Etsy Life: Relisting and Renewing

Created On: April 5, 2012 | Updated: April 5, 2012 | 16 Comments

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Today I want to talk about relisting and renewing. On Etsy you have an option to renew items that have sold or relist items that are currently for sale. What this does is bring the item to the top of your shop list as well as bring it towards the top of the search results. Even though Etsy has tweaked their search so that ‘relevance’ factors higher in their equation, recency (i.e. most recently renewed or relisted) still plays a role.

If you’re not selling, in addition to reevaluating your products, pictures, and tags you might want to see what the date on your most recent item is in your shop. I relist/renew many many times a day (but I also sell a few items a day). For me I consider the fees associated with relisting and renewing a part of my costs just like I would with the cost of fabric or electricity. When I was starting out I relisted at least once a day even if I didn’t sell anything. Back then recency had much more weight in the search but I can tell you even now that I see a direct correlation between when I relist/renew and my sales (as well as views and favorites). If I want to keep the momentum of my sales I renew or relist something every time I get a sale or when things seem a little slow. Right now I have about 5 items that I’m waiting to relist that I had sold but forgot to relist and about 4 new items that I can list when things get slow.

It also works the other way around. When I feel overwhelmed I stop relisting and renewing and it gives me a break. So from my experience it really does seem like the more you relist/renew the more people will see your listings. So if you’re not selling and you haven’t relisted, renewed, or added something new to your shop in a while you’re basically doing the same thing that I do when I want to deter sales, just something to consider.

I do not pay for advertising. Instead I pay to relist and renew my items. Yes it’s 20 cents a pop but really if no one knows you exist then how are they going to find you in the first place? I get most of my sales from people finding me on Etsy (not me bringing them in from off site). Not only are people who are on Etsy ready to shop, they appreciate handmade goods so it’s worth it to try to get them to notice your items. I’ve tried the different options for advertising on etsy with no success and I can tell you for the same price as an ad slot you can relist/renew so so many times and have much more of an impact. Any ways I find relisting and renewing to be helpful so I thought I’d pass that on.

As always I’d love to hear your thoughts and your questions whether they are about relisting, selling handmade stuff, or really anything whether it relates to this stuff or not. It seems like people like these types of posts but I’m not sure what would be helpful for me to share so if you have any questions feel free to leave it in the comments or email me.

(customer appreciation pic from teachergirl on etsy)

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