Diagnostic
Why are my Etsy sales down?
Part 1
Split the drop into visits and conversion before you change anything
Do this first
- Open Stats in Shop Manager and set the range to the last 30 days.
- Compare it with the same 30 days last year.
- Note what fell: visits, conversion rate, or both.
- Follow the matching row below. Change nothing until you have.
| What changed | Most likely | Check first |
|---|---|---|
| Visits down, conversion steady | Fewer shoppers find you: a traffic source fell, or listings lost search placement | Traffic sources in Stats, then the search visibility page |
| Visits steady, conversion down | Shoppers arrive and don't buy: price, shipping, photos or reviews | Your top listings next to the alternatives a shopper sees |
| Both down | A search visibility issue across the shop, or a slower season | The search visibility page, then the same weeks last year |
| One listing down | That listing lost placement or stopped being the best offer | That listing's stats and the search terms that used to find it |
- Revenue is visits times conversion rate times order value, so a drop has to show up in at least 1 of the 3.
- Etsy counts a visit as one browsing session in your shop, however many listings the shopper opens, and conversion rate as the share of visits that ended in an order.2
- Etsy warns that a month is too short to read. It points sellers to year-over-year data instead.1
Part 2
If visits fell, find the source that fell
Do this first
- Open Traffic sources in Stats and find the source that dropped most.
- If Etsy search dropped, open the search visibility page in Shop Manager.
- Fix what it flags on your best sellers first.
- Check the page again a day later, once the fixes reach search.
- Etsy splits visits into 7 sources: Etsy search, the Etsy app and other Etsy pages, Etsy Ads, Offsite Ads, Etsy marketing and SEO, social media, and direct traffic.2 A fall in social points at your own posting or at Offsite Ads on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest, which Etsy counts there too. A fall in Etsy search points at placement.
- Listings, on the search visibility page: at least 1 image, a high-resolution primary photo (Etsy recommends 2,000 pixels or more) of a single finished product, clear and well lit, the most specific category, and a return policy even if it's "No returns". US listings with domestic shipping under $6 are prioritized.3
- Shop and customer service: a logo, since Etsy says an incomplete shop can lower your listings' visibility, plus messages answered on time, orders shipped on time with tracking, a positive review score and few cases.3
- Fixes take up to 1 day to show in search, and Etsy says the insights typically clear within 24 hours.3
Part 3
If conversion fell, look at the offer
Do this first
- Open your 3 best sellers from last year.
- Put each one beside what a shopper sees next to it in Etsy search today.
- Compare the price with shipping, the first photo and the newest reviews.
- Start with a competitor's lower delivered price and your newest reviews.
- Etsy names 5 things that move conversion: photo quality, price, reviews, listing titles and descriptions, and shipping and return policies.2
- Steady visits with fewer orders means shoppers still find you. Something on the listing stopped them, so fix the listing before you buy more traffic with Etsy Ads.
- Price and reviews are the 2 checks you can finish this afternoon.
Part 4
When it's the season or the market
Do this first
- Put this year's weeks beside the same weeks last year.
- Compare your search terms in Stats against last year's.
- Add up every channel you sell on for the same weeks.
- Etsy names 3 market causes on their own: increased competition, changing trends and shifts in purchasing behavior.1
- A dip that matches the same weeks last year is the season. Plan stock and listings around it.
- Flat last year and down this year: a search phrase that used to bring visits may be searched less. Stats shows the terms.
- See the whole year by month: download the orders CSV from Shop Manager and paste it into Etsy shop stats, which also counts how many buyers came back.
- A drop on 1 marketplace can sit inside a growing business. Amazon down, Shopify up walks through that trap, and the same fork in Amazon's terms is in why are my Amazon sales down.
Part 5
Common questions
Why did my Etsy sales suddenly stop?
Check visits first. If visits fell too, a traffic source dried up or your listings lost search placement, and Etsy's search visibility page shows listing, shop and customer service issues that lower placement. If visits held, shoppers are arriving and not buying, so look at price, shipping and recent reviews.
Is a sales drop on Etsy normal for the time of year?
Often. A short window like a month won't give an accurate picture, Etsy says, and it points to year-over-year data instead. If this year's dip matches the same weeks last year, it's the season.
How long do Etsy listing fixes take to show in search?
Etsy says changes can take up to one day to be reflected in search, and search visibility insights typically disappear within 24 hours of a fix.
Read Etsy beside everything else
Sentopi's monthly report reads every channel you sell through, Etsy included, beside Amazon, Shopify, wholesale and retail: what moved across the whole business, why, and what to do first. The first month is free, and after that it's priced per brand and quoted on the call.