Glossary
Etsy words, in plain English.
What the fees, ad numbers and listing terms on Etsy actually mean, with the current rates. Search for a word or pick a topic.
Money and profit
Revenue
What buyers paid you for items and shipping, after refunds. Sales tax is left out, because it goes to the government, not to you.
Net profit
What's left from your revenue after Etsy's fees, ads, your item costs and your expenses. The money your shop actually made.
Your profit dashboard builds it from what Etsy actually charged you, plus the costs Etsy never sees.
Margin
Profit as a share of the sale. A $30.00 sale that keeps $9.00 has a 30% margin.
The higher it is, the more of each sale you keep, and the more room you have for ads and discounts.
Item costs
What one product costs you to make or buy: materials, the print on demand price, packaging and the postage label.
Etsy never sees these, so your profit is only as true as the costs you add. Printify costs come in on their own once connected.
Expenses
Costs that aren't tied to one order, such as subscriptions, samples and supplies.
Sales tax
Tax the buyer pays on top of the price. Etsy collects it and pays it for you, so it isn't your money and isn't counted in your revenue.
Payment processing is still charged on the whole order, tax included.
Payment account
Etsy's record of every sale, refund, fee, ad charge and payout in your shop. Etsy takes its fees from it before paying you.
Payout
Money Etsy sends from your payment account to your bank.
Etsy fees
Listing fee
$0.20 to publish a listing for four months. Etsy charges it again each time the listing renews, and for each extra one sold from the same listing.
Renewal
A listing lasts four months. With auto-renew on, Etsy renews it for another $0.20 when the time is up. A listing with more in stock also renews each time one sells.
Transaction fee
6.5% of the item price after any coupon, the shipping you charge and any gift wrap.
Payment processing fee
What Etsy charges to take the buyer's payment: 3% + $0.25 per order in the US, on the whole order total including tax.
The rate depends on the country your shop is in (4% + £0.20 in the UK, for example).
Regulatory operating fee
A small percentage Etsy charges in some countries, such as the UK, France, Italy, Spain and Canada. Not charged in the US.
Currency conversion fee
2.5% when your listings are priced in a different currency from your bank account.
Offsite Ads
Etsy advertises your listings on other sites and charges a fee only when a sale comes from one of those ads: 15% if you sell under $10,000 a year, 12% above that.
Under $10,000 a year you can opt out; above it you can't. It's never more than $100.00 per order.
Coupon
A discount you offer buyers. Etsy charges the transaction fee on the price after the coupon, so you don't pay fees on the money you gave away.
Dead listing
A listing that keeps renewing without selling. Each renewal costs $0.20, which is $0.60 a year for every one left on auto-renew.
Ads
Etsy Ads
Ads for your listings in Etsy search and around Etsy. You set a daily budget, and Etsy takes the spend from your payment account once a day.
ROAS
Return on ad spend: sales from ads divided by what the ads cost. A ROAS of 3 means $3.00 of sales for every $1.00 of ads. Etsy shows it in your Ads report.
A good-looking ROAS can still lose money. Whether it's enough depends on your margin, which is what break-even ROAS tells you.
Break-even ROAS
The ROAS your ads need just to pay for themselves at your margin. Above it, ads add profit. Below it, they lose money.
It is 1 divided by your margin before ads. At a 40% margin that is 2.5, so each $1.00 of ads needs $2.50 of sales.
Listings and search
Title
The name of your listing. Etsy allows up to 140 characters and suggests 14 words or less. Etsy search matches the words in your title and tags.
Keywords
The words shoppers type into Etsy search. Putting them in your title and tags is how your listing gets found.
Attributes
Details you pick from Etsy's lists, such as color, holiday or occasion. Etsy uses them in search.
Which ones a listing can have depends on its category.
Category
Where your listing sits in Etsy's catalog, such as Home & Living. It decides which attributes the listing can have.
Variations
Choices a buyer makes on one listing, such as size or color. Each choice can have its own price.
Digital download
A listing where the buyer gets files instead of a shipped item. Etsy allows up to 5 files of 20 MB each, and you must have made or designed them yourself.
Print on demand
A partner prints and ships each item after it sells, so you keep no stock. What they charge per order is your item cost.
SEO grade
Our grade for how well a listing is set up to be found in Etsy search. It checks the title, tags, photos, attributes and description against Etsy's own rules.
Marketplace Insights
A page in Etsy's Shop Manager that shows how a search performs on Etsy. Etsy doesn't share this data with apps, so you check it there.
Your shop on Etsy
Shop Manager
Etsy's control panel for sellers, where you edit listings, handle orders and see your money.
Auto-renew
A listing setting. When it's on, Etsy renews the listing for $0.20 when its four months are up. When it's off, the listing expires.
Private beta
See these numbers for your own shop.
Connect your Etsy shop and see your real margin, fees and break-even ROAS, worked out from what Etsy actually charged you.