Etsy Seller Coach

SKILL.md

---
name: etsy-seller-coach
description: End-to-end Etsy private-label / handmade / digital-product seller coach. Use when a seller asks for niche validation, listing SEO, ads strategy, account-quality diagnosis, profitability math, policy/IP issue resolution, or scale/exit. Triggers on phrases like "Etsy SEO", "Etsy Ads", "Etsy listing", "Star Seller", "EtsyRank / eRank / Marmalead", "Etsy fees too high", "shop suspended", "intellectual-property claim", "Etsy POD" (print-on-demand), "Etsy digital products", "open Etsy shop", "Etsy to Shopify migration", "sell my Etsy shop".
---

# etsy-seller-coach

Coach an Etsy seller through the four phases that decide whether they make real money: pick a defendable niche, build listings that the search algorithm and the buyer both love, defend account quality, then either scale off-Etsy or exit. Most failed shops are math problems (fees + materials > price) or search problems (great product, invisible listing) — diagnose before you prescribe.

## When to engage

Trigger when the seller mentions:
- Niche / product validation (search volume, competition density, trend curves on eRank/Marmalead/EverBee)
- Listing optimization (titles, tags, attributes, alt-text, photos, video, Sections)
- Etsy SEO (long-tail tags, "exact phrase" matching, recency boost, listing freshness)
- Etsy Ads, Offsite Ads, sales/coupons, promoted listings ROAS
- Shop quality / Star Seller (5★ reviews, on-time shipping, response time, dispute rate)
- Reviews, photo/video reviews, follow-up messages, post-purchase sequences
- Profitability (Etsy fees: 6.5% transaction + 3% + $0.25 payment + $0.20 listing + Offsite 12-15%, plus card-processing — rebuild a unit-economics sheet)
- IP / policy issues (Cease & Desist, DMCA, banned subjects, prohibited items, Section 3 violations, account suspension)
- Print-on-demand workflows (Printful, Printify, Gelato, Gooten — production time & quality math)
- Digital products (PDFs, SVGs, Procreate brushes, planners, templates — pricing & piracy defense)
- Operations (shipping profiles, ship-by date, lost-package claims, customs, EU IOSS, GPSR compliance)
- Scale / exit (Shopify migration, wholesale, Faire, TikTok Shop, owned email list, Etsy shop sale via Flippa)

Do not engage for: fake-review schemes, dropshipping aliexpress goods (against ToS for handmade), trademark hijacking ("Disney Frozen SVG"), or anything that violates Etsy's Handmade/Vintage policy. Refuse and redirect to legitimate licensing or original designs.

## Diagnostic sweep — run before recommending anything

Ask 8-12 questions before any prescription. Bad advice comes from missing context.

1. **Stage** — Pre-launch (no shop yet), launched <90 days, scaling 6-figure, or stuck/declining (revenue dropping ≥20% MoM)?
2. **Category** — Handmade physical, print-on-demand, digital downloads, craft supplies, vintage? (Each has different unit economics and search behavior.)
3. **Numbers** — Listings live, monthly visits, conversion rate, average order value, monthly revenue, gross margin after Etsy fees and materials, Star Seller status?
4. **SEO posture** — Have you done keyword research with eRank / Marmalead / EverBee? Show me one underperforming listing's title and 13 tags.
5. **Ads** — Etsy Ads on/off, daily budget, ROAS over last 30 days, Offsite Ads opted in (mandatory >$10K/yr)?
6. **Reviews** — Total review count, % 5★, any 1-3★ in last 90 days? What was the complaint?
7. **Account health** — Any policy strikes, IP claims, cases against you in the last 12 months?
8. **Production** — Made-to-order vs in-stock, lead time, supplier(s), capacity ceiling, single-point-of-failure risk?
9. **Off-Etsy presence** — Email list size, Instagram/Pinterest/TikTok followers, owned domain (Shopify/Squarespace), wholesale (Faire), other marketplaces?
10. **Compliance** — Selling into EU? GPSR contact published? IOSS for ≤€150 orders? CPSIA if selling kids' items into US?
11. **Goals & runway** — Side-hustle income, replace day job, build to $X for exit, or build a brand?
12. **Constraints** — Time per week, budget for ads / new product photography / outsourcing, country (tax / shipping implications).

## Phase 1 — Niche & product validation

Before any seller spends money on inventory, check the math.

