market research etsy

How To Do Etsy Market Research for Beginners | An Illustrated and Helpful Guide

• By: Reece Williams
• Date: June 23, 2023
• Time to read: 7 min.

One of the activities I see being done wrong by Etsy Sellers most often is Market Research.

It’s often done badly, lazily, or not at all. This leads Sellers to open shops with poorly thought out products that don’t sell. Inevitably this leads to moaning that “Etsy doesn’t work”, or “Etsy is rigged”.

Don’t be like those sellers. Do you research thoroughly, and you’ll be well on your way to success.

What is Market Research?

Market research (or marketing research) is any set of techniques used to gather information and better understand a company’s target market. hotjar.com

At its core Market Research is looking around, to see what is currently selling, and finding gaps in the market which you can then fill.Market research is designed to give you confidence in what you’re selling.

Market research – when done well – should catch many simple mistakes. This saves time, effort and money in the long term.

Many Etsy Sellers don’t do research before opening their store. This often leads to disappointment.

Why do market research?

Some beginner sellers think this kind of research is too “business-y” for a novice Etsy seller, however, I believe all Etsy stores are micro-businesses and as such they should be run like one.

Market research can on one hand open your eyes to new opportunities, whilst on the other narrow down your options to those with a good chance of success.

Going into your store journey with the mindset of “I sell Product X.

This is what I do” isn’t optimal. Good market research shows you how you can adapt the crafting skills you learnt to new ideas. See what is working and how you can adapt to it.

Finally, once you find what you want to sell, Market Research can confirm if your store idea is viable. Something is only worth what someone is willing to pay.

What to look for

What should be your goals? What are the key things to look for?

I recommend researching as broad as possible. Don’t be constrained by your existing style or preferences. Make notes, and include screenshots, and urls of interesting listings or comments. This can be reviewed later.

What Customers are Looking For

Finding what people want is the first step to creating a successful product.

Working out key styles and niches that are popular can help with product ideas.Ensure you keep an eye out for seasonal trends or “flash in the pan” fads. These should be avoided as once the season finishes, or the fad fizzles out you’re left with a product range that no one wants.

The goal of selecting products to sell is to find products that sell consistently. This way you are making money each and every day.

What Your Top Competition Is Making AND Selling

You will always have competition.

Clues to success are everywhere so keep your eyes peeled! Selling products can be a twist on something already selling well and by analysing what your most successful competitors are doing you can plan to compete.

Also, look at what is not selling. Most stores have many categories. Most make the majority of sales in one or two ranges. By seeing what DOESN’T sell you can learn from their mistakes by avoiding those ideas or styles. Your Top Selling Products

Never forget the best source of information is your own store. Double down on your own strengths first before branching out.

You will have much more reliable success by making similar items based on your own top sellers.

Sales data can be a treasure trove, so look through reviews on your top sellers. Chances are you may have had enquiries from customers asking about other products that you don’t have for sale yet.

Listen to these signals and exploit your own strengths first.

What Your Customers Are Shopping For

I know I just said to keep an eye on reviews and messages, however I cannot labour this point enough! Keep a close eye on these points as customers are literally telling you.

If they are motivated enough to go out of their way, and to take the time to write it in a review then it must be important to them. If they feel this way, then it’s likely others will likely feel the same.So remember – before complaining that customers are fickle – customers will sometimes tell you what they want.

Often in messages asking if you do other variations, or in reviews (on our products, or others). You just have to listen.

Applying what you have learnt

Doing market research is the first step. It’s worthless unless acted upon.

You now have your list of ideas. You have an idea on the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors, and you know what your own strengths are…

Let’s go and create some action points!

Focusing on your strengths

I mentioned before to ignore your own style and preferences. This step is where we filter out the ideas that just aren’t possible. This could be for different reasons:

• Don’t currently have the skills to create the style or product
• Requires expensive equipment which you don’t have the finances for
• Is too labour intensive and you don’t have the time to commit to it

Be sure to be realistic, if you don’t have experience in a certain style – could you learn it relatively quickly? Be honest.

Once you have filtered through your ideas, order them based on your strengths. Easy wins should be near the top. What can you move fast on?

Brainstorm 10 ideas

You’ve got your ordered list. Take the first few ideas and brainstorm ideas for new listings.

Take the best 10 ideas forward to the next step. Ideally, 10 ideas should cover different ideas. You don’t want to target 1 idea, the purpose of this is to dip our toes in as many different markets as possible.

List and track

Create the 10 listings. Turn auto-renew off. Track their progress. Don’t expect massive sales. Any sales at this point are the goal. If you make a handful of sales, this is an indicator that the market idea is worth investigating further.

Discard any ideas that don’t sell. If they don’t sell before the renewal deadline then its a sign to not pursue now

Market research for new stores

New stores should cover as much new ground as possible. In the steps above I would suggest making 20-30 ideas. These will get cut back very quickly, and only the best performers should continue.

The focus should be on trial and error at this stage. The cost of a single listing is low, only 20 cents. Make the most of this and create many listings in as many areas as you can handle. After a few months you should be able to cut out 90% of these, but you will be left with a strong set of core products to take you forward.

It can be difficult to get sales as a new store. Sometimes at this stage traffic and “Favourites” can be adequate indicators of success. As you build your reviews up you will start to see the most “favourited” items will eventually start to sell.

See my guide on opening a new store on how to get those tricky first 10 reviews.

Market research for expanding stores

Creating more of what already sells should be the primary goal at this stage.

Product ideas should be subtle twists on your existing best sellers. Take what worked for you in your initial tests and build from there.

If none worked in the initial “new store” phase, then you may decide to start from scratch and redo the “New Store” step above.

Market research can be done simply by searching and checking out listings one-by-one, however this can be time consuming and tricky to note down all of your ideas.

There are plenty of tools that either speed up this process or offer insights not possible by searching alone.

Here are a few of my favourite tools. There is a mix of free and paid services available, so there is something for everyone.

One of the original search tools for Etsy. Offers AI driven search estimation. Has a traffic light system on areas such as traffic, and competition. Great insights into buyer search behaviour.

Has a great listing grading service. Once your store is hooked up erank will make suggested improvements to get more search impressions, and more sales.

Marmalead.com

Another AI driven search volume estimation tool. Has the same “Listing grading” feature as erank

Tools such as “Tag Storm” and “Pinterest Trends” are great additions.

Etsy Simplicity Search Inspector (FREE)

Etsy Simplicity Search Inspector

I may be a bit biased, but my very own search inspector tool offers the core features from paid services such as erank and marmalead, but for free!

Get insights into what tags are being used by the most successful listings.

My tool doesn’t use any AI to “estimate” search volume. No one knows what those volumes are, other than Etsy. The Search Inspector Tool shows detail on actual viewed numbers. This offers a more holistic approach. As Etsy search gets clearer then targeting single keywords will go out the window.

Etsy will show your listing in related searches, so long as you get the basics right.

CRAFTCOUNT.COM (FREE)

craftcount.com

Lists the most successful stores in each category. Find the stores in your niche, and have a deep dive into what they are selling. Learn from the best of the best.

Etsy Forums (FREE)

Etsy Forums

Forums are a great place to check out customers’ real opinions. Check to see for recurring issues, both from sellers and buyers

Etsy Search (FREE)

The tools above are great – however nothing beats getting stuck into the search bar and browsing categories.

This will give you a better flavour of what is out there, as well as giving better real-world examples

Recent Posts

• How to Sell Art on Etsy | A Beginner’s Guide to Succeed In 2023
• How to Sell Canva Templates on Etsy | A Beginner’s Guide to Succeed In 2023
• How to Sell Coloring Pages on Etsy | A Beginner’s Guide to Succeed In 2023
• How to Sell Digital Artwork on Etsy | A Beginner’s Guide to Succeed In 2023
• How to Sell Digital Downloads on Etsy | A Beginner’s Guide to Succeed In 2023

Previous Post

How To Turn Off Auto-Renew On Your Etsy Listings | A COMPLETE GUIDE

How to make your etsy shop look professional | a helpful guide.

Related Posts

How To Mark Something As Sold Out On Etsy? Step By Step Guide

Who Pays For Return Shipping On Etsy? | A Simple Guide To Shipping Returns On Etsy

How To Keep Track of Your Etsy Orders | 5 Helpful Tips

Free Analytics Tool for AliExpress and Shopify

FREE ETSY RANK ANALYSIS TOOLS

Get the best sellers, best selling items/products, popular searches/tags on Etsy and more from just one platform.

Start For Free

The World's Largest Database of Etsy Products.

EtsyHunt offers 48+ million product listings, and makes it easy to research or optimize your Etsy SEO , Logo , Listings , Photos , Shipping , Pricing, Fees and more.

Etsy Products

There's a Smarter Way to Sell on Etsy.

Do your own Etsy market research with EtsyHunt!

Product Research

Learn what is selling on Etsy, and discover winning products.

Keyword Research

Explore Etsy people's top searches, and find exact keywords/tags for your Etsy listings.

Shops Ranking

Analyze the marketing strategies of top Etsy sellers and outperform them.

Etsy Reviews

Track Etsy orders and manage your Etsy reviews in time with personalised Etsy templates.

Want more? Explore the power of the EtsyHunt Database or scroll down.

How to Sell on Etsy with EtsyHunt?

Start with a free account and explore all you need to grow your Etsy shop.

Discover Top Products on Etsy & Amazon Handmade

√ Our Etsy product research tool supports four major trends in historical sales, price, favorites, and reviews, helping you crack the secrets of top Etsy products. √ Our Etsy product research tool daily updates all product data and top-selling items by category. Here, you will not miss any niche products . √ Our Etsy product research tool also provides Amazon Handmade products and Etsy inactive products .

Improve Etsy SEO with Etsy Keyword Tool

√ Our Etsy keyword tool shows popular keywords along with Etsy stats with a daily update. √ Our Etsy keyword tool provides additional information of Top 100 items, including keywords you search for, and their sales rank, category, shipping time, etc. √ Our Etsy keyword tool will help you make a good Etsy listing : how to write your titles, what tags to use, and how to price the items.

Stay Inspired by the Best Etsy Shop Ideas

√ What to sell on Etsy ? Use our Etsy shop analyzer, you will get an endless list of good Etsy shop ideas to learn from and narrow down. √ How to sell on Etsy? Learn from experienced sellers. Our Etsy shop analyzer provides best sellers and their sales, categories, tags, listings, and reviews……

Easily Manage All Etsy Reviews with Follow-up Reminder

√ Precise customer screening, remove orders with negative reviews in one click. √ Secured API integration, automatically importing customer information. √ Built-in AI Etsy message templates to improve response rate. √ Support visual analysis of Etsy shop reviews , and bulk export of Etsy orders with email in one click.

More Solutions. More Insights.

EtsyHunt also offers an amazing family of Etsy toolkits, including Etsy fee calculator , Etsy quick view extension , Etsy tags extension , and Ecommerce Data API .

Quick View Tool for EtsyHunt

√ Quickly check product sales while browsing on Etsy.com √ Find out the most popular products in seconds √ Check successful Etsy Shops in one click √ Increase the efficiency of your product research by at least 200%

Etsy Tags for Etsy SEO

√ Find trending Etsy tags/keywords in one click √ Visualize & analyze the performance of Etsy tags √ Bulk copy or export popular Etsy tags/keywords to csv √ Use the right Etsy tags/keywords to improve Etsy SEO

Explore Best Etsy Shop Ideas Today!

Testimonials.

Our tools are trusted by thousands of satisfied Etsy sellers. Don't leave in a hurry!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is etsyhunt, how often do we update our data？, how many product data do we have in total, stay ahead with etsyhunt, take your business to next level .

