Etsy has continuously been on and off popularity charts of various sellers.

This hot and cold attitude of the sellers is what always keeps Etsy in the news. In this blog, we will go through sellers experience on Etsy and will consider the useful tips for Etsy sellers who have been running their Etsy store successfully.

But before the whole rumble, let’s have a brief look at what we are going to talk about the Etsy marketplace.

Another Name of Creativity – Etsy Marketplace

Launched in 2005, Etsy was something that we can call a breath of fresh air in the eCommerce industry.

Etsy popped up as a platform solely to promote handicraft sales. It is an eCommerce multivendor website for all those people who want to sell customized stuff and handicrafts. Since then, It has since been a growing podium for such sellers. Amazon Handmade and Made By eBay have tried to topple Etsy off its position, but they didn’t prove to be a competition.

Etsy has multiple sellers who have established their own business on its platform, and there are still more who are looking forward to rooting in their shop on Etsy.

In an interview with the Etsy pros, Anna shared all the inklings of how to thrive on Etsy. These people are associated with Etsy in one way or another.

Before uncovering the sellers experience on Etsy, let’s see how sellers perceive this platform.

sellers experience on etsy

Moving on, here is what some booming sellers have to say:

Sellers Experience on Etsy

While Etsy has been in business for 15 years now, sellers from around the world new or old are selling on Etsy. However, there are several instances at the time on major updates, shop modifications, product ads, and listing charges & commissions affect the sellers experience on Etsy.

The only place they seek quality advice is the Etsy community, where customers, as well as sellers, post their reviews on selling on Etsy and also find answers to their queries. Going through the long ad detailed pages of Etsy Community, some of the significant concerns are listed with the suitable solutions.

Meanwhile, these Etsy experiences are not the only option to go, but these are the most popular and repetitive ones to consider for your Etsy Shop.

Free Shipping Torment

Ever Since Etsy rolled out the Fee Shipping Guarantee Placement, it has been garnering the positive as well as a negative response from Etsy sellers.

Reviews on selling on Etsy majorly consist of the problems; sellers are dealing with offering Free Shipping and thereby bearing the extra charges themselves. While some of you are still figuring out how it is going to benefit you in the long run, some are coming up with cases of suffering losses after they are up with free shipping.

sellers experience on etsyThe solution in this regard: Countering these recurrent issues from most of the sellers like you, Etsy moderator has come up with the answer, pointing at specific alternatives and ways you can count on. Listed below are some of them, you can consider:

  1. Free Shipping may work for some and may not work for some. (It highly depends on the products you are selling)
  2. Redoing the Product Titles, Tags, and Description may help you. (Regular updates are necessary)
  3. Thumbnail photograph is the first interaction with the customers/prospects. (Go for well-lit and professional picture)
  4. Small or medium-sized sellers can bundle their products and offer free shipping on bulk purchases. (Save on more items)
  5. Utilize the other source of marketing and promotion like social media ad Promoted Listings to target customers. (Try marketing channels)

Spilling Ads Budget

Etsy opened the way for sellers to opt for placements in Google Ads as well as on Etsy search results. While Etsy Ads helped a lot of sellers gaining higher click through rates and visibility, it’s still costing much for the budding ones and also to the new with limited listings.

The majority of sellers are not satisfied with their investment; some even complain their budget is being eaten up. With Etsy Ads, your budget is spent over the traffic you receive on your listing on Google; thereby, the excess amount distributes among the listings.

sellers experience on etsyThe solution in this regard: Addressing the issue related to Etsy Ads, Etsy’s moderator put forward tips on how you can maximize the returns from Etsy Ads. Some of the useful thoughts shared are:

  1. Consider targeting the ads on your niche locations. (location-targeted ads converts more)
  2. Again it is specific for some sellers promoting their top-selling products may get higher returns. (Popular items garner more attention)
  3. Redoing your SEO strategies following the Etsy algorithm. (Organic way of attracting visitors)
  4. Turn on/off your Ads before/after promotion. (You can apply as per your choice)

Coping with Order Defect Rate

Order Defect Rate is one of the threats that sellers experience on Etsy so often. Sellers regularly post their reviews on selling on Etsy and how their shop performance suffers due to customer’s low ratings irrespective of the products and services they offer. Maintaining the ODR rate below 1% is a tough nut to crack for many good sellers as a single low rating for open cases are affecting a lot.

reviews on selling on etsyThe solution in this regard: It’s not long since Etsy implemented the service level standard for Etsy Shops. Seeing this coming, they have curated some of the requirements that you may consider to keep up with your Order Defect rate. Listed below are some of the essential points, you can cover up to fight back high ODR:

  1. Curate the most acceptable and accessible Shop policies. ( accept returns/cancellations, fewer rules, high-quality listings)
  2. Reach and communicate with your customers in all ways possible. (You can mend things quickly)
  3. Address every bad review or cases you come across. (Prevention is better than cure)
  4. Don’t stop selling, keep making sales, and mending the earlier ones. (Obstructing the sales might result in low traffic)
  5. Ask customers for reviews; good reviews will result in improving ODR. (Happy customers may be willing to leave reviews)

First Sale/Delayed Sale.

Preparing for resources, managing cost, and curating the unique things, you managed to put up your store on Etsy. Questioning yourself Is Etsy still popular or not? And then it happens that you wait past weeks and months with very little or no sales. This is among the most popular and talked about the problem that sellers are going through.

Is etsy still popularThe solution in this regard: Every good thing takes time, and there is no difference with Etsy. To play big, you need to spend time and energy in making your listings worth enough to pop up high on the results page. Etsy sellers and the moderator have a list of good points to share with you. Here is the one you should consider:

  1. Curate your product Title, Tags and Description with much importance as you do it with your products. (It do wonders)
  2. Make use of all your 13-14 tags, and do not use single words but 2-3 words phrases. (Play with SEO in tags)
  3. If you sell multiple types of products, create different “Sections” for each type. (This will help find products easily)
  4. Include your Location in the shop policies and do not mix up the languages you use. (Clarity keeps away the confusion)
  5. Add at least more than three products to your shop; try putting forward several listings. (Avoid being running out of stock)

So far, you came across how the selling on Etsy experience helps the newbies as well as the old sellers coping with the situations they fall into. Meanwhile, sellers experience on Etsy is beneficial, no doubt, but it also depends upon the kind of your shop, the products you are selling, your niche, location, shipping services, and all of it.

Below are some of the trusted tips form  Etsy sellers around the world, collected from their reviews and interviews, which will surely help you in experimenting more and making your way out in terms of sales and branding.

Tips for Etsy Sellers

Sourced from various Etsy forum, Helpbook and Community, we have compiled some of the quick and easy to go tips for Etsy sellers. Incorporate these tricks while designing your shop policies, listing details, and so on.

If you are still not sure of how to sell on Etsy, go through this “How-to” guide or onboard on the Etsy marketplace from your store in no time.

Several tips for Etsy sellers are:

  1. Try building your own identity through custom shop details like shop story, about us, policies, reach us at, follow us as, and many more.
  2. Pay close attention to the Product Title and Tags and make use of all the available options to make your listings stand out.
  3. Focus on product photography, go for perfectly lit, fine, and professional photographs. It should cover every nook and corner of your unique creation.
  4. Take utmost care while taking significant decisions of pricing, expenses ad business plans.
  5. Make your shop SEO friendly, it may take time, but your listings should be competitive to be found among others.
  6. Be aware of the new updates rolling on now and then and try experimenting with the same.
  7. Promote your shop words through other marketing channels like social media; it is the most popular source to generate visitors.
  8. Engage your customers in Etsy groups, community, and at the personal level too.

Reviews on selling on Etsy — Etsy experience from active sellers

Other than the tips for Etsy sellers, here is a compilation of successful sellers of Etsy who have excelled in their shop by their continuous efforts and tactics. Find them below, sourced from (selling on Etsy tips)

Phil Forbes, who is a digital marketer in Packhelp, says that it’s no use in lowering the price of items unreasonably to attract more customers. One should not compete on price.

Sara Hull and Phil Miner from Rock and Salt recommend focusing on Keywords. They say if you want to be found amp up your keyword game, you can use keyword tools to hunt the strongest keywords.

Dave Hermansen, CEO of  Store Coach, advocates on including your business card while shipping your items to the clients.

Gigi Rodgers of Knotrolld Kahos, emphasizes that you should make a thorough research on your target audience.

Some more!

Anya Miller, the founder of Jewellery Shop 360, has a brilliant suggestion, she says that one should always renew their listing and stay relevant. The reason, one may not be able to make any sale at their first week on Etsy, in such a case their ranking may fall and they may surface up less often in search results, in that case renewing the listings and staying relevant makes up for it and can help the seller to surface up more often in the search results.

Deborah Rogers, the owner of Izzy Rose Shop, stresses on the fact that sellers should find their niche and keep adding products. She also stated that when she started selling miniature teddies, they sold more than the rats as people bought them as a part of dollhouse accessories. From which we can conclude that it is essential to select the most suitable category for the items as well.

Laura Kilgore of Beautifulmesh tells that it is quite necessary to take various steps for customer engagement if one wants their products to sell. Strong SEO, usage of other social media accounts for inbound linking, great product pictures, etc. these are the key to engage customers in every possible way.

Roza Khamitova of Shovava has some tips that may seem minute but can help sellers a great deal.

  1. She says sellers should coordinate the color pallet of the shop background with the items being sold in their shop.
  2. Sellers should also keep in mind that they should use all 10 picture slots available per listing, to showcase their items from every angle.
  3. While taking pictures of your products, take close-up shots. Shots taken from far can give an idea of the size while the close-up shots will provide an idea of the texture of the item.
  4. Use natural light, shoot the pictures outdoor, or near a well-lit window. (Source:mymodernmet)

Parting Words!

These are the hacks that were used by these high selling shop owners on Etsy; apart from these tips, use your creativity and ideas.

You must remember that while trying to generate relevant organic traffic for your shop, you should not leave a single stone unturned. Try every marketing and promotion tactics that you think can help you out. In case you need any help regarding ins and out of Etsy.

Drop your comments below! We will be happy to help you!

Disclaimer– Etsy is a trademark of Etsy, Inc. This content is not created or endorsed by Etsy, Inc

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