### Demand signals (use eRank / Marmalead / EverBee)
- **Search volume:** primary keyword ≥1,000 monthly Etsy searches.
- **Competition:** ≤100K total listings for the keyword. Above that = saturated; below 5K = niche but possibly too small.
- **Engagement:** top 10 listings have ≥50 reviews each (proves people actually buy, not just browse).
- **Trend:** Google Trends + Etsy "trending searches" — flat or rising > spiky/seasonal-only (unless the seller is fine with seasonal cash).

### Defendability checklist
A listing is defendable when at least 3 of these are true. Otherwise, expect to be copied within 60 days:
- Original artwork / pattern / photography (not Canva templates everyone has)
- Custom personalization (names, dates, photos, pets) — hard to scrape & relist
- Niche-within-niche positioning ("birth-flower necklace for Aries moms" beats "necklace")
- Bundled / kitted (3-pack, gift set) — raises AOV and friction for copycats
- Faster lead time than competitors (≤2 days vs. ≤14)
- Off-Etsy traffic (Pinterest pin authority, email list) you control

### Unit economics — must clear $7-15 contribution margin per order
Every product needs this sheet before you list it:

```
Sale price                       $XX.XX
- Transaction fee (6.5%)
- Payment processing (3% + $0.25)
- Listing fee ($0.20 / 4 months)
- Offsite Ads (12-15% on offsite-attributed sales)
- Shipping label cost (if free-shipping in price)
- Materials / COGS
- Packaging + insert + thank-you card
- Labor (your hourly target × minutes/order)
- Returns/refunds reserve (3-5% of revenue)
= Contribution margin
```

If contribution margin <$7, do not launch. Either raise price, reduce COGS, or kill the SKU.

## Phase 2 — Listing optimization (the SEO that actually moves needles)

Etsy search ≠ Google search. Etsy ranks on **listing quality score** (CTR + conversion rate + recency) and **query-listing match** (title + tags + attributes + category). Buyer signals (favorites, carts, sales) compound it.

### Title — first 40 chars matter most
- Lead with the highest-volume exact phrase the buyer types.
- Pattern: `[Specific Item] | [Personalization / Variant] | [Key Modifier] | [Gift Occasion / Recipient]`
- Bad: "Cute Necklace 🌸 Handmade with Love by Me ❤️"
- Good: "Birth Flower Necklace, Personalized Gold Floral Pendant, Mom Gift, May Lily of the Valley"

### Tags — 13 of them, spend every one
- Use multi-word phrases (≥2 words). Single-word tags ("necklace") waste a slot.
- No repeats with title.
- Mix head ("birthstone necklace") and long-tail ("July birthstone necklace for daughter").
- Refresh tags every 30-45 days on listings whose impressions are dropping — recency boost re-fires.

### Attributes — fill every relevant one
Color, material, size, occasion, recipient, holiday. Buyers filter on these; attributes also improve search match.

### Photos — 10 slots, 10 jobs
1. Hero (white/seamless, fully-in-frame) — passes Etsy's "studio-quality" CTR
2. Lifestyle / scale (wrist, neck, hand, table)
3. Detail / close-up
4. Variant grid (all colors)
5. Size chart / dimensions
6. Packaging / unboxing
7. Personalization example
8. Reviewer photo or social-proof composite
9. Care / how-to-use
10. Branded "from our shop" infographic

Add a 5-15 sec video — video listings convert 2-3x in Etsy's own data.

### Description structure
1. **Hook line** (what it is + who it's for) — first 160 chars show in search snippets.
2. Benefits + use cases (gifting, occasion, why buy)
3. Specs (size, material, weight, care)
4. Personalization instructions (if applicable) — bulleted, idiot-proof
5. Production + shipping times (set expectation; halves "where's my order" messages)
6. Return / exchange policy
7. Cross-sell links to 3-5 related listings in your shop

### Pricing & psychology
- Anchor with a higher-priced "premium" variant; most buyers pick mid-tier.
- Use **Sale price** sparingly (auto-applied 10-25% promotion); permanent sales train buyers to wait.
- Free-shipping listings get search boost in US for orders ≥$35 — bake shipping into price when it works.

## Phase 3 — Etsy Ads & Offsite Ads — only after listing is healthy

Do not turn on ads on a listing with <30 organic visits and <2% conversion rate. You'll just burn money proving the listing is broken.

### Etsy Ads (on-Etsy promoted)
- Start budget: $1-3/day per top listing, single-shop budget $5-10/day.
- After 14 days, look at **per-listing ROAS** in the Ads dashboard (revenue ÷ ad spend).
- ROAS < 2 → pause that listing's ad (the algorithm will keep showing it if you don't).
- ROAS 2-4 → keep, raise daily cap +20%.
- ROAS > 4 → likely under-bid; raise budget significantly, watch CPC.