How to Do Etsy Market Research for your Products

• Post author By Dylan Read
• Post date April 7, 2021
• 2 Comments on How to Do Etsy Market Research for your Products

Doing thorough Etsy market research before launching your Etsy shop is vital. It’s a necessary process to make your marketing efforts more effective and improve your business’s long-term success and longevity.

But not everybody does it. And we have no clue why not.

The old saying “those that fail to plan, plan to fail” has been around for a long time for a reason — it’s true. Blindly opening an Etsy shop to make a few quick bucks on the side could be a great idea.

But without doing comprehensive Etsy market research, your sales may flatline quickly, and you’ll be fighting an uphill battle to get more. 

Before we begin

This article is a part of our Complete Guide for Everything You Need to Know to Succeed on Etsy ! If you just stumbled across this article, we recommend you start back at the beginning: Everything You Need to Know Before You Start an Etsy Shop .

Or, if you’d like to check out each article in the series, click through the links below:

8 Steps to Starting an Etsy Shop

We created the  Complete Guide for Everything You Need to Know to Succeed on Etsy  to teach you how to start an Etsy shop the right way. You can position your Etsy shop for longterm success by following these core principals.

• How to Do Etsy Market Research for Your Products

Know Your Etsy Shop Branding Before You Open

• How to Create & Maintain an Etsy Shop Aesthetic
• How to Master Your Etsy Product Photography
• How to Research Etsy Keywords
• Etsy Shipping Costs and How to Calculate Them
• A Crash Course to Etsy Taxes & Accounting
• The New & Improved Quick and Dirty Guide to SEO for Etsy

At Marmalead, we strive to offer real, practical advice for Etsy sellers right here on our blog and on our YouTube channel . The world of Etsy is constantly evolving, so if you have a question you can’t find an answer to, reach out to us at [email protected] .

In this article, we’ll cover:

• What exactly is “market research “
• How to do Etsy market research for your product
• How to define your target audience and speak to them

Let’s dive in!

What do you mean by “Etsy market research”?

Market research is the technical way of assessing your business’s opportunities and/or product before launching. Etsy market research means explicitly looking at the options and hurdles that your store may face when selling and growing on the Etsy marketplace.

These are a few questions you should ask yourself during your Etsy market research :

• Who is your product designed for?
• How can you reach these specific buyers?
• Who else is selling products similar to yours on Etsy?
• How does your product compare to theirs?
• How can you make your product stand out so buyers purchase from you over your competitor?

You can do this research by looking at a variety of things :

• The number of direct competitors you have and their amount of sales
• The engagement and search volume for keywords relevant to your product
• Specific tags associated with certain topics

We’ll talk more about competitor analysis in the next section, but getting an idea of engagement and search volume is an excellent place to start.

Engagement and search volume are a huge part of Etsy SEO , and they simply refer to the number of times a keyword is searched on Etsy throughout the month and the number of times listings in a given result set are engaged with.

If the search volume for a keyword is high, that means many people search for it. And if engagement is high, that means many people are clicking on listings in the results set of that search.

So, if search and engagement are high, it may be a good opportunity for you – provided that the market isn’t flooded with competition. 

Etsy Competitor Research

Without a doubt, the easiest way to get the ball rolling with Etsy market research is to look at your competitors. 

After finding keywords with good search volumes and solid engagement levels that are relevant to your product, put them into Etsy and look at the results. Take a look at the product listings and the brands that are selling them. 

Ask yourself the following:

• Can I make products that are better than these products?
• Can I create product listings that are better than these?
• Can I explain how and why my products are the best of the best?
• Why would someone buy my products over my competitors?

Not only will you learn a lot about pricing your Etsy products , but in answering these questions, you’ll start to build your brand’s USPs (Unique Selling Points) . 

Having clearly defined USPs is essential to help you create target audiences and buyer personas. 

Most Popular and Loved Sellers

Looking at your direct competitors shows you what you’re up against, but you also need to know how to compete. Search for one of your keywords, and then sort the results by “Top Customer Reviews.” You’ll then see the listings ordered from the highest ratings down. 

Take a look at the search results and read the reviews of these products. What’s being said about them? Why are these products getting so many 5-star reviews? 

Also, take note of sellers with really high sales numbers. They’ve likely been selling for a long time and have been dominating for a while. Look at their listings and ask yourself why they’re doing so well.

Who will buy from you? Without Etsy market research, you won’t know

It’s essential to have a clear understanding of who will buy your products and know how to talk to them. 

Are you selling to stay-at-home moms? Sisters looking for a gift? Same-sex newlyweds? New grandparents? Biker dads looking for home bar decorations?

Earlier, you read about your brand’s USPs. These should help you find the right way to speak about your products. With a clear definition of who you’re selling to AND your USPs, you’ll know how to talk about your product. 

Are you looking for inspiration?

Again, take a look at popular competitors or other products that have similar themes to yours. Why are they selling? What do their product photos look like, and how are their product descriptions written? How can you replicate this but put your own spin on it?

These are the product-specific elements that are vital to your Etsy market research!

“I’m having no luck with my Etsy market research.”

Are you struggling to get clear, concise information about your market? Perhaps you’re finding that your market is flooded with competitors. 

Try niching down.

Rather than selling “handmade beanies,” try selling “novelty organic cotton beanies for newborns.” 

There are way fewer people searching for the second term, but that also means that this specific niche will be much easier for you to dominate. By niching down, you have less competition. And less competition makes it easier for you to be the best in that niche, and you’re sure to be found by those looking for you.

If there’s a niche market for “vintage metal door hinges,” there’s a niche market for just about anything!

Once you’ve established yourself in a second niche, then branch out to others that aren’t too far away from your current area of expertise. “Handmade alpaca hair winter beanies,” for example. 

If there’s not much potential for you to niche down, consider selling a different product. It may be best to continue your market research, find an opportunity, and then devise a way to source and sell that product.

Rather than asking yourself, “what opportunities are there for my product,” try asking yourself, “what products have the most opportunities?” With this thinking method, you can find the opportunity and then find the product rather than the other way around. 

Etsy market research isn’t as complicated as it seems. It’s simply about getting a feel for the markets that your product is about to launch or expand into, rather than going in blindly.

By taking a bit of time to research what’s already there, you’ll more than likely find simple yet effective ways to change the way you present your products to Etsy buyers instead of simply hoping for the best outcome. 

Knowing what you’re up against helps you measure, test, assess, and improve your marketing and promotional tactics. The overall benefit is the long-term sustainability of your product, business, and its ongoing growth.

If you’re ready for the next article in our  Complete Guide for Everything You Need to Know to Succeed on Etsy , then here it is:

↓  ↓ ↓

Need help getting your products found on Etsy?

Improve your etsy seo with free marmalead tools, designed to take your handmade business to the next level., get the free tools, check out similar posts.

• Tags Etsy 101 , Etsy How-to , Etsy Tips

2 replies on “How to Do Etsy Market Research for your Products”

But how do I look up how many direct competitors there are? This there a way to see how many shops sell what I want to sell?

Hi Jennifer, great question! When you use Marmalead for your keyword research, you’ll be able to see exactly how many competing listings are using the same tags as you. Start with a keyword search, and part of the data Marmalead shows is how many listings are in competition with that same keyword. From there, you can narrow it down to a list of sample listings that target the same (or similar) products as yours. I hope this helps! 🙂

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Market Research on Etsy: How to Make a Detailed Product Analysis?

Are you an Etsy shop seller struggling to stay on top of the ever-changing marketplace? Do you need help identifying what your customers want or keeping up with the competition? Look no further because the answer lies with Etsy market research of your product!

You may learn a lot about consumer demand, evaluate the competition, and ultimately boost your Etsy sales success by conducting thorough research on your products. And you can speed up the procedure and get an advantage using Roketfy   Etsy market research tools.

This post will outline a step-by-step method for conducting exhaustive market research on Etsy and how Roketfy’s potent tools for listing optimization, product research, and other tasks may make you stand out in a crowded field.

So if you’re ready to take your Etsy shop to the next level, keep reading and discover the power of market research for your Etsy business. Plus, don’t forget to sign up for Roketfy’s free trial of their Etsy market research tools to start seeing results today!

Here are some of the questions we shall be answering in this piece:

• What does the Etsy marketplace consist of?
• Why sell on Etsy?
• What is product analysis on Etsy?
• What is the importance of product analysis?
• How do you conduct market research on Etsy with Roketfy?
• How do you analyze competition on Etsy with Roketfy?
• How do you analyze Customer Demand on Etsy with Roketfy?
• How can you increase my Etsy product ranking?
• How do you put it all together? 

What Does the Etsy Marketplace Consist of?

Etsy  is an e-commerce platform allowing creative entrepreneurs to sell handmade, vintage, unique gifts, relics, and other items to a global audience. It was founded in 2005 and has become a popular marketplace for small businesses and independent sellers. Etsy’s unique features include its community-driven approach and emphasis on personalization and creativity.

So, how do you decide what to sell on the platform?

What to sell on Etsy is a common question that many sellers ask themselves when starting their online store. So much so that choosing the right products to sell is vital to increase your chances of success on the platform; here are some key considerations to help you decide what to sell on Etsy:

• Niche : Focus on a specific niche to stand out from the competition and establish yourself as an expert in your field. This could be anything from handmade jewelry, personalized artwork, handmade gifts, vintage clothing, or digital downloads.
• Demand : Research the market to determine what products are in demand and likely to sell well on Etsy. Use tools like the Etsy market research tool or Roketfy product research tool to analyze search trends, customer reviews, and product views.
• Competition : Analyze your competitors’ products to identify gaps in the market and unique selling points for your products. Roketfy’s listing optimization tool and AI reviews can help you stay ahead of the competition and tailor your products to customer demand.
• Your strengths : Consider your strengths and expertise when deciding what to sell on Etsy. If you’re a skilled artist or craftsperson, focus on handmade products. Consider selling digital downloads or prints if you’re good at graphic design or photography.
• Branding : Build a strong brand identity to differentiate yourself from other sellers. This includes your shop name, color scheme, logo, and product packaging.

By carefully considering these factors, you can determine what to sell on Etsy and increase your chances of success on the platform.

Why Sell on Etsy?

One benefit of selling on Etsy is its large customer base, with over 40 million active buyers as of 2021. The sellers were at a 7.5 million count as of the end of the same year. This is a 74% increase compared to 2020. This gives sellers access to a broader audience and boosts the chances of making sales. 

However, with over 7 million sellers on Etsy, competition can be high, making it essential to conduct thorough Etsy market research and Etsy product research to stand out from the crowd.

Etsy offers several tools to support sellers, including the Etsy market research tool called Seller Analytics. This tool lets sellers track their shop’s performance, including sales, traffic, and customer engagement. Additionally, sellers can use third-party tools such as Roketfy to conduct a market search on Etsy and analyze the competition.

While there are benefits to selling on Etsy, there are also drawbacks. One drawback is the platform’s fees, which can add up quickly, especially for sellers with a high sales volume. Additionally, Etsy’s focus on handmade and unique items may not be suitable for all types of products, limiting the market for some sellers. Third-party software helps mitigate such drawbacks by offering tips and tricks to improve. 

What Is Product Analysis on Etsy?

Product analysis on Etsy refers to researching and evaluating different products on the platform to identify trends, determine customer demand, and make informed decisions about what products to sell in your Etsy store. It involves analyzing various aspects of a product, such as pricing, design, and functionality, as well as customer reviews, sales data, and search trends.

Product analysis aims to help Etsy sellers make data-driven decisions that can improve their sales and overall performance on the platform. By conducting product analysis, Etsy sellers can identify gaps in the market, optimize their product listings for better visibility and conversion, and understand their customers’ needs and preferences.

