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Is your Etsy shop getting views but no sales? You’re not the only seller dealing with this. Maybe your stats show plenty of favorites but no purchases, or steady traffic that never turns into sales. Either way, it’s a sign that something along the way is stopping shoppers from making a purchase. Below, we’ve rounded up the most common reasons this happens, along with the first steps you can take to start converting more of that traffic into sales.
Etsy-Wide Sales Trends
The first thing to consider when sales are slow is how other Etsy shops are faring. If other Etsy sellers are also struggling with low conversion or a drop in traffic, it may be that shoppers are “window shopping” instead of making a purchase. Typically, during the spring and summer, conversion rates on Etsy are lower. This is because there are fewer major holidays to shop for than in the last quarter of the year. Seeing traffic but no sales during these months doesn’t necessarily mean something is wrong with your shop.
💡TIP: Use Competitor Sales to see how your shop’s sales compare to others in your niche. This tool shows how many sales each shop you’re tracking had over both the past week and the past 30 days. Use it to see if others are experiencing a slow period as well.
Low-Quality Photos
Your listing photos are shoppers’ first point of contact with your shop. Customers tend to look at a listing’s photos before they even read its title. Therefore, the quality of your listing photos can “make or break” your listings. Make sure to show off each item’s uniqueness and craftsmanship with photos. This is especially important for handmade products. Include as many details as possible; zoom in on special touches, and display how they are packed for shipping. Maybe even share a “behind the scenes” photo of you creating each item, if there’s room to do so.
As for how to format photos, according to Etsy, your listing images should:
- Be horizontal or square. If you use vertical photos, Etsy crops the thumbnail images.
- Be upright, not rotated sideways or upside down.
- Have a significant amount of “negative space” around the items. This way, you’re able to crop your photos without cropping the items featured in them.
💡TIP: For tips on taking high-quality, professional-looking listing photos, read this eRank blog post.
Pricing Strategy
Pricing your items too high, or even too low, can affect your sales. If you price your items significantly higher than most other similar items in your business’s niche, you run the risk of “pricing out” your target audience. If your target audience cannot afford your products, who will buy them?
On the other hand, if you price your items significantly lower than your competitors, you risk making your shop look cheap and suspicious. Many shoppers expect items that are priced unusually low to be of poor quality. If shoppers are suspicious of your items, they won’t purchase them.
💡TIP: Type a term that describes one of your items into eRank’s Keyword Tool. Use the “Price Range” graph under the “Search Results Analysis” tab to view the price range of the top 100 Etsy product listings that rank for that term. If possible, price your item the same as or slightly less than the majority of the listings featured in the graph.
Processing Times and Shipping Costs
Shoppers tend to want their purchases as soon as possible and may not purchase an item if the processing time seems too long. This can be problematic for anyone selling handmade goods that take an extended period of time to make, such as custom or personalized pieces. Select a processing time that adequately reflects the time that it takes to create the product. Then, in your listing’s description, acknowledge the extended processing time by saying something like “This item is made to order upon purchase.”
💡TIP: Again, use eRank’s Keyword Tool to view the processing times for the top 100 listings that include a term that describes the listing you are working on. Use the “Processing Times” graph under the “Search Results Analysis” tab to see how long, on average, it takes a listing that includes the aforementioned term to ship. If possible, set your processing times to be in the same range as most of the listings featured in the graph.
While there is no way to avoid paying shipping for physical orders, ensure that Etsy calculates the cost correctly by accurately weighing and measuring your items when creating your listings. Only offer free shipping if it is practical for your business. Otherwise, consider coupon codes for free shipping when customers spend over a certain amount, or purchase a set number of items. If you sell small items such as stickers, charms, or ornaments that are easy to ship together, offer bundles with discounted shipping.
Another strategy to lower shipping costs is to partially build it into your listing price, taking a few dollars off of your shipping price and adding it to your listing instead. While this choice may not fit every business, it may be worth trying if you’ve been struggling with conversions.
Poor Customer Feedback
Negative feedback or low-star reviews are another common reason why an Etsy listing may get views but no sales. It should come as no surprise that even one critical review can scare off potential buyers. Social proof such as customer testimonials can often speak louder than your listings’ photos or descriptions.
Fortunately, Etsy allows you to post a public response to any of your items’ reviews within 100 days from when the buyer posted or last edited the review. eRank recommends keeping your response brief and professional when you publicly reply to a review. In some cases (ex: an item isn’t functioning as it should), it may be worth mentioning your shop’s return policy. This way, shoppers browsing items’ reviews can read your responses and see that you care about your customers’ buying experiences.
💡TIP: So, what’s the best way to prevent critical reviews from appearing on your listings in the first place? Make sure that your listings’ descriptions and images accurately portray your items. Include instructions in each description and upload up to 20 different images per listing, if possible. Go “the extra mile” to ensure that your customers know exactly what they’re purchasing. For even more tips, check out this eRank blog post.
Targeting the Wrong Etsy Keywords
Finally, your Etsy listings may be experiencing views with minimal sales because you’re not targeting the right shoppers. It may be tempting to include lots of terms with high search volumes. However, if those terms aren’t relevant to your products, shoppers will ignore them as they browse, or click on them and immediately back out because the item isn’t what they were expecting. It’s easy to forget that you need to be specifically targeting people who are actually interested in your offerings.
Take a look at your traffic stats (either on Etsy or with eRank’s Traffic Stats tool) to see which search terms your listings are getting traffic for. Optimize your listings and potentially increase your search visibility by including those terms in your titles and tags. Remember, don’t change the SEO of a listing that is performing well for you!
💡TIP: eRank’s Spotted on Etsy tool shows you which of your listings eRank found among the first 100 search results for specific terms while performing random Etsy searches. For members with Google Analytics synced, it also lists the specific terms that shoppers used to find your items in Etsy search. This tool lets you see how popular these search terms are and whether or not any are relevant to your niche. It also helps you discover new search terms to use in your shop, so you can refine your target audience and SEO.
Turn Views Into Sales
If your Etsy shop is getting lots of traffic but struggling to convert those views into sales, don’t panic. You’re not alone. There are many factors that influence a shopper’s decision to buy. The good news? Most of them are fixable.
Take time to assess your listings with fresh eyes and use eRank’s tools to uncover what’s working and what needs improvement. Whether it’s refining your shop’s SEO, adjusting your items’ pricing, or exploring competitor stats, each small fix brings you closer to turning those views into sales.
➡️ Want even more tips? Subscribe to the eRank YouTube Channel and follow us on Threads for weekly insights, tutorials, and fresh updates designed to help your Etsy shop succeed.
You’ve got this, and we’ve got your back!
Our team is continuously improving eRank’s tools to better serve our members. Due to this, some of the content featured in this post may differ from the content featured on erank.com.
