Do you ever compare yourself with other Etsy sellers? Are you lagging behind or doing something wrong? In this article, I will analyze the average Etsy sales in the first year. Not only will I use other people’s data but, I also have my own data I collected, You can scroll below to find it!
So, What Is The Average Etsy Sales In First Year?
If are talking about the average number of sales is around 277 – 938 sales. The 277 sales is the median in my research while the 938 sales was the average in the study done by Salesdoe. In terms of revenue or sales amount, there was a study that showed that full-time Etsy artists made between $5000 – $20,000 in their first year whereas the average successful seller makes $46,000 to $49,000 per year.
Keep in mind that there are many stores on Etsy making a ton of money and there are others earning less than minimum wage. This is neither to motivate you nor discourage you from starting/continuing Etsy.
Average Etsy Sales Per Month By Shop Age
| Age of Etsy Shop | Sales Per Month (Average) | Sales Per Month (Median) |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 42 | 2 |
| 1 | 85 | 18 |
| 2 | 113 | 34 |
| 3 | 144 | 32 |
| 4 | 115 | 31 |
| 5 | 122 | 23 |
| 6 | 106 | 25 |
| 7 | 111 | 26 |
| 8 | 115 | 29 |
| 9 | 104 | 31 |
| 10 | 100 | 29 |
| 11 | 101 | 29 |
| 12 | 94 | 30 |
| 13 | 101 | 30 |
| 14 | 94 | 30 |
| 15 | 95 | 34 |
| 16 | 91 | 29 |
| 17 | 57 | 25 |
Based on data from Salesdoe, we can observe that the sales generally rise during the initial three years of running, and afterward, they tend to level off. This could be for various reasons but, I’d assume they could be creating more Etsy stores just to be safe as Etsy is known for banning accounts. Or they could be moving their store to Shopify. It could be a variety of reasons.
One thing I wanted to note was that the graph above only visualizes the average sales per month, not the median one.
My Own Research (Recent)
Based on my own research I gathered a ton of user data from Reddit, Quora, Etsy forums, and Facebook groups. The difference between this and the data above is, that this analyzes those stores that are not just less than a year old but, also, created by beginners!
The sample size for this research was 300 people.
New Etsy Monthly Sales Over the 1st Year
We have 2 bars the one which is yellow is average sales and the median is orange sales. The reason there are 2 is because the median gives a more accurate picture of what most of the beginners on average are getting in terms of sales. The average number is slightly higher since it takes into account top performers and lower ones.
(NOTE: The reason why this would be a better indicator of success would be because those 1 year old Etsy stores on the other study could be created by people who have been doing it for years!)
| Month | Average Sales | Median Sales |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | 8 |
| 2 | 18 | 13 |
| 3 | 22 | 17 |
| 4 | 16 | 12 |
| 5 | 25 | 20 |
| 6 | 32 | 25 |
| 7 | 28 | 22 |
| 8 | 38 | 30 |
| 9 | 35 | 28 |
| 10 | 43 | 34 |
| 11 | 40 | 32 |
| 12 | 45 | 36 |
As you can see the average number of sales gradually increased over time as it should.
Another thing to keep in mind in this study is we don’t know how many people are using paid ads nor do we know if they are adding more listings as time goes on.
So, you never really know the profit the sellers are truly making based on just the sales alone. You have to account for the cost of goods, fees, and other factors.
How many Etsy visits does it take to make a sale?
Your average Etsy store has a 0.6% – 0.8% conversion rate since averages include many beginners. Meaning it would take you 120-150 views to get 1 sale.
Successful Etsy Shops have on average 1-3% conversion rate. So for every 30-100 views, you make 1 sale. Of course, this all depends on the pricing, your product, customer service, reviews, and more!
What Is The Average Etsy Seller Profit Margin?
The amount of revenue you get from your sales is completely different from how much profit you make. This number again depends on your product and margins.
So, if you are selling a high ticket item, you will have a higher profit margin whereas if you selling a relatively inexpensive product you will have much lower margins.
That being said, the average Etsy listing has a profit margin of around 30% – 40%, but that could be increased further depending on other factors.
How Much Commission Does Etsy Take?
Etsy has a ton of fees for sellers. But, the commission on Etsy is 5% of the product’s price and an additional 5% on the shipping cost if you charged your customers for shipping.
For example: If you sell an item for $19.99 with a $5.99 shipping fee, Etsy will charge you a transaction fee of 5% on the total amount, which is $25.98. This translates to a transaction fee of $1.3 for that sale.
All Etsy Fees:
- Listing Fee: $0.20 per product listing for 4 months.
- Transaction Fees: 5% of product price + 5% of shipping cost.
- Multiple Product Sale Fees: $0.20 per extra item sold together.
- Auto-Renewal Fee: $0.20 if you auto-renew.
- Payment Processing Fees: Around 3% + $0.25 for Etsy Payments and 2.9% + $0.30 for PayPal.
- Currency Conversion Fee: 2.5% for non-USD deposits.
- Offsite Ad Fees: 15% – 12% fee for offsite ads sales, depending on your sales volume.
- Subscription Plan: You have the standard free plan or you can get the $10 USD per month Etsy Plus plan which comes with extra features.
How much does the average Etsy seller make a year?
There was a statement made by Josh Silverman (CEO of Etsy), who said during a 2020 investor presentation about how the average Etsy seller makes around $2900 a year.
That being said another number was released by Etsy in 2022, the number was around $1800 a year. I can’t imagine the number dropped below that, since in 2020 we know online sales went up because of the pandemic.
However, average successful sellers make around $46,000 to $49,000 per year.
When should I expect my first sale on Etsy?