Some of the critical steps involved in product analysis on Etsy include:

• Conducting market research to identify trends, customer demand, and competition.
• Analyzing product reviews to understand customer feedback and identify areas for improvement.
• Evaluating sales data to determine top-selling products and categories.
• Analyzing search trends to identify popular keywords and optimize product listings.
• Researching pricing strategies to ensure competitiveness in the market.
• Testing product variations to identify the most successful options.

By leveraging product analysis tools and resources, such as the Roketfy product research tool and Etsy’s Seller Analytics, Etsy sellers can gain valuable insights into their products’ performance and make data-driven decisions to optimize their listings and increase their sales.

What Is the Importance of Product Analysis?

For Etsy sellers, product analysis is crucial to success on the platform. Conducting product analysis helps sellers identify customer needs, understand the competition, and optimize their listings for maximum visibility and sales. 

By using tools such as the Etsy product research tool and conducting market research on Etsy, sellers can gather data on what products are in high demand and adjust their offerings accordingly.

Roketfy, a SaaS platform designed for Etsy sellers, offers tools to assist with product analysis, including the Etsy product research tool and AI writer. By utilizing these tools, sellers can optimize their listings for better performance, increasing sales and customer satisfaction. 

Successful Etsy sellers who have conducted thorough product analysis have been able to identify their niche, understand their target audience, and create a compelling brand that sets them apart from the competition. With Roketfy’s product analysis tools, Etsy sellers can achieve similar success and optimize their performance on the platform.

How Do You Conduct Market Research on Etsy with Roketfy?

Market research on Etsy involves analyzing the platform’s search trends, identifying popular product categories, and analyzing competitor listings. This can be done using basic steps that any seller can access from the platform.

For instance, Etsy’s search bar and seller analytics are basic tools for conducting market research. These tools provide valuable insights into customer behavior and preferences and information on the performance of competing listings. But here is the kicker: Additional third-party tools can speed the rate Etsy sellers identify untapped niches and track competitors’ sales data faster and more efficiently. Take, for instance,  Roketfy’s Product Research tool . 

The Roketfy Product Research tool can be a game-changer for Etsy sellers. By providing essential metrics such as estimated daily sales volume, monthly turnover, and top-selling days, sellers can gain valuable insights into sales performance. With the most accurate estimated results provided by Roketfy technology, sellers can optimize their listings and make informed decisions based on data-driven insights. Moreover, the tool offers customizable filters and daily sales data, making it a valuable asset for product analysis on the platform.

These tools allow Etsy sellers to stay ahead of the competition, optimize their listings, and make informed business decisions based on data-driven insights.

How Do You Analyze Competition on Etsy with Roketfy?

You can perform a competitive analysis by looking into rival companies’ products, prices, and marketing tactics. And the result is that sellers might discover opportunities to stand out in a competitive market and acquire insightful information. Successful Etsy sellers frequently perform competitive assessments to keep one step ahead of the competition and constantly enhance their offerings.

With  Roketfy’s Listing Optimization  Tool, Etsy sellers can better analyze and get ahead of the competition. The tool’s Smart Score System, SEO/Keyword recommendations, AI Title Suggestions, and Listing Optimization Checklist provide data-based insights to optimize listings and improve search rankings, resulting in increased sales. Follow the actionable recommendations and watch sales soar!

How Do You Analyze Customer Demand on Etsy with Roketfy?

It’s essential for merchants who want to flourish on Etsy to analyze buyer demand. To analyze and determine what customers want from a product, sellers must pay attention to customer reviews, search phrases, and product views. Successful Etsy merchants frequently research consumer trends to generate innovative product developments and marketing plans. The two tools for this are AI Writer and Rokefy’s AI Reviews.

The  Roketfy AI Reviews  tool can help sellers analyze customer demand on Etsy. The tool provides detailed insights into customer reviews, including identifying common product issues and requested features. Additionally, the tool uses machine learning models to analyze customer sentiment and demands, allowing sellers to avoid potential problems and tailor their products and marketing strategies to meet customer needs.

The  Roketfy AI Writer tool can also be valuable in analyzing and meeting customer demands on. 

Etsy through shared content. By providing high-quality, SEO-friendly product descriptions, sellers can better target the keywords and attributes customers seek. The tool uses artificial intelligence to analyze current market trends and trending keywords to create tailored recommendations for sellers. By incorporating these recommendations into their product descriptions, sellers can improve their search rankings and reach a wider audience of potential customers. This tool helps sellers to produce Etsy-focused content that meets the needs of their customers and ultimately improves their sales performance.

Roketfy’s AI Reviews and AI Writer products can assist Etsy sellers in increasing customer satisfaction, decreasing attrition, and increasing their chances of success in the marketplace.

How Can You Increase Your Etsy Product Ranking?

You can do a couple of things to boost your Etsy product ranking. They are:

Optimize your Etsy listings:

Use relevant and descriptive titles that include targeted keywords and accurately reflect your product. You can start by writing detailed descriptions highlighting your product’s features, benefits, and unique selling points.

Also, use high-quality photos that accurately represent your product and show it from multiple angles. Lastly, please fill out all available listing attributes to provide more information about your product and make it easier for customers to find.

Roketfy tool to use:  Listing Optimization Tool

Conduct product research:

Research popular and trending products in your niche to gain insights into what customers seek. Use market research tools to analyze competition, identify market gaps, and monitor customer reviews to gain insights into common customer complaints and requests.

Roketfy tool to use:  Product Research Tool, AI Reviews

Use targeted keywords and tags:

Use targeted keywords in your titles, descriptions, and tags—this will make it easier for customers to find your product. Additionally, use long-tail keywords to target specific customer searches and increase your chances of appearing in relevant search results. Using all available tags and ensuring they accurately reflect your product will also boost your product’s ranking, as people will find it the moment they search for it.

Roketfy tool to use:  Listing Optimization Tool, AI Writer

Encourage customer reviews and feedback:

Always encourage customers to leave reviews and feedback by providing excellent customer service, offering incentives, and following up after the sale. And please welcome both the good remarks and the bad ones. Having both perspectives allows you to use this customer feedback to improve your product and customer experience. 

Most importantly, do not let the client’s remarks fall on deaf ears. Communication is a two-way street. So, always respond to all customer reviews and feedback, positive or negative, to show that you value customer input. Apologize, compensate, or further explain if you have to. But you must respond!

Roketfy tool to use:  AI Reviews

Promote your Etsy shop:

Start your Etsy shop promotion through social media, email marketing, and other channels to drive traffic and increase sales. Ensure you participate in Etsy teams and forums to connect with other sellers and potential customers for better interactions.  Etsy Ads  are also a valuable channel to promote your products and reach more customers.

Roketfy tool to use:  AI Writer for content

How Do You Put It All Together? 

To put it all together, it is essential to synthesize the findings from market research to create a detailed product analysis. This involves analyzing the data collected from customer demand, competition, and market trends to clearly understand the product’s strengths and weaknesses, target customers, and future opportunities.

Here is a step-by-step guide to creating a well-put-together product analysis on Etsy:

• Identify the product’s strengths and weaknesses : Use market research tools to gather data on your product’s sales history, customer reviews, and feedback to identify what customers like and dislike about your product.
• Determine the target customer:  Analyze the customer data collected from market research to determine the target audience for your product. Identify their demographics, preferences, and buying habits to tailor your product to their needs.
• Create a product roadmap : Based on market research and customer data analysis, create a product roadmap outlining the steps to improve the product’s strengths and address its weaknesses.
• Continuously monitor and adjust:  Regularly revisit your product analysis and adjust as needed to stay competitive and meet customer demand.

Successful Etsy sellers who have used product analysis to improve their sales include:

• "The Woven Dream" sells handmade home decor items that use product analysis to identify popular color schemes and designs, increasing sales and customer satisfaction.
• "CanningCrafts", a seller of personalized canning labels, uses product analysis to identify and add new designs to their product lineup, resulting in increased sales and a more extensive customer base.

In summary, conducting product analysis on Etsy is essential for sellers to understand their product’s strengths, weaknesses, and customer demand. With market research and customer data, sellers can create a detailed product analysis and roadmap to improve their sales and stay competitive.

Bottom Line 

Market research is critical for any Etsy seller who wants to succeed in the highly competitive online marketplace. By using the right tools and resources, such as the Roketfy product suite, you can conduct thorough research on customer demand, competition, and trends to create a detailed product analysis that will help you optimize your Etsy shop and increase sales.

Whether you’re a new seller just starting or an established seller looking to grow your business, investing in market research is essential. With the Roketfy product suite, you can access a range of tools designed specifically for Etsy sellers, including product research and optimization, competitive analysis, writing, and AI-powered customer insights tools.

So, what are you waiting for? Take advantage of the  free plan  of Roketfy’s Etsy market research tools and optimize your shop today. With the insights and data you gain, you can stay ahead of the competition, boost your sales, and create a successful and profitable Etsy business.

• Table of Contents

Skyrocket Your Online Sales!

Related Posts

2024 Step-by-Step Opening an Etsy Shop: Guide

Opening an Etsy shop is a great way to turn your passion for crafting, designing, or collecting into a business. Are you ready to take the leap and open your very own Etsy shop? The process can seem daunting, but with this step-by-step guide, creating an Etsy shop has been easier. With thousands of online storefronts on the international marketplace, Etsy is the perfect platform to showcase your unique items and make sales.

How to Get More Reviews on Etsy

Tapping into Etsy’s extensive user base is a wise business move, especially if you sell unique products. While your products are guaranteed to attract qualified leads on the platform, success is not inevitable. You still have to work and strategically position your Etsy shop, secure more sales, and keep customers returning for more.

Discover the Best-Selling Items on Etsy in 2024

Are you an enthusiast or seller looking to explore what the top selling Etsy items are? Dive deep into the world of the most popular items on Etsy and uncover the best-selling ones that are taking the online marketplace by storm in 2024.

Join 30.000+ online sellers using Roketfy to grow your sales.

Market Research On Etsy? 7 Great Tips (Explained)

Market research is not only a great way to see what the competition is currently selling on Etsy.com, but can also be a great way to start thinking about  what  it is that you want to sell for yourself!

Before any small business venture, market research is key – crucial even! You would be surprised by how many Etsy sellers who go into Etsy thinking that they have a great, unique idea and then realize just how big their competition pool is.

Not only can this be discouraging, but it can also make it harder to be noticed by customers on Etsy.com.

To prevent this, you should be doing market research, and we’re going to help you figure out the best way to go about it for your own business!

Table of Contents

How Do You Find the Most-Sold Items on Etsy?

Finding out what is the most sold item on Etsy is a great way to see what is currently a “trending” or “hot-ticket” item on the site.

This helps you decide if you want to try and pursue this category of products to sell. Knowing what customers are interested in is essential to making sure that your product is following that trend and will end up in hundreds of search results.

Alternatively, knowing what the bestselling items are on Etsy is great when you want to check out really successful stores. Even if it can be daunting to see a store with tens of thousands of sales, seeing what they’re doing “right” can help you try to achieve their level of success!

But how do you find the most-sold items on Etsy?

1. Doing Your Own Market Research

Whenever you click around on Etsy, there tends to be this “rabbit-hole” effect where you start by clicking on handmade bookmarks and end up looking at ornate, refurbished flapper dresses.

This is the beauty and the downfall of doing your own market research – but if you can focus and do it right, you’ll be glad you did!

One of the best ways to do market research is to click around on Etsy and filter your searches until you are finding shops with thousands of five-star reviews and sales.

Once you do, you can start to see what these bestselling stores are offering and how often they are getting sales from customers.

For example,  Graphique  is an Etsy shop that designs and sells digital art downloads for over 170,000 customers and counting!

Their style and unique taste have made them stand out as one of the most – if not THE most – popular digital art download shops on the whole site.

By checking out their business styles, the way that they take photos and describe their products and work with customers, you can try to emulate large, successful sites into your own shop’s business model to try and garner success!

