I agree with everything said in this video, this man is the truth and the only person on TH-cam that you need to listen to for Etsy shop advice... Based on how unscrupulous Etsy is, I wouldn't be surprised if all those other 'gurus' on YT are just Etsy employees assigned to run channels that mislead their sellers. Most of the advice they give is total garbage, and NONE of them give the insights that this man does.
If that was true your comment would be deleted just like mine. So I won’t be be fooled in to adding comments just for Etsy’s marketing research thank you very much.
As always Nick, very helpful. Many of us here are not 'business people ' persay...we just love creating 'stuff'. So I and other business novices find your advice really helpful. Funny side note...the advertisement that popped up during your video was for..Shopify !😅. Oh lordy.
Etsy is so annoying, they cause the issues for sellers constant stupid decisions, POD and not properly policing their own rules/standards. Etsy is the worst platform I have ever sold on and it's getting worse.
@@hannahmitchell87I preferred selling on eBay but the issue is, if you sell high end products, you get a lot of scammers so I had to stop selling on there. As a platform eBay is superior the technology, the labels, you get sales. I am winding down my Etsy store as I hate the platform. I may either move to Shopify or build my own website in the new year.
Yes, please tell us the places you do like to sell. I am new to Etsy, and am so worried about what they do. 🤬 I was uploading to Redbubble, but they have their own issues, now.
Thank you for this. I'm relatively new to Etsy as I opened my store this year. I started out really strong and then towards the end of June, everything TANKED for an unknown reason. Since I'm over 50, I rarely look at my shop on my phone. After the age of 50, I learned to hate those dinky little thumbnails! Being new, it never occurred to me that Etsy would be experimenting with something as important as aspect ratios without telling us! When I finally saw what they had done to my thumbnails I was furious. I felt that if they were trying to sabotage me, they couldn't be doing a better job. I had added ads to crank things up a bit, but all that did was cost me money. I was baffled that my click-throughs had gone downhill and then the traffic went down to almost zero. When I half of my content in the thumbnails cut off, I realized that this was a likely reason. Thanks for the information....
Hi there, so sorry to hear that, how frustrating. If you would like to book a call to work with me, more than happy to help: etsy-consultant.com/services/30-minute-zoom-consultation/
I never had the best vision, and I have the larger iPhone. It's OK, but I but I rarely use it to track my Etsy listings. That was a big MISTAKE. I thought that Etsy was smart enough not to mess around with thumbnail aspect ratios. I was wrong. In fact, it seemed like such a dumb idea, the thought never occurred to me. They had a square aspect ratio on my phone and rectangular on my computer! You gotta be kidding me! So now I have to truncate on each side so it works for both. But I keep the "empty space becuase if I don't, it magnifies everything so the listing header is cut off. Just insane. Took several attempts to make the thumbnail for the first photo to work on both my phone and my computer. But God only knows how well that works for other people's hardware. I better get a stronger pair of "readers"... @@laurie-jeannelister1029
For stores that have not been active for years, no inventory added, no sales etc. Why don't Etsy contact the seller to say unless store is "used", it will be deactivated. Surely that will reduce the number of sellers? Or is that too logical!
So, say a store has thousands of products, and thousands of sales, do they still have to add stuff daily, like Nick tells us to do when we start a new store? Or can they just add things like once a week or once a month, or, maybe, not add anything new, but just have a presence in their store, by answering emails and such. I am new to Etsy, and this mama has such good advice, compared to the others.
I still havent umderstood why Etsy needs stores to fail, apart from clearing the space for new ones, but the space is almost infinite. The term churn is a standard business term that is always used for contracts or users that stop using the service, and actually companies are trying to avoid the churm as much as possible. Maybe people should stop romanticising Etsy, seeing it as a friend, being angry because of the changes they make, etc., because it is just a business, a multimillion dollar business not a caregiver, so why expect any empathy 🤔
My answer to this could be really long, but in short, the video explains my reasons for shops failing, and yes I agree with you 100% about sellers who view Etsy as a friend, many do this and this has it's roots back in the golden years of Etsy where Etsy did actually care a lot more about what sellers thought.
Oh boy am I glad I found this video. I just started up a few months ago and after a google search, I learned the aspect ratio was 5:4 and the best pixels were 2700x2025. So I dug my heels in and changed the mockups for over 100 products. It was beyond laborious. Now I see that my info was outdated and I really need a square aspect ratio. Part of me wants to scream! But the other part of me is so grateful I found out now! Anyway I just checked on my phone and my mockups seem okay so I won't be redoing them.
Thank you, that’s really interesting. I’d be interested in hearing your views on the new etsy thing, ‘Save on Etsy fees when you drive sales to your shop’ that they just announced.
I've been on Etsy since 2013 and their image size requirements were square which I stuck with even when they changed to a rectangle. I'm glad to see they have gone back to square product images. I never followed their free shipping push and to this day my shipping price is still too expensive for Etsy but if they would check what it costs to ship via UPS they would choke. They live in a NYC bubble. They could start by closing all the Disney, Barbie sellers which would be a large chunk of their seller base. A simple search would provide enough evidence to shut them down. Also the never ending discount shops that say the sale will end in 24 hours but renews over and over (an FTC no no). I love the shops that give away their entire store with a simple purchase (buy 1 item and get the rest of the store for free). The seller churn is self inflicted as sellers who don't see the orders they need to continue abandon them / close them. Now AI is playing a big factor in new shops opening and gurus on TH-cam telling people how to make $45,000 a month selling digital items. 🤣
Exactly, on all points. I just made a comments about the gurus, too. I am sure they know all bout the points Nick was making in this video, but they wouldn’t get views, if they told the truth.
Hi Nik! Thank you for the information. Please consider doing a series on how you instructed one of your clients to set -up a personal website for their Etsy products because in one of your other videos you had stated that we should not rely solely on earning money from the Etsy platform, but we need to have our website too. Thank you!