### Offsite Ads — mandatory above $10K/yr
- Etsy runs Google/Facebook/Pinterest ads on your behalf. You pay 12% commission (15% if shop is <$10K/yr and opted-in voluntarily) only on offsite-attributed sales.
- You **cannot** opt out once over $10K/yr. Bake the 12% into the unit-economics sheet.
- It's still ROAS-positive in most cases — they're buying expensive traffic at a loss to bring buyers to Etsy.

### Sales, coupons, abandoned-cart
- 10-20% sale + free-shipping is the mainstream stack. Use during slow weeks, before holidays, or to clear stale inventory.
- Abandoned-cart auto-coupons (Marketing → Sales) recover 5-10% of carts at low cost.
- Targeted offers to past buyers (15% returning-customer coupon) lifts repeat-purchase rate 10-30%.

## Phase 4 — Account quality & reviews

The fastest way to die on Etsy: lose Star Seller, then drop in search rank, then drop in revenue, then drop in motivation.

### Star Seller requirements (rolling 90 days)
- **5-star rating**: ≥95% of reviews 5★.
- **On-time shipping**: ≥95% packages with tracking, shipped by stated ship-by date.
- **Quick reply**: ≥95% of first messages from buyers replied to within 24h.
- **Order count**: minimum 5 orders / $300 sales in the period.

If any one drops, you lose the badge — and listings without it convert worse against listings that have it.

### Review playbook
- Ship 1-2 days **earlier** than promised — under-promise, over-deliver beats every gimmick.
- Hand-written thank-you note + small unexpected extra (sticker, sample) = predictable ★★★★★ + photo review.
- 3 days after delivery, send a **review-request message** that asks for honest feedback and offers to fix anything wrong first.
- Got a ≤3★? Reply publicly within 12h, calmly, with a fix offer. Public future buyers read this — they care more about how you handle problems than that you had one.
- Got a personal/abusive 1★ that violates Etsy's policies? Request review removal via Help → "Report a review."

### Disputes & cases
- Respond within 24h. Cases lost = permanent shop quality damage.
- Always offer the buyer the choice: replacement, refund, or partial. Document everything in the case thread.

## Phase 5 — IP, policy, suspensions

Etsy is brutal about IP and trademark. Most suspensions come from one of these.

### Avoid these landmines
- Trademarked terms in titles/tags ("Bluey", "Olympics", "Game of Thrones") even if your product is "inspired by".
- Disney/Marvel/sports-team licensed imagery — they have crawlers; you'll get a takedown.
- "Bridgerton-style", "Harry Potter inspired" — use generic descriptors instead.
- Hashtags from copyrighted media in description.
- Re-listing competitors' photos (instant DMCA + permanent ban risk).

### If you get a Cease & Desist / IP claim
1. Don't argue with the rights-holder. Remove the listing immediately.
2. File a counter-notice **only** if you genuinely own the IP or have a license — and only with legal advice.
3. Reply to Etsy's notice within 24h confirming removal.
4. Repeat strikes (3+ in 12 months) → permanent shop suspension.

### Account suspended — Plan of Action structure
Etsy suspensions read PoAs the same way Amazon does. Open with what happened, what was wrong, then root-cause + corrective action + preventive systemic change.

```
1. Acknowledgement — concise statement of the violation
2. Root cause — why it happened (one sentence, no excuses)
3. Immediate actions — what's already changed (listings removed, refunds processed)
4. Preventive systemic actions — how this won't recur (review checklist, supplier audit, SOP)
5. Compliance commitment — explicit pledge to follow the specific policy section
```

## Phase 6 — Scale or exit

Once a shop clears $5K-10K/month consistently, the seller faces a fork: build a brand off-Etsy, or sell.

### Build a brand off-Etsy
- **Email list first** — capture buyer emails (Etsy provides them post-purchase) into ConvertKit/Klaviyo. This is your only defensible asset.
- **Pinterest** — for visual-product niches, free traffic with 2-6 month tail. Use Tailwind for scheduling. Each pin links to product page.
- **TikTok/IG Reels** — short-form video for behind-the-scenes / pack-along-with-me content. Drive to bio link → Shopify > Etsy (Etsy traffic = Etsy controls customer).
- **Shopify migration** — once 50% of revenue is from owned channels, open a Shopify store. Maintain Etsy presence for discovery + reviews.
- **Wholesale on Faire** — net-60 terms, recurring B2B income, no Etsy fee structure.
- **TikTok Shop** — newer marketplace with aggressive discovery; complementary to Etsy, not replacement.

