Tech Update: Seller Directory and Stocked Shops

TechUpdates

Story by TechUpdates

Published on Apr 01, 2009 in Etsy News

Photo by MissCrowland

Hello friends,

Recently, we updated one of the ways to shop on Etsy — the Seller Directory on the Buy page of the site. We are now limiting this page to stocked shops (a stocked shop has at least one active item listing). Our goal is to improve the shopping experience on Etsy.

 

All Etsy shops will remain findable on the site. This change only affects which shops appear of the Seller Directory on the Buy page of the site. Unstocked shops will still be accessible via username search as well as direct URL (the username.etsy.com web address).

Shops with only inactive listings and shops in “vacation mode” will not be viewable in the Seller Directly for the duration of inactivity.

We continue to strive to improve both the selling and buying experience on Etsy, and we hope that this update to the Seller Directory is another step in that direction.  

Get to know some sellers through our Shop Local series or check out the new Recently Listed site feature!

Discuss: 131 comments

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  • vaivanat

    vaivanat says:

    Uuuhuuuu!!!

    3 years ago

  • WoollyWonka

    WoollyWonka says:

    Thanks!

    3 years ago

  • TheSilverDog

    TheSilverDog says:

    Excellent Etsy!

    3 years ago

  • OnePunkPosy

    OnePunkPosy says:

    So 173,000+ shops with at least one item listed? Cool.

    3 years ago

  • clevergirl

    clevergirl says:

    Sweet! Thanks!

    3 years ago

  • sherrytruitt

    sherrytruitt says:

    This is so great, thanks!

    3 years ago

  • CloudCatDesigns

    CloudCatDesigns says:

    I love the way you guys are constantly making improvements to make Etsy better. Thank you!

    3 years ago

  • FancifulForm

    FancifulForm says:

    Great idea!

    3 years ago

  • moonofglass

    moonofglass says:

    How does this affect shops that are in vacation mode? Will they not be in the directory?

    3 years ago

  • worksofwhimsy

    worksofwhimsy says:

    Great idea, thanks!

    3 years ago

  • t17b17

    t17b17 says:

    Sounds great, I'm interested in the answer to the vacation mode question above though....

    3 years ago

  • GemmaBeads

    GemmaBeads says:

    Love that Etsy is always working on improvements and more tools. Fabulous!

    3 years ago

  • StudioYTE

    StudioYTE says:

    That's really a wonderful change, thanks!

    3 years ago

  • emmaray

    emmaray says:

    Any way to make it easier to search for shop name, period? If you're not familiar to etsy and don't know to leave out spaces in the seller search bar, you won't find the shop you're looking for.

    3 years ago

  • jelvehdesigns

    jelvehdesigns says:

    cool, great idea...keep up the good work etsy... jelveh peace www.jelvehdesigns.blogspot.com

    3 years ago

  • PenelopeAndAnastasia

    PenelopeAndAnastasia says:

    Emmaray...I've had the same complaint from some of my local clients regarding the spaces in our shop name when searching...

    3 years ago

  • odiliafu

    odiliafu says:

    Sounds great!! Thanks!

    3 years ago

  • ModernMeetsWhimsy

    ModernMeetsWhimsy says:

    MUCH BETTER!

    3 years ago

  • slinkymalinkicat

    slinkymalinkicat says:

    Thank you!!

    3 years ago

  • bubbletime

    bubbletime says:

    This is really cool, thank you!

    3 years ago

  • voleurdebijoux

    voleurdebijoux says:

    awesome!! thank you!! :)

    3 years ago

  • RubyBeets

    RubyBeets says:

    Excellent! Thank you!

    3 years ago

  • EJPcreations

    EJPcreations says:

    gOOD jOB!

    3 years ago

  • ScottieinaCanoe

    ScottieinaCanoe says:

    So Cool!! Thank you :)

    3 years ago

  • novadesigns

    novadesigns says:

    yay!!!

    3 years ago

  • pawandclawdesigns

    pawandclawdesigns says:

    So, how does this work for shops in Vacation mode? are inactive items considered "stock" or not?

    3 years ago

  • livefunky

    livefunky says:

    Excellent! This will surely make the buying experience easier and more user friendly for buyers. Thanks again Etsy!

    3 years ago

  • twolefthands

    twolefthands says:

    Yahoo!

    3 years ago

  • ShesFancy

    ShesFancy says:

    This is good news. Thank you very much!