Another great concise, cogent video Nik. Haven't launched yet, still prepping my first 20 product pix and vids. Going for Jan 1.But your consistently incisive and informative vids are really opening my naive eyes to the ins and outs of Etsy and how to navigate the waters once I'm up and running. And yes, we will be talking, you and I. Thanks agein for making all this information available.
Hi there, thanks for your comment. Great to hear, and we have a sale on for this month, so check out the link below if you would like to book your call, link below: etsy-consultant.com/services/
Hi Paula, no, not immediately. If you are not making sales after getting to 100 items listed at 1 item per day, or you have an older store with low sales, then a product rethink would be needed.
Thanks for the video. Your analogy to the high street makes perfect sense. Indeed, Etsy have articulated they are heavily focussed on helping buyers find quality products as quickly as possible. Therefore they are heavily focussed on seeing the platform through the eyes of the buyer and then influencing or forcing sellers to adopt accordingly. You mentioned the large number of code changes being pushed into production on a daily basis. This is a fairly popular approach known as Agile. This approach is heavily focussed on delivering change quickly, the benefits are seen to far out way the negatives. However if a code change is incorrectly risk assessed then the level of testing the change might undergo may be minimal and thus no business impact is discovered until after the change goes live.
I opened a store over a year ago and right away had to stop messing with it, no excuses but my mother passed away and I was going to do the store with my sister. Now I'm putting it back on and doing all the stuff you say to do except for deleting and starting over. But should I do that? I have noticed no views yet whatsoever, so it makes me think Etsy doesn't care about my store anymore.
Hi there, thanks for your comment and I am very sorry to hear of your mother passing. With regards to your Etsy store I recommend that you try and revive this one, due to issues with Etsy and new store openings, often they get closed.
oh boy. TY, Nick. I feel better, 'cuz -- while I knew they're not just after me . . . it's hard to keep it impersonal sometimes . . .Anyway -- TY again.
Makes perfect sense! When you talk about listings and adding a listing everyday. If I only have 6 products do I resist them everyday? Or do you mean different products listed everyday! I only have 6 products!
Hi jackie, thanks for your comment. I believe that you are selling skin care items? I recommend that you book a call with me to discuss how to make this work: etsy-consultant.com/services/
I understand the etsy platform has to prove shops by quality scoring after watching your videos. Now I'm changing updating and revamping my shop according to what I've learned, will etsy see the improvements at some point and improve my visibility so I can now get more sales. Its a catch 22!
Hi there, thanks for your comments. My improving quality score then you should be more successful. Feel free to book a one to one consultation if you would like to work with me. Link to services below: etsy-consultant.com/services/
Star Seller is tough. I don't use tracking because so far I've been able to sell within my country and people don't want to pay more for tracking. It's not that I don't offer it, customers don't want it. So I'll not be able to fulfill this unless I include tracking in my price. Which feels like lying to customers
I’m new to Etsy - open 2 weeks and adding items once a day. Now Etsy are saying “Save on Etsy fees when you drive sales to your shop” and offering 4% off for sharing trackable links. I’m so confused. Why would they offer that if it will negatively impact my Quality Score?
Because, they don’t care about you, they care about any sales you can bring in, I suppose. I am just getting ready to open a store. Good luck, and please keep us posted on how it is going. 😊
I also saw this today and my first thought was: It is only for the sales and not for the seller. So I think it's best to keep focusing on Quality score and not going for the 4% off. Love to hear what Nick has to say about this.
Hi there thanks for your comment. It would be ok for well established stores, but you're right it would negatively impact your store, being 2 weeks old.
Hi again... curious thing on your topic here. I've been very passively selling POD on Etsy for 5 years (and very active selling vintage) and I had tons of bookmarks for other shops/ideas/etc, and now I'm putting more time into POD, I went to clean up those bookmarks and revisit them, and over 1/3 of them were gone, as in, the user didn't even exist on the system anymore, just their shop "not on etsy anymore" and their logo and numbers of sales. Some of these shops had sold in the 10s of 1000s! One design I bookmarked for review, the next day, i went to show my wife the idea and their shop was no more. I understand the new CEO is ban-hammering IP violator (Disney, Harry Potter, sports teams violators are vanishing daily), maybe they are accelerating the "churn" this way...
Etsy are policing the site in a more strict way now, this is no surprise. Negative media attention on Etsy in 2022, and so far in 2023 has been quite bad, they have to do something.
Oh my. This one hurts 😅. Sadly we are all just Etsy fodder. However for me I weigh up the pros and cons of any channel through which I choose to retail. Bottom line, Etsy concerns itself with those who are making £££ not those who are not. Why wouldn't they? Be prepared to pivot and don't put all your eggs in one basket......see I am listening Nik!!
I watched this video before, but I don’t think I was paying as much attention to it….my brain wanders around, quite a bit, I think I need to put it on a leash, sometimes. 😂 However, now, I understand why you say to upload 1 item a day, and why you, also, say to build a brand, rather than throwing a bunch of different things in your store, hoping it will sell. It makes sense from Etsys perspective, and, now, mine too. You know, those other gurus are telling people the wrong thing to do, and, yes, they may have a few of their viewers, who will succeed, but it won’t be from organic sales, it will be from running ads and social media, so, if, for some reason, they ever stop doing those things, their stores won’t necessarily have a good quality score. I suspect those other gurus know this bit of information, but wouldn’t get as many views if they were speaking about it, on their channels. Thanks Nick. You’re the best. 😊
I love your content. Its genuine and honest. My stores have increased in sales due to your teachings which I just replay over and over. So I live in Australia. If you did a 2-3 day event in Paphos in 2024. I would come and bring some friends. I love your little island and have been there a twice. Paradise! Think about it! :)
I fully understand and agree with this video. But, how are sellers of vintage items able to build quality score? I mean, most of the times we just have an item just once. We cannot sell an item over and over again. Thanks.
