Does Setting Your Etsy Shop to Vacation Mode Negatively Impact Your Shop?

2020 started out with a bang as far as my Etsy sales went.

This was after I had returned from setting my Etsy shop to vacation mode. I had put my shop on vacation about a week before my mom passed away and then brought it back up about a month later.  I thought everything was fine until February dried up.

A friend of my said she would never put a shop on vacation because it, “Puts your shop in a coma.”

I was curious since in the past I have used vacation mode without feeling like there had been a penalty.  February was a little different and March hasn’t been much better.  So I went looking for answers.

I want to be upfront with you. I reached out to Etsy twice to ask them to comment on this opinion by contacting their media department. They failed to responds to either requests beyond an auto-response email that said if I was looking for a media comment then I was in the right place and they would eagerly get back to me.  The first email was at the end of February and the second mid-March (pre-Pandemic).

There was plenty of chatter however on the Etsy Community pages. And it doesn’t make the situation any clearer.  Some say absolutely they use it all the time and other say no just add extended shipping times to your orders. Clear as mud right.

The more research I did really didn’t clarify the situation. Some articles I found said it penalizes you like you just started your shop. Yikes! That’s distressing. It’s also the reason I wish that Etsy had responded to this article.  I would love to know their official position.

Since that didn’t happen (wish in one hand and spit in the other) I have to look at the statistics. I know snoooore! ZZZZZZ but sometimes it’s necessary.

Here’s what my statistics look like for 2020 so far:

Okay so orders are up and revenue is up, but total views are down over 51% and total visits are down 44%.  This is after running an add campaign in February, which is concerning for me.  My revenue looks great because I had 2 great sales in January. In February and March I sold $86.00.

I find these numbers concerning because there are so many legitimate reasons you might need to use this function. Like in my case the loss of a loved one.  It’s difficult to have weigh the need to deal with family crisis’ with the desire to not lose business.

Before you jump in and remind me that there is a Pandemic, I’ve considered it.  But I feel like that would increase views, not decrease them.  More people at home with nothing to do but window show. Even if that doesn’t equate to sales. Right? I know my YouTube Views are up during this time.

I will keep monitoring and keep posting to see if anything changes. At this point my opinion is that setting and Etsy shop to vacation mode penalizes you greatly.

If you have another perspective, and you can share it in a respectful manner, I would be interested in what your experience has been. Also, if Etsy wants to respond I would be happy to share their official position.

Many Blessings to you!

~S