How often should you be listing? Your listing schedule could be holding your store’s success. Read our guide to help get your store on the right track.
How often should you list on Etsy? It is advisable to list something new every couple of weeks. Each new listing should have a purpose – either to extend an existing popular range or to test a new style or product.
To understand how often your store should be listing, we first must understand why listing often is a good thing. After we’ll look at the draw backs of listing too often. With this in mind you can then decide what is best for you, your store and your customers.
Benefits of listing often on Etsy
There are many benefits for listing regularly on Etsy. In this section, I’ll go through the top 4 reasons why you should list regularly.
Increased visibility
The more items you have the better chance of being found. Etsy search should be your number 1 priority, as its the most reliable source of traffic – and it’s free!Each new product should aim for a different set of search terms. This will give you a wider net to catch potential customers.
Once customers find you through one listing, they will often find your other ones too. This is also an added benefit of having a consistent brand and style.
Taking advantage of you Etsy Admirer audience
All admirers will get a notification when you add a new item. If you have cultivated an active admirer audience this could be a great way to get initial traction for new listings.
You may not get many direct sales through our admirer list, however, the bump in “favourites” and store activity will boost the other listings in your store.
Store activity and “stick-ability” of customers on your store acts as a signal to Etsy to say “hey, this store is popular right now. Maybe show more of it”.
Keeping activity high on your store is great at letting Etsy know you’re still here and producing great products.Want to find out more about gaining Admirers on Etsy? See our guide on getting more Admirers.
Small SEO bump
New listings will be placed higher than older listings. Recency is mentioned repeatedly in Etsy’s documentation, so we can trust that it’s a key factor.
From personal experience I’ve seen new listings jump to top category-wide pages for a few days – especially on established stores.
To keep search results fresh for frequent shoppers, Etsy’s search algorithm reviews how recently an item was listed or relisted.
More data
More listings equals more data. The more data you have the better understanding you will get for what people like, and don’t like.Keep using the insights you get from your existing listings when planning new ranges. Over time you will see an increase in the number of “hits” you get compared to “misses”.
Things to conder when creating an Etsy listing schedule
There is no hard and fast rule for the number of listings you should have, nor for how often you list. A listing schedule will depend on the store. Here are just a few variables which affect listing timescales.
What type of store you run
If you sell high ticket items (necklaces, paintings, antiques) you are unlikely to be creating something new every day. Scarcity is part of your sales process, so 1000s of similar items will detract from your marketing message.If you sell more affordable items and your ranges have a lot of scope (e.g. cities of the world, musicians, tv shows) you have an almost unlimited supply of ideas. You can create new products much faster, giving your store a greater breadth of choice. Stores with this kind of fast turn around of ideas can list much more frequently.
How much time you can commit
If the product creation process takes weeks, then this will limit your schedule. Don’t expect to push through for the sake of it.
Managing a large range
Having hundreds, or thousands of listings can be a nightmare to maintain. It becomes impossible to hold physical inventory as it would take over your house! The same will go for materials. You will have to make units to order, and this may affect your delivery estimates.
It also becomes tricky to remember what you’ve already listed! You don’t want to repeat yourself. This is a waste of time and money and will have an adverse effect on search ranking.
Keep track of your listings in a spreadsheet if possible. This is a much quicker way to cross-reference when thinking of new ideas.
What listings should I be creating?
Each new listing should be thought through carefully. Throwing muck at the wall to see what sticks is for amateurs.
You should have a reason to post each listing. These usually fall into one of two categories:
- Testing a new idea
- “Doubling-down” on a strength
Test new ideas
Try sampling new styles or niches. Always be on the lookout for new emerging styles and trends in your space. Make a note of what you think will work for you, and your store as not everything will.
If you find a new style you want to trial, think of 2 or 3 products, then list them. Be sure to research what titles and tags are used on the current top-selling items to help with your listings. This will help them to be found – if you already have a well-established store with plenty of reviews, you may even beagle to out-rank the newer stores in the new niche.
Certainly don’t expect these trial listings to match your existing top sellers. The idea of these listings is to see if you can get any sales at all. Even a small trickle of sales can be a good indicator of potential future success.
If they start to sell, then you can expand the range, if they don’t then you know it won’t work – at least for now.This should always be based on what you’re seeing both on your store, and the marketplace as a whole. Never list an item based on a hunch. These rarely work.
“Double-down” on your strengths
A great way to make more money is to simply make stuff that is similar to things that already sell well. If you sell mugs with quotes on, and a quote from a particular TV show sells well, then make more mugs with quotes from that show!
It’s easy to get trapped chasing “the next big thing” and forgetting what you’ve already created.
Conversely, if you find a particular sub-set of your products don’t sell well, don’t create more like them.
Never create listings purely to fulfil a listing schedule. It is there as a guide and a goal, with the aim of producing quality products that will sell well and to grow your business.