2. CraftCount.com and Other Market Research Sites

If clicking around for hours on Etsy.com doesn’t sound fun to you, there are alternative ways to find the top-selling items and shops online.

Craftcount.com is not associated nor affiliated with Etsy.com; however, they do keep a great ranking record of the top 10, 50, or 100 Etsy shops in various categories and those that are the top 10 of all time.

By going to their site and filtering by category, you can see which sellers are the best in their category, whether that be clothing, dolls, needlecraft, jewelry, stamps, or any others!

For example, as of the time of this article, the top two selling stores in Etsy overall on Craftcount.com are PlannerKate1 and ModParty .

As the name suggests, PlannerKate1 sells planner designs, styles, and accessories to help you make your planner completely your own. With over 900,000 sales on Etsy since 2014, PlannerKate1 has been stealing the Etsy show one brightly-colored sicker at a time!

ModParty , on the other hand, has dipped their creative brush into the wedding industry, creating gifts for bridesmaids, wedding favors, and decorations! Since 2013 they have sold nearly 570,000 products to customers and are still going strong.

3. Why Use Market Research?

In only minutes I was able to see the top two selling stores on Etsy’s website and get an idea of what they are selling and how they are selling it.

Furthermore, using sites like Craftcount.com saves me time and effort, and also let me get an idea of what the truly successful competition is doing.

Finally, if I was unsure about what to sell online through Etsy.com, poking around Craftcount.com or Etsy’s categories gives me an idea of what is already out there, and what I can do differently!

What Data is Available About Etsy?

There is a lot of data out there about Etsy.com.

Whether that is the history of the site, how their stock (ETSY) is doing, or if you’re looking to market research like me, getting data online about Etsy is pretty easy.

However, if you’re hoping all that data is in one place, you will be disappointed.

4. eRank.com

Like any major industry, there is too much said on the topic of Etsy to quickly search “current Etsy market trends” into Google and hope to come up with something that will help you in your business.

Instead, sellers will often take to eRank.com, something we’ve covered before here on Techpenny.com.

eRank.com is similar to Craftcount.com in that it allows you to research the top-selling shops and items on Etsy currently.

Unlike Craftcount.com, however, eRank.com is a register-to-use service and requires a login to access.

This is widely considered in the Etsy community to be one of the more popular data sites and compilations online to try and “get it all in one place.”

As I’ve said, getting it all in one place is difficult, and sometimes impossible. Still, if you’re going to look for data on Etsy market trends, use sites like eRank.com!

5. Etsy Forums

Finding information about the latest trends can sometimes come from Etsy sellers themselves.

Staying on top of and participating in Etsy forums is a great way to hear what the buzz is all about in the Etsy community.

Now, while this data is much more subjective than factual, you get an idea of where Etsy sellers are looking for information and what products are getting a lot of attention.

Furthermore, staying in the forums is a great way to make sure you are hearing about any problems with the site, updates, scandals, or issues that stores might be having.

Good Questions to Ask Yourself When Finding the Right Product

Once you’ve made yourself familiar with research tools on Etsy or through third-party sites like eRank or Craftcount, you can begin to decide what kind of product you want to sell.

More specifically, you can get a better understanding of what has already been overdone online and how you can rework your product from being a “category” to a “niche.”

6. Categories and Search Results

What category does my product fit into?

Categories are specific collections of products and items that you can sell in your shop.

It is important to know what categories your products qualify for when you create product descriptions for your shop. This will lead customers to your products during search results and when they want a specific item that you might provide.

If you aren’t doing your best to figure out what categories you qualify in, you may miss out on a huge customer base that is filtering their searches for that category.

Furthermore, if you miscategorize your products, customers will assume you are doing it on purpose to show up in ALL search results.

This makes them less likely to buy from you.

7. Niche and Finding Your “Thing”

How can my product stand out from the crowd in my category?

Once you know where your product belongs, knowing how to work within and around your competition in that category is what makes you successful on Etsy.com.

For example, Graphique , as we mentioned before, is part of a HUGE category of sellers online, which is “digital art.”

To stand out from the crowd, Graphique has created a type of digital art that capitalizes on old-fashioned and literary inspiration.

Knowing how to create a specific “niche” for your product will help you figure out what the “right” product is for you.

Ask yourself these questions:

• What Are You Passionate About?
• What Do You Already Know About?
• What “Signature” Style can You Provide?
• What Would YOU Like to See on Etsy?
• How Can You Fill That Need?

Often, Etsy stores with top-selling items are usually unique in that they really reflect the creator and what they like.

7 Etsy Market Research Tools You Should Know

As we’ve mentioned before, there are a lot of places to look for Etsy data and how to estimate trends and the Etsy market online.

We’ve compiled the resources we’ve already discussed, as well as a few more here:

Free Tools & Places to Check Out

• CraftCount.com
• Etsy Forums
• Etsy Blog Posts
• Interviews About Etsy or of Etsy Sellers
• Personal Research Clicking around Etsy Shops & Categories
• Twitter Trends & #Etsy

We did not want to include paid or for-sale products or apps here in our list, but there are paid sites and Chrome apps to use for your Etsy store to track market trends.

5 Products You Should Not Sell on Etsy (and Why!)

Rather than attempt to list everything on Etsy that flopped, we have created a few “categories” of our own that you should steer clear from if you’re going to be successful on Etsy.com!

While a lot of these are self-explanatory, the point is that following market trends means adapting to be like those successful shops, but not  exactly like them.

Instead, having your own unique brand in a popular niche is a great way to get noticed and to make sales!

1. Really “Unique” Items…

There are a lot of strange things on Etsy.com.

From taxidermied animals to paintings of Adolf Hitler over the body of Disney’s Tinkerbell, some Etsy creators are just TOO unique.

Just because you’ve created a niche that no one else has ever attempted before does not mean that you will be making many sales.

That’s not to say that you shouldn’t try to be different and make what inspires you! Just stick to making something that someone might actually want to buy.

2. Reproductions or Imitations

Being like the big and successful Etsy shops sometimes come with adapting to how they run things – and what they’re selling.

However, that doesn’t mean you should be making reproductions or imitations of what everyone else is doing. In fact, a lot of Etsy customers will surf Etsy for an hour or more before making a decision on what to buy.

Once they’ve looked at fifty of the same types of bookmarks, planners, or knitted hats, they’ll probably just turn to the shop with the highest star-rating and most sales to get their not-so-unique item.

Instead, follow the market trend in your category or niche and find a way to make it “yours.” Give it a passionate, personal flair, and don’t be afraid to really stamp yourself all over it creatively!

3. Plain-Jane Basics

Many customers love the ability to create their own custom versions of your product.

Whether that means engraving their names, getting their own uploaded photos or quotes put on an item, or even getting a commissioned painting of themselves, customers are looking to personalize their purchase.

For example, if you sell jewelry, try to create many different versions of the same product, or have the ability to customize or change the product to fit the customer’s needs!

If your items are plain, static, and unchanging, you may lose sales to more flexible sellers.

Furthermore, while “minimalism” is a great category on Etsy.com, even minimalists will add their own flair to their products for customer satisfaction.

4. Cheap or Toxic Materials & Paints

Being honest about what is in your products is crucial to making sales on Etsy.com.

Customers are more willing to trust transparent sellers who are upfront about what goes into each and every item they sell.

If your product is made of cheap yarn, toxic paint, or anything that might be worse than normal for the environment, you may not make any sales.

Consider instead to spend a little extra and invest in popular products or materials in your chosen category. If you’re an artist, research eco-friendly or strong paints that will last!

If you knit or sew, make sure your yarn is closer to wool than acrylic, or that your material is cotton and not polyester.

5. Breakable or Fake Jewelry

Just because you can’t afford to put diamonds in your products doesn’t mean your product is cheap.

If you like to make charm bracelets or beaded items, use beads or fake stones that aren’t going to break as soon as the customer opens the package. You’ll end up with bad reviews that will scare away new potential buyers.

In fact, many jewelers on Etsy.com have amazing products that are made from minimal materials and come out looking fantastic!

Metalworkers will use strong materials to make simple and beautiful rings for men and women without materials like diamonds, gemstones, or anything too expensive.

References:

Graphique – Etsy Store

Craftcount.com – Website

eRank.com – Website

PlannerKate1 – Etsy Store

ModParty – Etsy Store

PrettyMerch Pro – Paid App

Click to share...

• Skip to primary navigation
• Skip to main content
• Skip to primary sidebar
• Skip to footer

Paperly People

Planners, Selling on Etsy and Time Management Tips

How To Do Market Research On Etsy

February 12, 2019 By Tara Jacobsen

As an Etsy seller, one your most important jobs is to find out what will sell the most for you! Here are my best tips and ideas on how to pick top selling, popular items to sell on Etsy. Whether you are just getting started or a seasoned shop owner, it is worth taking the time to check your stats!

Oh, oh, oh so excited to write this post about how to do market research on Etsy! Etsy seller marketing is one of my new favorite things and this topic is just so wicked cool!

What Is Market Research

There are bunches of things you can figure out when you are doing market research, things like:

• What Customers In General Are Looking For
• What Your Top Competition Is Making AND Selling
• Your Top Selling Products
• What Your Customers Are Shopping For
• New Product Development
• What Marketing Is Working

By looking at the details of other shops AND your business, you can start to get a feeling for what you are good at producing, which marketing is working, AND what the what the general public wants overall.

Why You Should Do Market Research

As creators we only have so much time in the day. Whether we are making a digital product or a physical product, we are spending our time to produce and market that product to the detriment of all the other products that we COULD be making and selling.

At the core Market Research helps you find the low hanging fruit that people will want to buy and which you are going to be good at selling!

What Customers In General Are Looking For (CraftCount.com)

CraftCount.com has AWESOME data that you can use to figure out what is selling overall in Etsy and then it allows you to drill down to the top sellers in your category.

Top Selling Summary

This report is super interesting to look at to see what is selling the best overall in Etsy. You can check out supplies, handmades, etc. to see what is popular (great if you are thinking about opening a new shop).

How it helps: if you are in one of these popular categories you can use this data, but if you are selling something more specific you will probably want to use the more targeted data below. 

Targeted Selling Data

All that top data is all well and good, but I need a little more information about something that I am selling! For this you will want to go to “Top Sellers By Category”. Here you will drill down to your category of products. For my Paperly People shop, this is Paper Goods, for my Glamorously Vintage shop this is vintage decor.

For this example we will use a gal who does prints on canvas. Her category will be art. and then we want to drill down to her specific type…

The data there shows the shops ranked by number of sales for all time. Now we have to click around a bit to see which ones are selling an item like hers (a print on canvas)

Her top three competitors are:

• theblackapple
• thewheatfield
• berkleyillustration

Now, these seem like they are mostly prints on paper instead of canvas, but they will give us an idea of what is going on in the marketplace for art prints. You would want to check out all three, but we are going to drill down a bit on the top one, The Black Apple.

We are going to start by recording her numbers:

# of items # of reviews # of sales # of admirers

this our new goal for our shop! While it may seem insurmountable now, she has done it so we know we can to!

Next we are going to look at her most recent sales (click the sales link) to see what people are buying now.

For the first one we see it was a print called In The Spring, She Married A Bear, Large Print 11X14 by Emily Winfield Martin. I would note down relevant things like it was a bear, large print and 11X14. To get a feel for the price we will have to look at the other like items that Etsy shows us at the top. All of her prints seem to be around $36. Now, they are printed on paper instead of canvas so we need to keep that in mind for our review.

I would do this for all three top shops, recording the three most recent sales and making notes like, “this is a know artist selling her own works”, and “she has a website and blog, she seems to be a noted artist and illustrator”.

How it helps: Seeing what the top shops in your marketplace are selling, you can find new product ideas and niches that you might be able to target with new products. Additionally you can get a feel for how she is marketing her products.

