23 Exciting Etsy Sales Statistics

Etsy is one of the top websites available today for the average home entrepreneur to sell items that are either vintage or handmade. It’s a great way to bring in some extra cash from a person’s creative talents, but as the Etsy sales statistics will show, it might be even more popular of a site than many are led to believe.

In 2013, Etsy had $1.35 billion in merchandise sales volume. This is from $170,000 that was sold in 2005.

Etsy Sales Statistics

The growth of Etsy has been outstanding, but is that growth fading? That probably depends on an individual seller’s perspective. As with any business, sales growth starts slow when a business first opens and then increases if quality products are offered. It is not uncommon for an Etsy seller to have less than 10 sales in their first year, but then have more than 50 sales per month after 2-3 years of being on the site.

• As of September 2012, the average price per item sold on Etsy was $21.
• Overall site numbers haven’t been reported on Etsy since November 2013 [or were taken down after being posted].
• $147.5 million. That’s the number of goods that were sold on Etsy in November 2013.
• Etsy averages over 2 billion page views every month, including web and mobile hits.
• Sales tend to be at their highest in November and December on Etsy, with lulls in sales for January, February, and June.
• There are over 250,000 active sellers on Etsy at any given time, listing an average of over 2 million new items per month.
• About 1 in 5 inventory items on Etsy turns over from month to month.

There are some great stories on Etsy, but there are some horror stories as well. Artists have repeatedly complained that someone will purchase an item from them and then open up an Etsy shop to sell copycat items. This practice may not be illegal, but it certainly has a very gray area in the way of ethics. That aside, it is interesting to note that the sales statistics for Etsy have been published by the site since 2013 and there hasn’t been an annual report released since 2010. Although there are independent sites that can track the overall number of items that have been sold by individual stores, the actual sales figures don’t exist after 2013 anywhere that is publicly accessible. You can draw your own conclusions from that fact.

What Is Life Like As A Seller On Etsy?

• Etsy is valued at over $600 million, which means that its overall value is over $2 million per employee.
• Over 150 different countries are represented by sellers on Etsy.
• Etsy is the most pinned website on the social network Pinterest, outranking Google, Flickr, and Tumblr.
• In the first 4 months of the Etsy app being released, 1 million downloads results in visit increases of 60%.
• The advantage of Etsy is that it costs nothing to sign up to become a seller and listing fees are a fraction of what they are on eBay.
• Etsy takes a 3.5% commission on all sales that are made, plus a seller is responsible for any credit card fees that might might need to be paid.
• More than 550 paintings per year are sold on Etsy, but jewelry is a top seller. Jewelers can easily make $100k per year.
• Since 2013, one of the top shops on Etsy is clearing $65,000 per month in revenue with an average price point of $28 per item.

If the growth patterns of Etsy continue to be as massive in 2014 as they have been in the past, it could easily top $2 billion in total sales. In the next 5 years, it could become a $10 billion industry. People love the creative, handmade aspect of the items that are sold, but there is also a certain component of bulk creation that is evident on stores now as well. Handmade items might still be made by hand, but without the loving care that makes people so attracted to this type of product. Nevertheless, there is no better site right now than Etsy if you are a creator of tangible goods so that you can sell your wares. Vintage items, however, might just find a better place on eBay if sellers don’t mind the extra fees.

Know Your Etsy Demographics

• Two-thirds of the registered members on Etsy are women.
• 69%. That’s the percentage of Etsy members that don’t have any children in their household.
• The percentage of Etsy members that make less than $60,000 per year: 48%.
• Half of all Etsy members fit into the 18-34 age demographic.
• Handmade craft shops typically max out on sales at $25k per year.
• The three biggest ways to stand out on Etsy are to be different, take amazing pictures, and write detailed descriptions of the goods that are being sold.

The issue that comes up with Etsy sales is that there are a number of communities that help to support sellers. It’s like a virtual network and an online forum combined where resources are shared and shops are cross-promoted. If someone were to irritate one of these networks, then the sales that a store would receive could dramatically drop. Although that’s true for any business, all it takes is for a similar product to be made for this to happen on Etsy, intentional or not. This makes it difficult for new sellers to get going. Although there are plenty of success stories where new shops sell thousands of items upon opening, the fact is that it is difficult to get noticed without these forums. They drive Etsy sales and without that support, a seller might as well just close up their shop.