Hi there, thanks for your comment. I have worked with a few vintage stores, and have made a video just for you! The link is below for the video, and the link to book a call if you'd like me to help grow your store. th-cam.com/video/vkAR0L0Dzlc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=rLRZf7FSiz3XyuiL etsy-consultant.com/services/
This attitude dates back to the drama between Kalin & Dickerson, that guy (who was fired later for too numerous reasons) celebrated mistakes with the 3 armed sweater....'suck it up Etsy seller' has been the culture ever since.
I understand and agree with most of this bar 1 bit. They need the platform to be perceived as great for buyers to come back..the problem i see is if many great sellers lose business then they lose too. I get they saw the impact from free shipping..but why do they keep pushing it? Also why haven't they realized big sellers went down with some other changes? I don't disagree with you..I just think etsy isn't always run very well. That's just my opinion. That said I'm still on etsy so it's not that bad ...it can feel like a big mountain to climb sometimes.
Hey Nik, love the content as always! Here's an idea for another great video :D What do we do about seasonal items after the season is over? I have a digital shop and while I do have a lot of non-seasonal bestselling items, I find halloween and Christmas time to be a huge hit. I'm mainly uploading halloween related items on my shop right now and I'm planning to make lots of Christmas items right after halloween. So we're talking about 60 christmas items. My question is, after chrismtas is over, how do I help my shop to stay relevant for etsy? Removing the items seems right for visibility/quality score of the shop. No one's interested in santa after new years so they scroll past the items which damages the whole shop right? And if I were to remove them, wouldn't it damage the shop as well? Do I remove it every day one by one and upload one listing to "make up" for the loss? And if so, to keep the items growing do I upload the second listing as well every day during that time? What should we do? The way I see it, september is the month to start really investing for the upcoming months but no one talks about how to keep things flowing after december. Would be great if you made a video talking about this
I think he mentions this issue in one of his older videos (I think it might have been a Q&A; it wasn't a whole video dedicated to it). If I remember correctly, it was leave it up, even out of season, so your item's score doesn't take a hit when you de-list it. Better that Etsy hang onto all the meta data it gathers when you're selling so it will be there when it's time for the season to begin again. It gives you a boost over totally new items. Of course Etsy changes their mind quite a bit, as Nik said, so that may not still be good info or may not remain so.
Thoughts on the new share and save? I have always followed what you have said about not driving sales with links but now they want to reward you for doing it???
In your opinion do you really believe Titles and SEO is that important to Etsy, I have reviewed hundreds of shops and most of them have a huge volume of sales but their titles are minimal. Any suggestions for getting my listings closer to the front? I have hundreds of jadeite items and I can't even find them when going through the pages. TYIA
Hi Taylor, if you watch some more of my videos you will see that I definitely do not think it that important, keywords just make you eligible for search queries, there is so much more going on than words! Quality score is what ranks items, if you want to have a quick call with me I will take you through it all, link to book is below: etsy-consultant.com/services/5-minute-zoom-consultation/
Sounds about right, except that they have grown to millions of sellers so what is to say they need to curtail that, room-wise? I can see it though as needing to clean house so that customers consistently encounter first rate sellers. Makes sense from that standpoint. Im studying, studying, as to whether to try to inject effort, energy and new products into my near dormant store or just close it and find online work. Less potential for earnings with online work but more stability and less anxiety, seems like. Im willing to put in the work but continuing with Etsy is beginning to sound more and more like taking a chance on the lottery or depending on the weather since Etsy decisions are unpredictable and out of our control.
Hi there, thanks for your input. Feel free to book a call with me if you would like to discuss: etsy-consultant.com/services/30-minute-zoom-consultation/
I’m lucky I had been doing square photos already. I lost star seller for the next three months though because I was 20 minutes late answering a message. Might’ve even been less than 20 minutes. And I calculated I would need 20 messages to get back up to the percentage so I just have to wait for three months because I never get 20 messages ever. Luckily I never notice a difference when I have star seller or not.
Hey, so as long as my address and name for Etsy and bank match I am okay if my drivers licence has a older address on it right? Because Etsy will ask for my licence/ID but that's the only thing with a different address on it. As long as my license is still in my country? I want to start my store and I am ready but I am so scared that It will get suspended. I am going to my bank tomorrow to pull out some cash, and double check my bank will match my upcoming new Etsy store Thanks
It is the financial details which need to match: 1 Bank account details on file at the bank 2 Bank account details filled out for how you pay Etsy 3 Bank account details for how Etsy will pay you
Not really sure I understand your theory? I understand that it's seemingly good for Etsy to have fresh new products (& new sellers more likely to pay ad fees) but that would only make sense as a net positive if their changes meant only (or at least majority of) poorly performing shops were going under. And that doesn't seem to be the case? At least with your square photo client example? The premise that Etsy needs/ wants some stores to fail without caring about Q score doesn't make sense. It's like firing half your employees & hiring new staff without reading CVs or interviewing them. The fired staff would've been more likely to progress your business & the new employees might tarnish the reputation & not understand the company rules. Looking at the totality of evidence, my conclusion as to why they make all these changes which indiscriminately affect good & bad shops, is due to fucking incompetence, too many muppets tinkering behind the scenes with no direction, failure to listen to their customers (us) & having no concern about the quality score of shops OR the quality of goods on the platform as a whole, because there's a never ending conveyor belt of new blood, willing to pay their fees. Or is that what you were saying? 😅
Yep. Agree. Not sure the video makes sense. Why would Etsy care about failing shops dropping off _at all_? They could sit there being used or not, selling or not, and Etsy’s servers would handle it, and even the small lest sales would probably be profitable for Etsy given how cheap server space is nowadays (at scale). You’re right, most likely, on the incompetence. They aren’t Gods: they’re imperfect, make mistakes, experiment and don’t realise the impacts of changes, like all businesses. I don’t see malice; it’s not good for business! I think Etsy would love to be the World’s leading platform and that they could take over all small businesses who competed with them, spend more on Marketing, UX research, R&D and achieve bigger and better things, like any business!
