Many Etsy sellers, especially new ones, struggle to make sales on Etsy. Based on my personal observation over the years, I have noticed that there can be a number of reasons behind this problem. In this article, I will cover these reasons and discuss possible solutions.
Reason 1: You are selling low-demand products
It is important to know that not every product will be in huge demand on Etsy. You may be selling jewelry that has gone out of style or templates that have low demand.
There is always a buying motive behind any sale. You have to identify popular buying motives to spot winning products. For instance, a female shopper is buying a particular necklace style because it is on trend. In this example, the buying motive is to look trendy.
Another example relates to professional branding templates. A resume template is always in higher demand than a LinkedIn banner template because there is a stronger buying motive for a job seeker to buy the resume template than the LinkedIn banner. After all, companies typically do not require a formal LinkedIn banner to apply for their jobs, unlike a resume.
How to fix this?
A. Offer in-demand products
You should research products within your niche to identify in-demand products. For instance, if you are selling jewelry, you should offer designs that are in trend. You should review trending products on Etsy and follow online blogs related to your niche for the latest product ideas.
B. List specialized products
Specialized products based on buying motives are very effective in getting sales. You must understand various buying motives related to your niche. For instance, for wedding invitations, buying motives can be tied to wedding themes, such as minimalist, terracotta, and dusty blue. Therefore, instead of selling generic wedding invitations, you can offer targeted products like “dusty blue wedding invitations” and “minimalist wedding invitations.”
Reason 2: Your products are average
Etsy is a highly competitive marketplace. It will be harder to make any sale if you are just selling average products that shoppers don’t find worth buying. You can spend thousands of dollars on Etsy ads, but at the end of the day, you will definitely lose money if your products don’t stand out.
For instance, if you sell products such as wedding invitations, business cards, T-shirts, and resume templates, you need to possess advanced graphic design skills in order to create sellable designs.
How to fix it?
A. Research competing products
You should not ignore competing products on Etsy while designing your own product. You should research competing products to understand what sells well. When you perform a search on Etsy, the bestsellers generally appear on the first few pages. You should also filter the results by “Top reviews” to review new listings with top ratings. These listings can help you identify new trends early on. It is important to know that you should use these products only as inspiration and never copy them.
B. Take feedback from family and friends
It is always beneficial to have a second opinion on your products from family and friends. Based on the feedback, you can make necessary changes accordingly.
C. Invest in refining your skills
If you really want to create unique designs that actually sell, you need to advance your creative skills. You should invest time in refining your skills, whether it is in watercolor art, graphic design, product design, or website development. You should take online courses, attend webinars, watch YouTube tutorials, and keep yourself updated on the latest trends in your product niche.
Reason 3: Pricing is unreasonable
If you are charging a price that your product cannot justify, you will lose sales. Even though a customer finds your product slightly better than others, they may still change their minds after considering the price.
How to fix it?
Adjust pricing
You can also manually review the prices of competing listings on Etsy to get a fair idea of the price range. Many Etsy research tools also show the average price for a particular product. For instance, if you search for the term “cat shirt” in the eRank Keyword tool, you will notice that the average price of top listings is $22. Furthermore, this tool also provides a pricing range chart showing different prices and the number of listings sold at each price point. This chart can help you identify the market-appropriate price for your product.
Reason 4: Your Shop does not have any reviews
It’s harder for new shops with zero reviews to make a sale. Those star ratings actually influence the buying behavior. The majority of Etsy buyers are hesitant to buy from an unrated store because they want to avoid the disappointment associated with a bad product. Buyers read review comments to know if there are any issues with the product quality, delivery times, and the seller’s responsiveness.
How to fix it?
A. Give it time
It takes time for a new shop to make a sale. There is a waiting game for every new shop. You should use this time to enhance your shop’s appearance, product descriptions, and listing photos.
B. Use social media
It is always best to promote your listings on various social media platforms, such as Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook. You should post visually appealing product photos and videos with relevant tags to reach the right audience. When you post quality content on social media consistently, your account starts growing organically with a noticeable increase in views and followers. In this way, you can easily make sales with an unrated shop.
