On Etsy, users can “favourite” an item (or an entire shop). But do Etsy favourites equal sales? Does ‘favouriting’ an item reflect the personal taste of the person doing the ‘favouriting’? Is selecting ‘favourites’ merely an act of generosity from one seller to another? or is the main motivation to favourite other’s items an attempt to unlock a mythical door to seller success?
My items with the most ‘favourites’ are some of my personal favourites but surprisingly these cards are not my best sellers
Let’s get the bottom of this by first looking at some of the reasons buyers and sellers favourite items:
to support other sellers
to share with followers
to collect inspiration or ideas for their own creations
to compare similar items
As a way of bookmarking an item to view later
to window shop and explore
to create a ‘wishlist’ of items for possible purchase
to draw attention to their own shop
to build collections based on colour or craft type, such as knitting or paper good, etc
On the downside
If someone ‘favourites’ an item in a shop it doesn’t necessarily mean they want to buy that item or even that they particularly like it. Receiving a like from someone merely means an item has caught someones attention for a moment or that they are reciprocating a ‘favourite’ you gave one of their items. Having lots of ‘favourites’ means that a shop looks popular but probably doesn’t reflect what others genuinely think of the item’s listed in that shop.
On the upside
Flexibility and Convenience: With Etsy’s new Favorite Lists items can be organised into sets that fit different collection needs. Etsy users can gather decor ideas, save a wish list, compare similar items, prepare collections for treasury collection and much more.
Popularity is attractive: the greater the amount of people who support or know about something or someone, the more popular that item will be judged. Buyers may buy an item they view as popular over a less popular (or less favourited) item. Collecting attention is the only way to make something popular. When someone ‘favourites’ an item that item shows on their activity feed and their followers see it too.
Increased Visibility: Building a business requires communicating a brands uniqueness and increasing visibility. Etsy favourites gives everyone (buyers and sellers) an equal opportunity to be heard. Getting a brand out there is as easy as listing a new item. The new item will show in followers activity feeds as well as high in Etsy search results (for a short time). Visibility can be increased by posting the item to Etsy teams – encouraging more ‘favourites’ and having an item appear in a greater number of Etsy user activity feeds.
Search Engine Ranking I’ve also heard it rumoured that more likes lead to a higher ranking for items in search results and this makes some sense because search result rankings are responsive to visitor statistics. The more visitors view a page/item the high the search engine ranking for that item.
Customer Communication View ‘favourites’ on your items as a way in which customers communicate with you. What can your ‘favourites’ tell you? Which items are most popular? Are these items your best sellers and if not why not? Are your ‘favourites’ mostly from swaps with other sellers? The main source of your ‘favourites’ (other sellers or buyers), the items most ‘favourites’ and the items that are selling from your store, by comparison can be used to improve your shop.
So….does Etsy Favourites Equal Sales?
No. I spent some time searching through forums and team discussions and didn’t come across a single seller who claimed any correlation between the ‘favourites’ they had received for their items and the sales they had made from their shop, and in my personal experience their is no direct link between the favourites I receive and the cards I have sold. It’s possible some sellers do find some links and it’s also possible that sometimes buyers favourite the item they are purchasing but there doesn’t seem to be any direct connection – a seller can’t predict a sale based on a ‘favourite’ they received.
But that’s not the end of the story! Building a high number of ‘favourites’ for items can be very beneficial for branding, increasing traffic, visibility and exposure. Etsy Favourites is a free marketing tool for all Etsy users that sellers would be crazy not to take advantage of.
What do you think? Do you see links between the ‘favourites’ you receive and your sales? Do you see a benefit in giving and receiving ‘favourites’ between sellers?
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