    3 years ago

  • tinahdee

    tinahdee says:

    Great update and thanks so much. :)

    3 years ago

  • lucybluestudio

    lucybluestudio says:

    That is great change. I'm also interested in the vacation mode question...

    3 years ago

  • Midnightcreations

    Midnightcreations says:

    I like this switch too, wonder how it would work with shops with shops that have only 5 or 10 listings??? Just a thought.

    3 years ago

  • TaylorMarie

    TaylorMarie says:

    So we still have to relist to stay on top. Unless a new user to Etsy knows to click on the tabs at the top to search alphabetically...

    3 years ago

  • vivilian

    vivilian says:

    very cute ~ I love the stuff

    3 years ago

  • redyellowandblueink

    redyellowandblueink says:

    color me embarrassed. I didn't even know about this page. and even from the direct links in this Storque article I had to struggle a bit to find it. There are so many nooks and crannies to Etsy, just when I think I have found them all......oh, look, there's more.

    3 years ago

  • IceCreamCandy

    IceCreamCandy says:

    great change:) nice work etsy!!

    3 years ago

  • fineartstoneware

    fineartstoneware says:

    Thanks for the info!

    3 years ago

  • jorgensenstudio

    jorgensenstudio says:

    very good idea!

    3 years ago

  • bethela

    bethela says:

    Hi All, For those asking about vacation mode - Shops in vacation mode will not show up in the directory, as the items in those shops are technically temporarily unavailable. As soon as vacation mode is removed, the shop will return to the directory. "Inactive" items are not considered stock. To be listed in the directory, the seller must have at least one active item listed in their shop. Thanks for the questions. Let me know if I can clarify anything else. Beth

    3 years ago

  • walkonthemoon

    walkonthemoon says:

    this is great! nice improvement :)

    3 years ago

  • BeadsInTheBelfry

    BeadsInTheBelfry says:

    pawandclaw - looks like vacation mode shops don't show up. I'm currently in vacation mode and I did a search using terms that should bring me up and I wasn't there.

    3 years ago

  • BeadsInTheBelfry

    BeadsInTheBelfry says:

    oops! seconds late. hee hee

    3 years ago

  • cachecache

    cachecache says:

    Awesome! Thanks cool Etsy dudes! It was so frustrating to sift through page after page of empty shops.

    3 years ago

  • andrewsreclaimed

    andrewsreclaimed says:

    Thank you etsy we love you!!!

    3 years ago

  • topsyturvydesign

    topsyturvydesign says:

    How wonderful!

    3 years ago

  • Softpencil

    Softpencil says:

    It´s a good idea!

    3 years ago

  • truLuxe

    truLuxe says:

    Off to check it out!!!!

    3 years ago

  • treasurehuntvintage

    treasurehuntvintage says:

    Very Nice!!! :~)

    3 years ago

  • zombuki

    zombuki says:

    Makes sense to me!

    3 years ago

  • HelloVictory

    HelloVictory says:

    Great idea! Appreciate it!

    3 years ago

  • greenchairpress

    greenchairpress says:

    I'm confused. Pages 7273-8700 are blank. You still seem to be counting all sellers but not *displaying* the empty shops. Doesn't that mean that there are about 145,440 sellers with items in their shops (not ~174,000 or 20 * 8700).

    3 years ago

  • boodlesofbeads

    boodlesofbeads says:

    Impressed!! Thanks Etsy!!

    3 years ago

  • bethela

    bethela says:

    greenchairpress, Thank you for pointing out the blank page issue. I will check with our engineering team on that one. The count is counting all shops with an item in them (that has been confirmed). Thanks, Beth

    3 years ago

  • Waterrose

    Waterrose says:

    Wonderful....so much less to weed through for the buyers.

    3 years ago

  • ManoCelebrates

    ManoCelebrates says:

    thanks great idea, lets see how it works

    3 years ago

  • eclipse

    eclipse says:

    I like it but now there is no way to see the total number of seller accounts on Etsy. I'd like if there was a toggle or something- see all shops vs. see stocked shops (which could be the default)

    3 years ago

  • PipingHotPapers

    PipingHotPapers says:

    Going to check it out now!!

    3 years ago

  • LaCometaLab

    LaCometaLab says:

    Thank you, thank you! I love to hear about these type of improvements to the site and shopping experience!

    3 years ago

  • crochetgal

    crochetgal says:

    Thanks for the change. But it would still be nice to be able to find out how many seller accounts there are..even if their shops are not stocked.

