HOW SUCCESSFUL IS YOUR ETSY SHOP COMPARED TO THE AVERAGE?

[#1]

How is your Etsy Shop doing? ETSY STATISTICS & a story too – For Your Information

Compiled from information found at: www.etsy.com/careers/?ref=ft_careers

Etsy has over 15,000,000 members of which about 800,000 are active sellers that leaves the other 14,200,000 members are buyers. Said another way about 5.3% of the total membership are Etsy Sellers.

There are over 13,500,000 listed items which averages about to about 17 items per Etsy Seller.

In 2011, $500,000,000 of goods were sold, which averages out to $625 for the year for each Etsy Seller.

There are over 1,000,000,000 page views a month on Etsy, which averages out to 1,250 average page views a month per active Etsy Seller.

¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨

So, in summary, how does your Etsy Shop’s Statistics compare with the average on Etsy?

Are your monthly sales averaging over $52 (the average for Etsy Shop Owners)? If so you are doing better than average. Are your weekly sales averaging over $12 (the average for Etsy Shop Owners)? If so you are doing better than average.

Using my SWG formula (Scientific Wild Guess) that would conclude that the average Etsy Seller may be “keystoning” (or charging 2 times what it costs to make the product) so the average Etsy Seller is grossing about $6 per week in gross profit, before their labor and shop management costs.

Let’s see how does this compare with what many believe is the lowest paid worker in the world.

A recent UN International Labor Organization (ILO) reports shows that wage earners in China made and average equivalent of just $656 a month, ranking them 57th out of the 72 countries the report covered. This is $7,872 annually and $151 (divided 7,872 by 52 weeks) per week.

How does this make you feel, probably hating me for presenting these facts to you; sorry?

$151 compared to $6 per week means the average Etsy Seller is making almost 4% of what today’s average wage earner in China makes. Said another way, today’s average wage earner in China is making over 25 times as much as the average Etsy Seller is making each week (151 divided by 6).

Let’s see the average wage earner in China and I am making one of my SWGs here works about 50 hours per week to make $151 so per hour they are making about $3.02 compared to what the average Etsy Sellers makes per week of: 20 hours per week = $0.30 per hour, 40 hours per week = $0.15 per hour, or 50 hours per week = $0.12 per hour.

Are you ready to kill the messenger (Me) now? You’ve got me running scared. Please don’t kill me because I believe all of you are doing much better than the average Etsy Seller, and you are providing the world wide web with some of the most unique products they can find anywhere in the world. You are differently giving of yourself. Anyway it’s just fun and games running an Etsy Shop isn’t it?

[REFERENCE: www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2012/04/04/u-n-shocker-chinese-worke... ]

¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨

BREAK TIME (so I can hide from those who have put a contract out on me)
Here is a positive thought to consider: “It matters not how long we live but how.” — Philip James Bailey

¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨

I am sure there must be one of you Etsy Sellers that is grossing more than $1,000 each month; would you be kind enough to share your secrets with us here today? Thanks for sharing.

Everyone please check back to see the comments of those grossing more than $1,000 each month; this is the goods news that may save me and then you’ll stop hating me for sharing this factual news with you.

Please enjoy a wonderful day; after all, life does not have to be PERFECT for it to be WONDERFUL for you. It is and always has been that the best things in life are free! Please enjoy the wonderful gifts we have on our planet that someone other than man made for us, whoever that may be. If you are an early riser you may enjoy the Sunrise or after the day is done the Sunset. I like photographing Sunsets more since there are more “reds and orange” colors from all the particles in the air. Sunset photo tip: Set you camera on a TRIPOD facing the Sunset, then every 20 to 30 seconds press the timer button so your camera will be perfectly still when it takes each and every shot of the Sunset. Now, choose the very best photo to share with others and do not let them see the others and everyone will believe you are the world’s best photographer of Sunsets.

¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨

I leave now to go find a secure place for those who I may have smashed their “happy bubble” – I am very sorry about that. These are sad facts, but there are just statistically analyzed from Etsy’s facts. Hopefully, “tomorrow will be a better day” (so said Scarlet when Rhett Butler walked out on her); yes, hopefully 2012 will prove to be a better day for us all. There is absolutely the finest talent here for unique and beneficial products found anywhere on the World Wide Web. Congratulations to all for sharing your handmade creations with this all. I think I spend more dollars on Etsy than I take in. And, I am truly enjoying what I purchase directly from the maker, creator, and very special unique person behind each and every sale!

WOW it really does make my day buying and selling (a little) on Etsy too.

Take great care of yourself, thanks for being a guest at my “messy” Etsy Shop, soon to be improved (I’ve just been playing for my 1st 4 months and I need to get serious about things so I can at least achieve above average results on Etsy).

And, a very special super-duper THANKS to all of my Etsy Shop Clients and VIP Guests, I really do enjoy helping you and your making my day when you click on the “add to cart” button, or just “favorite” and item or my shop or add me to your circle. It really makes me feel good.

