My Etsy shop is sooo quiet now

[WeRD]

I opened my Etsy shop a few years ago and was blown away by the success of it. I managed to leave my 9-5 and live off of it alone. It was great, so flexible and I was making enough money not to need anything else, I couldn’t believe it. Fast forward a few years and the sales have all but dried up. I don’t know if it’s mainly that people just don’t have the extra cash anymore to spend on ‘nice things’. I’ve had to put my prices up a bit due to my increasing costs or it’s hardly worthwhile selling my items. I don’t know what to do 😞 I have a fairly decent social media following but it doesn’t seem to convert to sales anymore. I pay for ads sometimes but it’s not worth it for the number of orders I get in return. Do I need to shut up shop and go back to a ‘proper job’? How else could I save it now? 😢

I guess it depends on what you sell and whether any marketing would help. I think people are cutting back overall on luxuries

Sorry, I think Etsy has had its day!

It might be that what you were selling had its niche and you've exhausted your potential market. If you were selling straw owl hanging decorations, perhaps everyone who dreamed of having an owl decoration found your shop in previous years and bought a hanging straw owl, so there aren't that many people wishing to purchase hanging straw owls at this moment, as either they already have one or they're not planning on getting one.

Starting to think that. Such a drastic change in the number of orders over the last few months on it

It's going to be quiet after Christmas though, surely?

I’ve found the same! I’ve paid for marketing adverts, I’ve put on lots of sales and discount vouchers but sadly nothing is coming of it. Feel like Etsy isn’t as popular anymore!

@Precipice yeah I know what you mean. It’s not as niche as that and people often buy them for gifts and I get the same people coming back. I think maybe competition from other similar shops on there could be the issue now

Jan/Feb is always quiet for non essentials.

Do pay to advertise on platform? Do you use Facebook ads to direct traffic to it?

I assumed January would be, always have assumed that but actually the last two Januarys weren’t at all! I’m hoping maybe at the end of the month I’ll get another little flurry of orders

Yip I pay for Etsy ads most of the time and I use social media paid ads too but don’t seem to get much back from them. Checked Etsy ads tonight too and I’ve had loads of clicks but a grand total of 1 order from it

I think that could be the case sadly ☹️ You just wonder where to go next though. If you change to a website of your own you need to drive all traffic there from social media

I think Temu will ruin all business as people just want cheap tat

Yes that won’t be helping 😭

I just started a thread on Airbnb/booking. com bookings as I own a place which has been dead the last two months but usually is surprisingly steady bookings even at this time of year. Very worried.

Presuming it's the CoL crisis

Is it an item that people ‘need’ or is it a nice to have? I’ve ordered from Etsy in the past but fast forward and a few hundred extra on a mortgage increase and now I’m only really getting needed items - I would imagine there were a lot of people like me out there.

I have seen a few comments on MN that Etsy is now too full of mass produced stuff and so people don’t like it.

I wonder about something like notonthehighstreet? But I don’t know what terms they offer for sellers

Just to echo what someone else said, if for example you make handmade straw owl decorations, then unfortunately many retail stores have really gone big on interiors in recent years (Primark etc) and can sell them at rock bottom prices.

I know they’re not as beautiful as handmade crafts, but most people just want the cheap option

Do you sell at craft fairs etc? I buy a lot of items at summer gardening festivals etc.

Surely these are different markets/market segments? My etsy purchases have been: made-to-measure shirts, a vintage item, stuff for sewing (fabric/shisha mirrors). People who are buying cheap tat from Temu/Shein were buying cheap tat elsewhere before - perhaps it was not quite as cheap and not as tatty.

I used to love buying from Etsy, but it’s been inundated by cheap chinese tat, so it’s so much harder to find the wonderful proper handmade items.
Is it worth searching other platforms to sell to on? Amazon handmade?

People who are buying cheap tat from Temu/Shein were buying cheap tat elsewhere before

not necessarily true, but my mortgage has gone up, my electricity and gas bill, my water bill, my food bill etc etc and the reality is that I can’t afford lovely stuff off Etsy any more…

Etsy is full of drop shipped crap these days and it's harder to find the genuine stuff. People aren't spending the way they were before CoL. Temu has swept the market in all kinds of stuff.

This. I thought etsy was nice handmade stuff..but when I look I see tat so I don't bother

Yes I’d say we are the same. Really cut back, especially with clothes and things too now there is vinted or the cheaper sites online

It sounds tough. Have you done a good assessment of your prices vs. key competition within Etsy? E.g. if you search your key search terms?