I wouldn’t say there’s malice, but I think there’s a lack of caring or indifference towards sellers as long as they are making money. Otherwise I don’t see how they can have all these commercials saying Etsy is handmade and yet I see every day lots of stores selling stuff you can buy on Temu and not supplies but cheap items from China. 😢
Yes, the incompetence indirectly helps poor quality stores to fail, the stronger ones survive, I see this evey day. I am not saying they do these things to assist the failing, its just what they do, and it helps their need to have seller churn, which they definitely need, as explained in the video.
Hi, thanks for your comment. Yes as explained in the video, and in my comment above to Hannah, there is no malice here, its a handy side effect for Etsy to assist seller churn with all the experimenting they do. Etsy does not want stores that don't sell, and Etsy definitely does not want them sitting on the platform doing nothing, because their discovery system is far from perfect, and what happens if you show an item that hasn't sold? It doesn't sell. Quality score is their attempt to ensure this does not happen, but it is far from perfect because discovery is far from perfect. Churn ensures a ton of poor Etsy stores leave the platform, and more fresh stores come in to give customers new stuff to look at. I hope that makes sense.
Interesting stuff, really appreciate your videos, Here's some fun, you as a seller can create a custom order for someone with an agreed price, and then they are allowed to use discount codes Honestly, I had a customer use an abandoned basket discount code on a recent custom order 🙊😂
@@MissMolly3377honestly this is a great channel to start with, for the customers using discounts on custom orders only, there is a few ways to avoid let’s see if the Etsy consultant will answer
Clicks, favourites, sales, good conversion rates, punctual turnaround & shipping, favourable reviews, minimal cases & refunds given. That's all I can think of but I'm sure there's more
Booked a call - Looking forward to it. In regards to this video... If a store is old or started badly are they given a chance to revive themselves and do better and maybe be one of those boxes that Etsy recognizes as filled with quality score? OR you get once chance and you're gone...need to start a new store?
Hi there, thanks for your comment. If the old store has 'quality score' then it can be rescued. It depends on the history of the store, ) thanks for booking the call!
Loosing star seller after having it for couple of months will cause shop to die? Is it possible to get sales back after 3 months when star seller program collect new stats?
Could we discuss other topics other than failing? Shipping, inventory, soucing, creating, pricing, listing, product photography. The list is endless. Less stats and more tangible steps and how to.
Hi Lisa, thanks for your comment. With respect my channel is full of what you have asked for, please have a look through my videos. This video is part of my off the record series where I talk about more difficult subjects, which are sometimes controversial. Thanks.
Have a look at the series Nik did where he helped a lady start an Etsy store from complete scratch. That was really helpful and covers lots of this content
I'm curious though, how come you and the other Etsy coaches who harshly criticise Etsy and their less conducive practices don't get thrown off the platform and barred for life ???
Honestly Gloria, they don't care. Unless I somehow cause a huge drop in share price, they are not interested. They also realize that doing something like that could seriously backfire against them.
I agree with everything said in this video, this man is the truth and the only person on TH-cam that you need to listen to for Etsy shop advice... Based on how unscrupulous Etsy is, I wouldn't be surprised if all those other 'gurus' on YT are just Etsy employees assigned to run channels that mislead their sellers. Most of the advice they give is total garbage, and NONE of them give the insights that this man does.
If that was true your comment would be deleted just like mine. So I won’t be be fooled in to adding comments just for Etsy’s marketing research thank you very much.
@@AmazingMiraclesOk cool, especially since I didn't ask you to 😂
Thanks for your feedback
Exactly my thought!
@@AmazingMiraclesTheir comment hasn't been deleted😏
It makes a lot of sense. It's just business after all. Thanks for taking the time to break it down in a way that is easy to understand.
You're welcome.
As always Nick, very helpful. Many of us here are not 'business people ' persay...we just love creating 'stuff'. So I and other business novices find your advice really helpful.
Funny side note...the advertisement that popped up during your video was for..Shopify !😅. Oh lordy.
Love that! Great to have you here, glad to be of some help. It's an important point.
Etsy is so annoying, they cause the issues for sellers constant stupid decisions, POD and not properly policing their own rules/standards. Etsy is the worst platform I have ever sold on and it's getting worse.
Which platforms do you prefer? And are you still selling on them?
@@hannahmitchell87I preferred selling on eBay but the issue is, if you sell high end products, you get a lot of scammers so I had to stop selling on there. As a platform eBay is superior the technology, the labels, you get sales. I am winding down my Etsy store as I hate the platform. I may either move to Shopify or build my own website in the new year.
Tell us your preferred platforms.
Yes, please tell us the places you do like to sell. I am new to Etsy, and am so worried about what they do. 🤬 I was uploading to Redbubble, but they have their own issues, now.
Hi there, thanks for your comment. Changes can be frustrating, I know.
There are so many items from Temu being sold on Etsy they buy them cheap and sell them 50% more I don’t know why Etsy allows this !!
Unfortunately they cannot police the site properly with the limited staff that they have.
Same thing happens on ebay and probably every other platform
@@SilverSparkles22eBay isn’t supposed to be handmade/supplies though.
@@karenl8837 And coincidently these issues started after the Ex Ebay guy took charge. They sold out.
Thank you for this. I'm relatively new to Etsy as I opened my store this year. I started out really strong and then towards the end of June, everything TANKED for an unknown reason. Since I'm over 50, I rarely look at my shop on my phone. After the age of 50, I learned to hate those dinky little thumbnails! Being new, it never occurred to me that Etsy would be experimenting with something as important as aspect ratios without telling us! When I finally saw what they had done to my thumbnails I was furious. I felt that if they were trying to sabotage me, they couldn't be doing a better job. I had added ads to crank things up a bit, but all that did was cost me money. I was baffled that my click-throughs had gone downhill and then the traffic went down to almost zero. When I half of my content in the thumbnails cut off, I realized that this was a likely reason.
Thanks for the information....