Mike M.
www.etsy.com/shop/WOWPhoto

To help make up for being the messenger with not so great facts, please enjoy a visit to the beautiful Butchart Gardens on Victoria Island in British Columbia:

www.butchartgardens.com

And, if you don’t want to travel that far I have an Etsy Shop that I just 100% enjoy visiting right here in Etsyland – Garden Copper Art - www.etsy.com/shop/GardenCopperArt - I am a gardener at heart with over 87 roses in my home gardens.

Each morning when my Bride of over 45 years awakens I do my very best to present her with a cut rose in a bud vase I take with me when I cut the rose so it is the perfect length for the bud vase and I always have the vase filled with water so the rose can have a drink seconds after being cut. I find doing this helps each rose last a couple of days longer. I also present my wife with a photo love not from me and a gentle soft and tender kiss with some very special and personal I love you words. Following this I serve her orange juice while her tea steeps and I fix breakfast for you. It is just one tiny way I both show my love and respect for her each and every day that I can. And, do you know what? I love my wife each day more than the previous day, yet only half as much as tomorrow.

Ladies, please have your “hubby” or “significant other” read this so he or she can daily show love and respect to your each and every day in a very special way; you deserve it, especially because you share your all with the world wide web of folks here in Etsyland – the friendliest place on Earth – I would say the happiest, but California Disneyland has had a sign up since I was a little kid proclaiming it is the “happiest place on earth.” But, it is you and I that make Etsyland the “friendliest place on earth.”

Thanks so very much for reading my little essay story today of 1,379 words.


¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨°ºº°¨¨¨¨¨¨

[Former_Member]

I don't believe in averages. I believe in repeat customer's and happy customer's. It does take a while to find your own nitch and learn how to build a shop that is consistent.

If you looking for 'seo' and shop stats try this link:

http://www.etsy.com/teams/6/captains-quarters/members

Many of these admin's have shops, some disclose and some do not. But when you have extra time to study look at how they tag their items and describe their listing. IF admin is doing it, then by golly shouldn't you.

[CrystalSandTarotShop]

That was super long.

We have grossed around $2,000 in our first month and have had over 200 orders. We've also been fortunate enough to donate over $200 to anti-bullying campaigns, which is why my 11 year old started this shop in the first place.

The only thing I wish for at this point is to keep the momentum up. Hoping it doesn't die down since I just spent a few hundred bucks on charms. :)

[DecorDesignsAndMore]

Make it happen!

[MariaHelenaDesign]

I think the gardens are on Vancouver Island, not Victoria Island (sorry, simply had to say it!)

[NellieandRuthDesigns]

Like Donna Summers once said - "She Works Hard For Her Money" -

I'd love to have many sales each and everyday, however, I know that won't happen. Why do I have an Etsy shop, for the love of crafting, sharing, helping others and putting a smile on someones face.

Failing is not an option, my shop will be a success. I found all these stats very interesting, thanks. I'll continue to create in my little corner of the world to keep my mind active for my own mental health and happiness !!!! LOL

[DecorDesignsAndMore]

Hi Maria,

Absolutely right, Vancouver Island. I say at Victoria.

[DecorDesignsAndMore]

Our primary target goal is to ease our shopper’s mind to relax and become open to what we have written and what we show in our photographs.

One of the most important questions we need to continually need to ask ourselves is:

Who are our customers or clients?

What are they looking to buy?

The best way to be successful is to offer what these VIP Guests of ours really want.

Once we have what they are looking for we will do best to present it in such as way with our words and photographs that make it as easy and possible for our VIP Guests to add our products to their cart.

A simple yet most effective concept. What is the #1 reason an Etsy Shop Owner chooses to do differently?

What do you think?

[DoodleBirdTerrariums]

My favorite part is the SWG formula (Scientific Wild Guess).

[DecorDesignsAndMore]

SWG is what one needs to do without all the facts.

[ShadowPuppetStories]

I'd love to know the average $1 revenue per view. I've been on Etsy for a couple of years now, and have learned a few things, but obviously it would be useful to know just how to increase the views. Have people compared google adwords with say Etsy ads. Looking at my lifetime number of views and revenue I'm averaging about 3 views per $1 sales or about 34cents revenue per view.

[Former_Member]

I've made 152 sales in 5 months, probably averaging nearly a sale a day!

[Former_Member]

Finally someone who says it like it is. I am a way below average Etsy seller who has to work a real job to keep things together. All these sellers who say they sell $1000.00's of dollars month make me wonder what they are selling... surely not HANDMADE JEWELRY. Thanks Mike for opening up some eyes!

[BlackCatStudio98]

Aubergine Fox, that is an AMAZING amount of sales in a short amount of time!

[PrairiePrimitives]

And now there are 27,852,066 items listed here. Hard to say what the other numbers are anymore since Etsy stopped publishing their "Weather Report."

My sales have increased greatly over the 8 years I've had this shop. 2012 was the first year I sold more than $1,000 here. Last year was nearly 3x the previous year's sales, and there's a good possibility I'll surpass that this year. It's a long way from being enough to live on, but it's finally gotten to the point where it makes a small difference!

