Etsy sellers love to control everything about their store! This starts from the listings, to the branding, to the copy in the About section. So you can imagine how frustrating we find it when we find we can’t update a particular bit of our store.
This is certainly the case when it comes to the “On Etsy Since” date. This feels like a big deal, as newer sellers want to appear more experienced, and experienced sellers want to look like they have made sales in a shorter period of time.
So can you change or remove the On Etsy Since date? And if so, how do you do it? Lets take a look…
Where can you see when an Etsy shop was created?
You can find what year an Etsy store opened by going to the main store page and scrolling down to the About section. The “On Etsy Since” date is found to the left of the About section.
The “On Etsy Since” year is the year the store opened. This different to the year the seller opened an account, as a seller could have been around Etsy for years before deciding to open a store.
How to remove on Etsy since date
It is no longer possible remove the “On Etsy Since” year. This is now deemed an important trust factor by Etsy, so it no longer gives the option to remove it.
It used to be possible to remove the “On Etsy Since” date by removing the “About” page, however this has become a permanent section on your Etsy store.
How to change the “On Etsy since” date
There is no documented way to update the “On Etsy since” date. The only work around would be to close the store and reopen it. If you did this the “On Etsy since” date will be updated to the current year. However, this would have serious consequences as you would lose all of your store sales, ranking, and listings, so it really isn’t worth it!
Why would you want to change the “On Etsy since” date?
The only reason I see sellers considering this is so that it looks like they have made more sales in a shorter period of time – which is usually the case for experienced sellers – or if they want to look more established by appearing to be on Etsy for a longer time – which is common amongst brand new sellers.
In either case it would be against Etsy policy as it is misrepresenting the store, and if you claimed that your “On Etsy Since” date is different (say, in your about section) then you could land yourself in a bit of trouble with the Etsy moderation team.
Whilst buyers do check the “on Etsy Since” date, it isn’t a huge factor. In fact there are dozens of factors that are more important, such as star rating, store policies and product descriptions. I would say that if you are offering a great product at a decent price, then it won’t matter what year you started.
Why does it say I’ve been on Etsy since 1969?
A common question I see from new Etsy sellers is “why does it say I’ve been on Etsy since 1969?”. 1969 is the default “On Etsy Since” year displayed before you open your Etsy store. Its there for demonstration purposes, so you can see exactly how your store will look before you complete the setup. Once you open the store to the public this will update to the current year.
I suspect the reason they set it to 1969 is to make it obvious to the user that the final value hasn’t been set yet. The “On Etsy Since” date should be, and will always be, the year you opened the store, not created it.
Conclusion
The “On Etsy Since” date is an important part of your store. Buyers do often check it to see how long a seller has been around, and more experienced sellers may see an improved conversion rate as they are seen as more trustworthy. Its no wonder sellers what to change it!
However changing or removing the year isn’t possible, and any attempt will likely lead to far more headaches and issues.
