Multiple Identical Listings vs. Quantity Feature

[Former_Member]

Is it better to have duplicate listings or just use the quantity feature on etsy? For instance, I've read that having 100 listings seems to be the magic number to get your shop noticed but I will never have 100 different scents of candles to list.

So is it beneficial to have 3 identical listings of the same candle in the same scent instead of 1 listing and set the quantity at 3?

[Former_Member]

No - that just makes you tired. :D

Your stock will build up - it takes time. Use the quantity listings - renewed listings like that will make your shop more relevant in Google.

[Former_Member]

Use the qty feature. It saves you money and Google doesn't like copy and pasted listings.

[Former_Member]

Thanks! Very helpful!

[LLFarm]

I wouldn't to duplicate listings. I use the same product with new titles, text and tags to target different searches. You also could combine some of your candles to add listings. offer 2 in 1 listing (2 candles for sale) or could you make a candle using the scents you have layered so you would burn down 1 scent then it would change to another? I know nothing about candles other than I like them... just a thought...

[Former_Member]

Yes and no. Multiple EXACT listings aren't helpful at all - I've found that the Etsy search algorithms pretty much ignore the multiple item.

However... I've discovered that if you re-title your duplicate item with a slightly different title... Etsy search now sees it and you end up with two items pulling in traffic from searches, which is pretty much what you want!

To answer your 100 item question... 100 items in stock spread out over 20 listings (with each having a quantity of 5, in this example) really only shows up in Etsy searches as you having 20 items still. For the purpose of pulling in search traffic, that still isn't very helpful. 100 items in stock spread out over 100 listings though... making sure to have 100 different titles, of course... is very helpful and will have much more Etsy search traffic pulling in for you.

[Former_Member]

No, I think it'd be better to have just one listing with a larger quantity. When a buyer goes to your shop, they don't want to see the same couple of listings being repeated.

If you have the same item with some variation (different color, scent, etc), then I think it would be good to put up a separate listing, but the image should be different, so it doesn't come across as the same item.

Hope this helps. Happy New Year! :)