Etsy's Handmade Blog
Tech Update: Sorting Your Item

Tags are keywords sellers attach to their items during the item listing process. After selecting a category for your item, sellers can attach up to 13 keywords or tags. These tags are used to help surface items in Etsy's Search, and they currently determine which subcategories your item falls under.

For example, an item in the Bags and Purses Category with the tags "Clutch" and "Applique" will appear in the Clutch subcategory and Applique subsubcategory of Bags and Purses:


Etsy suggests subcategories for your item on Step 2 of the item listing process, where sellers are asked to "sort your item." These suggestions come in the form of links based on the tags you enter or suggested subcategories you choose.

In the past, these suggested subcategories appeared as "Related Tags" and the suggested subcategories could come from anywhere in Etsy's category tree. Beginning today, we'll only suggest subcategories relevant to your chosen top-level category. We're also making it clearer that these suggestions are not only tags, but also directly relate to the Etsy Categories.

Why are we doing this? We believe this update will help reduce mistagging and confusion during the listing process, and help make the Etsy Categories more relevant. This update should make the item listing experience feel a little more logical.


There is no need to edit or re-tag your listings. You can still enter tags not suggested by Etsy during the item listing process, and the order of your chosen subcategories does not have an impact on your placement in Etsy's Categories. For tagging tips, see this article on current best practices for tagging items on Etsy.

We're taking a thorough look at categorization and tagging on Etsy, and this small adjustment is part of that process.

Check the Virtual Labs Schedule for Shop Critiques | View the Etsy Seller Handbook

Tags categories, categorization, Etsy News, ETSY NEWS, listings, search, selling, sorting, subcategories, tagging, tags, Tech Updates
All articles in Etsy News
Related Items
This article was reported by:
Etsy Admin
amydec

Etsy Admin
sean11

TechUpdates

163 comments     Login to add your own!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 10:35 a.m. SeaFindDesigns

Thanks guys!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 10:35 a.m. maiziedesigns

I am really excited to employ this feature! Perfect update for buyers and sellers.

Sept. 9, 2009 at 10:36 a.m. VintageEyeFashion

This will help...Thanks!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 10:37 a.m. Ryanplz

good job! thanks for always keeping etsy up to date with new features.

Sept. 9, 2009 at 10:38 a.m. AlphabetLove

This is very helpful. I never know how to tag my items effectively. Thanks!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 10:42 a.m. wiredoriginals

Very nice! Thanks :)

Sept. 9, 2009 at 10:42 a.m. BululuStudio

Nice! Keep up the good work Etsy.

Sept. 9, 2009 at 10:45 a.m. spacejam

looks helpful

Sept. 9, 2009 at 10:46 a.m. Mymothersgarden

Fantastic! We need all of the tools we can get. This looks like it will make tagging a lot easier.

Sept. 9, 2009 at 10:47 a.m. workingforpeanuts

Thanks a lot! You're always thinkin'!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 10:47 a.m. aBreathofFrenchair

Thanks!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 10:48 a.m. sakizome

Thanks! Tagging is one area where I am continuing to learn. This helps.

Sept. 9, 2009 at 10:48 a.m. Fairyfolk

Excellent help... there's so much technical stuff to know to enhance a shop. It definitely doesn't stop at creating something wonderful... you need to know exactly how to get it out there in the right way. Thanks for the help.
Blessings and magic.

Sept. 9, 2009 at 10:50 a.m. PookieandPierre

Wonderful. Thank you!!!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 10:53 a.m. littletank

very helpful

Sept. 9, 2009 at 10:53 a.m. girltuesdayjewelry

Nice! Thanks Etsy!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 10:53 a.m. beadinbythesea

Great information. Tagging is something that we can definitely use some help with here. Thanks!!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 11:04 a.m. OneClayBead

Very clear! Thank you.

