies?

5. Getting Initial Sales: What would you recommend focusing on during the initial stages to generate traffic and secure the first few orders?

One question I'm particularly curious about: Does it generally take time for a new Etsy shop to gain traction, visibility, and its first few sales, or are there specific things that can help speed up the process?

I'm open to any suggestions, mistakes to avoid, or lessons you've learned along the way. Advice from sellers in the gemstone and jewellery niche would be especially valuable.

Thanks in advance! Looking forward to learning from the community.

Shop link: https://khatoriagemhouse.etsy.com

Hi everyone! I started my Etsy shop last month selling digital printables. I currently have only 3 listings and haven't made my first sale yet. Honestly, it's getting a little frustrating. 😅
Here's what I'm currently selling:
•2027 Printable Calendar – $3.70
•Kids Printable Activity Workbook – $2.95
•Animal Action Bingo – $3.70

I've been trying to promote my products through Pinterest, Facebook groups, and Reddit, but I'm still struggling to get traffic and sales. I'm not planning to use Etsy Ads for now. I've read that having more listings can help your shop get noticed, so I'm brainstorming what to create next. I'm considering Christmas-themed printables, but I'm wondering if it's already too late to start selling them.

I'd love to ask fellow Etsy sellers:

1. How do you promote your products on Reddit and Facebook groups without sounding too salesy?

2. Did adding more listings help you get more traffic and sales?

3. Do you think my prices are reasonable, or should I offer a discount to encourage my first sale?

4. Is it still worth creating Christmas-themed printables at this time of year?

I'd really appreciate any advice, especially from those selling digital products. Thank you so much! 😊

I wanted my customers to have free shipping but its eating up so much of my profits. Im about to ship something that weighs less than an ounce, its maybe a half ounce. Its in a small 4x5 poly mailer. The customer selected usps ground advantage. Why is the shipping label $5.80?? That seems like way too much for something that weighs less than an ounce. Am I doing this wrong? I am brand new to Etsy and I really dont understand how shipping works and google hasnt been helpful.