C. Offer returns
If you are selling physical products, you can consider offering returns. This might compensate for the lack of reviews by providing additional assurance to the buyers. You can change your return policy later once your shop is established with good reviews. In the case of digital products, it is difficult to offer returns. However, you can always mention in your listings that you are ready to address any concerns if there is buyer dissatisfaction.
Reason 5: You started selling in low-demand months
Your products might have seasonal demand. The pace of sales is generally slower in low-demand months.
What can you do about it?
Leverage research tools
Many Etsy research tools provide seasonality insights that can help you identify when the demand for your products will pick up.
Reason 6: You are not using tags or using the wrong ones
Etsy gives you the option to add 13 tags with a maximum limit of 20 characters each. If you are not using tags, your listings will not have much visibility. Furthermore, if you use the wrong tags for a listing, your product will never reach the right audience.
For instance, many Etsy shops use tags like “instant download” for their digital products. Such general tags will not help your products rank in any Etsy search. If you are not using specific tags relevant to your product, your listing will never be visible to the right audience. No visibility means no sales.
How to fix it?
A. Use specific relevant tags
I can’t emphasize the importance of relevant tags enough. Your tags must be as specific as possible so that interested buyers can easily reach your listing. One of the ways you can make your tags more specific is by adding attributes, such as design style, color, material, and shape, to the product name. For instance, if you designed a retro-style mom t-shirt, you can combine the design style with the product name to create a more specific tag like “retro mama shirt.” If the shirt has a funny saying, you can add a tag like “funny mom shirt.”
B. Check competitor listing tags
You can leverage various Etsy research tools to check the tags of competing listings. By doing so, you can discover valuable tags.
C. Update tags regularly
Adding tags is not a one-time thing. You should regularly track their performance and make updates when needed. Many Etsy SEO tools can help you track the performance of your listing’s tags. Basically, they show a tag’s search volume and overall competition. The whole idea is to find tags that have a higher search volume and a lower number of competing listings.
You can also use tools like Google Analytics to find keywords used by your shop’s visitors. You can use this data to refine your listing’s tags further. As your understanding of keywords grows over time, you will discover new tags that are more relevant to your products. You should regularly replace the old, less effective tags with the newly discovered, more effective ones.
Reason 7: Your shop is not indexed on Google
You cannot make any organic sales if your Etsy listings are not indexed on Google. Usually, if your shop is new, it can take a few days for your shop and its listings to appear in Google search results. If your Etsy shop has been running for more than a month, and you still don’t see your shop and any of its listings in Google results, then it can be a problem. One thing to note here is that it is possible that Google might not index all of your shop’s listings. However, if you are following good SEO practices, you should at least see your Etsy shop page and a good amount of your listings in the Google search results.
How to fix it?
A. Have sufficient products
If your shop has one or two products, it might not get indexed. The higher the volume of listings, the higher the chances of your shop getting indexed on Google.
B. Improve SEO
You should work on your Etsy shop’s SEO to get your listing pages indexed. Google generally refrains from indexing thin-content pages. Therefore, your Etsy shop page and listing pages should have a good amount of content.
You should upload a good cover photo and properly describe your shop on the home page so that the Google algorithm can understand your shop better. Furthermore, you should clearly describe your products in the title and description sections and use all of the allowable limits for tags and photos. This approach will help index the maximum number of your shop’s listing pages on Google.
C. Seek Etsy’s help
If you have followed good SEO practices and still don’t see anything on Google, you should reach out to Etsy support for help.
Reason 8: Your shop does not have many listings
Unless you are selling highly specialized, unique products with virtually no competition, a shop with just two or three listings might look like a dead shop to a visitor. A good number of listings indicate enough variety for shoppers.
Furthermore, if your shop is new, you really don’t know what type of product a customer likes in a particular niche. You need to experiment with different styles, colors, and shapes to discover your best-selling product. It is also important to note that the Etsy algorithm rewards shops that list consistently with more visibility in the search results.
How to fix it?
A. List consistently
Whenever you list a new product, the Etsy algorithm gives more visibility to all of your shop’s listings. This increases the chance of making a sale.
B. List different product styles
You can offer different styles of the same product to cater to diverse buyer preferences. For instance, if you are designing “minimalist wedding invitation templates,” you should offer different font styles, layouts, colors, and wordings. When you offer different variations of the same product, it increases the chance of making a sale.
