Etsy Shop not showing up in search results

[MamaBearBabyWear]

I've been a seller on Etsy since 2009. My shop is in good standing and is my full time job. A few days ago I noticed a steep decline in visits and sales. Thinking maybe it was the school year starting slowing things down I wasn't too concerned. Now I've had 3 days with 0 or 1 sale where I used to get 20+/day. I started digging in my ads account only to find there have been no ad views since August 3rd. A little more digging and I found that my shop is no longer showing up in search results (MamaBear BabyWear), nor are my listings. 

Forum discussions let me to believe that my shop was deindexed (I'm not tech savvy so I'm not 100% sure what that even means), so I reached out to Etsy support. I got a call back and that person couldn't assist me so she escalated it to their tech people. That ticket number isn't showing up in my open tickets. I also sent an email. She said 2-3 days before someone gets back to me. I'm a little terrified right now as this is my only income.

Any experience with this? Is there anything I can do? Any idea how long it will take Etsy to fix this?

[OwlAlwaysKnit]

I have read in the forums is you put "Shop not Indexed" in the email header that may help.

[MamaBearBabyWear]

I did "shop deindexed". Do you think I should send another?

It's difficult not to panic when I realize that no one can find me.

[AAANativeArts]

@MamaBearBabyWear

Don't open a new email. If you do that, they will think your original request was resolved because you did not reply using the I Still Need Help link in their original email, so they will kick  you to the back of the line and process your new email as a new problem.

Just keep replying via the I Still Need Help link in their original email until they actually solve  your problem. They often will send you 3 or 4 canned responses that do not resolve your problem before they actually address  your actual problem.

I wouldn't bother with Chat. They can't answer this type of question and will only tell you they will kick it up to someone who can, which they may or may not do.

[BagmakerSupply]

Your shop shows up when searched for by shop name. As Etsy plays with the search algorithm your real views and visits from organic search will vary. But DO NOT rely on searching for your listings for any meaningful information. Keep in mind that if everyone on this forum searched for the exact same phrase they would all get different results. Because of personalized searches you can NOT rely on anyone's search results, not even your own, to define how your listing is ranked. The old way of estimating ranking by searching for your item is dead. The only way to know your listing's ranking would be for Etsy to share its algorithm but even that changes constantly as they tweak it.

[MamaBearBabyWear]

My shop does not show up when I search for it by shop name. It says "0 results". Also, none of my listings show up when searched for by their exact name. Nor do they show up when I'm IN my shop and search for anything.

[OwlAlwaysKnit]

@BagmakerSupply  there listings are not showing up in their shop when I searched within it so they have been deindexed

[secondarycreations]

A way to tell if your shop is indexed is to search within your shop. I did a search within your shop for waterproof and it came back with no results so it does seem your shop is not indexed. 

When I search for your shop, even using "find shop names containing," I don't get a list of shops but listings of items from other shops. Not sure why that's happening. This happens even if I just search for MamaBear using "find shop names containing." 

[AAANativeArts]

Same for me. I don't find anything from  your shop or your shop name, but I see many similar products to what you sell from other shops.

[BagmakerSupply]

Good point @OwlAlwaysKnit   @MamaBearBabyWear you should check your listings page to make sure the Etsy bots have not been at work and all of the "missing" listings are still showing as active. The listings page in shop manager (preferably using a browser) should be the definitive word on the status of all of one's listings. If everything looks correct there, DO NOT open a new issue (doing so closes the one you already opened and puts the new one on the bottom of the pile). Every eMail from Etsy will have a link something like "I Still Need Help". Click on that to keep the report alive. You may have to do this innumerable times before anything is done but do not give up.

[MamaBearBabyWear]

Yes, all my listings are still active. Thank you for the heads up about submitting new help requests!

[TinLizziAntiques]

It may take weeks or days for your shop to be indexed again. List on other marketplaces in the meantime so your sales can continue. Are you sure all financial details have not changed? Any emails from Etsy in spam folders? I wonder if you got mistakenly caught by a bot looking for baby's clothing as there have been major changes in that sales area.

[MamaBearBabyWear]

I am on other marketplaces and have a website, but none of them come close to my Etsy sales. I did check all my Etsy emails and spam folder - nothing. I don't know what it means to be "caught by a bot"?

[JMOldeVintage]

@MamaBearBabyWear - As TinLizziAntiques stated, Etsy has started deactivating items meant for kids under 14 & baby items. Who knows what else they've done.

This from Etsy: 

https://www.etsy.com/seller-handbook/article/handmade-well-made-design-and/1026513040312

Scroll down to the links on specific items for children. 

[MamaBearBabyWear]

I am CPSC compliant and have not had any items deactivated. They simply cannot be found when searched for in the Etsy search bar.

[ChezEviesHolidayShop]

I can see your shop and 12 pages of listings!  I just clicked on the name of your shop and it went right there and I could click on any of the listings also!

[MamaBearBabyWear]

Yes, you can directly click to any of them. That's the problem. Everything is still active, they just are not showing up in search results. It seems the "deindexed" term is likely the most apt. I sure hope they fix it soon. This is my livlihood.

[ArtDollsbyJD]

Your shop is deindexed.  Since you have sent in a request to be reindexed, it will take a bit of time.  If you get a reply back and your shop is not indexed then reply back the issue still exists.

[MamaBearBabyWear]

It's so incredibly frustrating that help is so difficult to reach and such a long time coming! I sure wish that they'd used some of those extra fees they are charging to get more help for sellers. This is the only platform/company where I cannot reach a person and have such a simple problem resolved in a matter of minutes or hours at most. To think I may have to wait days or WEEKS (as someone said) is almost unbearable. When this is your full time job how are you supposed to do that?!

[MamaBearBabyWear]

Oh my gosh! They keep marking my ticket "complete" but nothing is actually being done. What is going on?

[Former_Member]

Look through the questions in this section until one comes up with a chat button. Pay no attention to the questions relevancy to your issue, just keep looking until you find a chat. It might take a while, you might not even find one at all. The lack of support on this website is frankly appalling.

[MamaBearBabyWear]

It’s so devastating that a single glitch in a line of code can destroy a 13 year old business and there’s nothing I can do about it but wait on a heartless company that doesn’t care in the least to decide my fate. I guess I’ll have to go look for a job on Monday if they don’t get back to me. This has been my full time employment since my husband died. I’m heartbroken and so frustrated. 

[Former_Member]

Please keep us updated and keep harping on them; weekends are slow with support. But yes, it's in times like this we all realise Etsy doesn't give a frick about sellers, we are all just pawns in their AI research.

[YonksRox]

I did a search for your shop and got 0. Hope you get it resolved soon.

[MamaBearBabyWear]

still nothing but crickets from Etsy support. I requested a call back again on Saturday and the call back came quickly but the rep said "that ticket has already been sent to tech support, there's nothing more I can do, you'll just have to wait."

Waiting means me and 4 other ladies are all out of work.