Hi there, so sorry to hear that, how frustrating. If you would like to book a call to work with me, more than happy to help:
etsy-consultant.com/services/30-minute-zoom-consultation/
Oh, I hear you girlfriend! I'm over 60 and I use my phone to call people. That's it! I need glasses to read my large font texts! 👓🤣😆
I never had the best vision, and I have the larger iPhone. It's OK, but I but I rarely use it to track my Etsy listings. That was a big MISTAKE. I thought that Etsy was smart enough not to mess around with thumbnail aspect ratios. I was wrong. In fact, it seemed like such a dumb idea, the thought never occurred to me.
They had a square aspect ratio on my phone and rectangular on my computer! You gotta be kidding me! So now I have to truncate on each side so it works for both. But I keep the "empty space becuase if I don't, it magnifies everything so the listing header is cut off. Just insane. Took several attempts to make the thumbnail for the first photo to work on both my phone and my computer. But God only knows how well that works for other people's hardware. I better get a stronger pair of "readers"... @@laurie-jeannelister1029
For stores that have not been active for years, no inventory added, no sales etc. Why don't Etsy contact the seller to say unless store is "used", it will be deactivated. Surely that will reduce the number of sellers? Or is that too logical!
Yes! And free up shop names!!
They used to deactivate them, not sure why all that empty web space lingers now.
Etsy doesn't understand logic 😂
So, say a store has thousands of products, and thousands of sales, do they still have to add stuff daily, like Nick tells us to do when we start a new store? Or can they just add things like once a week or once a month, or, maybe, not add anything new, but just have a presence in their store, by answering emails and such. I am new to Etsy, and this mama has such good advice, compared to the others.
@@MissMolly3377 i said for years who would not pay attention to their shop for years!
I still havent umderstood why Etsy needs stores to fail, apart from clearing the space for new ones, but the space is almost infinite.
The term churn is a standard business term that is always used for contracts or users that stop using the service, and actually companies are trying to avoid the churm as much as possible.
Maybe people should stop romanticising Etsy, seeing it as a friend, being angry because of the changes they make, etc., because it is just a business, a multimillion dollar business not a caregiver, so why expect any empathy 🤔
My answer to this could be really long, but in short, the video explains my reasons for shops failing, and yes I agree with you 100% about sellers who view Etsy as a friend, many do this and this has it's roots back in the golden years of Etsy where Etsy did actually care a lot more about what sellers thought.
As always, offering unique and insightful content. Always look forward to your videos
Thanks for being here, and for the feedback, I appreciate it.
Thank you this practice seems to be the norm for businesses everywhere - and basic advice on how to deal with it.
Thanks
Oh boy am I glad I found this video. I just started up a few months ago and after a google search, I learned the aspect ratio was 5:4 and the best pixels were 2700x2025. So I dug my heels in and changed the mockups for over 100 products. It was beyond laborious. Now I see that my info was outdated and I really need a square aspect ratio. Part of me wants to scream! But the other part of me is so grateful I found out now! Anyway I just checked on my phone and my mockups seem okay so I won't be redoing them.
Hi there, phew!
Thank you, that’s really interesting. I’d be interested in hearing your views on the new etsy thing, ‘Save on Etsy fees when you drive sales to your shop’ that they just announced.
Because so many people are leaving the platform due to their insane fees and starting their own sites.
Hi there, thanks for your comment. Yes, this has been covered here:
th-cam.com/video/LbrMDIA-Oac/w-d-xo.htmlsi=zXHvo15x351NZh8M
I've been on Etsy since 2013 and their image size requirements were square which I stuck with even when they changed to a rectangle. I'm glad to see they have gone back to square product images. I never followed their free shipping push and to this day my shipping price is still too expensive for Etsy but if they would check what it costs to ship via UPS they would choke. They live in a NYC bubble. They could start by closing all the Disney, Barbie sellers which would be a large chunk of their seller base. A simple search would provide enough evidence to shut them down. Also the never ending discount shops that say the sale will end in 24 hours but renews over and over (an FTC no no). I love the shops that give away their entire store with a simple purchase (buy 1 item and get the rest of the store for free). The seller churn is self inflicted as sellers who don't see the orders they need to continue abandon them / close them. Now AI is playing a big factor in new shops opening and gurus on TH-cam telling people how to make $45,000 a month selling digital items. 🤣
Good points, thanks for sharing!
Exactly, on all points. I just made a comments about the gurus, too. I am sure they know all bout the points Nick was making in this video, but they wouldn’t get views, if they told the truth.
Hi Nik! Thank you for the information. Please consider doing a series on how you instructed one of your clients to set -up a personal website for their Etsy products because in one of your other videos you had stated that we should not rely solely on earning money from the Etsy platform, but we need to have our website too. Thank you!
Great suggestion! Its in the pipeline.
Another great concise, cogent video Nik. Haven't launched yet, still prepping my first 20 product pix and vids. Going for Jan 1.But your consistently incisive and informative vids are really opening my naive eyes to the ins and outs of Etsy and how to navigate the waters once I'm up and running. And yes, we will be talking, you and I. Thanks agein for making all this information available.
Hi there, thanks for your comment. Great to hear, and we have a sale on for this month, so check out the link below if you would like to book your call, link below:
etsy-consultant.com/services/
random joke while we wait:
Did you know that before the invention of the Crow Bar,
They just drank at home.
Lol...good one!
Great video, so if a store doesn’t do great at first… is it doomed in Etsy’s eyes?
Hi Paula, no, not immediately. If you are not making sales after getting to 100 items listed at 1 item per day, or you have an older store with low sales, then a product rethink would be needed.
I also experienced 2 weeks of zero sales from my shop! This is cruel and I run out ideas now to keep it back on track.
Hi, it's very common.
Thanks for the video. Your analogy to the high street makes perfect sense. Indeed, Etsy have articulated they are heavily focussed on helping buyers find quality products as quickly as possible. Therefore they are heavily focussed on seeing the platform through the eyes of the buyer and then influencing or forcing sellers to adopt accordingly.
