item in multiple people's cart and then they all suddenly disappear - what gives?

[clotheslinesvintage]

So, I am sure that there have been multiple posts about this, but I cannot find anything recent or relevant, but I am curious does anyone have a concrete answer to my question : why does my shop have an item in 10 people's carts and then they suddenly disappear while other items in my shop are in 1-4 people's carts and they never don't disappear after 10, 20 or 30 days  - what gives? 

I feel like I have heard that Etsy removes it from people's carts after "x" number of days, but in reality, I do not see that to be the case for all items listed as in someone's cart in my shop - only some of the time. Happens to me from time to time, where the item is in one person's cart and then 3 people's and then it is in 10 people's cart for a week or 3 weeks and then POOF! they disappear all at once - and it really is irritating as a seller.

Were these items actually ever in 10 people's carts?

Did Etsy just post that message to persuade buyers to purchase (if so, is that even legal - to lie)?

Why show the seller this stat, if it isn't actually valid? It is annoying and misleading.

Let me know what you know....thanks!

[sharonjenkins1]

I don’t know; I’m sure I have seen that Etsy removes them after a certain period of time.  Maybe that period of time isn’t consistent?

[BagmakerSupply]

@clotheslinesvintage: They are not showing this to the seller - it is a nudge to the buyer. There appear to be no published or official answers to your questions. How, when, why, or if this is displayed is a mystery with the answer only known to Etsy. In addition to the points you raise the problem with the "in people's carts" message is we do not know how current it is (as of 5 minutes ago, 5 hours ago, 5 days ago), how accurate it is (is it a snapshot, an average, or an estimate), and how inclusive it is (does every listing in someone's cart show this message or only selected ones). There is also no information on whether or not every one who looks at your shop will see the same "in people's carts" message on the same listings, so what you see may be very different than what I see.

[GroundZeroCreations]

If you look at your customer facing store front it does show how many people have something in their cart directly below the unopened listings. Etsy does clean that out periodically. 

If I remember correctly, Etsy does this every 30 days and moves the listing to the customers saved for later section in the buyer account.

[PristinityJewelry]

Instead of "crawling" individual shopper's carts, and moving everything that has been there over 30 days (approx.), Etsy seems to prefer to look at individual items, and periodically (30 days?) move that item for all shopper's carts.  Regardless of how long they've been there, 1 day or 30 days.

Seems kinds bass akwards.  (shrug)

I have several items that will get up to "over 20 people have this in their cart",  then when Etsy purges that item from all carts en masse, it's sales tank.

[AlphaMorte]

This is what I believe also.  Its the item that has all carts removed every 30 days, doesnt matter if its been in someones cart 30 days or 30 seconds.  I also find when my bestseller looses its carts my sales dive.

[artbyjocelyn]

I've noticed this as well, in my other shop, and have always found it odd. Usually when the in people's carts disappears from one listing, it appears on another one immediately that it was not on before.

[PWOriginals]

We can sure agree that there is no rhyme or reason to the recording of the "cart" numbers. I find it really interesting when something sells that had not shown was anyone's cart previously but, then when it auto renews, it suddenly relists with "in multiple carts."

Some items stay "in carts" for long period of times, some items get cleared out of carts in a short period.

That's why I pay no attention to those numbers.

[clotheslinesvintage]

Exactly - this is what made me post this question. So erratic - doesn't follow a logical pattern.

[TheHomespunLoft]

I also have heard the carts get dumped after 30 days.. But I also use the cart as a placeholder.. I put things in a cart and then go shopping.. when I find the item I want I go back and remove the items from various shops that I have carted and buy the one I want. That could be some of it.

I really don't think about the carts.. I have a couple items that show they are in a cart for what seems like forever-- then they are taken out and show up again a day later to sit there again for ages. lol Have no idea if it is the same person or not. It does seem odd tho..

[clotheslinesvintage]

Thanks for all the replies thus far - it sounds like it is mostly a mystery - I suppose it would be awesome if Etsy provided some clarity and transparency around this practice. The message "this item is in x people's carts" shows up for both the buyer and the seller and the practice of removing it seems to not follow a specific pattern. What I am hearing : sometimes Etsy does a sweep of a particular item and moves the item from cart to saved item for the buyer after a designated number of days, but sometimes it does not. All very mysterious, indeed. Do we even know if that many people even have that item in their cart or does Etsy inflate the number when "x" number of people like an item in an attempt to nudge buyers, is the real question.

[PristinityJewelry]

I quit carting and favoriting, because of the infernal pop-ups, trying to prod me.  So bad, that I think the pop-ups are doing more harm than good.

But then, as sellers we're here all time, much moreso than the average shopper, so maybe it is not as annoying for them.

[ClarabellasEtsyShop]

I've suspected that the item isn't in anyone's cart, but it just received multiple views, either by the same person or more than one.  So it's suddenly "in x number of people's carts" when it really just got a few views.  

[Sassydoggs]

I am of the opinion that Etsy wants us to believe that the items that show in the cart, and then disappear are "abandoned".  Etsy uses the abandoned carts in their stats figures to prompt shop owners to offer deals and discounts to potential buyers.  There are many reasons why items go in and out of carts, so probably no way to know the real story.  I am pretty sure people remove items from carts because of annoyance with the constant pop up reminders to follow through and order saved and favorited items.