That all depends on the product listing, price point, ads or not. But, on average can expect sales to happen between 2-3 months. There have been people who have gotten it much much quicker. For some, they might not see any sales even in a year.
Take a look at this video, She talks about her experience, she got her first sale 3 weeks after she started.
What Are the Factors that Influence Etsy Sales?
Now, in this article, I mention a lot of times that “it depends” on various factors. I will cover a lot of them below.
These are 8 factors that influence how many Etsy sales you can get in a year or more:
1. SEO
Imagine Etsy as a big marketplace.
To stand out, you need to make sure your products show up when people search for stuff. This is where SEO comes in.
This is not an Etsy SEO Guide so I will not cover it fully here. But here are 5 quick tips on Etsy SEO:
- Keyword Magic: Use relevant keywords and phrases in your product titles, descriptions, tags, and categories.
- Long Tail Success: Opt for long-tail keywords for more precise product targeting.
- Keyword Consistency: Keep keywords consistent between titles and descriptions but avoid copy-pasting.
- Tag Game: Maximize your 13 tags by using synonyms and relevant variations.
- Refresh Regularly: Renew your tags and listings to stay relevant, especially before big shopping seasons.
2. Quality of Product
Make sure the products you are listing have demand yet have lower competition. This makes the process A LOT easier when you have unique products that have an audience.
However, competition isn’t a bad thing, you just want to make sure your product is better if there’s a lot of competition. (Because generally whenever there’s competition there’s demand.)
3. Shipping
You don’t want to have a huge shipping, especially on Etsy because the sellers might leave bad reviews.
Not only that you can offer shipping or cheap shipping to beat your competitors in one aspect.
4. Customer Service
You want to make sure you answer any questions or concerns your customer may have.
In fact, these can be valuable since you can answer this in the product description, it might increase your conversion rate.
Also, try to be friendly and polite to your customers, the last thing you want to do is be unprofessional and get bad reviews because of it.
Never be passive-aggressive or rude EVEN if the customers are being disrespectful or rude.
5. Relevancy
Make sure you are being relevant when you’re doing your tags, titles, attributes, and product details. You don’t want someone looking for men’s soap to be shown baby clothes.
6. Product Description
Write detailed descriptions so buyers know exactly what they’re getting. The first 40 characters of your product description should be carefully crafted as they will be displayed on search listing on Google.
7. Promotion
When starting out it is wise to run paid Etsy ads to get some sales and reviews on your shop. This overall boosts your products in general and increases trust.
Think about it, If you have 2 stores, one with many reviews and one with no reviews, which one would you be more likely to buy?
There are different ways outside of Etsy to promote your products like on Pinterest, Instagram, or Facebook.
Part Time Vs Full Time
It should come as an obvious surprise that full-time Esty sellers earn more than those doing it part-time. However, how do you transition from doing Etsy just on the side to going full time?
Here are 7 things to consider:
1. Mindset Shift
The first thing you’d want to change is your mindset. As a part-timer, you might view your shop as a hobby or just some side income. However, when you want to go full time you have to treat it like a business.
2. Financial Preparedness
If you are just a part-time seller, your Etsy income supplements your main job.
But, in order to go full time you will have to make sure you generate enough revenue not only to cover business expenses but, your personal expenses.
This requires you to do some financial planning, and tracking and have some savings built up in case you have a few bad months on Etsy.
3. Time Management
You have to utilize your time effectively especially if you are full time. During part time you don’t really need to be that efficient since you are just doing this to make some side income. If you know the 80-20 principle which states 20% of all your efforts produce 80% of your revenue. Meaning you want to focus on the things that make you the most. This could be marketing, SEO, inventory management, and customer service.
4. Dedicated Workspace
If you have ever tried working from home you know it’s never as productive as if you were in a proper office. Now, I am not saying to get an office of course but, having a dedicated part of your home to be an office really should help improve productivity.
You can also try wearing shoes while working, this is a trick that works for me to increase productivity.
5. Outsourcing
If you want to really scale, you have to treat it like a business. As your business grows, consider outsourcing tasks through a Virtual Assistant (VA) to free up time for more important things.
6. Work Hours
Some days you won’t just be working a 9 to 5 schedule. You may find yourself working more than 8 hours sometimes in order to get things done.
7. Income Variation
Be ready to have inconsistent income. With a job you generally have a steady and stable amount of money coming in.
However, as an Etsy seller, your income can skyrocket or plummet based on the given month. This is why you should make quite a significant amount of money before you consider going full-time.
That being said, remember if you always treat Etsy as a side hustle/side gig, you may never be able to go full-time. It isn’t an easy task to do Etsy full time but it’s well worth it.
Can You Make A Living On Etsy?
That depends on where you live, how much effort you put in, how much money and time you invest, how skillful you are, and luck of course. But, in general, you can make a living on Etsy. However, as I showed above the average person makes less than minimum wage.
You might be in a country where the cost of living is low, so you need much less sales in order to make a living. But, with Etsy, it’s all a game of having the right product, the right pricing, low competition high demand, and more.
Etsy Success Stories
I know from the numbers above that it may seem like Etsy might not be worth it. But I want to share some success stories so, it’s not just data discouraging you.
Here we have TheFastTrackGirl, In her best store she made $17,436 in revenue. As you can see she has multiple stores. She only uses organic Etsy traffic and pinterest to drive sales.
Here is one by Shawna who sold $295,000 on Etsy, you can see the interview in the video above.
FAQs
What month is best to sell on Etsy?
That depends again on what you sell. If you are selling something camping-related, you will see sales increase during summer, and the same concept if your are selling winter gear, you will get more sales in winter. But, on average, you make the most sales during September – November. This is part of Q4 and the holiday season so many people are looking to purchase products.