You mentioned the large number of code changes being pushed into production on a daily basis. This is a fairly popular approach known as Agile. This approach is heavily focussed on delivering change quickly, the benefits are seen to far out way the negatives. However if a code change is incorrectly risk assessed then the level of testing the change might undergo may be minimal and thus no business impact is discovered until after the change goes live.
Hi there, interesting. Thanks for sharing.
I opened a store over a year ago and right away had to stop messing with it, no excuses but my mother passed away and I was going to do the store with my sister. Now I'm putting it back on and doing all the stuff you say to do except for deleting and starting over. But should I do that? I have noticed no views yet whatsoever, so it makes me think Etsy doesn't care about my store anymore.
Hi there, thanks for your comment and I am very sorry to hear of your mother passing. With regards to your Etsy store I recommend that you try and revive this one, due to issues with Etsy and new store openings, often they get closed.
oh boy. TY, Nick. I feel better, 'cuz -- while I knew they're not just after me . . . it's hard to keep it impersonal sometimes . . .Anyway -- TY again.
You're welcome
This just makes me want to give up on Etsy and close my shop. But what’s the alternative………?
I believe Michaels have opened a marketplace, have a look there. Etsy is not that bad, they just don't talk to their sellers very well.
Makes sense. Thanks for breaking it down for us.
You're welcome.
Makes perfect sense! When you talk about listings and adding a listing everyday. If I only have 6 products do I resist them everyday? Or do you mean different products listed everyday! I only have 6 products!
Hi jackie, thanks for your comment. I believe that you are selling skin care items? I recommend that you book a call with me to discuss how to make this work:
etsy-consultant.com/services/
Great description of it and I've seen it myself. Had a shop that died as a sprout and just went to check it and it is no more... churned!
Hi there, interesting, poor thing.
When you own a retail store, you have to put new merchandise out on the floor. You don't leave a bunch of stuff that's not selling.
True!
I understand the etsy platform has to prove shops by quality scoring after watching your videos.
Now I'm changing updating and revamping my shop according to what I've learned, will etsy see the improvements at some point and improve my visibility so I can now get more sales. Its a catch 22!
Hi there, thanks for your comments. My improving quality score then you should be more successful. Feel free to book a one to one consultation if you would like to work with me. Link to services below:
etsy-consultant.com/services/
Star Seller is tough. I don't use tracking because so far I've been able to sell within my country and people don't want to pay more for tracking. It's not that I don't offer it, customers don't want it. So I'll not be able to fulfill this unless I include tracking in my price. Which feels like lying to customers
Hi there, thanks for your comment. Please can you tell me which country you ship from?
I’m new to Etsy - open 2 weeks and adding items once a day. Now Etsy are saying “Save on Etsy fees when you drive sales to your shop” and offering 4% off for sharing trackable links. I’m so confused. Why would they offer that if it will negatively impact my Quality Score?
Because, they don’t care about you, they care about any sales you can bring in, I suppose. I am just getting ready to open a store. Good luck, and please keep us posted on how it is going. 😊
I also saw this today and my first thought was: It is only for the sales and not for the seller. So I think it's best to keep focusing on Quality score and not going for the 4% off. Love to hear what Nick has to say about this.
Hi there thanks for your comment. It would be ok for well established stores, but you're right it would negatively impact your store, being 2 weeks old.
I'm curious what you suggest for new stores. Obviously I want to sell, but how can I possibly get started on my own website without a start on Etsy?
Hi there, thanks for your comment. What's stopping you?
Hi again... curious thing on your topic here. I've been very passively selling POD on Etsy for 5 years (and very active selling vintage) and I had tons of bookmarks for other shops/ideas/etc, and now I'm putting more time into POD, I went to clean up those bookmarks and revisit them, and over 1/3 of them were gone, as in, the user didn't even exist on the system anymore, just their shop "not on etsy anymore" and their logo and numbers of sales. Some of these shops had sold in the 10s of 1000s! One design I bookmarked for review, the next day, i went to show my wife the idea and their shop was no more. I understand the new CEO is ban-hammering IP violator (Disney, Harry Potter, sports teams violators are vanishing daily), maybe they are accelerating the "churn" this way...
Etsy are policing the site in a more strict way now, this is no surprise. Negative media attention on Etsy in 2022, and so far in 2023 has been quite bad, they have to do something.
I like your video, it is valuable, I am a big fan of yours and looking forward to more works
Thank you very much!
So if I don’t have any organic sales yet after 3 months I should give up
Hi, no not at all, look at your data, look at your products and start to ask questions around what your customers want to buy.
Oh my. This one hurts 😅. Sadly we are all just Etsy fodder. However for me I weigh up the pros and cons of any channel through which I choose to retail. Bottom line, Etsy concerns itself with those who are making £££ not those who are not. Why wouldn't they?
Be prepared to pivot and don't put all your eggs in one basket......see I am listening Nik!!
Hi there, great comment!
I watched this video before, but I don’t think I was paying as much attention to it….my brain wanders around, quite a bit, I think I need to put it on a leash, sometimes. 😂 However, now, I understand why you say to upload 1 item a day, and why you, also, say to build a brand, rather than throwing a bunch of different things in your store, hoping it will sell. It makes sense from Etsys perspective, and, now, mine too. You know, those other gurus are telling people the wrong thing to do, and, yes, they may have a few of their viewers, who will succeed, but it won’t be from organic sales, it will be from running ads and social media, so, if, for some reason, they ever stop doing those things, their stores won’t necessarily have a good quality score. I suspect those other gurus know this bit of information, but wouldn’t get as many views if they were speaking about it, on their channels. Thanks Nick. You’re the best. 😊
Hi Miss Molly, thanks for sharing your thoughts, appreciate the sub!!
I don't have an Etsy store, but I find this information very useful, especially if you're considering opening an Etsy store. Greets from Belgium.
Glad it was helpful!