Reason 9: Your listing photos are bad
Half of the job is done if you have nailed the listing photos. If your listing photos are of poor quality, no buyer will be interested in buying. You can consider listing photos as a free advertisement. No buyer can trust a product’s quality if they cannot trust the listing photos.
What can you do about it?
A. Use professional photos
You can either take pictures with a high-quality camera yourself or hire a professional.
B. Invest in high-quality mockups
High-quality mockups are another useful way to showcase your products, saving you time and money. They are particularly useful for print-on-demand and digital products. There are many websites where you can buy high-quality mockups, such as Creative Market, Envato, and Etsy itself.
Reason 10: Your products’ thumbnails are bad
Even if listing photos are good, a bad thumbnail can hurt sales. If a thumbnail is blurry or does not clearly show the product, people will be less interested in clicking on that listing. The Etsy algorithm rewards listings with a higher click-through rate, and thumbnails are crucial to getting buyer clicks.
What can you do about it?
Make the Best Possible Thumbnail
The thumbnail should not be blurry or hide the product. You also have the option to zoom in and out on the product in a thumbnail. You should use these options to provide the best possible product view. Furthermore, you should check your thumbnail on different devices, including laptops, tablets, and phones.
Reason 11: Your shop has negative reviews
If your new Etsy shop has clearly visible negative reviews, it can be the reason why your Etsy shop is not selling. A bad review can prove to be very damaging for new shops with no or few reviews. A bad review, no matter how unjust it sounds to you, can significantly influence the buying decisions of your shop visitors. Sometimes there is a valid reason behind the negative feedback, and other times it is just bad luck. Whatever the reason, you should take action to overcome this situation.
What can you do about it?
A. Personally reach out to the buyer
A buyer has the option to edit the original review within 100 days of the estimated delivery date. However, the review is locked if the seller replies. Therefore, you should never respond to a negative review without first reaching out to the buyer. If you think it was your mistake, you should apologize and offer remediation, such as a replacement or refund. If you think it was not your mistake, you can still offer a clear explanation and a refund. After that, you can ask the buyer to reconsider the rating.
B. Respond if everything fails
The buyer cannot edit their review after you have responded. Therefore, you should respond to a negative review only if nothing works out. The tone should be professional and polite. You should mention the actions taken, such as a refund or a replacement. This demonstrates your professionalism not only to the reviewer but also to anyone reading it. No matter how unjustifiable the review sounds, you should refrain from making any rude comments.
C. Look for buyers in your Friends and Family
You should look for someone in your friends and family who might need your products. It is worth noting that Etsy does not prohibit transactions and reviews between friends and family, provided they are fair, honest, and unbiased. Etsy has a well-defined policy on shilling. While Etsy does not say anything about the IP address, to be on the safe side, your friends and family should order from a different IP address to prove that the transaction is legit and at arm’s length. After that, you can personally ask the buyer for their honest feedback.
D. Promote through Word of Mouth
You can ask your family, friends, and acquaintances to promote your store through word of mouth. Suppose you run a wedding accessories shop on Etsy. People in your family and friend circle can recommend your products to anyone they know who is getting married. You can then personally ask these buyers to leave their honest feedback on your Etsy shop. It is highly likely to get positive reviews this way because you can have physical contact with the buyer and can directly address their concerns to the utmost satisfaction.
Reason 12: Your shop appears dead or sham
There are so many Etsy shops that either appear dead or untrustworthy at first glance. If a shop does not have a proper cover photo and a logo, it appears like a sham. Buyers will hesitate to purchase from such a shop. You should make every effort to show the visitors that your shop is live and ready to take orders.
How to fix it?
A. Upload a Nice Cover Photo and Logo
You can design a professional cover photo and logo in Photoshop, Illustrator, or Canva. You can also use Canva templates.
B. Demonstrate strong branding
Your Etsy shop should follow a consistent color theme and fonts across all shop elements, including the cover photo, logo, and informational slides. A strong brand identity demonstrates professionalism and a commitment to quality.
