Sudden stop of sales

[#1]

Hi

I have been an active seller on etsy.com for 10 years. I have always had regular sales, which have increased every year. The beginning of this year was also record-breaking in terms of sales. In March I noticed some changes and a significant drop in sales. I only sold a few products at the beginning of the month and then nothing. In April, it was also about the same, and since then there has been complete silence. I am a seller from Europe (Poland). I am in contact with several other sellers who have the same problem. At first I thought maybe customers suddenly lost interest in the products, but I don't think so. After analyzing the problem with other sellers and delving into the topics of the functioning of Internet search engines, we come to the conclusion that it is related to the search algorithms used by etsy.com. I wonder if artificial intelligence is not hurting us sellers, cutting off our stores from sales, because that's how it looks. Does anyone have similar problem? What can be done to get sales back on track?

Anna

[Girlfriendnecklace]

I was really busy in May/June then the sales stopped suddenly

[omkarstudio]

Same issue here. Sales have stopped from March. Hardly any views and visits and no favourites either. I tried posting on social media too but it’s not working either. There are so many posts on this forum so this looks like there are so many sellers struggling. 

[SmallthingsbyAmanda]

Thr are always posts from sellers who are struggling and have been as long as I have been on etsy back in 2011. The thing is when we are struggling we come looking for answers and help. There might be 5 times more sellers who have increased number of sales but people don't normally come to the forums to say whats happening on etsy my sales numbers are much higher then normal or even whats happening my sales are just the same as they always are. 

[BirthdayGoodiesShop]

Use this down time to research different keywords and improve listings to see if that helps. Run a sale and promote it on social media and show that you're actively working on your shop so Etsy can see that you're trying to make things better and improve. If you haven't tweaked listings or added new products or played around with pricing strategies, try doing so and see what happens. 

[clotheslinesvintage]

@SmallthingsbyAmanda I agree, it is definitely true that there are many sellers who are doing well and not coming to the Forums, but equally there are many sellers who are not doing well that don't use the forums. I have a healthy network of vintage sellers who sell here on Etsy and elsewhere who have messaged me or shared on forums elsewhere, or chat in-person at markets speaking to the sudden halt in sales on Etsy. Everyone is scrambling to diversify and invest in in-person market opportunities to off-set the slow sales on this platform specifically, though some here on this forum are posting that they are slow on all of their platforms - so there is that, I suppose. Personally, I too have seen a decrease in sales in my other selling spaces, but nothing quite as drastic as here on Etsy. In my mind, Etsy could be doing better to help their sellers as we move through a cost of living crisis, by not implementing big changes and supporting their sellers first and with more clarity and transparency. Let us know what the impact of introducing the new app has had on traffic overall? How have the new vertical strategies affected certain categories? Why the sudden move to invest in Save & Share? In my mind, they implement these strategies and give little to no (clear) communication around the goals of these programs or changes as they affect the sellers. It is always elusive corporate speak, lol. I know communicating this here makes little to no difference, but I have tried to reach out to Etsy and there is no reach - you just get the typical "here are some resources we have created to help you navigate your concerns" from the Help Desk folks. I answer every survey they put out. Sigh. Good luck to us all!

[LoonMtEmbroidnCrafts]

My shop had no sales for over a month in March-April. Not one, which is highly unlike my shop. I even had sales on some items with no views on those items! So much for doing sales. All of a sudden now, sales have started again. Can't tell me there wasn't something going on. 

[SmallthingsbyAmanda]

there is always something going on etsy changes and tests things all the time the way serch is going is evolving and is very different to what it was years ago and it will continue to change. Etsy make no secret of that. Infect the opposite they talk often about ther plans and where things are going. Changes can have very different effects on different sellers and often are combined with things happening outside etsy that play a part in how sales go at different times for different shops.

[witchshopgypsyheaven]

I thought it was me. I had one sale in a month! I usually have at least five sales a week. I spend lots of money renewing listings, etsy ads, changing keywords and rearranging items. Also, adding new items. I am frustrated and do think we were forgotten or left out. If I don't get any sales by Monday, I am just going put my shop on vacation mode for a week and see what happens after that.

[AnascreationsByAna]

Same is happening to me. I use to have almost 200 sales every month and suddenly no sales at all. I don’t think is just the economy, something is happening with Etsy. On top of that Etsy deactivated tow of my best seller listing for about a week. I’m adding new kind of items to my shop to see if I can get some sales. But still no visits and no favorite, nothing.

[sharonjenkins1]

@AnascreationsByAna   Unless you are licensed by Disney, your mouse ears are infringing, and Etsy may be taking a look.

[AdaptableSnapables]

same here!!

[ArrayofEleganceStore]

I have had exactly the same problem! What is going on? Can anyone help us with this problem?

[32GardenStreet]

I've noticed the same problems, with few sales early in the month and then no sales the rest of the month.  I'll be looking for another forum to sell on.  Etsy doesn't appreciate their sellers at all. I really don't like the interference, they deactivactivated a few of my listings for bizarre unfounded reasons. Not worth it.

