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51. Etsy’s September 2026 Updates: What Sellers Need to Know · The Modern Etsy Seller Podcast

• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: Hey there and welcome to the Modern Etsy Seller, the podcast where busy women build, grow, and profit on Etsy.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm your host, Melissa Carroll, a full-time teacher, a busy mom, and an essay seller who built two successful Etsy shops in the small moments of everyday life.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: Here you'll find simple strategies, the real behind-the-scenes insight, and the clarity you need to stop second-guessing and start moving forward one intentional step at a time.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get to it.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: Hey there, welcome back to the Modern Etsy Seller Podcast.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: If you're new here, I'm Melissa, and I am so grateful to have you here with me today listening to the podcast.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Every few months, Etsy releases an article that highlights recent features, tools, and improvements for sellers.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: The last time they released it was in June, and I did an episode back then going over those changes.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: Since then, Etsy has rolled out quite a few updates that they just featured in this September article.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: You may have already noticed some of these showing up in your own shop while others are still being tested or gradually rolling out, so you may not have seen them.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a lot here.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: Today we're going to talk about what has changed, how these new features could be useful in your shop, and everything you need to know before you start using them.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: So let's jump right into it because, like I said, there is quite a bit here.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: The first one is something Etsy is calling QuickList.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: They are testing a new listing form that can use the photos and description you provide to suggest things like the title tags, attributes, and some of the other information that you're gonna need to complete your listing.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Right now, this is being tested with a limited number of sellers.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: I personally don't have this in my shop yet.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: Etsy says they're gradually expanding access, so don't be surprised if you don't have it in your shop yet either.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: I can definitely see where this could save some time, especially if you're in that stage where you're trying to build out your shop and you're creating a lot of listings.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: Or like right now, it's Q4, and so you might really be ramping up and wanting to get a lot of things out there.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: Again, this is a time where I see this as being helpful.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: There are parts of the listing creation process that take a lot of thought, and there are parts that are repetitive.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: So having Etsy help with some of the setup could speed up the process.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: I would still be careful about assuming that because Etsy suggested something, it must be the best option, right?
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: We've already talked about that in past episodes when it comes to their title suggestions.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: And so just remember if Etsy gives you a title or a set of tags, you want to look at them and ask whether they describe your product the way your buyer would search for it.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: Etsy's tools are gonna look at your photos and description and make suggestions, but you're still the one who knows who you created the product for and what makes it specific.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: So if you get access to QuickList, test it out.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Let it save you some time, see what it comes up with, and review everything before you publish.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: The next update is one that is gonna be really useful for those of you who sell personalized products.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: Etsy has made some pretty significant changes to what we used to think of as the personalization field, and now they are calling it custom options.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: So when you hear me say custom options, I'm talking about the personalization fields.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: So the June update brought some really big and exciting changes to personalization.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: And since then, Etsy has continued to build on those with this latest round of updates.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: One of the new additions is the ability to charge extra for optional personalized text.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: So let's say you sell a sweatshirt that can be purchased as is, but you also offer the option to add a name for an additional$5.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: You can now add that charge directly to the text field.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: And if the buyer chooses to add the personalization, Etsy automatically adds the additional amount to the price they see before checkout.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: Etsy is also making it much easier to reuse custom options that you've already created.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: When you add a field to another listing, they're gonna show you your recently used custom options.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: So if you've already created something like font choices or maybe icon choices, or some sort of name field with really specific directions, or a drop-down box that has tons of different choices, you can select that existing option instead of setting the whole thing up again from scratch.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: I have used this in my own shop and I love it.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: It is a huge time saver.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: You create that custom option one time, and then when you're setting up another listing, it's right there for you to use again.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: They've also added change custom options to the bulk editor.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: This is awesome because you can select multiple listings and then add or edit custom options across all of the chosen listings at the same time.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: So let's say you have 40 personalized listings where you've given buyers a choice of five different fonts.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: And then you decide that you don't want to offer one of those fonts anymore for whatever reason.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of opening all 40 listings individually and removing that option from each one, you can select those listings and make the change in bulk.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: If you have a large personalized catalog, this will save you a lot of time if you need to make a change.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: The last custom options update is that you can now manage them from both Etsy.com and the Etsy Seller app.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: So you have access to those same personalization tools when you're working from your phone.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: I love that Etsy continues to make personalization easier for sellers to offer.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: Personalized products can be a really great way to create something that feels more specific to the buyer or the person they're shopping for.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: And the easier Etsy makes it, the more I think people are likely to do it, and there's a ton of money to be made there.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, along with custom options, Etsy has also given sellers the ability to add a third variation to a listing.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: Sellers have been asking for this forever.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: Until now, Etsy only allowed two variations, which could be limiting if your product had more than two choices.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: I think apparel sellers are a really good example of where this is super helpful.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of sellers will sell t-shirts and sweatshirts and maybe even long sleeve t-shirts, all in the same listing.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: Plus, they typically offer various colors and then, of course, sizes.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: Those are three separate variations that they had to fit into two.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: So often you would see a really long list of options within the size drop-down that included the style of the shirt plus the size.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: So you would see t-shirt small, t-shirt medium, t-shirt large, sweatshirt small, sweatshirt medium, sweatshirt large, and so on.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: Now those can be separated into three much cleaner choices: product type, size, and color.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: And this is where it's important to understand the difference between a variation and custom options.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: Because a lot of people might be thinking, well, why can't you just add that variation to the custom options?
