Etsy Selling Cheat Sheet
The core ideas of Etsy Selling distilled into a single, scannable reference — perfect for review or quick lookup.
Quick Reference
Etsy SEO
The practice of optimizing product listings to rank higher in Etsy's internal search results. Etsy SEO involves strategic use of titles, tags, categories, and attributes to match buyer search queries through the platform's search algorithm.
Listing Quality Score
An internal metric Etsy uses to rank listings in search results, based on factors including click-through rate, conversion rate, favoriting rate, and customer reviews. Higher quality scores lead to greater search visibility.
Etsy Fee Structure
The combination of fees Etsy charges sellers, including a $0.20 listing fee per item (lasting 4 months), a 6.5% transaction fee on the sale price including shipping, and a payment processing fee of 3% + $0.25 per transaction.
Product Photography
The art and technique of photographing products for online listings. On Etsy, high-quality images are the primary driver of click-through rates. Etsy allows up to 10 photos and one video per listing, with the first image serving as the thumbnail in search results.
Tags and Keywords
Etsy provides 13 tag slots per listing, each allowing up to 20 characters. Tags should contain multi-word phrases that match how buyers search. Tags work together with titles and categories to determine which search queries a listing appears for.
Star Seller Program
An Etsy program that recognizes shops meeting specific performance benchmarks: a message response rate of 95% or higher within 24 hours, a shipping on-time rate of 95% or higher, and maintaining a 4.8-star or above average review rating with at least 10 orders and $300 in sales over a rolling 3-month period.
Etsy Ads
Etsy's internal pay-per-click advertising system that promotes listings within Etsy search results and category pages. Sellers set a daily budget, and Etsy automatically bids on relevant search terms. Results are tracked through the Etsy Ads dashboard showing impressions, clicks, and orders.
Offsite Ads
A program where Etsy advertises seller listings on external platforms like Google, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Sellers earning under $10,000 annually can opt out. Those earning over $10,000 are automatically enrolled and pay a 12% fee on sales from offsite ad clicks (15% for shops under $10,000 that opt in).
Digital Downloads
A product type on Etsy where sellers offer files that buyers download immediately after purchase, such as printable art, planners, SVG files, patterns, or templates. Digital products have no shipping costs, no inventory, and can be sold unlimited times from a single listing.
Shop Branding and Policies
The combination of visual identity elements (shop banner, logo, listing aesthetic) and written policies (shipping, returns, exchanges, FAQs) that define a seller's shop. Cohesive branding builds trust, and clear policies reduce disputes and set buyer expectations.
Key Terms at a Glance
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