Latest / The Modern Etsy Seller Podcast / 50. What Are Etsy Offsite Ads and Why Am I Getting Charged for Them? | Etsy Tips for Sellers

Transcript

50. What Are Etsy Offsite Ads and Why Am I Getting Charged for Them? | Etsy Tips for Sellers · The Modern Etsy Seller Podcast

• 0:06
  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.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: Today's question is what are Etsy offsite ads and why am I getting charged for them?
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: This is one of those Etsy fees that can be really confusing when you're a newer seller because you don't even realize you're opted in to offsite ads.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: So seeing that unexpected fee can really throw you off.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about what they are, what they cost, and the opt-out options that you might have.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: First, offsite ads are completely different from the Etsy ads that you can choose to run inside of Etsy.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: With Etsy ads, you decide which of your listings you want to advertise, you set a daily budget, and then Etsy advertises your listings within Etsy.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: Offsite ads are ads that Etsy runs for you for your products outside of Etsy.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: So that could be on places like Google, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: You don't get to choose which listings Etsy advertises, you don't set a daily budget, and you don't pay every time someone sees or clicks one of those ads the way you do with Etsy ads.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, with off-site ads, Etsy charges you when the ad leads to a sale.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: So let's say someone is on Google and sees an ad for your product.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: Then they click on it and end up in your Etsy shop.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: If that person places an order from your shop within 30 days of clicking the ad, so it doesn't even have to be the same day they clicked into the ad, Etsy will attribute that order to the off-site ad and you'll be charged an offsite ads fee.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: And like I said earlier, this catches a lot of new sellers off guard because Etsy automatically enrolls your shop in off-site ads.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's up to you to opt out.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: And you can only opt out up until your shop makes$10,000 or more in revenue within a 365-day period.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: If you're a newer seller and you still have the option to opt out because you haven't earned$10,000 plus, I would turn the off-site ads off.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: Offsite ads can take a pretty significant chunk out of an order.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: If you're below the threshold and you participate in off-site ads, the fee on an attributed order is 15%.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: That's in addition to the other Etsy fees you're already paying.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: And with print on demand, where our profit margins can already be fairly tight, I personally don't think you need to give up another 15% of an order when you're just getting started.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: So just to be clear, offsite ads aren't necessarily a bad thing.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: Etsy is spending to advertise your products, and you only pay that offsite ad fee when that advertising results in a sale.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: But like I said early on, when you still have the choice, my personal preference would be to turn them off.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: And doing that is pretty simple.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: On Etsy, go into the shop manager, click into marketing, then go to offsite ads.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: From there, if your shop is still eligible to opt out, you'll see the option to turn offsite ads off.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: Just remember that once your shop has made that$10,000 or more during any consecutive 365-day period, Etsy requires you to participate in offsite ads and they will automatically start that participation for you.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: At that point, you cannot opt out.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: The good news is that once you do reach that threshold, the fee drops a little bit.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: It goes from 15% to 12%.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: Not much, but something.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: So if you just opened your shop and you're wondering why you're already being charged for advertising that you don't remember signing up for, that's likely what happened.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: You were automatically enrolled in Etsy's offsite ads program.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't like that, you need to turn it off.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, that's it for today.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: But before you go, if you've been enjoying the podcast, I'd love it if you would take a minute to leave a rating and review.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: It helps more Etsy sellers find the show, and your feedback helps me create more of the episodes you want to hear.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for listening today, and I will see you next time.