I love your content. Its genuine and honest. My stores have increased in sales due to your teachings which I just replay over and over. So I live in Australia. If you did a 2-3 day event in Paphos in 2024. I would come and bring some friends. I love your little island and have been there a twice. Paradise! Think about it! :)
Yeia sou! That's fantastic news, and will definitely consider. Great news on your store and thanks for sharing!
I fully understand and agree with this video.
But, how are sellers of vintage items able to build quality score?
I mean, most of the times we just have an item just once. We cannot sell an item over and over again.
Thanks.
Hi there, thanks for your comment. I have worked with a few vintage stores, and have made a video just for you! The link is below for the video, and the link to book a call if you'd like me to help grow your store.
th-cam.com/video/vkAR0L0Dzlc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=rLRZf7FSiz3XyuiL
etsy-consultant.com/services/
This attitude dates back to the drama between Kalin & Dickerson, that guy (who was fired later for too numerous reasons) celebrated mistakes with the 3 armed sweater....'suck it up Etsy seller' has been the culture ever since.
Etsy is full of drama, all created by Etsy.
I understand and agree with most of this bar 1 bit. They need the platform to be perceived as great for buyers to come back..the problem i see is if many great sellers lose business then they lose too. I get they saw the impact from free shipping..but why do they keep pushing it? Also why haven't they realized big sellers went down with some other changes? I don't disagree with you..I just think etsy isn't always run very well. That's just my opinion. That said I'm still on etsy so it's not that bad ...it can feel like a big mountain to climb sometimes.
Etsy is not run very well at all, never a more honest sentence written.
Are there any Etsy Seller communities I can join?
This one would be a good start Jordan!
Like a cold slap in the face! Thanks for telling us the straight dope!
No problem!
This makes a lot of sense. It explains A LOT. Thank you for all you do. It's very helpful.
Glad it was helpful!
Hey Nik, love the content as always! Here's an idea for another great video :D
What do we do about seasonal items after the season is over? I have a digital shop and while I do have a lot of non-seasonal bestselling items, I find halloween and Christmas time to be a huge hit.
I'm mainly uploading halloween related items on my shop right now and I'm planning to make lots of Christmas items right after halloween. So we're talking about 60 christmas items.
My question is, after chrismtas is over, how do I help my shop to stay relevant for etsy? Removing the items seems right for visibility/quality score of the shop. No one's interested in santa after new years so they scroll past the items which damages the whole shop right?
And if I were to remove them, wouldn't it damage the shop as well? Do I remove it every day one by one and upload one listing to "make up" for the loss? And if so, to keep the items growing do I upload the second listing as well every day during that time? What should we do?
The way I see it, september is the month to start really investing for the upcoming months but no one talks about how to keep things flowing after december. Would be great if you made a video talking about this
I think he mentions this issue in one of his older videos (I think it might have been a Q&A; it wasn't a whole video dedicated to it). If I remember correctly, it was leave it up, even out of season, so your item's score doesn't take a hit when you de-list it. Better that Etsy hang onto all the meta data it gathers when you're selling so it will be there when it's time for the season to begin again. It gives you a boost over totally new items.
Of course Etsy changes their mind quite a bit, as Nik said, so that may not still be good info or may not remain so.
Hi, I answered this in a very recent video, its the final tip on it:
th-cam.com/video/CPNiO5WjyuY/w-d-xo.html
Hi Keri, good to see you, I answered this again in detail in the video below, final tip:
th-cam.com/video/CPNiO5WjyuY/w-d-xo.html
Wow you look amazing and refreshed !
Thank you so much! I must have caught myself on a good day!
Thoughts on the new share and save? I have always followed what you have said about not driving sales with links but now they want to reward you for doing it???
I thought they just wanted to expand their tracking options.
Here you go:
th-cam.com/video/LbrMDIA-Oac/w-d-xo.htmlsi=45BzP3UVhMd-li4C
In your opinion do you really believe Titles and SEO is that important to Etsy, I have reviewed hundreds of shops and most of them have a huge volume of sales but their titles are minimal. Any suggestions for getting my listings closer to the front? I have hundreds of jadeite items and I can't even find them when going through the pages. TYIA
Hi Taylor, if you watch some more of my videos you will see that I definitely do not think it that important, keywords just make you eligible for search queries, there is so much more going on than words! Quality score is what ranks items, if you want to have a quick call with me I will take you through it all, link to book is below:
etsy-consultant.com/services/5-minute-zoom-consultation/
wait- the free shipping guarantee doesnt give priority placing anymore? why am i even offering it then dfgfd
So that the percentage you pay Etsy is higher while your actual profit remains the same, of course!
No, it stopped 3 years ago.
Indeed.
Sounds about right, except that they have grown to millions of sellers so what is to say they need to curtail that, room-wise? I can see it though as needing to clean house so that customers consistently encounter first rate sellers. Makes sense from that standpoint. Im studying, studying, as to whether to try to inject effort, energy and new products into my near dormant store or just close it and find online work. Less potential for earnings with online work but more stability and less anxiety, seems like. Im willing to put in the work but continuing with Etsy is beginning to sound more and more like taking a chance on the lottery or depending on the weather since Etsy decisions are unpredictable and out of our control.
Hi there, thanks for your input. Feel free to book a call with me if you would like to discuss:
etsy-consultant.com/services/30-minute-zoom-consultation/
I went from three sales a day or more to nothing
Hi there, thanks for your comment. Feel free to book a call, link to my services is below:
etsy-consultant.com/services/
I’m lucky I had been doing square photos already. I lost star seller for the next three months though because I was 20 minutes late answering a message. Might’ve even been less than 20 minutes. And I calculated I would need 20 messages to get back up to the percentage so I just have to wait for three months because I never get 20 messages ever. Luckily I never notice a difference when I have star seller or not.
Hi there, great news for you! Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment.
Is there a way to know your Etsy quality score
No one knows the exact numbers, only Etsy does.