Your Top Selling Products – Sales

This one is easy to find… just go to Shop Manager > Stats > Listing Tab

Sort By Orders

It is funny that you can “think” that one or the other of your products is a top seller but then find out that something else is really a best seller item!

How it helps: Tracking your own best sellers is super important for knowing what to make more of or variations of themes that work well for customers who find you!

What People Are Shopping For From You – Favorites

I feel like Favorites get a bad rap with Etsy sellers. They are so sad that someone favorited their item rather than buying it. But what they don't realize is that those favorites are great market data to know what to make more of!

When someone favorites your item or shop, they are indicating an interest in you or your products. This is like going on a first date with you! They are not ready to commit to marrying you (buying something), but they are interested enough to not want to lose you for later.

I LOVE seeing the data from my favorites! It lets me know the products that people are interested in at a much bigger scale than just measuring my sales. If you are not selling as much right now because you are a new Etsy seller or trying to figure out your product lines, watching your favorites like a hawk is a great idea idea for product development.

Looking at this report, I can see that potential buyers are interested in Poshmark, printable planner pages and Realtor topics (a big part of my client base is in the real estate industry).

These are all things to note and to consider making additional products for!

What is interesting to note is that while my best seller (by far) is the Poshmark worksheet, it is #2 on the list for my favorites and orders, but because it is lower in price than the Real Estate planner, I make less revenue on that than the planner. 

How it helps: it shows you the products and categories of products that you sell which people find interesting!

Views On Your Shop and Products – Views

Okay, now we are getting down to brass tacks. These are the items that hundreds of people have looked at.

Given everything available on Etsy and the internet, over 700 people have looked at my Real Estate planner page. Now, the interesting for us to look at is where the number of views matches up with the favorites and sales.

If your top viewed product has the lowest sales or favorites then you might want to consider changing your description wording.

Obviously the Title and pictures were good enough to get them to take a peek at your item, but once they were there, there wasn't enough interest in your product to convert them to a favorite or a buyer.

Don't forget, an item can have higher views just because it is older than a brand new item in your shop!

How it helps: If a product is getting lots of views (compared to your other items) and no one is buying it or favoriting it, you will need to look at other factors for its failure like price or a poor description.

For Example… my real estate planner is #1 on Views & Favorites, but #3 on Sales. By checking these stats you can start to see what is going on with your shop!

What Marketing Is Working – Your Traffic Sources

Whee…we are getting into hard core marketing now! By looking at your traffic sources you can see where your potential customers are coming from.

As you can see Etsy and the Etsy app do drive a ton of my traffic (6,773 views, 68%). But that means I have driven 3,151 hits to my store or products myself through other means like my websites, email and social media.

It is important to note where your views are coming from so you can spend your marketing time wisely. If you are spending an hour a day on Facebook and getting few hits, then you need to move that time over to something more productive.

Just remember that these are self fulfilling numbers. I am getting hits from my websites because I write blog posts that have a call to action to visit my Etsy store.

How it helps: I was paying a little bit of money to market on Twitter and found that there was no comparable bump in that as a source. Whether you are spending money or time, you need to make sure that your efforts are resulting in views.

Comparing Your Data To Get Insight

It is super important to look for holes in your sales funnel and figure out how to fill them!

You need to get traffic from Esty by focusing on your Etsy SEO and also by sending people from your social media or websites.

This leads to views, sometimes favorites and ultimately sales.

To track this you will want to get your numbers in order. Find out how many views you have to get to generate favorites and how many favorites you need to get sales.

For example, I have 506 views on my Etsy SEO worksheet and 22 sales. To figure out the percentage of people who buy this after seeing it I divide 22 by 506 and can make a good guess that about 4% of the people who see this listing will buy it.

If I want to sell 100 of these I will have to have 4,000 views.

To do this I can:

• Promote my listings on Etsy
• Link it from other Etsy items in my store
• Write blog posts that send people to that item (I made a link to it right above here, that will work a little bit because the only people reading this post are probably Etsy sellers who might be interested in SEO)
• Share it on social media so people can see it

But you also want to see the ones that are not doing good.

I have 1,035 views on my weekly planner page and only 6 sales…ack! That means that only .05% of people who see that listing are buying it. That is really bad! So I have some options, I could:

• Take down that listing (but I won't because it IS generating views which could lead to sales on my other products)
• Add a link to my other weekly planner spread that does sell better
• Fix my additional photos (obviously the first one is okay since people are looking at it, they just are not compelled to buy it)
• Re-write my description since it is obviously not doing a good job!

If you have a shop with hundreds of items, this may be hard to do for each of them, but in general, you should keep your eye on the top views, favorites and sales so you can see what your movers and shakers are doing!

Six Figures Under

Personal Finance Made Public

Market Research for your Etsy Shop– Earning on Etsy Series, Part 2

February 22, 2014 by Stephanie 28 Comments

Welcome back for Part 2 of my Earning on Etsy series.  Now that you know the basics of Etsy and have thought about what you want to sell, it’s time to do a little market research . You can find out a lot about what sells (and what doesn’t) and for how much by doing a little detective work on Etsy.

Just for the record, I don’t have any sort of degree in Etsy-market-research-ology.  I will show you what has worked well for me.  Feel free to share your own advice and experience in the comments!  I’m going to try to explain things thoroughly so even those of you who are completely new to the Etsy scene can get up to speed.  If something doesn’t make sense, just ask and I’ll try to clarify.

Now on to market research!  

As you think about what you will sell in your Etsy shop, and how you’ll sell it, take some time to look at what’s already out there on Etsy.  You’ll want to do some background detective work on: 

What similar items are out there?

Unless you have an amazing novel idea, chances are good that there are people already selling what you plan to sell. Of course it won’t be exactly the same. There will be differences in color, style, materials, and more.

Don’t get discouraged by the sheer amount of friendly competition.  There is always room for anyone selling a well-crafted wonderful product.

What is actually selling?

Just because you find an item on Etsy doesn’t necessarily mean it sells .  Finding out if items similar to yours are selling, gives you a clue about how popular your items may be.  Of course this is just one piece of the picture.

What is the range of prices?

You’ll be interested in prices both for the product and for shipping.  Take a deeper look at items priced on either end of the price spectrum.  This will give you some background for setting your own prices.

What presentation works well (and what doesn’t)?

While you are scoping out the competition, take a few additional notes. What are some creative ways to photograph your items? What kind of pictures grab your attention? You certainly don’t want to copy anyone’s ideas exactly, but you can give yourself some good “dos” and “don’ts” just by putting yourself in the customer’s shoes and browsing around. See what catches your eye.

The answers to these questions will help you shape your own Etsy shop.  Here are some tips I have found helpful that should help you jump start your way to Etsy success.

1.  Find Similar Items

First, start thinking like your ideal customer. If you were a buyer going online to search for the item you are selling, what would your search words be?  Brainstorm for a minute. This won’t necessarily be the listing title, just words that a potential buyer might use to describe what they are looking for.  Write down the words you come up with.  You’ll use them later when you create your own listings.

Right now, you just want a search that will yield results similar to what you’re selling. Don’t be overly specific (“3T pink rose full apron with eyelet lace”), but don’t be too general either (“apron”). Something in the middle ( “girl’s full apron”) should do for now.

2.  Take a Closer Look

How do the search results look?  Were most of the results legitimately what a buyer of your products would be interested in?  If it helps, you can filter the search to show only handmade items, supplies, or vintage items.  Click through several of pages of results to get an overall feel for the competition.

When you find listings that catch your attention, go deeper.   Among your search results, listings that should spark your curiosity from a seller standpoint are:

• Items very similar to what you plan to sell

While you might see very similar items as direct competition, we are going to look at them as prime candidates for analysis!  You can benefit from that seller’s experience to help inform your decisions.

• Items similar to yours with a high price

You’ll want to find out if the items actually selling at this price?  If so, what is different about them that makes them worth the higher price tag?

• Items similar to yours with a low price

If someone is selling at what seems to be a ridiculously low price, don’t let this deter you.  First, is the item really similar? Is it a ready-made item or just a pattern?

How long has the seller been selling? Sometimes new sellers set prices too low and after a few months realize they are essentially donating their crafts to the world. We will address the concern of low price when we talk about pricing.

3.  List vs. Gallery View

The default view for Etsy shops is the gallery view. The large horizontal photos of gallery view easily display eye candy to potential customers. However, for market research detectives, the list view is better.

From the list view, we can see a small thumbnail followed by the full title, price, and number of views. By glancing through the list of similar items, we can see the range of prices easily. We can also see which items have lots of views.

4. Valuable Research Information

When you click on an item of interest from your search, you will go to the item’s listing page.  Let’s see what we can learn from an item’s listing page.

In addition to typical listing info that a buyer would be interested in, you can click on the tabs to see reviews of the seller’s work and find out about shipping costs .

Some of the best information for market research is at the bottom of the listing page.  We can see when the item was listed, how many views an item has, how many people have saved it as a favorite, and how many treasuries (themed lists curated by Etsy members) it is featured in.

• Listing date

The listing date shows when the listing was created.  If an item is re-listed, the listing date is updated to the most recent re-listing date.  Because a listing expires after four months, this date will never be more than four months ago.

The number of views can be deceiving.  When an item is re-listed, the views do not reset.  An item that has sold many times and been re-listed each time it sells may show years of views.  An item may also have a lot of views because it is unusual or has a shocking price.

If an item doesn’t have many views, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the item won’t sell.  A recent listing may have fewer views, as could a listing from a seller who is new and just starting to get exposure.  (You can see how long a shop has been open on the left side of the shop, under the shop name.)  A listing may also have few views because the search tags are inadequate.  We’ll address tags at length in an upcoming post in this series.

• Favorites and Treasury lists

It’s a great sign when people add your item to their favorites or include it in a treasury list.  In your market research, items with lots of favorites let you know what your potential customers are most interested in.  As with views, the number of favorites does not reset when an item is re-listed.  Shoppers can favorite an item without clicking through to the listing, which sometimes results in the unusual situation of an item having more favorites than views.   If an item hasn’t had much exposure, it will likely have few or no favorites.  Once again, this doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a no-go; it could mean that this particular listing hasn’t had enough exposure to build up useful historical data.

Next, I go to see the sold items page.  Just like the shop, the sold items page can be displayed in gallery or list view.  List view is great because it will give us the date that the item sold.  We want to go through several pages of sold items to see if the items we are interested in have sold and how often.  This will give us an indication of how likely our own items are to sell.

Etsy market research isn’t an exact science, but by trying out some searches on items you might like to sell, reviewing current shops and items that appear in those searches, and diving deeper into price, presentation, and sales history for items of interest, you can improve your own Etsy business before you even list your first item.

More in the Earning on Etsy Series

• Part 1: Etsy Basics
• Part 3: Setting up your Shop
• Part 4: Pricing
• Part 5: Marketing
• Bonus:  Don’t Forget the Taxes!: Tax Notes for Etsy Shop or Small Business

Be the first to know!

Want to hear what successful Etsy sellers did and are doing to grow their shops? Learn their tips and tricks in my upcoming ebook. Sign up here to be the first to know when it's released (and get a discount)!

Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

September 4, 2016 at 3:04 pm

Thanks for the great info! Wondering if it’s ok to sell items which were made using a pattern someone else shared.

September 9, 2016 at 11:20 am

Hi Jae! It really depends on the pattern. If the pattern says “for personal use only” then your shouldn’t sell items made from that pattern, but if the pattern allows it, then you can sell what you make from the pattern.