C. Run sales
You should run sales to make your shop look live and running. Etsy displays the “Sale ends in” banner that creates a sense of urgency among interested buyers. Furthermore, when the sale ends soon, Etsy will send this notification to buyers who have clicked on your listings. You can run sales for up to a maximum of 30 days, which can be extended as many times as you want.
D. Share your story
Etsy gives you the option to add your business story and photos in the bottom section of the home page. This type of content helps build a personal connection with your shop’s visitors. Many buyers love to read this section and want to know the face behind the scenes.
Reason 13: Your Shop lacks a niche
If you list many unrelated products in one shop, it might look like a shop with no specialization. Furthermore, anybody who browses your shop for a specific product might lose interest quickly.
How to fix it?
Follow a niche
If you browse Etsy, you will notice that the majority of shops, if not all, are very specialized in nature. A shop selling wedding templates is only selling wedding templates, a shop selling t-shirts is only selling t-shirts, and a shop selling phone cases is only selling phone cases. Even within a niche, some shops focus only on a sub-niche, for instance, a shop selling only minimalist-style wedding templates and a shop selling only retro-style tote bags. Once your shop is established with a good number of reviews, you may consider expanding into other niches.
Reason 14: There are no product variations
Online shoppers are becoming more and more specific in their choices. They want a specific color, shape, and design that they have in their minds. For instance, if you are selling t-shirts, a customer might like its design but not the color, so they move on to look for other alternatives.
How to fix it?
Offer product variations
You should offer a product in different colors, shapes, sizes, and designs. For instance, various Etsy shops sell chessboards with different board and piece color options.
Reason 15: Your products are not customizable enough
This is particularly true for products like wedding templates. Buyers seek templates that allow customization of every aspect, such as fonts, graphics’ colors, positioning, and dimensions.
How to fix it?
Offer highly customizable products
If you are selling customizable products, such as templates and custom t-shirts, you should try to offer a highly customizable product that provides greater flexibility to shoppers.
Reason 16: Your listings lack details
A customer may like your product, but may skip the purchase if important details are missing.
How to fix it?
Include all the important details
The product details depend on the type of product you are selling. For instance, if you are selling customizable digital templates, you need to include information such as the following:
- What is included in the product?
- What are the dimensions?
- What can be customized?
- What cannot be customized?
- How will the order be processed and delivered?
- Where is the product customized?
- How is the product customized?
If you are selling a physical product, a customer will be interested in knowing the dimensions, contents, material used, size chart, color options, and instructions for use. Last but not least, you must clearly mention the expected delivery date and return policy for your products.
Reason 17: You are not adding listing videos
Etsy gives you the option to add a 3-15 seconds long listing video. Etsy shoppers are typically more confident in buying products after viewing their videos. According to Etsy statistics, listings with video get twice as many orders as listings with just photos. Especially if your shop is new, listing videos can build trust with Etsy shoppers and can compensate for the lack of sales and reviews.
How to fix it?
Add product videos
According to the Etsy Seller Handbook, there are 3 types of videos that online shoppers love. These are as follows:
- Videos that address common questions
- Videos that show your products in use
- Videos that highlight the creative details
Etsy offers a detailed guide on this topic, including additional insights from its own merchandising team.
Reason 18: Ineffective communication with the potential buyer
A potential buyer can reach out to you for any product-related questions or custom requests. If your communication is weak and ineffective, the potential buyer might not proceed further. For instance, if you are providing one-word answers, a shopper might find it rude. And, if you are taking too long to respond, a shopper may buy from a competing shop.
How to fix it?
A. Respond timely
You should strive to respond within a few hours, and if not possible, within 24 hours. Many Etsy sellers state their expected response time in the automated messages. This practice is good communication etiquette as it gives the sender a clear idea about when they can expect a response.
B. Be Courteous
You should always start your message with courteous phrases. A warm interaction can help build rapport with the potential buyer.
C. Be Relevant
You should precisely answer all the points raised in a question. If certain points get skipped or ignored, it can cause too much back and forth that might frustrate the potential buyer. Last but not least, you should use bullet points to answer each question separately; this method makes it easier for the sender to read your response.
D. Follow-up
It is possible that the sender might stop messaging after a few exchanges. You should always follow up with them to check if all their questions have been addressed. Furthermore, you can also send potential buyers special discounts and deals in your chat to make a sale.