Is the US Election KILLING Your Etsy Sales?

This is my first presidential election year since being on Etsy. People in our private HAA group have spoke about this before, so I knew it would probably come. I’m still busy, but much slower than this time last year. It’s only been in the last few weeks, though. And, honestly, I listen all day to social media while filling orders. I’m home decor. Very low Halloween, but big for Fall, and I’m still up 10% for the year from last year.

This was a relief to hear because there’s definitely a low going on right now

Thank you for this. I am relatively new to etsy, but I have been selling at live events for over 20 years. I have always noticed that sales drop significantly during election years. It's nice to know there is some data that aligns my random thoughts <3

Oh Yes - Huge plunge in sales since Oct 1st! September was great for my shop. Now views have increased but, my sales have TANKED to almost zero!! UGH - I thought it was Etsy's new algorithm punishing me even though I lowered my shipping to under six bucks...😂

Not only am I feeling it with my Etsy shop but with food delivery too! But I get it because I am probably doing the same thing. I say almost every day that I can't wait for this election to be over. Thank you for the good information!

I was so close to finally getting star seller. Yes I know it doesn't matter, but I still would like to have it in November. Sadly I'm $100 short of making it. Normally my October is way busier. I was closed in 2020, but in 2016 it was the same story. I feel like people are just waiting for elections / Black Friday. We also had a lot of elections around the world this year. I expect people to shop last minute this year and Black Friday is late this year with Cyber Monday being in December!

The ECONOMY is terrible! Facts are facts

Bad economy
Ai
Temu
And elections

This is my second holiday season but my first election on Etsy. My stats are way down, compared to last year, but I'm also coming off of a 4-week vacation mode (had surgery). I opened back up by mid-September and had 7 sales in the first 14 days then went dead for the next 12 days. I've only had 8 sales for all of October.

I appreciate the statistics regarding elections past. I think it explains the current state of affairs perfectly. I may also be a victim of my own circumstance but I am very optimistic for the coming weeks. I had 66 sales last November. I'd gladly take half that this year, all things considered.

I saw some different comparisons and trends, but I didn't see anything focused on exactly how much. OK, decorations and candy are up. How much? You didn't show exactly what was down nor how much. So how can we say that the correlation between a drop and sales and Etsy's tinkering (yet again) isn't valid.

I haven't seen an actual poll regarding sale declines either this year or any other year. But I have seen and heard of declines in the range of 25 - 35%. I don't understand how the Etsy announcement of 10/1 can be rejected out of hand. It's a big drop that doesn't have any similar past activity. So, I'm still highly suspicious, yet not convinced.

I'm in agreement. I, too, have lots of views and a few sales, although not as many at this time. I can't wait until the USA elections are over! I'm sick of it!

I wish you are right and the election is to be blamed, but I see a lot of people complaining about the fact their shops tanked at the beginning of October or September and if this happens overnight I don’t think election is the cause.

Yep, my sales in October have been lower than in August!!! The number of views is the same, the conversion rate has dropped to half of what it was in previous months. Fingers crossed it gets better after elections.

This is awesome! Thank you for sharing this data and leaving the conflict out of it! Appreciate seeing the insights and how we can deal with the drop this holiday season ❤

I started my Etsy shop at the end of May, and just got my first sale yesterday! 🎉 I'm looking forward to the holiday shopping season! Ill continue to work on improving my shop and creating listings, but it's also nice to know that some of what I'm seeing (or not seeing) with my shop is consumer behavior.

Your videos are always awesome!....

Really good video Starla

This is even the case with my day job, whenever a US presidential election is coming up our project load is way down (I work for a federal contractor) ... and my Etsy shop is dead too. Not much to be done about it, but it sucks for sure. This year seems even worse because a lot of people are hurting with inflation and just don't have near as much expendable income. Thanks for this factual analysis and leaving all the drama out of it.

Hi Starla!! I love your videos but I don’t understand all! My language is Spanish. Can you activate Spanish subtitles ? Please…
Thank you so much!💐

Thank you Stella, I was pretty worried thinking maybe there is something wrong with me.. it’s quite a relief 😅

That makes sense as my US sales have dropped, but then so have my domestic (Australian) sales. All sales have dropped nearly 50% compared to October last year. I think it’s a combination of having my shop on holiday mode for the last 2 weeks of September, the algorithm change, cost of living and the US election.