[BlueCatStudioShop]

Maybe the powers that be are getting ready to roll it all up and sell it to somebody else.

[JenTheTracy]

I am another shop over ten years old. Before April I was selling about one print a week and had been for years. Just like OP this stopped mid spring. Sales are super rare now. I assumed it was due to the AI content invasion. 

[Highendandcurated]

Had the very same thing happen to me. After a steady average of 3 to 4 sales, I have not had a sale for months. It coincided with the new App launch. There is no other explanation. 

[MeritHome]

I have the same problem. My sales on January, February and March was great also first 10 days of April, then sudden stopped. I couldn't find a solution yet and I don't see an improvement on my sales despite of adding lots of new lines. 

The only answer which make sense to me is the changing Etsy algorithm on April.

If anyone can find a solution, please tell me as well.

Thanks 

[ArampiShop]

I think  that you can find some information here https://www.etsy.com/pl/codeascraft/

 They inform,  currently they are working on personalize etsy ads  -  last article, You can read another articles from this year,  for example about machine learning. All these changing  have to be tested before applying them for whole Etsy. not everything needs to be understood but,  conclusions are possible and quite clear.

[Frameyourstory]

We have been a member since 2012 in USA. Are sales are down too. I am here reading to see if there is something we can do to get our shop back on track. Good luck to everyone.

[LeesVintageJewels]

It's not just Etsy.  I've been selling here for 10 years and also sell on other venues (vintage Jewelry and decorative items); it's the same on all sales channels for me.  Until April of this year, I averaged 30 sales a month; then it went down and down, and in June I had 13 sales and July looks to be as bad or worse.  However, when I search on Etsy and Google, I find my listings right away and they are mostly in the first page of listings.  My visits, however, have been up and down but I'm still averaging the same number of visits as I did when I was selling well.

I think the problem is a combination of things.  There are constantly new sellers here and so many are selling the same type of thing as long-time sellers have been, like T-shirts, that the site is flooded with all these new sellers, many of whom are undercutting established sellers' prices.  Just browse these forums posts to see the continual postings from new sellers.  Of course, everyone is aware of the massive number of sellers of "handmade" who are selling foreign cheap goods, undercutting true sellers of handmade items.  It's now summer and for many sellers, that's usually a slow time for a lot of reasons; i.e., what you're selling may be geared more to the holidays.  The economy is a factor in my opinion; I'm in New Hampshire and grocery prices have been steadily increasing bit by bit every week; if it's a choice between food and a bauble or t-shirt, food will win out.  Also, I think many people just like the fact that they can now shop in stores as opposed to having to shop online.  I know that there are certain things I won't buy online, like certain clothes, because I want to try it on first so I don't have to return it.

Even if we "blame" Etsy, there's nothing we can do about what they do; I love selling as I'm retired from a computer job where my only "customers" were fellow employees who had a problem they needed me to fix; I never worked in sales and am happy whenever someone buys something from my shop and loves it.

For those sellers who depend on their income from Etsy, and it's tanked, my advice is to try other sales channels and/or set up your own web site - it takes a good year generally to get noticed with a website but there are other channels for sellers to try.

If you can afford it, just keep going; I don't think it can get any worse; fall and the holiday season are coming and sales should pick up by then.

Best wishes to all!

[SugarandSpicePaper]

Yes!! I've been saying this since February! You don't get good sales for years the a sudden drop in sales in one month.  My Etsy shop hasn't recovered since. Etsy made a change in their algorithm and it's killing shops. I know have to look for a full time job again after 7 years. How can we get Etsy to fix this?

[HappyLittleBooks]

I have noticed the same thing with my shop... both sales and views have dropped significantly. Also, there have been issues with Etsy's messaging system. I have confirmed that one message I sent to a customer never arrived in their inbox, and I suspect more messages may not have been delivered. 

[miagefaellts]

Something goes crazy since German Easter Holidays.. From One Day to the other the Viewers gone. I Thougt about that Etsy started their Black Box "Experiment" at that Time. I was not in the Testphase,  I sell on Ebay Kleinanzeigen too, I sell the same like month before. Just Etsy stopped. Not the other Channel!

Since their Tests "Black Box and making Etsy the new Ebay" all is crazy here. I changed SEO/ Keywords/Titels  too, what make it even worser (but that normal)

[MariusCeramics]

Same with sales from Lithuania, i have shop for 4 years and every day i had 50 sales, today i have zero. And last month it was worst month in my sales history. Looks like i have to search new alternatives for sales as now etsy eating marketing money every day 30 eur and refunding to all clients from my money if the didn't received order in one week.. from our country with regular mail it takes 10-30 days ;( looks like end of story....

[CreativeMetalUK]

Same here!!! And there are 1000's of posts / sellers saying the same and Etsy are doing nothing about it. The ironic thing is, no sale for us, nothing paid to Etsy so they must be losing a fortune in fees! It's got nothing to do with the economy. My sales have more than halved since March of this year and I'm tinkering on the edge of closing my account down completely. It's so depressing when you put in all the work to get things designed and listed - and for what?