Hey, so as long as my address and name for Etsy and bank match I am okay if my drivers licence has a older address on it right? Because Etsy will ask for my licence/ID but that's the only thing with a different address on it. As long as my license is still in my country? I want to start my store and I am ready but I am so scared that It will get suspended. I am going to my bank tomorrow to pull out some cash, and double check my bank will match my upcoming new Etsy store Thanks
It is the financial details which need to match:
1 Bank account details on file at the bank
2 Bank account details filled out for how you pay Etsy
3 Bank account details for how Etsy will pay you
Not really sure I understand your theory? I understand that it's seemingly good for Etsy to have fresh new products (& new sellers more likely to pay ad fees) but that would only make sense as a net positive if their changes meant only (or at least majority of) poorly performing shops were going under. And that doesn't seem to be the case? At least with your square photo client example?
The premise that Etsy needs/ wants some stores to fail without caring about Q score doesn't make sense.
It's like firing half your employees & hiring new staff without reading CVs or interviewing them. The fired staff would've been more likely to progress your business & the new employees might tarnish the reputation & not understand the company rules.
Looking at the totality of evidence, my conclusion as to why they make all these changes which indiscriminately affect good & bad shops, is due to fucking incompetence, too many muppets tinkering behind the scenes with no direction, failure to listen to their customers (us) & having no concern about the quality score of shops OR the quality of goods on the platform as a whole, because there's a never ending conveyor belt of new blood, willing to pay their fees.
Or is that what you were saying? 😅
Yep. Agree. Not sure the video makes sense.
Why would Etsy care about failing shops dropping off _at all_? They could sit there being used or not, selling or not, and Etsy’s servers would handle it, and even the small lest sales would probably be profitable for Etsy given how cheap server space is nowadays (at scale).
You’re right, most likely, on the incompetence. They aren’t Gods: they’re imperfect, make mistakes, experiment and don’t realise the impacts of changes, like all businesses.
I don’t see malice; it’s not good for business! I think Etsy would love to be the World’s leading platform and that they could take over all small businesses who competed with them, spend more on Marketing, UX research, R&D and achieve bigger and better things, like any business!
I wouldn’t say there’s malice, but I think there’s a lack of caring or indifference towards sellers as long as they are making money. Otherwise I don’t see how they can have all these commercials saying Etsy is handmade and yet I see every day lots of stores selling stuff you can buy on Temu and not supplies but cheap items from China. 😢
@@kaistockman6443 Agree! Hannah nailed it in her OP and you’re spot on too.
Yes, the incompetence indirectly helps poor quality stores to fail, the stronger ones survive, I see this evey day.
I am not saying they do these things to assist the failing, its just what they do, and it helps their need to have seller churn, which they definitely need, as explained in the video.
Hi, thanks for your comment. Yes as explained in the video, and in my comment above to Hannah, there is no malice here, its a handy side effect for Etsy to assist seller churn with all the experimenting they do.
Etsy does not want stores that don't sell, and Etsy definitely does not want them sitting on the platform doing nothing, because their discovery system is far from perfect, and what happens if you show an item that hasn't sold? It doesn't sell.
Quality score is their attempt to ensure this does not happen, but it is far from perfect because discovery is far from perfect.
Churn ensures a ton of poor Etsy stores leave the platform, and more fresh stores come in to give customers new stuff to look at.
I hope that makes sense.
Wow. Such an eye opener!
But sadly, it makes complete sense.
😕
Thanks for your input!
Interesting stuff, really appreciate your videos, Here's some fun, you as a seller can create a custom order for someone with an agreed price, and then they are allowed to use discount codes Honestly, I had a customer use an abandoned basket discount code on a recent custom order 🙊😂
Same sh…..!
How does that work? I am new to Etsy, and trying to learn what I can about these things that can, and, probably will, happen.
@@MissMolly3377honestly this is a great channel to start with, for the customers using discounts on custom orders only, there is a few ways to avoid let’s see if the Etsy consultant will answer
Hi there, it's happened to us all , I think!
Nick, any suggestions of how to get quality score in our shops?
Clicks, favourites, sales, good conversion rates, punctual turnaround & shipping, favourable reviews, minimal cases & refunds given. That's all I can think of but I'm sure there's more
Thanks Hannah, sales is number 1 above all else, then conversion. Everything else I wouldn't worry about.
What Hannah said, but see my reply, thanks!
Hi, I have a brand new store, how long do I have to gain a good quality score before ETSY removes me?
You have plenty of time, there is no exact time frame, but if you get to a year with no sales, there is a problem with what you are selling.
Temu sells everything how can anyone compete with them ??
Different marketplaces for different needs.
ETSY STOCKS ARE DOWN
Thanks for the comment. Interesting.
Booked a call - Looking forward to it.
In regards to this video... If a store is old or started badly are they given a chance to revive themselves and do better and maybe be one of those boxes that Etsy recognizes as filled with quality score? OR you get once chance and you're gone...need to start a new store?
Hi there, thanks for your comment. If the old store has 'quality score' then it can be rescued. It depends on the history of the store, ) thanks for booking the call!
Loosing star seller after having it for couple of months will cause shop to die? Is it possible to get sales back after 3 months when star seller program collect new stats?
Hi there, thanks for your comment. Sellers do say that losing it doesn't seem to have a negative effect.
Could we discuss other topics other than failing? Shipping, inventory, soucing, creating, pricing, listing, product photography. The list is endless. Less stats and more tangible steps and how to.
Hi Lisa, thanks for your comment. With respect my channel is full of what you have asked for, please have a look through my videos. This video is part of my off the record series where I talk about more difficult subjects, which are sometimes controversial.
Thanks.
@etsyconsultant Thank you for the reply. That's fair.
Have a look at the series Nik did where he helped a lady start an Etsy store from complete scratch. That was really helpful and covers lots of this content
I'm curious though, how come you and the other Etsy coaches who harshly criticise Etsy and their less conducive practices don't get thrown off the platform and barred for life ???
Honestly Gloria, they don't care. Unless I somehow cause a huge drop in share price, they are not interested. They also realize that doing something like that could seriously backfire against them.