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Much of the exposure that your work gets is based on how often you list items, since each time someone types in a search on etsy, such as "pearl earrings," the items listed most recently pop up first. In popular categories your work could end up on the 10th or 20th page within a day since so many other people are listing similar items, and thus it's much less likely that a potential buyer will find them. This is why it is important to list new items often as well as to re-list or re-list items frequently.

But you also want to make sure that you list your items at a good time, when they will get the most exposure and views. So how do you know when is the best time?

There's two general ways that I determine when to list my items. First of all, I have been very lucky in that I sell, on average 10 to 20 digital collage sheets per day. This means that I get to re-list these items 10 to 20 times each day. I've seen one of my sheets get 20 views in 20 minutes, and other times the same sheet will only get one view. Anecdotally, although I list all the time, I can tell you that the best time for me to get tons of views tends to be between 7pm and midnight Eastern/etsy standard time.

The second way I've discovered good times to list on etsy is through a couple of surveys that have looked at etsy stats. Sadly, there used to be an amazing website called etsytools that charted listings versus sales in real-time. Long-story-short, people were mean and they plan to close up shop. But here's a screen shot taken in March 2008 before they did.

This coordinates well with the survey way below, taken back in April 2007, that seemed to show that 9 am to 9pm weekdays had the most traffic on etsy.

But the bigger question is: do I want to list when there's tons of people both listing and buying (like 8pm eastern time), when I'll gets lots of views all at once but also have more competition? Or should I list when no one else is listing and a couple of people are still buying (say 5 am eastern time), so I'll stay on the first page or two much longer?

Recycle, Renew, Reuse

My answer?: list frequently, list often, and space them out. If you only want to list or re-list once per day, the "prime time" is best. Right when the most people are on and you will get the most exposure. Eventually, you should strive to get to a place where you are listing several items spaced throughout the day. The ideal way to do this is to make items that can be reproduced exactly and then when you sell them you can re-list that exact same item. Or, even if you do not sell something, you can still renew your items for an additional 20 cents by going to "your etsy" and clicking on "expiration dates." Click on the "renew" square at the right and scroll down to confirm. For $1 per day, you can re-new five different items, which can be pretty good exposure for not much money.

Listing Time Survey from April 2007

There is a group of etsy folks who kept track of how many people, on average, were looking at the treasury at any given time with the theory that it would correlate with how many people were on all of etsy at that time as well. Thank you to the following etsy sites, researchers week #1 and researchers week #2. All times are in "etsy time" (U.S. eastern standard time).bead

Chart #1, which puts all the numbers below into one chart with lines connecting the averages

Chart #2, which includes only the numbers below (nothing in the spaces where there's no numbers)

A couple of observations, based on the statistics:

1. The times when the most people looking at the treasury tend to be between noon and midnight eastern time during the weekdays (9 am and 9pm Pacific).
2. The holiday (Easter) does seem to has less people looking, especially on the Saturday before Easter.
3. There's a serious drop off after midnight.

Please send me any observations you may have after looking at the graphs. I'm not a statistician and would love feedback.

Week #2, April 16th - 22nd, 2007

Etsy sites who helped conduct research for week #2 include:

yarnchef, Gwinna, kibosh, LeahPellegrini, italiacraft, MissPurl, flyingorchiddesigns, dawnsbeadeddelights, reconstructionist, jewelera, bellina, artsyclay, jmilliesjustforyou, Emmalynne, ImpiBaby, TerisTreasures, loc10, heartsdecay, MFcrafts, DragonflyBoutique, crochetroo, shellieartist, gochemoche, BellaRoseCreations, CoconutPalmDesigns, beesquarequilts, abnormal777, McVilleCreations, craftychris, sagittariusgallery, JEWELRYBYKRISTI, sarahbridgman, HappyHouseQuilts, avantmeow, dragon06, uniquecommodities, pinkquartzminerals, StirDesigns, superchou, MakintheBestOfIt, SugarcubeDesign, riyzedesignz, girlywirly, DesignbySunzeri, tarasartcamp, damselflycreations, sweetcheex76, SassyandClassy, laurajane, LuluKnits, and rhinestonefashions.

Week #1, April 7th - 15th, 2007

*The first Saturday and Sunday listed are over a holiday weekend (Easter 2007).

Etsy sites who helped conduct research for week #1 include:

bluejayme, MosaicSmith, DewOnAPetal, curbsidetreasure, kibosh, artsyclay, ArtisanJewelry, LeahPellegrini, Giftbearer, joeyandaleethea, luchaworkshop, cgstudio, MFcrafts, ShineDichroicsuk, scarfitup, Colorfiesta, sweetmeat, ScentsationalDelight, jenniferpeel1, adornyou, dragon06, locallibrary, pancakeandlulu, evagodeva, electrikolor, EmilyBalivet, pamelamichelle, AllAboutTheButtons, busydragonfly, katybdesigns, Everlastingcraftycre, craftsfromtheheart, karenssoaps, MosaicSmith, workzonpaper, rubyandmyrtle, MarieAshlee, VickiDianeDesigns, calobee, SweetyPrize, farewelltransmission, ggeorgiagirl, cmjewelrydesigns, yarnchef, jewelera, 2Moons, susarto, silverbeadsandclay, letitiah, irenemuldoon, brezomayo, GuidingLightCandles, ragtags, patchouliblue, jasonsjewelry, CreativeSpirit, stonesoupjewelry, KameKnits, lilybaubles, artlife, DesignsByFlo, madefromtheheart, DanielleDIY, jelvehdesigns, fernfiddlehead, emwinters, bronwynarts, ApacheMoon, veronicabuttons, ellyzee, SmashinFashion, moderncharm, gojodesigns, and bycole.

If I missed your shop, or have a bad link to it, please convo me and let me know.

See the original thread with the raw statistics, in the etsy forums.

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