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: So have a drop-down box of the sizes or the colors.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: And what you need to understand is that your variations are tied to a specific skew for the products you're selling.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: So a small black t-shirt has its own skew, and a medium black t-shirt has another, and a medium black sweatshirt has another.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: When your Etsy listing is connected to a print provider, those skews help your provider identify exactly which product the customer ordered so the correct item can be fulfilled.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: Custom options aren't meant to do that.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: They're there to collect information you need to personalize the product, like the name the buyer wants added or which font they want you to use.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: Font A instead of font B doesn't change which black sweatshirt your POD provider needs to fulfill.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: So that doesn't need to be tied to a product SKU.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so that brings me to one important thing I want my print on demand sellers to keep in mind with this update.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: Etsy may support three variations now, but that doesn't necessarily mean your print on demand provider supports the third variation yet.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: So before you start restructuring your listings, check with your provider to make sure all three variations can be mapped correctly and your orders will still flow through for automatic fulfillment.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, the next group of updates has to do with stats.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: I am a numbers girl.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: I love looking at the stats to get a picture of my shop as a whole and my individual listings.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: So I am here for all the stats updates.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: Etsy has made some improvements behind the scenes that should make stats load faster, refresh traffic data sooner, and make it easier to access your complete history of stats, which is especially key if you have a shop with lots and lots of data.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: They are also gradually rolling out new graphs that allow you to see visits, orders, conversion rate, and revenue side by side over the same period of time.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: We've already had access to all four of these numbers in our stats, but you would typically select one metric at a time to see it on the graph.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: Now Etsy is making it easier to look at them together, which I really like because the relationship between those numbers can tell you a lot more than any one of them by itself.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: So for example, let's say your sales are down this month.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: I immediately want to know what happened to your visits and your conversion rate during that same period.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: If visits dropped while your conversion rate stayed relatively steady, that points you toward traffic.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: If your traffic stayed relatively steady but your conversion rate dropped, then I would want to start looking at what is happening once people get to the listings.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: Being able to see those changes side by side should make it much easier to spot those kinds of patterns without having to keep switching between the different metrics.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, the next update is probably one of the biggest operational changes, particularly for sellers who have reached the point where they're getting help with their business.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: Etsy now has shared access, which allows a shop owner to invite up to five people to help manage the shop, and each person signs in using their own Etsy account.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: This is a big deal for sellers who have someone else helping with the day-to-day work in their shop because you can give that person access without sharing your own Etsy login information.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: So team members can help manage orders, including adding tracking, buying labels, and marking orders, which is really great for the handmade folks out there.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: But they can also create and edit and publish listings and they can view and respond to buyer messages.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: Etsy keeps them out of the more sensitive parts of the business.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: So I love this.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: They can't cancel or refund orders, they can't delete or deactivate listings, they can't access your finances, your marketing, your stats, your settings, or your performance information.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: They also can't invite or remove other team members.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: There are a couple of limitations worth knowing about.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: Every team member currently gets the same level of access, so you can't customize permissions based on the person's role.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: Team members have to be at least 18 and they need their own Etsy account and two-factor authentication.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: And one Etsy account can only be associated with one shop at a time.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: So that's important to note.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: Etsy also gives the shop owner an activity log so you can review what team members have done within your shop.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: So that's really great.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: The biggest thing to remember is that you're still responsible for what happens in your shop though.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: If someone working for you violates an Etsy policy, that activity is tied to your business.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: So if you already have someone helping inside your Etsy account, I would take a look at shared access.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: If you're running everything yourself and don't need help right now, this is simply something to know you have available to you if you reach that point lead.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: All right, let's talk about ads.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: Etsy has added ad groups, which are designed to make it easier to manage and organize a larger number of advertised listings.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: You can now organize your Etsy listings into groups and then track and manage the advertising performance of those listings together.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: Etsy allows you to create up to 20 ad groups, and each listing can be in one group at a time.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: Although you can move the listings between the groups whenever you want.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: There are a few different ways I could see using this.