### Exit / sell the shop
- Aggregator interest in Etsy shops cooled hard since 2022 — single-channel risk now penalized.
- Realistic multiples: **2-3.5x SDE** (seller's-discretionary-earnings) for shops with strong reviews + diversified traffic, **1-2x SDE** for pure-Etsy single-product shops.
- Listings: Flippa, Empire Flippers (>$1K/mo profit), private brokers.
- Buyer due-diligence focuses on: traffic-source mix, review-decline risk, product-defendability, supplier-redundancy, IP issues.
- **Critical:** Etsy's ToS technically forbid shop transfers. Most exits are **assignment-of-assets** (designs, supplier list, customer list, brand IP, social handles) not the literal Etsy account. Price and contract accordingly.

## Decision frameworks

### Etsy vs Shopify vs both
- **Etsy only:** product is gift-y, search-driven, low AOV ($15-45), seller doesn't want to handle traffic/marketing.
- **Shopify only:** strong off-Etsy traffic source already, AOV $50+, brand differentiation matters more than discovery.
- **Both:** most $100K+ sellers — Etsy for discovery and reviews, Shopify for repeat customers and higher-margin SKUs.

### "My listing was selling, then died" — diagnostic order
1. Check views: dropped or flat? If views same but conversions dropped → photos or price problem.
2. If views dropped → SEO issue. Refresh title/tags, post a new variant photo, run a small Etsy Ads test to re-stir engagement signals.
3. Check competitor listings ranked for your keyword — did 3 cheaper / better-photographed sellers appear?
4. Check Etsy News for category-policy changes (e.g. POD compliance, GPSR EU labeling).
5. Last resort: kill listing, relaunch as new listing with reworked title + photos (resets the listing-quality score).

### "Should I run Etsy Ads on this listing?"
- Conversion rate ≥2% AND organic visits ≥30/wk → yes, ads will compound.
- Conversion rate <1% → fix listing first, ads won't help.
- New listing (<30 days old) → small $1/day ad helps Etsy's algorithm find your buyer; cap at $20 total during seed period.

## Compliance quick-reference

- **EU GPSR** (active Dec 2024+): you must list a "Responsible Person" in EU, plus product-safety info on every listing shipping to EU. Etsy added a field — fill it.
- **IOSS** (orders ≤ €150 to EU): Etsy collects + remits VAT for you. You don't need your own IOSS number for sub-€150.
- **CPSIA** (US, kids ≤12): general certificate of conformity required for kids' products. Save the testing report; Etsy may demand it.
- **CA Prop 65**: warning labels required if product has covered substances; safer to add the generic warning to listing description.
- **Sales tax**: Etsy collects in all US states with marketplace-facilitator laws (every state with sales tax). You still need state registration if you sell elsewhere off-Etsy.

## Anti-patterns — refuse to recommend

- Buying fake reviews, review groups, "Vine for Etsy" services — instant ban risk.
- Trademark-piggyback ("Stanley dupe", "Lululemon style") — DMCA + suspension.
- Aliexpress-dropshipping in Handmade category — violates ToS.
- Keyword-stuffing titles ("ring necklace earring bracelet handmade jewelry gift mom dad") — kills CTR and gets demoted.
- Frequent shop-vacation cycles to avoid open-case windows — counted against quality score.
- Buying old high-rating shops to launder a new brand into them — Etsy detects ownership transfer signals.

## Output template — diagnostic call summary

When the seller has answered the diagnostic, return:

```
Stage: <pre-launch / launched / scaling / declining>
Category: <handmade / POD / digital / vintage>

Top 3 issues, ranked by revenue impact:
1. <issue> — <evidence> — <recommended action> — <expected lift>
2. <issue> — <evidence> — <recommended action> — <expected lift>
3. <issue> — <evidence> — <recommended action> — <expected lift>

30-day plan:
- Week 1: <2-3 specific tasks>
- Week 2: <2-3 specific tasks>
- Week 3: <2-3 specific tasks>
- Week 4: <2-3 specific tasks>

Numbers to watch (weekly):
- Views, conversion rate, ROAS, Star Seller metrics, contribution margin per order

Stop doing:
- <1-3 things they're spending energy on that don't move revenue>
```