Etsy Shop Audit: A 15-Point Critique for Established Sellers
Once a shop has a few hundred sales, growth usually stalls for reasons that are invisible from the inside: tired photos, titles written two years ago, prices that no longer cover fees. Here’s the critique we’d give an established shop – fifteen checks, in the order that tends to make the most difference.
Search and click-through
- First photos at thumbnail size. Look at your shop on a phone. Can you tell what each product is at a glance? Is the artwork big enough? Busy room scenes often lose to a clean, large first image.
- Title openings. Do the first three or four words say what a buyer types? Poetic names belong later in the title.
- All 13 tags used. Empty tag slots are free search coverage left unused.
- Specific tags. Swap single generic words for phrases that name the place, subject or occasion. See our Etsy tags guide.
- A video on every listing. It’s one more photo slot that moves – and many competitors still don’t have one.
Conversion
- A complete photo set. Room scene, detail close-up, frame options, size guide, packaging. Buyers of wall art worry about size more than anything.
- Alt text on photos. It helps buyers using screen readers and gives search engines more context about each image.
- Descriptions that answer questions before they’re asked: paper, finish, sizes in cm and inches, framing, delivery times.
- Delivery price and speed in line with the shops you compete with.
Suite 13’s Shop health check reads every listing and a year of sales, then lists what to fix – missing tags, no video, missing alt text, unprofitable prices – with bulk fixes.
Profit
- Real profit per size after transaction fees, payment processing, Offsite Ads, print and postage. Small sizes are often the ones quietly losing money.
- Offsite Ads exposure. If a sale came through an Offsite Ad, would that size still make money? If not, adjust the price or the size range.
- Your best sellers’ prices. Popular listings can often take a small price rise – test one at a time.
Range
- Gaps against competitors. Which places, subjects or styles do similar shops sell well that you don’t? Our competitor analysis guide shows how to find them.
- More of what earns favourites. Group your listings by style and theme and compare favourites per listing. Make more of the groups that beat your shop average.
After the sale
- A check-in message when each order arrives. It catches problems before they become reviews, and earns the five-star ones. See Etsy customer care that earns 5-star reviews.
Frequently asked questions
How often should I audit my Etsy shop?
A full audit two or three times a year, and a quick check of your weakest listings every month.
Should I delete listings that never sell?
Not straight away. First renew them with a better first photo, title and tags. If a listing still has no views or favourites after that, retire it and make something your best-sellers suggest instead.
Suite 13’s Shop health check reads every listing and a year of sales, then lists what to fix – missing tags, no video, missing alt text, unprofitable prices – with bulk fixes.