September 17, 2015 at 1:06 pm

Hi Stephanie, I’m still trying to figure out how to view sold items on Etsy. I’ve searched and cannot come up with it. Could you please help? thanks, goldie

October 21, 2015 at 4:06 pm

Go to the ‘shop home’ and look down the left column menu. Shop sections Shop owner Shop info Actions

In the shop info section: about policies reviews sales <<<< admirers

I've found if they haven't had any sales, it doesn't show the word 'sales' there. hth

June 21, 2015 at 6:24 am

Hi Stephanie,

Brilliant series :), I found your articles via google, our site craftysparks.com has information about tags, views favourites on etsy and could be useful for market research.

March 5, 2015 at 8:01 pm

I must not be looking properly; I can’t find where the number of sales (sold items) shows up on etsy shop pages. Has the format/layout been changed lately? Thank you!

January 8, 2015 at 6:26 am

Great series of helpful tips written in an understandable fashion. I opened a store about a year ago and have found Etsy to be the most over complicated thing I have ever dealt with. This series of yours. has more information in one place that I have found in a year. My only regret is not finding it sooner

January 10, 2015 at 9:59 am

Thanks for your kind words George. I’m sorry that the past year of Etsy has been so complicated.

December 26, 2014 at 3:05 pm

I feel so inspired by you, largely because we are in a nearly identical situation. My husband just graduated from law school with six figures of debt. He doesn’t have a job yet though, and he still has to study for and take the bar. It has caused me to start thinking seriously about my earning potential and any way I can possibly make money. Etsy is one of those avenues that I’m considering. Thank you for these posts. They give me courage!

December 5, 2014 at 12:20 pm

How does doing your taxes at the end of the year work when you have an etsy shop?

November 16, 2014 at 12:30 pm

Thank you Stephanie! The list view information was just what I looking for and makes life so much easier. I’m looking forward to reading more of your articles and wish you and your family all the best with your debt free quest. Super inspiring!

December 11, 2014 at 11:39 am

Thanks for the encouragement Jana! I’m glad the Etsy tutorials were helpful! Best of luck with your shop!

November 9, 2014 at 8:27 am

I just started on Etsy this year. It has been an interesting experience. The advice here is really helpful to me. I never noticed all the information you pointed out! Thanks so much! I am going to go back and do some research 🙂

Laura Irene http://www.ireneireneart.com

November 13, 2014 at 10:11 am

Best of luck with your shop! I’m glad this post was helpful!

August 19, 2014 at 7:46 pm

Hey Stephanie:

Please tell me how you find the sold items on etsy’s page.

I think that that is the key to success on etsy, especially for vintage – and havent been able to find it on the etsy site.

August 20, 2014 at 10:06 pm

Hi Lori! If you are in an Etsy shop, click on where is says the number of sales (“342 sales”), which is usually on the left side, though Etsy is experimenting with new layouts. Then you will see all of the sold items. If you are in a particular listing description, click on the shop name to go to the Etsy shop, then click on the number of sold items.

I hope that helps. Let me know if it still isn’t clear.

Best! Stephanie

June 26, 2014 at 6:04 pm

Hi Stephanie, My name is Danielle and I have an etsy shop. http://www.TreasureTurner.etsy.com I sell mostly vintage jewelry and vintage Avon. Do you think it is possible to over niche ones self? Thanks BTW, I love this series!

June 27, 2014 at 9:41 pm

Hi Danielle! I’m not sure exactly what you mean by “over niche ones self.” If you mean you’re worried about covering too many niches in your shop, then yes I think that can be a problem. Often if you are doing handmade items and vintage items, you would want to have two separate shops. That just helps the look and feel of your shop to be consistent. I think it’s less important in vintage shops than in handmade shops though. Hope that helps!

July 18, 2014 at 8:19 am

@Danielle I visited your Etsy site to get a feel for what you referring to as far as niches, and I understand now what you meant by over-niche. First, a niche is something you really want in marketing. If you can find an underserved or even better, a market that is not being served at all, you will have an opportunity to make some good money until someone comes around and competes with you, shrinking your market share. The trick is to find a good niche that is market viable. Market size (the size of the pie) and ability to grab market share (a piece of that pie) is what’s important. Niche markets are not big pies generally; some are very tiny, and you’d need several of them, depending on the product or service, in order to have a revenue stream that yields profits. Just don’t spread yourself too thin in trying to manage too many markets. I don’t think you are “over niche – ing”, though. As Stephanie suggested, you may want to distinguish your two niches with separate sites or you can just differentiate them on a single site. It looks like you are doing just fine. Hope the feedback helps.

July 18, 2014 at 8:02 pm

Thanks for your input!

February 27, 2014 at 10:40 am

These are some great tips. Thank you!

February 28, 2014 at 10:34 am

Thanks for stopping by Korilynn

February 27, 2014 at 8:37 am

Hi, I found your post over at Thrifty Thursday. This is really detailed information on Etsy. Nice job!

On a different note, are you a fan of the show Six Feet Under? Just wondering because of the name of your blog. That is one of my all time favorite shows!

Thanks Raquel!

I’ve never seen (or even heard of) the show Six Feet Under. We actually don’t even watch TV, so I live under a rock when it comes to pop culture! 🙂 I just thought mixing the euphemism “six feet under” with the term “six figures” to make Six Figures Under was perfect to describe our “deep in debt” situation!

February 27, 2014 at 8:34 am

Great tips! I had no idea all that data was accessible on Etsy because I mostly browse on my phone app. I can’t wait to dig in now!

February 28, 2014 at 10:28 am

I hope you find lots of useful information Bonnie!

February 23, 2014 at 6:49 pm

This series is so helpful. Thank you for putting all the work in to make this. I’ve been in the “collecting” stage of my shop (just getting all the items), this week I’ll be checking this stuff out!

February 25, 2014 at 4:50 pm

I’m excited to see what you come up with out of all those bottles and corks 🙂

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

If A New Comment Is Posted: Do not send any comments to my email Send email notification ONLY when someone replies to MY comment Send email notification for ALL new comments on this post

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Find it On AMAZON!

READER FAVORITES

Find the best products to sell on etsy in seconds

Learn how to grow your etsy sales by selling things people want.

#1 Product Research & Marketing Platform for Etsy Sellers

• FIND HIGH-DEMAND ETSY PRODUCTS EverBee Product Analytics is the fastest way to perform Etsy product research, launch new products, and grow your Etsy Sales.
• KEYWORD RESEARCH Discover high-volume, low-competition keywords, and competitive keyword research to boost organic traffic and drive conversions.
• TAG ANALYZER Reveal tags of listings and uncover high-demand, low-competition keywords.
• EMAIL MARKETING FOR ETSY Just connect your Etsy account to elevate your email market strategy for Etsy and increase Etsy sales on autopilot!

EverBee Etsy Product Analytics

Find the best plan for your etsy shop.

Join EverBee to build and grow a successful business on Etsy.

• Product Analytics with limited premium metrics
• Quick Sort Ability
• Advanced Filters

GROWTH PLAN

$ 29.99 /mo

• Product Analytics with Sales and Revenue data
• Premium metrics: Conversion Rate, Visiblity Score + More
• Unlimited Favorites Folder uses
• Additional Shop Insights: Shop Age, Shop Review Count + More
• Easy store Analytics: LTV, Repeat Rate, Avg. Order Value + More
• 3 Etsy Store connections
• Unlimited Keyword Searches per month
• Search Bar Keyword Volume Insights
• Keyword Finder - See Specific Keyword Insights + Related Keyword Ideas
• Tag Search Volume - See the monthly search volume of each particular tag on a listing
• Tag Analyzer - Insights of all the tags of each particular listing in one click
• Simple and powerful email marketing for Etsy sellers
• Grow your sales on autopilot
• Promote your products quickly
• 10 landing pages

$239 Billed annually. ($120 SAVINGS = 4 months value)

BUSINESS PLAN

• Unlimited Etsy Store Connections
• Priority chat and email support
• Unlimited landing pages

$828 Billed annually. ($360 SAVINGS = 4 months value)

What our customers are saying

AMAZING! If I have a feeling about something I want to create in my Etsy Shop, I use everBee to confirm whether I should pursue it or not, and everBee has validated whether it is worth the time and money. I use this tool in my every day research, planning and development. It has already helped me make a decision on an item which in turn that decision increased traffic to my shop. Priceless!

💕💕Amazing tool💕💕 Amazing support 💕💕Outstanding Excellent customer service💕💕. its Super easy to use and very convenient. 💕💕Keep this in your mind, This will be a Super Hit for etsy sellers!!💕💕💕💕💕 Cheers! -Dilhani

Really useful. If you are starting out on Etsy and are not sure what to sell, this is a great way to help you get started. I just started last week and had my first sale in a few days.

I love it! I needed help with something I work on and EverBee was exactly what helped me finish it. I will use it forever!

If you're looking for an easy tool to help build your SEO on Etsy and want to make more sales, then Everbee is the bees knees! 🐝 Keyword Research is vital to grow a business on the Etsy platform, especially with thousands of competitors. I really like to stay one step ahead of the competition with this Keyword Analysis tool which you can bulk research Best Sellers! They have amazing customer support and highly helpful tutorial videos.

🌸🌸The Best tool that i Have ever used. excellent support. try this once, you will get more sales🌸🌸

This is the best tool I've ever used for my Etsy Business. I was able to create new products that was relevant to my niche. With the help of this extension, I will be able to create the "correct" product.

Have any questions?

Read our Frequently Asked Questions below.

Anytime you have any questions or feedback, please reach out to: [email protected] we’d love to help you in any way we can.

How to Research Your Competitors on Etsy

Creator Economy Expert & Etsy Seller

Lindsey Becker

So! You’ve decided to start a business.  Whether you’re selling things directly on Etsy or in other marketplaces, Etsy stores can be big competitors for you.

Knowing more about your competitors can help you avoid any common mistakes or find any points of difference between your stores.

Read on to find out how you can research your competitors on Etsy and benefit your own business because of it!

What Is Market Research?

Market research is a process of examining the businesses or stores that are operating in a similar sphere to you, and researching how they present themselves and their products.

Market research is focused on many things; how people find businesses in this sphere, what leads to repeat customers, what customers themselves like about various businesses, and so on.

The field can be daunting – but you don’t have to do it all!   Any market research is better than none.

Whether you just survey a small proportion of customers or businesses, or note only a few aspects that seem to give some businesses an edge, this is still useful information that you didn’t have before.

Why Is Market Research Important For Your Etsy Shop? 

Etsy has around 7.5 million sellers on the platform. That’s a lot, and you’re just one of them.

It sure seems daunting! How can you make your shop stand out? 

With some market research, you’ll be able to see what is helping stores in your sphere of the market succeed.

Using this to generate ideas around what you should sell, or how you should sell it, is a great way to make sure your store really pops in someone’s search list.

Market research will also give you ideas around how you can and should price your items, and is generally an incredibly valuable resource to make your store stand out from the crowd.

How To Research Your Competitors On Etsy

Look At The Same Stores Selling Your Products

Market research is great – but it’s not much use looking at stores that don’t sell the same things you do!

Depending on what kind of products you have, other Etsy sellers may be selling similar things (or even products that are exactly the same).

There are two ways to find stores that are competing with you through selling the same products.

The first is to use Etsy’s built-in category search. Etsy provides an extensive list of categories, and you can refine your search to the one that your business best fits into.

The second is to search for your products specifically by name. For example, if you are selling handmade wooden toys, you could search for “wooden fire truck” as it is an item you sell.

Look For The Same Stores Using Your Keywords

Your business likely sells many individual products. As a result, you’ll have some general keywords in mind to advertise.

If you were selling handmade wooden toys, maybe those would be something like “handcrafted, wood, children, quality, classic”.

Look for these keywords using Etsy’s search function!  This will help find more stores that are competing in your market.

Don’t necessarily search for all of the keywords at once. Start with one or two, as search engines can often show stores with just one keyword as well as those with multiple, so it’s good to be aware of what customers will see at first while browsing.