The inconsistency in sales is annoying, but I'm used to that. I just went 10 days without a sale ... then sold 3 things (to different customers) in less than 24 hours!

[MorrisseyFabric]

I found Etsy to be an amazing place to reach my target customer of diy people! It has become my full time job and I love it. My average order is $136.00, and let's just say I mail out much more than one package per week. I'm still in a bit of shock over the success of this.

I also buy things on Etsy which is a great way to analyze what the shop I am buying from is doing right. It helps me to focus on search terms that are appropriate for my own listings. Think like a buyer.

It takes time and effort, but if I can do this, anyone can!

[ChristinaGuenther]

Thank you for the breakdown.

[ChristinaGuenther]

Sad to say this, but my stats used to be off the record.
I could actually control how much I wanted to make.

I have been with Etsy since the beginning. My previous store had over 6,000 sales and I had to open a new one because I wanted to change the name.

Sales were phenomenal when Etsy had all the pages show as 'most recently listed'. This was successful because we would renew items throughout the day or week to be at the top of the search. This allowed the people who were renewing and paying for advertising get the air time that they were willing to purchase.

In those days, I could make as much as I could make product.

Example April 1, 2009 to May 31, 2009 (2 months)
905 orders = $35,542.25

This Year April 1, 2016 to May 31, 2016 (2 months)
33 orders = $2,402.85

Nauseating! Those were the days when Etsy highlighted "Quit Your Day Job", which unfortunately most of us did.

Another reason sales declined so much was that the flood gates were opened to manufactured items from countries such as China. (please do not be offended by this comment) The Chinese manipulate their money to be able to sell for ridiculously low prices.

Handmade cannot compete with this! At all!

Etsy used to be the greatest arts & crafts show on Earth. Now Etsy is more of a ebay, alibaba, amazon, aliexpress combination. We lost our unique identity of an Art Community.

Now I know that this is all discouraging and there is nothing we can do about Etsy choices.

However, if you want to grow your business to spend your marketing time and money wisely, you must promote from outside Etsy. Take advantage of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Wanelo, Pinterest and Email marketing. Grow your followers and spend time keeping them engaged.

The worst thing you can do is to bring down your prices to compete with other countries. Unless, of course, you want to make .50 cents an hour.

I wish we could go back in time. But I continue to try and regain a piece of the pie.

I wish you all success and happiness.

[LeedsRadio]

It's easy to blame low-cost imports or changes in venue but the reality is much more complicated. In the 20+ years I have been in business. I've seen demand naturally dry up on some items: There are items that used to sell several times a month that now don't sell more than once a year. Fashions also change. New competitors emerge - and not all will be dumping goods; Some will be delivering high quality and maybe with more moxie than you're exhibiting. It's called "competition" for a reason. If you are passive you will certainly lose.

The hardest things about being in business is not making product, or posting items on a website, or book keeping or any others of the routine tasks. The two hardest things are:

1) Continuously monitoring and navigating the market and knowing when it's time to change course: new products, discontinuing products at the end of their lives, new image, new population, etc.
2) Always giving the best customer service. Never becoming bitter or resentful even if someone has taken advantage.

If you suddenly fell off the side of a boat and were drowning, complaining about it is not going to save your life.

Zig Ziglar said:
"“Every sale has five basic obstacles: no need, no money, no hurry, no desire, no trust.”

No amount of social media promoting will work if there is one or more of the above obstacles.

[WilliamsGiftshop]

Excellent advice, Richard!

[fishcouple]

Christina -- Wow! That's amazing ~~~!

Example April 1, 2009 to May 31, 2009 (2 months)
905 orders = $35,542.25

I never took the ride of "good old days" but I do remember and enjoyed browsing 'most recently listed' listings when I was purely a buyer. :)

[JudysLittleShop]

Interesting read. Wonder if Mike would consider updating this thread with current data. There have been a lot of changes since he first wrote this.

[UrbanCoutureJewelry]

Fortunately these stats are not accurate for my businesses :-)

[Former_Member]

I'm just hitting my 10 month mark on Etsy and also just hit over 100 sales...it's a work in progress, you kind of learn the ins and outs by trial and error...

It's been a great experience and can only hope I continue to grow :-)

Thanks for the research and making us small shop owners feel like we're accomplishing something ;-)

[YeOldeProppeShoppe]

Just finished my 12th month in business. My yearly sales were: $31669.31 Also, I wouldn't quit my day job. I am a Mechanical Engineer by trade and I pretty much just work like a fiend. I do one job for 8-10 hours / day...then I go home and work an additional 2-3. With all that and the gym, I don't get much free time....ever. It's a sacrifice, but I'm building something bigger than just me, and that makes it worth it. If you really want to do that. Start and even when you get some success, never take your foot off the gas...ever. I'll do this insanity for a few years, buy some real estate to rent and be able to work only as a consultant engineer while leasurly running my business.

[BlackCatStudio98]

Amazing how Etsy has grown. The original post from 2012 says there were 13.5 million items listed on Etsy. Now there are 12.9 million items listed in jewelry alone!