Sept. 9, 2009 at 11:05 a.m. SunnyDayVintage

As a new seller, I'm glad to have so many smart resources. Props to Etsy for helping us be successful!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 11:06 a.m. AUTOMATIEK

Wonderful update !!!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 11:06 a.m. MariesVintage

Awesome, hopefully this will help with some of the mis-tagging issues! It would still be fantastic (and less confusing) though, if Step 1 only gave the option of the three major categories.

Sept. 9, 2009 at 11:08 a.m. ColorfulTherapy

Thumbs up for the Etsy staff ~~ very informative & helpful -- thanx ;)

Sept. 9, 2009 at 11:10 a.m. sandali

AWESOME features -- it's so easy & helpful -- LOVE it !!!!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 11:11 a.m. thebestvintage

Thanks very much!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 11:14 a.m. paisleybaby

Thank you for this article! It takes a while to learn the ins and outs of tagging.

Sept. 9, 2009 at 11:14 a.m. craftaria

Nice! Thanks Etsy!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 11:20 a.m. inkblok

Sounds much simpler. Thank you!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 11:25 a.m. imfromthewoods

(also blueberryshoes) this is such a great time for newbies to be joining the etsy masses. the site just keeps getting better and better every week!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 11:28 a.m. scribblingclub

Thanks!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 11:29 a.m. bylynnkrestel

thanks for clarifying...

Sept. 9, 2009 at 11:31 a.m. HempPatch

cool! I just listed an item, and I knew something was different!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 11:37 a.m. McIsaacArt

I took a look at art, and hopefully prints will no longer be tagged as painting. Also the print section under art has a huge choice of what pertains to specific prints. Thanks, and when I went to original art it was refreshing to see original artwork.

Sept. 9, 2009 at 11:38 a.m. lovelygifts

Thank's for the info.

Sept. 9, 2009 at 11:42 a.m. StudioCherie

Thank you for continually refining the site.

Sept. 9, 2009 at 11:43 a.m. Art2ArtColorado

wonderful step in the right direction on what i can only imagine is a monumental task.
thanks, Houston!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 11:43 a.m. worksofwhimsy

A much appreciated improvement to listing. Thanks!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 11:47 a.m. Kathleencavalaro

Awesome! Thanks for adding this.

Sept. 9, 2009 at 11:50 a.m. nickandnessies

Awesome- thanks! Anything better for buyers is better for sellers :)

Sept. 9, 2009 at 11:51 a.m. shantishanty

this should help a lot! yay!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 11:52 a.m. SteampunkSupply

Thanks! Looking forward to trying this out. :)

Sept. 9, 2009 at 12:02 p.m. delightdesignbiz

This looks great! Off to check it out and try it!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 12:03 p.m. HAREandDRUM

I just listed something and was wondering why the page looked different but could not quite figure out why. Thank you for this clarification!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 12:24 p.m. thecleverkitty

Super! Thanks, Etsy!!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 12:27 p.m. QuiltFinger

Thank you! I took me eight months to realize I wasn't use subcategories. Very unfortunate.

Sept. 9, 2009 at 12:27 p.m. GadgetGear

Thanks! This should be really helpful!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 12:41 p.m. Furiousdreams

Good start, and thanks to the taxonomy team!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 12:45 p.m. fibrevolution

I think this will help a lot, thanks!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 12:50 p.m. rossoaps

Vanessa mentioned in a comment on the storque article on tagging that Kelly and Michele were re-working the way that tagging works, but I don't know who they are to contact them.

I just listed a new soap and noticed that I can no longer tag the phrase "lye soap." The tag application will accept "bar soap," the word "soap" by itself, and the word "lye" by itself but not "lye soap" as a phrase, even if we key it in manually.

I know a lot of people, not knowing that ALL bar soap is "lye soap," look up the item as "lye soap, you know, like Grandma useta make." But since many people don't know that all soap is made with lye, I think having to use the tag "lye" by itself is frightening to many people.

What is the fix for this?