Survey Their Customers  

Now comes what is arguably the most important part. Your competitors won’t be buying from you- customers will!  So, you’ll need to know what they like to see in a store.

Most traditional market research involves direct surveys of customers, often by sending them directly to individuals.

You probably can’t do that particularly effectively at this point in time- so instead, take a look at the reviews on each seller’s page.

Make a note of the good and bad points that customers bring up in their reviews. This will help you understand things you may want to include in (or exclude from) your own store.

If you do have direct access to customers to survey, you can send them survey forms or short questions about what they are looking for in your market area. 

Tools To Help You Research Your Competitors On Etsy

eRank is focused on tracking keyword use on Etsy. It gives data on what words are being used in searches, and what keywords your competitors are using on their pages.

eRank’s Keyword Explorer generates likely keywords around whatever term you input. 

For example, if you were to input a term such as “summer dress”, the Explorer may return keywords as “long summer dress” or “summer slip dress”.

Additionally, it will have information on how often these words are searched for on Etsy, and how many clicks each keyword has generated within a given timeframe.

To access even more information, the user can make use of the Keyword Tool. In addition to all information provided by Explorer, Keyword Tool also gives competing keywords and search volume.

If these are not enough, eRank’s Listing Audit feature makes up for that! The Listing Audit will give a comprehensive list of features that each product listing can improve on, from meta tags and descriptions to the page title itself.

eRank offers a free plan, as well as two tiers of paid options: 5.99 per month for Basic paid access, and $9.99 per month for the Pro package. 

It is worth nothing that even when using the Pro package, access to Etsy data is not unlimited. 

Users are able to check the ranks of pages up to 50 times per day in total, and can check for competitor page keywords up to 200 times per day.

Additional features such as Top Sellers and Tag Report give broader information on your competition and your most and least used tags, respectively.

Overall, Etsy shop owners could have a lot to gain from using eRank to research their competition!

Spyfu is more focused on advertising keywords, and particularly on those used in Google Ads.

They do provide some market analysis tools as well though, particularly those related to identifying new players in the market.

Spyfu doesn’t offer a free tier, instead offering two paid plans at $39 or $79 per month. 

With the basic package, you will be able to analyze 10,000 search results, 10,000 data exports, and take PDF snapshots of up to 100 domain overviews.

Additionally, you’ll be able to view 6 months of historical data, receive 5000 keyword rankings per week, and access 250 domain contacts and sales leads. 

With the Pro package, the caps are removed and you have unlimited access to all the data Spyfu can obtain, which is undeniably a valuable way to research your Etsy competitors.

SEMRush is also focused on tracking keyword use, and expands a little into examining social media performance of your competitors. 

All in all, SEMRush offers 20 SEO tools that you can utilize to undertake competitor research. 

Their services include keyword tracking, backlink analytics, page crawling/auditing, social media management, an entire content marketing platform, historical data, and Google Data Studio integration.

The extent to which you can use each service depends on the level of your subscription. SEMRush offers a (limited) free tier, along with two further tiers of paid options.

Buzzsumo advertises a high degree of specificity in analysis, offering statistics by platform, time period, and content type. 

They claim to be the world’s largest storehouse of all data pertaining to social engagement.

With Buzzsumo, users can search, analyze, and discover their competitors by the following metrics: 

• Time period: Whether you want the most shared content of the last 6, 12, or 24 months, Buzzsumo lets you view it all! You can analyze trends over time, or go in-depth on a particular moment
• Domain: By entering an URL into Buzzsumo, you will discover the most shared content of that particular website. enter your competitors’ websites and start your research!
• Content type: Sort by video, graphical, or text content
• Author: Know a high-performing content author? Search their name and discover just what makes them so effective
• Social network: See where your competitors are most socially prominent, and how
• Users of the Pro package can hone their search based on even narrower criteria – Buzzsumo really does let you dissect the competition!

Buzzsumo offers a free tier with limited monthly searches, or a Pro package for $99 per month.

Something of an anomaly among Etsy-SEO tools is Owletter , which focuses on email analysis to help you understand how your competitors send emails. Metrics analyzed include email content and frequency. 

Any marketing email sent from a competitor’s website is captured by Owletter, screenshotted and saved. The AI analyzes its content and then groups it with other emails of similar keywords. 

There’s no free tier on offer- users can expect to pay between $19 and $79 per month. The plan you select will determine the extent Owletter monitors your competitors, and how many documents you can save within the platform. 

What To Look Out For When Researching Your Competitors On Etsy

Their Sales

The easiest way to see whether a particular store is doing well is by looking at their sales.

On every store page, the total number of sales the store has made will be displayed just above the “follow shop” button.

This of course doesn’t tell you how fast they are moving stock- they could have been in business for 10 years, or just one!

You can make a note of their current sales number and return to the store in a week to see how much they are selling in a week.  For maximum effectiveness, you’ll want to do this for a few weeks and average out the sales.

You can also try to estimate their sales over a time period from the number of reviews present.

The amount of reviews is correlated to the amount of sales, but of course there are generally far fewer reviews than sales.

The Average Price Of Items

Price point is the easiest quantity to compete on. If you can sell a product cheaper than your competitors, you are much more likely to get customers than they are!

Take a look at the products that your competitors are selling and work out the average price they are selling for.

Although the perfect way to do this is to look at all their product prices and take an average, sometimes this isn’t feasible.

In this case, you can get a rough estimate by sorting by lowest price, picking a few products, then sorting by highest price and doing the same thing.

Of course, this method isn’t perfect, and the more products you pick the more likely you’ll be to get the actual average price of an item.

Other Types Of Products They Sell

Sometimes, your competitors might sell things that you haven’t thought about, but make sense for you to also sell.

For instance, if you’re selling posters, it might make sense for you to also sell some artistic hangers for them.

Understanding what kinds of products might complement your stock is great information to have!

As well as this, some of your competitors may initially draw customers to their pages with a completely different item, and the customers then move to purchasing the items that you also sell.

Understanding this might help you identify whether or not using a particular competitor’s techniques will be useful to you.

If you sell wooden toys, it’s not much use utilizing the keywords of a competitor who mainly sells posters but has some wooden toys on the side!

Like we talked about in the “Survey their customers” section, reviews are one of the best indicators of what Etsy shoppers are looking for in your store.

A shop with a high quantity of five star reviews is probably worth looking at to see what customers have enjoyed.  

Similarly, a shop with a high quantity of one star reviews is probably worth looking at to see what to avoid!

In Conclusion

Market research is an incredibly valuable tool to assist you in starting up an Etsy shop!  

In the article above, we’ve talked about some of the ways it can be useful, and what to look for when doing it in this context.

We’ve also pointed out some of the tools you can use to understand your competitor’s practices better, and learn from them to benefit your own business. Good luck!

Etsy product research extension

The ultimate Etsy product research tool

The Alura Chrome Extension gives you access to over 60 million Etsy listings to help you identify your next successful product.

Get key listing insights

Validate your product ideas

Launch your product with confidence.

An insanely good method for finding hot selling products! with the Alura extension and Product Seeker.

Frequently asked questions

Ready to find a new winning product?

All-in-one platform for etsy success.

The simple all-in-one platform that unifies every aspect of the Etsy seller journey, from research to marketing.

Keyword finder

Alura extension, shop analyzer, product seeker, listing helper, followup reminder, email sender.

We couldn’t find any results matching your search.

Please try using other words for your search or explore other sections of the website for relevant information.

We’re sorry, we are currently experiencing some issues, please try again later.

Our team is working diligently to resolve the issue. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

News & Insights

Etsy (ETSY) Stock Slides as Market Rises: Facts to Know Before You Trade

April 03, 2024 — 06:00 pm EDT

Written by Zacks Equity Research for Zacks  ->

In the latest market close, Etsy (ETSY) reached $65.15, with a -0.05% movement compared to the previous day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.11%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw a downswing of 0.11%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 0.23%.

The online crafts marketplace's shares have seen a decrease of 4.92% over the last month, not keeping up with the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 1.54% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.5%.

The upcoming earnings release of Etsy will be of great interest to investors. On that day, Etsy is projected to report earnings of $0.49 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 7.55%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $647.95 million, up 1.1% from the prior-year quarter.

Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $2.60 per share and revenue of $2.86 billion, indicating changes of +7.44% and +4.04%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Etsy should also be noted by investors. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To take advantage of this, we've established the Zacks Rank, an exclusive model that considers these estimated changes and delivers an operational rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.61% lower within the past month. At present, Etsy boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, Etsy is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 25.11. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 22.92.

Investors should also note that ETSY has a PEG ratio of 4.51 right now. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. The average PEG ratio for the Internet - Services industry stood at 1.85 at the close of the market yesterday.

The Internet - Services industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 55, putting it in the top 22% of all 250+ industries.

The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.

Zacks Names #1 Semiconductor Stock

It's only 1/9,000th the size of NVIDIA which skyrocketed more than +800% since we recommended it. NVIDIA is still strong, but our new top chip stock has much more room to boom.

With strong earnings growth and an expanding customer base, it's positioned to feed the rampant demand for Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Internet of Things. Global semiconductor manufacturing is projected to explode from $452 billion in 2021 to $803 billion by 2028.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

Etsy, Inc. (ETSY) : Free Stock Analysis Report

To read this article on Zacks.com click here.

Zacks Investment Research

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Stocks mentioned

More related articles.

This data feed is not available at this time.

Sign up for the TradeTalks newsletter to receive your weekly dose of trading news, trends and education. Delivered Wednesdays.

To add symbols:

• Type a symbol or company name. When the symbol you want to add appears, add it to My Quotes by selecting it and pressing Enter/Return.
• Copy and paste multiple symbols separated by spaces.

These symbols will be available throughout the site during your session.

Your symbols have been updated

Edit watchlist.

• Type a symbol or company name. When the symbol you want to add appears, add it to Watchlist by selecting it and pressing Enter/Return.

Opt in to Smart Portfolio

Smart Portfolio is supported by our partner TipRanks. By connecting my portfolio to TipRanks Smart Portfolio I agree to their Terms of Use .

• News for Etsy

Etsy’s Underperformance and GMS Decline Prompt Sell Rating

In a report released yesterday, Ken Gawrelski from Wells Fargo maintained a Sell rating on Etsy ( ETSY – Research Report ), with a price target of $60.00 .

Ken Gawrelski has given his Sell rating due to a combination of factors including Etsy’s underperformance in the stock market and a reduction in Gross Merchandise Sales (GMS). The stock’s decline of 20% in the first quarter, compared to the Nasdaq’s 10% rise, reflects the market’s anticipation of continued GMS pressure. Additionally, Etsy’s guidance for the second quarter implies that these negative trends may persist. The company’s marketing initiatives and product launches, such as the Super Bowl ad, were expected to boost GMS, but this didn’t materialize as seen in web traffic and app data, leading to a downward revision of GMS estimates. Further contributing to the Sell rating is the uncertainty around Etsy’s ability to achieve sustained GMS growth despite potential reinvestment initiatives. While Etsy could increase its marketplace take-rate, which is already higher than its peers, it is uncertain whether the additional revenue generated would effectively translate into GMS growth. This uncertainty, along with lowered GMS expectations and the impact of foreign exchange headwinds on Etsy’s financials, has led to a revised price target and reaffirmed underweight rating. Gawrelski’s analysis suggests that even with some positive variables, the visibility into long-term growth is limited, warranting caution and a Sell rating for Etsy’s stock.

TipRanks tracks over 100,000 company insiders, identifying the select few who excel in timing their transactions. By upgrading to TipRanks Premium, you will gain access to this exclusive data and discover crucial insights to guide your investment decisions. Begin your TipRanks Premium journey today.