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: You could create a group of new listings that you're testing with ads so you can easily keep an eye on how they're performing.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: Or you could group listings by product type.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: So if you sell a few different types of products, you can organize them that way.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: You could also create maybe groups around a season or occasion, especially if you're increasing your advertising around something like Christmas or Mother's Day.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: I think the key is to group your listings in a way that helps you answer a question about your advertising rather than just creating groups for the sake of organizing them.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: If you're already advertising a large number of listings, this should make it much easier to see what's working and manage where you're spending your ad budget.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, Etsy has also updated the payment account to give sellers a clearer picture of their money from the time a sale happens until they get paid.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: They have now separated your balance into three categories current, pending, and total.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: Current shows the funds that are available now.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: Pending includes money that's still processing or being held in reserve.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: And total is those two numbers combined.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: There's also a new little section called ready for deposit, and that makes it easier to see when you can expect your next payout and whether there's anything preventing a deposit from being sent, along with how much will be in there.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: They have also changed the timing of some sale-related fees.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: So they'll stay with the sale while it's pending and be deducted when those earnings become available.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: And over the next few months, Etsy says transaction history will also be updated with current pending and total tabs and expandable sales.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: So you'll be able to see the fees and other details associated with each order much more easily.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: Overall, I think the goal here is just to make it easier to understand where your money is and how Etsy got to the amount that you're being paid.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I have two more updates I want to talk about.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: The first one is listing appeals.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: I really like this one because I know listing removals have been incredibly frustrating for sellers, especially when they believe a listing has been removed by mistake.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: For a long time, there was not a clear way to get someone to look at it, to say to them, like, hey, this is wrong.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: I need someone to look through this again.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: You didn't have the option to appeal, and it could feel like you had nowhere to go from there and just had to accept it.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: Etsy started testing listing appeals with some sellers last year, and now they're expanding them to more sellers and across more policy areas.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: They say that by the end of 2026, all sellers will have access to appeals across most of the policy areas they have.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: So if Etsy removes one of your listings and you believe it was removed incorrectly, you'll be able to go to your policy violations page, see whether that listing is eligible for an appeal, and then provide additional information for Etsy to review.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: They say that those appeals are reviewed by a human, so that's a really good sign, I think.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: All right, and the last update is really interesting for digital sellers.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: But there are still so many questions and unknowns around this one.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: Etsy is testing a new experience where after someone purchases an eligible digital item, they might be given the option to purchase a physical print of that said item.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: The physical product would be a separate purchase and it would be sold, printed, and fulfilled by a third party.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: So the digital seller wouldn't be responsible for any of the production or shipping or any of the stuff.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: Etsy says eligible sellers are automatically included in the test, although you can opt out at any time.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: But Etsy really hasn't given us much more information than that.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: They haven't defined what they mean by an eligible digital item, and they haven't told us what types of physical products will be available.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: Are we talking about digital art that can be turned into a physical print?
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: Or does this include things like invitations and cards and planners?
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: We just don't know yet.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: And then also, how does the buyer experience work?
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: What print options will they be given?
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: And what will those physical products cost?
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: If you already sell a physical version of the same design in your shop, will Etsy still offer the buyer another option through its own print-on-demand provider?
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: There is just not enough information around this one, so we're going to have to wait and see how the test develops and what additional information Etsy gives us as this continues on.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: Alright, so I know that was a lot of updates.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: The biggest thing I want you to take away from this episode is that an Etsy update is only useful if it solves a problem you have right now.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: Where you are in your business is going to determine which of these updates deserves your attention.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: A seller who's working on getting her first group of strong listings up is going to use these tools differently from someone who's managing a ton of products and bringing in help during busy seasons.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't want you to hear an episode like this and walk away with a list of things that you need to go check out right now.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: I'd rather you know what's available to you so that when one of these tools makes something you're already trying to do easier, you know it's there.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: Alright, that is it for today's episode of the Modern Etsy Cellar.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: I will see you next week.