Richard

Sept. 9, 2009 at 12:53 p.m. ChocolateMintCrafts

Thanks for the improvements!!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 12:55 p.m. paperstreet

there is a lot of confusion and frustration about this update, is it possible some of the questions raised in the forums could be answered?

Sept. 9, 2009 at 12:58 p.m. FineThreads

I'm a bit confused. I went in to edit a Christmas ornament. I selected the category holidays because under crochet there isn't anything that would match for the next tag. Then I selected Christmas. When the sub category came up there was nothing there that matched my item. I would love to see ornament or crochet or something close to what I sell.

Sept. 9, 2009 at 1:08 p.m. uknowuneedanother

:) I'll let you know after I list something.

Sept. 9, 2009 at 1:10 p.m. akaKen

Sounds good, thanks.

Sept. 9, 2009 at 1:16 p.m. CampanaCeramics

awesome.

Sept. 9, 2009 at 1:19 p.m. valeriesgallery

Thanks!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 1:28 p.m. linkeddesigns

Thanks for the help!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 2:01 p.m. IslaNewYork

Can't wait to try this out when I start listing some new things :)

Sept. 9, 2009 at 2:07 p.m. buttonsbyrobin

This sounds great.

Sept. 9, 2009 at 2:17 p.m. StellasKnits

Yea! By the way, what a gorgeous scarflette.

Sept. 9, 2009 at 2:43 p.m. ChloesRuffleButt

Fantastic! Thanks!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 2:50 p.m. flandersfield

Good improvement! What about adding a first step of selecting handmade, supplies or vintage before showing the handmade categories to make things even clearer? :-)

Sept. 9, 2009 at 2:52 p.m. vivikas

That sounds good, thanks!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 2:59 p.m. anycards

there is a lot of confusion and frustration about this update, is it possible some of the questions raised in the forums could be answered?

**************************
ditto.

Sept. 9, 2009 at 2:59 p.m. tootsweethandbags

this is a fantastic idea! i'm off to list something now and try it out ::abouts-face and skips out to list item::

Sept. 9, 2009 at 3:05 p.m. artrageousclay

This looks great! I'm ooking forward to an easier way of viewing items!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 3:09 p.m. lavenderrabbit

Great! Appreciate the help listing new items.

Sept. 9, 2009 at 3:18 p.m. rossoaps

>> paperstreet
there is a lot of confusion and frustration about this update, is it possible some of the questions raised in the forums could be answered? > anycards
there is a lot of confusion and frustration about this update, is it possible some of the questions raised in the forums could be answered?
**************************
ditto. <<

Yes, that would be helpful. And so far as I can see, at least from my type of handmade item, this is NOT an improvement.

And I completely disagree that we should have to choose from Handmade, Vintage, or Supplies first and eat up one of our tags.

Loved Etsy when we first joined, but all the "improvements" only make it more complex.

Sept. 9, 2009 at 3:19 p.m. MetalheartDesign

this sounds like a great change! thank you!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 3:26 p.m. CarolBradley

Bravo!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 3:43 p.m. SanDesign

I am afraid I do not see where this is going to help anything at all.

Sept. 9, 2009 at 3:46 p.m. MysticSilks

This is a wise technical update, and very much needed.

Sept. 9, 2009 at 4:04 p.m. FlawlessArt

Thank's for the info

Sept. 9, 2009 at 4:30 p.m. abcdimages

Looking forward to seeing how this works out for photography subcategories.

Sept. 9, 2009 at 4:33 p.m. PaperPetalCreations

I will have to list some items tonight so I can try out this new functionality.

Sept. 9, 2009 at 4:41 p.m. Fishstikks

Sounds very interesting! Can't wait to see how it works!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 4:52 p.m. crochetgal

Hopefully this will help in in the selection of tags and in keeping tags relevant.

Thanks for your work on this.

