Disclosure: This article on reasons why your Etsy shop is not selling contains independent recommendations based on real-world experience and research. To support our work, we include partner links. If you make a purchase through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Many Etsy sellers, especially new ones, struggle to make sales. Based on my personal experience selling on Etsy and my observations of other Etsy stores over the years, I have identified several possible reasons for this problem. In this article, I will cover these reasons and discuss possible solutions.
Reason 1: You are chasing popular generic products
You search on Etsy, see popular products on the first page, and start selling similar products. This strategy will not work on Etsy. Old established shops and big sellers dominate generic keywords-you can’t. You can stand out with a specific product.
How to fix it?
Focus on specific products with less competition
You can use the Etsy research tool EverBee to find specific products with less competition. You should further validate their demand by checking sales in EverBee and the listing’s review section on Etsy itself. In the EverBee screenshots below, you can see how you can bring down the competition with specific products within the ‘nurse shirts’ niche.
Example:
Nurse shirt ❌ – Generic – More competition
Oncology nurse shirt ✅ – Less Competition
Reason 2: You are making random designs that nobody is searching for
You decided on a niche and started making designs without any research on what buyers are actually searching for. No searches means no buyers.
Example: There are many ‘roseate spoonbill’ T-shirts on Etsy. You might be a bird lover and know about this bird, but nobody is searching for this T-shirt, as shown in the EverBee screenshot below
How to fix it?
Design for intent, not just aesthetics
You should leverage Etsy’s research tools to see what buyers are actually searching for. You should design products around those buying motives only after validating demand.
Reason 3: You are selling low-demand products
Not every product has a huge demand on Etsy. You may be selling to only a few buyers, so it can take longer to get sales.
Example: Most top-selling jewelry listings on Etsy are gold-plated minimalist styles. Shops selling other styles typically experience less demand for their products. Below is a screenshot of the review section of a silver necklace listing. If you look at the lag between review dates, you will notice that sales did occur, but infrequently. This is because it deviates from the popular gold-plated style.
How to fix this?
Pivot to in-demand products and styles
If the minimalist style is trending in your niche, offer minimalist-themed designs. If vintage style is popular in your niche, offer vintage designs. If a certain color, texture, or material is popular, switch to it.
Reason 4: Your products are average
Etsy is a highly competitive marketplace. It will be harder to make a 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 lose money if your products don’t stand out.
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 the aesthetics. 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 the necessary changes.
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 stay up to date on the latest trends in your product niche.
Reason 5: Pricing is unreasonable
If you are charging a price that your product cannot justify, you will lose sales. Even if shoppers find your product slightly better than others, they may still change their minds when they consider 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 6: 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 purchase from an unrated store, fearing the disappointment of a bad product. Buyers read review comments to see if there are any issues with product quality, delivery times, or 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. Reach out to niche-related blogs
You can’t imagine how effective a blog can be to help a new shop with no reviews. If you are selling wedding products, reach out to wedding blogs. If you are selling book-lover t-shirts, reach out to book blogs that write posts on book-lover merch. If they like your product, they might feature it because Etsy has an affiliate program, and promoters earn a commission on sales.
B. Use social media
It is always best to promote your listings across 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 consistently post quality content on social media, your account grows organically, with a noticeable increase in views and followers. In this way, you can easily make sales with an unrated shop.
Reason 7: 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 8: You are not using tags or using the wrong ones
Etsy lets you add up to 13 tags, each with a maximum of 20 characters. 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 enough the importance of relevant tags. 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 idea is to find tags with higher search volume and fewer competing listings.
You can also use tools like Google Analytics to identify the keywords your shop’s visitors use. You can use this data to further refine your listing’s tags. 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 9: 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 or any of your listings in Google search results, it could be a problem. One thing to note is 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 more listings you have, the greater the chances of your shop being 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 the Google algorithm can better understand it. 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 as many of your shop’s listing pages as possible.
C. Seek Etsy’s help
If you have followed good SEO practices and still don’t see anything in Google search results, you should reach out to Etsy support for help.
Reason 10: 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 you have listed 30-40 listings without any sales, this means you haven’t discovered your bestseller yet. You need to experiment with different styles, colors, and shapes to discover your best-selling product. It also depends on your skill level. For example, a seasoned t-shirt designer can get sales with a few listings, while an amateur designer may take longer to make sales, only after he has refined his skills to make sellable designs.
How to fix it?
A. List consistently
Whenever you list a new product, the Etsy algorithm increases visibility for 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. Offering different variations of the same product increases the chance of making a sale.
Reason 11: Your listing photos are average
Half of the job is done if you have nailed the listing photos. If your listing photos are average, no buyer will be interested in making a purchase. You can consider listing photos as a free advertisement. No buyer can trust a product’s quality if they cannot trust the listing photos.
Would you buy
This
OR
That
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 12: 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 likely to click that listing. Etsy’s algorithm rewards listings with higher click-through rates, and good thumbnails are crucial for 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 13: Your shop has negative reviews
If your new Etsy shop has clearly visible negative reviews, that may be why it is not selling. A bad review can be very damaging for new shops with few or no reviews. A bad review, no matter how unjust it may sound to you, can significantly influence the buying decisions of your shop’s 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 can 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 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 unjust 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 mention IP addresses, to be on the safe side, your friends and family should order from a different IP address to prove 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 14: 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 30 days, and they can be extended as many times as you want.
D. Share your story
Etsy lets you 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 15: Your shop lacks a niche
If you list many unrelated products in one shop, it might look like a shop with no specialization. Furthermore, a shopper searching your shop for a specific product might quickly lose interest.
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 and has a good number of positive reviews, you may consider expanding into other niches, depending on your brand strategy.
Reason 16: There are no product variations
Online shoppers are becoming increasingly specific in their choices. They want a specific color, shape, and design. For instance, if you are selling t-shirts, a shopper might like the design but not the color, so they look for 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 17: 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 offer a highly customizable product that provides greater flexibility to shoppers.
Reason 18: Your listings lack details
A shopper 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, shoppers 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 19: You are not adding listing videos
Etsy lets you add a 3-15-second 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 20: 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 or ineffective, the potential buyer might not proceed. For instance, if you are providing one-word answers, a shopper might find it rude. And if you take 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 are skipped or ignored, it can lead to too much back-and-forth, which might frustrate the potential buyer. Last but not least, use bullet points to answer each question separately; this makes it easier for the sender to read your response.
D. Follow-up
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.