    3 years ago

  • thestapeliacompany

    thestapeliacompany says:

    I puffy heart you Etsy Admin! :)

    3 years ago

  • Kyliebugs

    Kyliebugs says:

    Fabulous! Thank You!

    3 years ago

  • pawandclawdesigns

    pawandclawdesigns says:

    Thanks, Beth

    3 years ago

  • fifthquadrant

    fifthquadrant says:

    makes sense....I like discovering shops that way

    3 years ago

  • AutumnLeavesJewelry

    AutumnLeavesJewelry says:

    wowzer, i just renewed about 5 mins ago, and I was on page 24...like 3 mins later, it moves fast??? :P

    3 years ago

  • loopyboopy

    loopyboopy says:

    I seem to be the only one who may think this way..but I dont' really see this as a relevant way for buyers to shop and it's just another link to clutter up the buy page. Most shop names are irrelevant to the items listed..so why would anyone shop this way?? Honestly it just seems like another angle to get our money as it appears the shops listed on the first pages are the ones that are renewing. Honestly what am I missing here. Who would use this feature??

    3 years ago

  • loopyboopy

    loopyboopy says:

    Ohhh I see you can change the list to alphabetical order (though there is no direction on how to do this I just had to figure it for myself) I guess that might help in finding a shop you only think you know the name of. I also forsee lots of shops named 0000000000aaron:)

    3 years ago

  • StudioCherie

    StudioCherie says:

    I like this list and I would also like to be able to sort a list like this according to category. So I can see a list of all of the active vintage sellers or jewelry sellers or soap sellers. Then it would be more useful to me. This way it's a little random.

    3 years ago

  • esdesigns

    esdesigns says:

    It would be really great if we could do a search on that page, narrow it down by letter of the alphabet, category, or some part of the username. I think some people don't notice the pull down menu search for usernames because it's just a menu option & might click on sellers expecting to be able to search for a seller there. But this is definitely an improvement, thanks!

    3 years ago

  • eclipse

    eclipse says:

    I have items in many several categories though, StudioCherie. Where would they put me?

    3 years ago

  • CutieDynamite
  • sandisparkles

    sandisparkles says:

    I like the idea of another way to find our shops, but scrolling thru the names/recent postings there seems to be the same shops over and over. Am I doing something wrong?

    3 years ago

  • uknowuneedanother

    uknowuneedanother says:

    I noticed the same thing. Wouldn't it be better to give each shop a single slot? Or is the formatting doing double duty to spur renewing since it goes in a chronological order?

    3 years ago

  • esque

    esque says:

    How about a Shop Local search for specific products? Thanks for the updates!

    3 years ago

  • pinknwhimsy

    pinknwhimsy says:

    Thanks so much!

    3 years ago

  • hoganfe

    hoganfe says:

    Thank you!

    3 years ago

  • circ

    circ says:

    Yeah! This is a great idea, one I was thinking of recently. It would be really great if they were further divided into general category of shop(jewelry, purses, beauty, etc...)!

    3 years ago

  • stephaniek

    stephaniek says:

    Thanks for the update! It seems there are many blank pages at the end of the list. If you click back to the last page and work your way backward, many of the pages are blank. It appears the blanks start somewhere between pages 7200 and 7300. Will these later be filtered out later?

    3 years ago

  • Iammie

    Iammie says:

    Thanks.

    3 years ago

  • loopyboopy

    loopyboopy says:

    To me it seems like just another random way to shop. There are plenty of random ways to shop on Etsy. I think a means to shop more specifically could be helpful.

    3 years ago

  • artsyclay

    artsyclay says:

    this is great! thanks!

    3 years ago

  • asundrynotion

    asundrynotion says:

    Checking it out! Thanks.

    3 years ago

  • raegunfabric

    raegunfabric says:

    oh that's really nice thanks but loopyboopy has a good point

    3 years ago

  • BayMoonDesign

    BayMoonDesign says:

    I appreciate all the help we can get in selling. I personally am not selling anything other than to my daughter. It is frustrating. I have to agree with loopyboop on all points. I also agree that most people don't know about the spaces being left out in the names. That really complicates searching.

