Etsy Competitor Analysis: Learn Fast and Spot the Gaps in Your Range
Competitor analysis isn’t about copying. It’s the fastest way to learn what buyers in your niche already want – and to find the places, subjects and styles that sell well for others that your shop simply doesn’t offer yet.
1. Pick the right competitors
Search the three or four phrases your best listings rank for. The shops that keep appearing near the top, selling a similar product in a similar price range, are your real competitors – not the biggest shop in the category.
2. Compare ranges, not just listings
Put their range next to yours and group it:
- By place or subject – which cities, coastlines or themes do they cover that you don’t?
- By style – vintage travel, mid-century, minimalist, painterly?
- By product – sizes, framed options, cards, digital downloads?
The gaps that appear in several competitors’ ranges – and have good favourites there – are your strongest candidates for new designs.
Suite 13 compares your shop with competitors place by place and style by style, and tracks their sales, new listings and favourites over time.
3. Read their bestsellers
Favourites and reviews mentioning a product are a good signal of what sells. For each competitor, note their top listings, then look at what they share: subject, style, first photo, price, title opening and tags.
4. Track them over time
A single snapshot tells you what they have. Tracking tells you what’s working now: how many sales they make each week, which new listings they add, and which listings suddenly gain favourites. A competitor adding ten listings on one theme in a month is telling you something.
5. Turn findings into a plan
- List the top five gaps – places or styles they sell well that you don’t.
- Check search demand for each (see our tags guide for how).
- Make two or three designs for the best gap, in your style.
- Give them strong first photos and specific titles, then watch favourites for two to three weeks.
For a broader check of your own shop at the same time, work through our 15-point Etsy shop audit.
Frequently asked questions
Is it OK to copy what competitors sell?
Learn from what sells – places, subjects, styles, price points – but never copy designs, wording or photos. Make your own version in your own style.
How many competitors should I track?
Three to five close competitors is plenty: shops selling a similar product, in a similar style, to similar buyers.
Suite 13 compares your shop with competitors place by place and style by style, and tracks their sales, new listings and favourites over time.