Definitely seen a decline in sales since mid September. I was increasing month over month but seen a drop over the past 45 days!! I was getting very frustrated but it’s makes sense now that you have explained the factors in the world that are affecting the marketplace. Hopefully, it picks up!

This is EXACTLY what I've been talking about!

Love the new sign off. Miss the lo fi beat tho 😂 thanks for the good content!

Great video❤

I'm not spending a holiday dime until i feel secure in who wins the election. Up and down ballot.😊

I wonder how much of the decrease is from people falling out completely with extended family members that they would have gotten gifts for in less contentious years… spending on seasonal home decor coz you can’t be bothered visiting family and dealing with arguments. I feel sorry for Americans having such a lonnnnnnnnnng election season, it feels never ending

As an Australian it mystifies me why the election would have such a hold on a country... over here they pass by barely noticed, there's no battle lines drawn and life goes on as much the day before as the day after. I don't think I know a single person who even likes our polies, let alone defend them LOL Personally I think Etsy changed some weights in the search factors, so I'm not removing the blame there just yet. I'm seeing very strong patterns in the shops who come to the forums to complain their sales fell off a cliff this month. Looking forward to that Quarterly report, Etsy...

I liken the approach to elections like a root canal. Yes, I am miserable and dread it and for a short time after the root canal, there will be a different misery. But then, it fades away, and life goes on.

I actually had a huge bump in orders right when they did the roll out and then nothing for days and days and days. I have nothing running late and they decided to hold half of my money. So I currently have a hold on my account even though all my open orders are well within the time frame and the money they're holding is actually what I need to fill the orders that they're holding the money for so. Lovely. I've been on Etsy for like 11 years and it has been a battle just to keep my shop alive let alone try to grow it. Well I understand that many of the issues I've had on Etsy I would have had on other platforms the lack of customer service and the way we are treated as long-term customers is deplorable.

It’s so funny you all say this. I always sell more during elections.

I owned a retail flower & gift shop for 18 years. Election years are always wonky. We just need to keep our eyes forward to the holidays and not get side-tracked because that will show up in how we run our business.

Yep I was wondering why my sales have tanked!!

I LOVE YOUR VIDEOS...
I'm not an e-commerce yet . I'm just starting only one year in but even craft show there not much buying . My next show is right after elections so I'm praying things will get better.

It's not the election. It's the economy. 🙄

Many thanks for this very well-substantiated explanation of why Etsy sales are declining so much

It's definitely the election and the economy. I hope it turns around soon!

Starla it’s been a rough few months for sure. So what I am personally doing is investing my art into my community events. I also took on a different type of art form which is a challenge but an amazing, exciting opportunity. Fingers crossed
Try not to get too discouraged by everyone being negative.

At the last election sales were dead for about a month before. The day after the election sales went way up and continued. I live in Australia

Our sales always drop off during election year. This year is worse though.

I have seen a decrease in views/visits since we are closing in on election day.

Hi,it is a good idea to start selling shirts on etsy?

Yeah, I had two shows in the first half of October and just was so puzzled as to why they underperformed so miserably. Like as in getting only half or a third of what I expected to get for sales numbers based off last year's data. Then I remembered that the same thing happened when I did a show the weekend before the election of 2008 versus how I did the weekend immediately after that election. November 1st was terrible but November 8th was pretty good that year. So because of that revelation, I decided to definitely not do a show that happened yesterday and to just try to chill a little. Once things aren't uncertain either way, I think suddenly people will realize after the election, "Holy crap! I need to get Christmas shopping done!" My Etsy is terrible, but I can see the craft show logic applying to Etsy for people who actually do get decent sales there.

Yes and no. My sales tanked October 1st, the day Etsy changed things. Although consumers have been more careful when it comes to spending the decline I saw on my sales was not consumer behavior.

Hi Starla. I love your work. I have watched many of your videos. Can you help me find again one video that I want to view again? You were telling us about the keywords combination and how not to repeat the same words from the title.

The election's over, but I've been stuck in the same situation for ages. It's never happened before that I haven't gotten an order for a whole week. I feel like I'm sliding into a bit of a small-scale depression. :((

No, Etsy changes on Oct 1st did that, all self inflicted in my opinion for what it is worth.

Mine slumped starting in October and then picked up the week after the election and now it’s down lower than ever.

**Any comments related to political parties/candidates will be deleted and anything hateful will result in a ban from my comments. We’re all grown ups. Don’t act a fool.