    3 years ago

  • PrettyFaces

    PrettyFaces says:

    I just checked it out. It's amazing to see how many stores are updating their sites when you page though the sellers. Also - I love the silhouette picture with this article:-)

    3 years ago

  • LoveMeKnotCreations

    LoveMeKnotCreations says:

    sweet, thanks! Also, (not that its a huge deal), but when I try to sort the Shops w/ Items by how many items (default is highest # to lowest), and I click on the last page it gives you (8,792 page) it is empty. and its empty until page 7285. 1500+ pages of emptiness seems like a waste of space, maybe getting rid of those empty pages might help speed up the site? I don't know. Just something I noticed.

    3 years ago

  • AkumuInk

    AkumuInk says:

    good job etsy :)

    3 years ago

  • LexyArt

    LexyArt says:

    I like the idea of being able to list the active shops by alphabetical order, but is there anyway you can click through to say, shops starting "M", without having to just punch in a page number in your address bar to guess where the M's might start?

    3 years ago

  • ToxicInk

    ToxicInk says:

    Awesome!

    3 years ago

  • TheCrimsonCrow
  • FancyThatCookies
  • craftsfromtheheart

    craftsfromtheheart says:

    how does one get to be the first few listings? iS IT by relisting, renewing, changing something in shop?

    3 years ago

  • craftsfromtheheart

    craftsfromtheheart says:

    shouldn't there be an alphabet choice for buyers to click like A B C ....

    3 years ago

  • Giftbearer

    Giftbearer says:

    I was just thinking about that. I notice they're not in alphabetical order. Is that coming?

    3 years ago

  • lavalleygirly

    lavalleygirly says:

    That's GREAT!! Oh and I would like to see the a b c thing for clicking...I'm not s good guesser!

    3 years ago

  • jenglo

    jenglo says:

    Woo! Great idea. This will also inspire us to keep our shops stocked...it's great for everyone! Thank you!

    3 years ago

  • uknowuneedanother

    uknowuneedanother says:

    The list is in CHRONOLOGICAL order, let the renewing and batch loading begin. Too many flaws to be exploited. It could be feasible if there were lists to correspond to the catagories within the site. Based upon appearance, to be within the first pages, either a newly listed item or renewing, will help position.

    3 years ago

  • ArtFromTheHeartBySue

    ArtFromTheHeartBySue says:

    Thanks for the info!!!

    3 years ago

  • summerground

    summerground says:

    Awesome! Thanks.

    3 years ago

  • RockisSupplies

    RockisSupplies says:

    Wonderful news - thank you!

    3 years ago

  • diymaterial

    diymaterial says:

    Havn't seen these before

    3 years ago

  • PhineasandLou

    PhineasandLou says:

    This is great! You guys are always so busy making a great thing greater :) Much appreciated.

    3 years ago

  • DuBuhDuDesigns

    DuBuhDuDesigns says:

    My work tends to sell out whenever I have a shop update..might be nice to feature shops that like somehow..I still would like future customers to find my shop.

    3 years ago

  • DuBuhDuDesigns

    DuBuhDuDesigns says:

    *like that

    3 years ago

  • rokstudy

    rokstudy says:

    Thanks for making search easier.

    3 years ago

  • beyondthelens

    beyondthelens says:

    Thanks for all of the feedback.

    3 years ago

  • strawberryluna

    strawberryluna says:

    This is a great update, thank you!

    3 years ago

  • bayberryfolkart

    bayberryfolkart says:

    Can use all the help I can get... Thanks

    3 years ago

  • freeforged

    freeforged says:

    I'm cool with that =)

    3 years ago

  • SomewhatHip

    SomewhatHip says:

    You know what I think would make this better? Is if the moment someone entered the sellers page that the entries became static in order for that IP. Shop updates happen so quickly that as soon as I've quickly scrolled through a page and clicked to go to the next, half of the next page is already shops I just saw on the "previous" page! I can only imagine how frustrating it would be as a buyer who stopped into a shop and then had to advance 10 pages to get back to where they left off!

    3 years ago

  • littlemoandfriends

    littlemoandfriends says:

    i agree with loopy and other comments above, it's quite disturbing to imagine someone sitting infront of the computer scrolling through 7000 shop lists this way! It would be cool to find sellers in product categories or find them in alphabets. Anyway all this just means everyone is going to try and renew as much as they can to stay on top of the list:)

    3 years ago

  • BizzieLizzie

    BizzieLizzie says:

    Hip Hip Hooray!

    3 years ago

  • AmorDePlata

    AmorDePlata says:

    Great!

    3 years ago

  • TheRoyalDetails

    TheRoyalDetails says:

    Great idea, thanks!

