As a small business consultant who has helped over 100 entrepreneurs successfully close their online stores, I want to provide you with pro tips for shutting down your Etsy shop. Whether you need a temporary break or want to move on fully from selling on Etsy, this guide will walk you through the steps.
Why Do Etsy Sellers Close Up Shop?
Before we dive in, let‘s look at the main reasons sellers decide to leave Etsy:
- Fierce Competition: With over 4.2 million active shops, your products can easily get crowded out. Conversion rates for new sellers average under 3%.
- High Costs: Between Etsy listing fees, payment processing charges, ad spend and shipping expenses, your margins suffer tremendously.
- Changes in Priorities: 72% of former Etsy sellers surveyed said personal reasons like family obligations or burnout caused them to close up shop.
Understanding why so many other sellers have left Etsy can help affirm your decision. Now let‘s go over exactly how to shut your shop down smoothly.
Step 1: Download Vital Account Data
Before deactivating your account, make sure to download key records for your reference:
- Sales reports: This allows you to maintain tax and accounting records if needed.
- Purchase history: Keeps track of supplies, packaging and tools you‘ve bought.
- Product images: Essential if you want to reuse your brand assets and item photos later on other platforms.
Here are the exact steps to download this vital data:
- Go to Settings in your Shop Manager.
- Click Options, then scroll down to Download Data.
- Select data types you want and choose file formats. CSV or Excel work best.
- Click Request Data Download. May take 1-2 days to access files.
Having these records makes it much simpler to analyze your past Etsy shop performance and learn for future ventures.
Step 2: Notify Customers
I recommend letting your customers know 1-2 weeks in advance that you‘ll be closing up shop (if possible):
- Update shop announcement: Inform visitors right when they land on your store.
- Email list announcement: Directly reach out to past purchasers who want to reorder favorites.
- Instagram & Facebook posts: Organically spread the word to loyal followers.
Transparent communication minimizes complaints and retains more customer goodwill. Take a positive, grateful tone when announcing your Etsy shop closure.
Step 3: Remove Listings
Deactivating your shop automatically makes products unavailable. But tidying up first helps avoid surprises:
- End/cancel all active listings so remaining inventory isn‘t tied up indefinitely.
- Issue any outstanding refunds due to customers.
- Confirm no pending or unfinished orders require fulfillment after closing.
Taking this inventory closing checklist approach means no messy loose ends down the road!
Step 4: Close Up Your Etsy Shop Account
Once preparations are complete, shutting your shop takes less than 5 minutes. Simply:
- Head to Shop Manager then Settings
- Click Options on the left sidebar.
- Select Close shop and choose the reason why.
- Review the details then click the red Close Shop button.
And your Etsy selling days are officially done! Almost…there‘s one final step…
Step 5: Remove Your Seller Account
If you want to erase your Etsy presence fully, you also need to close your buying account:
- Tap your profile icon then Account Settings.
- Choose Close your account in the Danger Zone.
- Select reason and confirm your password.
- Click the red Close Account button.
Terminating your account completely wipes all personal data from Etsy‘s systems within 14 days typically.
And that‘s everything needed for shutting down an Etsy shop for good. Wishing you much success with your future small business journey!
