Latest / The Modern Etsy Seller Podcast / EP 28. What Happen To the Etsy Bestseller Badge? | Etsy News & Updates

Transcript

EP 28. What Happen To the Etsy Bestseller Badge? | Etsy News & Updates · The Modern Etsy Seller Podcast

• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: Hey there, welcome to the Modern Etsy Seller Podcast and What You're Wondering, the segment where I answer one specific Etsy question in under five minutes.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Melissa, a busy working mom with two profitable Etsy shops, and I help other busy women make money with Etsy and print on demand.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so today's question is Did Etsy get rid of the bestseller badge?
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Now before I answer, let me tell you what happened.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: I was already to record an episode answering a question on how to get a bestseller badge when I realized it wasn't there in my search results.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: After a little digging, I decided to change direction because at least for now, it does look like Etsy has removed the bestseller badge from the search results page.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: Aside from just noticing it wasn't there in my own searches, I also checked using an incognito window and then in a different browser, and I still couldn't see it.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: So at the very least, it looks like Etsy is testing this change.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Whether it's a permanent update or just an experiment, we don't know yet.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not completely gone.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: If you click into an individual listing, you'll still see the bestseller badge there, which means that original question on how to get the badge could still be relevant, but I'm gonna wait and see how things play out before recording it.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: Another thing I noticed is that the workaround that many Etsy sellers know and love still works for now.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: In case you're not familiar with the workaround I'm talking about, let me take a minute to explain it.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: Once upon a time, Etsy allowed you to filter by bestsellers.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: Then they took it away, but they still allowed you to filter by star seller.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: And so someone quickly figured out that you could filter your search by star seller, then go into the URL, find the word star, and replace it with the word best, and the bestseller's results would show up.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: So that did work as far as I could tell when I went into multiple listings on the results page after I applied the workaround.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Now, how you feel about this change probably depends on how long you've been selling.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of new sellers love that badge and they look forward to getting it, which is why I had that original question to begin with.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: They love it because it's like a sign that they've finally made it to the big leagues.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's proof that their product is taking off and they finally have something worthy of that best seller badge.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: But to all you new sellers, that can still happen as long as they continue showing the badge within your listing.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: You can still have that, you know, proof of success.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Another positive for new sellers was that it acted as a trust signal.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: It showed shoppers that other people were buying the product.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: So that was a nice thing for them to have.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: But a lot of experienced sellers weren't fans.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: They were concerned, they are concerned, with copycats.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: If you put a bestseller badge on a listing, you have basically put a giant neon sign on it that says, hey, people are buying this, and then all the copycats crawl out from behind their trash cans and do what copycats do.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I totally feel that concern.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: I've had many products copied and designs stolen, and it sucks.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: But honestly, the copycat thing is a whole other conversation.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: I think I'll jot that down because we should revisit that in another episode so we can talk about how to handle that if at all.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: But anyway, there's another side to this whole thing.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: That's the negative side to the bestseller badge, but I thought there was a positive as well.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: I personally use the bestseller badge as a research tool to better understand the market.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: What's selling?
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: What isn't?
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: What products and styles are resonating with buyers, what titles and tags are converting.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: It makes sense to study the best selling products so that you can better understand the market you're trying to serve.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I know a lot of other successful Etsy sellers used it that same way.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: So for me, this change is a bit of you know a mixed bag.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: I have some mixed feelings.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I know it makes it a little harder to research what's selling, but it also makes it harder for copycats to find successful listings.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I will say, despite those mixed feelings, if I had to draw a hard line and pick a side, I am totally team.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: No bestseller badge in the search results.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: Honestly, I don't even think it needs to be on the listing page either.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: At this point, though, it's anybody's guess whether this ends up being a permanent change or just another Etsy test.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: We're all going to just have to wait and see.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: But if you've been wondering where that bestseller badge went, now you know you weren't imagining it.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: You're not crazy.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: For at least some of us, it's currently gone from search.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: All right, that's it for today.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: If you have a question that you'd like me to answer on a future episode of What You're Wondering, then head to melissacarroll.co slash question or click the link in the show notes to submit it.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for joining me, and I will see you next week.