    3 years ago

  • SelenaEon

    SelenaEon says:

    now if only etsy could change search parameters... it's so frustrating to have potential clients remember my last name-- and search for me on etsy but i don't come up on the search because Eon is the last part of my etsy name! any plans to fix this?

    3 years ago

  • ACLOSETOFTREASURES

    ACLOSETOFTREASURES says:

    thanks for all you do!!

    3 years ago

  • weeefairy

    weeefairy says:

    It would be an awesome feature if you could search sellers subtitles. for example if I want to find a seller selling DIY alternative clothing or something, many sellers actually have this in their subtitles, but barely any in their name, and I could search for that in the regular search bar but some sellers may not have anything up at that moment with those search terms while they normally do sell it.

    3 years ago

  • angelstuff

    angelstuff says:

    Interesting idea... too bad that vacationing shops don't show up. It seems like etsy is treating shops in vacation mode as being closed... but I think that there's a difference between being closed permanently or for the foreseeable future and being closed temporarily (ie in vacation mode). Too bad vacation mode isn't everything we need... but that's another comment. Why must the default for everything on this site be the latest updated? Can't we have alphabetical instead? The only time people use a feature like this is to find a seller... and a non-alphabetical search doesn't help them do this. Just make it the default.

    3 years ago

  • angelstuff

    angelstuff says:

    One other thing - the fact that the sort is based on updates and renewals means that as the person scrolls to different pages, information is repeated. THIS DRIVES ME CRAZY. Seriously. Once the list is presented to the person, it should be fixed and SHOULD NOT CHANGE. Unless you're trying to annoy your customers, in which case, leave it as it is.

    3 years ago

  • MomsTreasures

    MomsTreasures says:

    Awesome!!

    3 years ago

  • planetartstudio

    planetartstudio says:

    Thank you for the update!

    3 years ago

  • MsMoffatt

    MsMoffatt says:

    I have not advertised at all. How many advertising options do you have? When I have some spare time I will research my options. Thanks for reminding me there is yet another way.

    3 years ago

  • rschiffbauer68

    rschiffbauer68 says:

    Great idea...

    3 years ago

  • moonstarpottery

    moonstarpottery says:

    Thanks for the improvement! But here's my problem, when you type in Moonstar Pottery (instead of moonstarpottery), you get 0 results. Any way for it to recognize my shop name????

    3 years ago

  • gaylepritchard

    gaylepritchard says:

    Thanks for the update. There is still an unresolved problem on all of the search pages, however: If a viewer wants to scroll through to browse, you need to allow the choice to view more items / sellers, etc. per page. I Twenty is not enough. I also agree with moonstarpottery: the search engine needs to recognize a seller or shop name regardless of how it is typed in. If someone knows I have an etsy shop, and searches for me by just typing in my name "Gayle Pritchard" they will not find me.

    3 years ago

  • ArtPeaceStudio
  • dayinthepark

    dayinthepark says:

    You all are doing great offering new ways and means for everyone, so three cheers for all the hard work! I think the main thing i noticed by reading through the comments about the Seller's Directory is that the instructions on how to search are probably lacking a little. If Etsy shop sellers have a hard time figuring out how to search through the sellers alphabetically etc. Just think how hard it would be for a total novice to the internet, let alone a novice to Etsy. "Find Etsy sellers from all over the world. You can sort them by most recently updated shop, number of items for sale or their username." I read this instruction, which sounds pleasant and like i have a number of options but even when I am very familiar with clicking on links to sort items, the first thing i looked for was a drop down menu like we have on our shop pages - which wasn't there and my first reaction was that the features that were described were not there. I think directions have to be step-by-step as if everyone needs to know exactly how to access the features they are offered.

    3 years ago

  • theduskyjewel

    theduskyjewel says:

    Thanks a million, great idea!

    3 years ago

  • FinalTouch

    FinalTouch says:

    Thanks much. Great idea!

    3 years ago

  • WadeCreations

    WadeCreations says:

    I only looked throughabout 30 pages and I saw so much repetition, it was frustrating to see the same thing over and over without really knowing what they were selling. I would like to see some type of listing by type of product being sold or by type of craft.You get a general idea of the sellers product but nothing specific. Otherwise its a step in the right direction!

    3 years ago

  • jackandmolly

    jackandmolly says:

    This is such a great idea. Good job, Etsy! I look forward to using this feature.

    3 years ago

  • mckenziescloset

    mckenziescloset says:

    Great! i will check for my other shop as well Pickles on my Porch.

    3 years ago