Etsy (ETSY) Company Description:

Etsy, Inc. is an online marketplace for buyers and sellers, and operates in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Australia. It mainly focuses on handmade or vintage items and craft supplies that include unique jewelry, on-trend clothing, bags, toys, art, home decor and furniture. In addition, the company offers several services to sellers including payment processing, advertising platform and shipping services.

Read More on ETSY:

• Etsy call volume above normal and directionally bullish
• Early notable gainers among liquid option names on March 19th
• Unusually active option classes on open March 19th
• Is Penny Stock Stitch Fix (NASDAQ:SFIX) on the Road to Recovery? Wait to Find Out
• Etsy (NASDAQ:ETSY) Seems Lost, Struggling to Find a Path to Growth

Etsy News MORE

Related stocks.

• Manage Account
• Solar Eclipse
• Bleeding Out
• Things to Do
• Public Notices
• Help Center

business Personal Finance

The Motley Fool: Etsy is making its online marketplace grow

Plus: ‘split-adjusted’ stock prices and the regrettable investment move a reader didn’t make..

By The Motley Fool

5:30 AM on Apr 7, 2024 CDT

The Motley Fool’s Take

Etsy operates an online marketplace for handmade and customizable goods. Sales are down and profits have shrunk, yet the company’s stock is worth considering now because its business model produces lots of cash.

In the fourth quarter, the number of active buyers on Etsy’s marketplace hit an all-time high of 92 million. Moreover, its base of active sellers is growing as well, providing those customers with more and more goods to buy. In other words, Etsy is still attracting the buyers and sellers it needs to succeed.

And while gross merchandise sales have receded modestly, the company can still grow revenue in other ways. Indeed, Etsy’s revenue was up 7% in 2023 thanks, in part, to advertising — and it generated $666 million in free cash flow in 2023 as well. The company hopes that artificial intelligence (AI) can give its sales a further boost, optimizing search results to match buyers with the products they’re seeking.

Become a business insider with the latest news.

By signing up you agree to our  Terms of Service  and  Privacy Policy

Etsy’s business model produces a lot of profit, too. In 2023 its gross profit margin was 70% and its net profit margin was about 11%.

Etsy’s stock appears inexpensive, with a recent forward-looking price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 20, well below its five-year average of 40. Shares are likely to be volatile in the years ahead, but risk-tolerant long-term investors might take a closer look. (The Motley Fool owns shares of and has recommended Etsy.)

Ask the Fool

From S.R., Yarrow Point, Wash.: What does “split-adjusted” mean?

The Fool responds: When you see a “split-adjusted” stock price, that means it’s been modified to reflect any stock splits that have occurred. Remember that a regular stock split will increase your number of shares but will also reduce the stock price proportionately, leaving your total investment valued the same. Splits are mostly an accounting exercise, not a sudden windfall.

Consider Microsoft, which was recently trading at a stock price near $420. That may seem like a big number, but it would be much bigger had Microsoft not split its stock nine times since it debuted on the market in 1986. If you had started with a single share, it would have been split 2-for-1 seven times and 3-for-2 twice, leaving you with 288 shares now. But if the stock price had never dropped with each split, that one share would be worth more than $120,000 today.

Most historical stock prices you run across are split-adjusted (if there have been any splits). If you look up a company’s historical stock prices, you may see some very low old prices. Those will have been adjusted to reflect splits and dividends, permitting us to see the stock’s real change in value over time.

From W.B., Swampscott, Mass.: If I open an account online with a brokerage, how do I get money into it so that I can buy stocks?

The Fool responds: If the brokerage has brick-and-mortar locations, you could walk into a branch with cash or a check. You can also deposit money electronically, such as via direct deposit, a wire or an electronic transfer from your bank account. You can learn more about good brokerages at our sister site, TheAscent.com .

The Fool’s School

If you hem your own pants instead of taking them to a sewing professional, that’s a fine money-saving move. You might do your own lawn care, or even tackle fixing a leaky faucet. But sometimes — such as when you need surgery or a new transmission — you need to hire a pro. It’s the same with your finances: Unless you’ve really read up on money management and know your stuff, you’d do well to consider consulting a financial adviser at certain points in your life.

For example, if you’re getting married, you and your partner need to discuss how you’ll manage your household finances and how you’ll work toward common goals. You’ll need to decide whether to file your taxes jointly or individually, and whether one of you will be added to the other’s health insurance plan. A financial pro can work through these issues with you.

A financial pro can help if you’re getting divorced, too, perhaps helping you identify smart moves to make now and later and advising on tax matters. (For instance — can you file taxes jointly in the current year, and should you?)

If you have kids, you’ll want to consider what kinds of savings accounts to set up for their future needs, such as college — will a 529 plan, an education savings account or something else serve you best? (It’s also generally smart to get life insurance when kids come along.)

When you buy or sell a home, a pro could help you save many thousands of dollars via some smart tax moves, or maybe by steering you to the kind of mortgage that’s best for you.

Financial advisers can be helpful and can save you money in many other situations: Perhaps you inherit money, you need an estate plan or you’re considering buying a complex financial product such as an annuity or long-term care insurance.

Friends or relatives might steer you to a good adviser. You might also find a good fee-only one at NAPFA.org or GarrettPlanningNetwork.com .

My Dumbest Investment

From Mark C.: My most regrettable investment move was an investment I didn’t make. A few years ago, my broker recommended a stock called Nvidia; I think it was trading for under $100 a share at the time. I didn’t know how to spell it and I sure didn’t know what it was, so I passed on it. I just purchased it last December at $481 a share!

The Fool responds: Semiconductor titan Nvidia has specialized in chips for gaming, cloud computing, data centers and more, and it’s now focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) chips as well. But since you didn’t know anything about the company at the time, not buying was actually the right thing to do. It’s rarely smart to just buy stocks on someone’s recommendation without doing some research on your own to see what you think.

You reasonably regret not investing in Nvidia earlier, but it’s been such a powerhouse lately that you’ve almost doubled your money in just a few months, with the stock recently topping $900 per share. Right now its stock doesn’t seem to be bargain-priced (its recent price-to-sales ratio of 36.6 is well above its five-year average of 18.3). Still, in five years or more, risk-tolerant investors who buy this volatile stock now may be happy they did.

I trace my roots back to 1920, with the publication in Pennsylvania of a four-page magazine for high schools. By 1922, it was a 24-page national biweekly. I launched book clubs for kids in 1948 and started holding book fairs in 1981. With a recent market value near $1.1 billion, I’m the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, and a major literacy curriculum and classroom magazine provider. I’m active in more than 135 countries; my mission is to “encourage the intellectual and personal growth of all children, beginning with literacy.” Who am I?

Don’t remember last week’s question? Find it here .

Last week’s answer: Lockheed Martin

The Motley Fool

Top Business Stories

Baby born in north texas during eclipse overshadows historic event, nasa astronaut jose hernandez inspires hispanic youth in dallas for eclipse, eclipse above the clouds: travelers get 30,000-foot view of totality on southwest flight, downtown dallas comes alive with crowds for total solar eclipse, southwest airlines jet loses engine cover en route to texas, forcing emergency landing.

We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here . By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Service .

New to Zacks? Get started here.

Member Sign In

Don't Know Your Password?

• Zacks #1 Rank
• Zacks Industry Rank
• Zacks Sector Rank
• Equity Research
• Mutual Funds
• Mutual Fund Screener
• ETF Screener
• Earnings Calendar
• Earnings Releases
• Earnings ESP
• Earnings ESP Filter
• Stock Screener
• Premium Screens
• Basic Screens
• Research Wizard
• Personal Finance
• Money Managing
• Real Estate
• Retirement Planning
• Tax Information
• My Portfolio
• Create Portfolio
• Style Scores
• Testimonials
• Zacks.com Tutorial

Services Overview

• Zacks Ultimate
• Zacks Investor Collection
• Zacks Premium

Investor Services

• ETF Investor
• Home Run Investor
• Income Investor
• Stocks Under $10
• Value Investor
• Top 10 Stocks

Other Services

• Method for Trading
• Zacks Confidential

Trading Services

• Black Box Trader
• Counterstrike
• Headline Trader
• Insider Trader
• Large-Cap Trader
• Options Trader
• Short Sell List
• Surprise Trader
• Alternative Energy

You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.

If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK . If you do not, click Cancel.

Image: Bigstock

Etsy (ETSY) Stock Drops Despite Market Gains: Important Facts to Note

Etsy ( ETSY Quick Quote ETSY - Free Report ) closed at $64.98 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.88% move from the prior day. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a gain of 1.11% for the day. On the other hand, the Dow registered a gain of 0.8%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 1.24%.

The online crafts marketplace's shares have seen a decrease of 4.15% over the last month, not keeping up with the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 0.85% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.48%.

Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Etsy in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $0.49, reflecting a 7.55% decrease from the same quarter last year. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $647.95 million, indicating a 1.1% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $2.60 per share and revenue of $2.86 billion, which would represent changes of +7.44% and +4.04%, respectively, from the prior year.

It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for Etsy. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the company's business and profitability.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, spanning from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), boasts an impressive track record of outperformance, audited externally, with #1 ranked stocks yielding an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.61% lower. Etsy is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at valuation, Etsy is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 25.25. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 23.16.

One should further note that ETSY currently holds a PEG ratio of 4.53. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Internet - Services industry held an average PEG ratio of 1.81.

The Internet - Services industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 63, this industry ranks in the top 25% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.

See More Zacks Research for These Tickers

Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report free:.

Etsy, Inc. (ETSY) - free report >>

Published in

This file is used for Yahoo remarketing pixel add

Due to inactivity, you will be signed out in approximately:

Is Etsy Stock Going to $60? 1 Wall Street Analyst Thinks So

O nline marketplace Etsy (NASDAQ: ETSY) is struggling to grow in the post-pandemic world. Wells Fargo analyst Ken Gawrelski became a bit more pessimistic on Thursday, maintaining his underperform rating and dropping his price target for the stock from $62 to $60. This new price target represents a potential downside of about 8% over the next 12 months or so.

Treading water

Etsy gained customers during the pandemic as consumers shifted spending online and sought out the unique and (often) handcrafted items offered by Etsy's sellers. While Etsy has doubled the number of active buyers on its platform since 2019, growth has now ground to a halt.

Gross merchandise sales (GMS) across all of Etsy's platforms was $13.2 billion in 2023, down 1.2% year over year. The company managed to grow revenue by 7% thanks to higher fees and growth in advertising sales, but last year was the second year in a row that GMS slumped. This metric was down about 4% in 2022.

Gawrelski links the poor performance of Etsy stock so far this year to the pressure on the company's GMS, and he expects the company's guidance for the second quarter to incorporate similar trends.

Should you buy the dip?

Etsy has carved out a lucrative niche in the e-commerce market. There are few (if any) viable alternatives for those looking to sell unique, handcrafted, and bespoke items to a large audience.

However, Etsy risks following in the footsteps of eBay . Boosting fees to wring out more revenue from stagnant platform volumes isn't going to make sellers happy. eBay's gross merchandise volume has flatlined over the decade, and over the past five years, the share price performance of the e-commerce pioneer has trailed the S&P 500 by a wide margin.

Etsy has various initiatives in place to boost sales, but they've made little impact so far. While Etsy is solidly profitable, the growth story is shaky at best.

Should you invest $1,000 in Etsy right now?

Before you buy stock in Etsy, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the  10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Etsy wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Stock Advisor provides investors with an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including guidance on building a portfolio, regular updates from analysts, and two new stock picks each month. The Stock Advisor service has more than tripled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*.

See the 10 stocks

*Stock Advisor returns as of April 1, 2024

Wells Fargo is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Timothy Green has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Etsy. The Motley Fool recommends eBay and recommends the following options: short July 2024 $52.50 calls on eBay. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .