This is why you're not making Etsy sales.

About this video

Kate Hayes, who says she has sold on Etsy for 9 years and built a top 1% shop, gives four reasons sellers struggle to make consistent sales. First, the wrong product: Etsy shoppers primarily seek one-of-a-kind, giftable, customizable or personalized items, so a product type — or the right type in an outdated style, font, color scheme, pattern, scent or hardware — that works on Amazon or eBay may fail on Etsy; she advises validating demand via Etsy’s ‘popular now’ and bestseller tags and research tools, and offers a free trend elements cheat sheet. Second, an unprofessional shop appearance destroys trust: complete, high-quality, cohesive branding (shop icon/logo, banner, profile picture, about section), cohesive thumbnail images and staging across the shop, and a shop announcement written with professional ‘we/our’ team language rather than hobbyist ‘I’ language. Third, listings not being found: do keyword research (she demonstrates Sales Samurai’s Chrome extension and keyword tool, noting search volume, click-through rate, competition and price spread, in a sponsored segment), weave high-search phrases organically into titles, tags and descriptions, fill in category, attributes and price-point filter qualifiers (e.g. pricing at $48–49 rather than $51 to appear in ‘$50 and under’ filtered searches), and build listing quality and shop-wide customer and market experience scores through sales and five-star reviews while avoiding intellectual-property strikes. Fourth, listings found but not converting: use as many of the 10 photo slots as possible with angles, close-ups, variations and infographics rather than generic print-on-demand mockups, give thorough descriptions, offer free shipping where possible by building cost into the price, price in the middle of the niche rather than lowest or highest, and lower material costs by sourcing wholesale instead of retail stores like Michaels or Hobby Lobby. Her closing pro tip is proactive external marketing: drive initial traffic and sales from one or two external platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, a blog or email to kick-start Etsy’s algorithm.

Key takeaways

• Validate the product for Etsy specifically: shoppers want unique, giftable and personalized items, and the style/trend elements must be currently in demand, checked via bestseller tags and research tools.
• Make the whole shop look professional and cohesive — complete branding, non-pixelated banner, matching colors across thumbnails, and a shop announcement using ‘we/our’ team language instead of hobbyist ‘I’ language.
• Get found with SEO: research high-search keyword phrases and weave them into titles, tags and descriptions, and fill in category, attributes and price filters so the listing qualifies for filtered searches.
• Convert views into sales with strategic listing photos (angles, close-ups, variations, infographics, not generic mockups), detailed descriptions, free shipping where possible, and mid-range pricing supported by wholesale sourcing.
• Drive your own first traffic from external platforms (social media, Pinterest, YouTube, a blog or email) to build sales, reviews and listing quality scores until Etsy search ranking gains momentum.

Episode details: published February 20, 2024 · 21:01 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Kate Hayes’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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