Sept. 9, 2009 at 5:06 p.m. VixVintage

Thank-you!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 6:18 p.m. lv2cr8

Thank you for this. You are helping us all out with these latest features and I appreciate it.

Sept. 9, 2009 at 7:26 p.m. pamwares

Tag-rrific!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 7:35 p.m. LilithEvy

I was suprise earlier today when I've listed an item and see the change, but I think it's a good thing!!! Thanks!!!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 7:54 p.m. ThePaperTray

Thank you!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 8:21 p.m. lcscottage

Thanks for all of your help!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 8:36 p.m. MerCurios

Thanks! I think this is a great feature. ...a few more tags would be awesome too! *hint* *hint*. While we're on it, subcategories within a shop would brighten my world!

xoxo,
MJ
MerCurios
http://facebook.com/mercuruiosjewels

Sept. 9, 2009 at 8:48 p.m. HightowerBotanicals

I love the pincushion ring. So much that I bought one!

Sept. 9, 2009 at 10:15 p.m. underoakstudios

Thanks guys. This rocks. Mistagging bugs.

Sept. 9, 2009 at 11:11 p.m. UptownAvenue

Thank you for all of your hard work!

Sept. 10, 2009 at 1:24 a.m. smilingbluedog

Anything that helps is appreciated.
Thanks!

Sept. 10, 2009 at 2:16 a.m. HeyChica

Looks interesting...thanks!

Sept. 10, 2009 at 4:26 a.m. Iammie

Cool!

Sept. 10, 2009 at 5:47 a.m. craftaria

Great idea!

Sept. 10, 2009 at 7:40 a.m. jill2day

Thanks - this is great improvement - lots of work too, but appreciated!

Sept. 10, 2009 at 8:48 a.m. inalather

Definitely worth investigating--thanks!

Sept. 10, 2009 at 9:10 a.m. bythewayside

Thank you so much! A step in the right direction :)

Sept. 10, 2009 at 9:40 a.m. heatherfuture

Marvelous! I hope this helps organization as much as I think it will! Good work, Etsy!!! :D

Sept. 10, 2009 at 9:51 a.m. steinschmuckdesign

Thank you very much
for the update!!

Sept. 10, 2009 at 10:51 a.m. akaCINDERS

Thanks loads techies. I need all the help I can get.

Sept. 10, 2009 at 12:30 p.m. sentimentalstones

That will work great when all those extra tags actually show up in the search categories too. I am patiently awaiting for a great idea to come full circle.

Sept. 10, 2009 at 12:54 p.m. RomanceCatsAndWhimsy

Great - thank you for the update, it makes sense and I'm sure buyers will appreciate it. :)

Sept. 10, 2009 at 2:45 p.m. SecretLentil

thank you! this makes a lot of sense.

is there a forum thread started for some of the questions?
i can't find one.

Sept. 10, 2009 at 4:46 p.m. MysticSilks

Thank you for any and all changes that help buyers find our items without having to come upon 'everything' under the sun!!!

Sept. 10, 2009 at 4:47 p.m. MysticSilks

Thank you for any and all changes that help buyers find our items without having to come upon 'everything' under the sun!!!

Sept. 10, 2009 at 6:17 p.m. CassiasGarden

I am just wondering one thing: Etsy says to tag your items with your shop name. with a store, why would that be important?

i am on 4 teams, and between listing my team names, and the item description tags, sometimes I am hard pressed to know which tags to not worry about listing......

Sept. 10, 2009 at 7:18 p.m. HappyElephantDesigns

thanks guys :)

Sept. 10, 2009 at 7:23 p.m. OhFaro

Oh Baby! I love you guys! You ROCK! Thanks for all the great new features.

Sept. 10, 2009 at 7:36 p.m. UglyBaby

CassiasGarden --- one reason might be so that if someone is searching for your shop name but they are on the wrong search category (i.e. vintage instead of seller names) -- then an item from your shop will still come up in the search and they can get to your shop that way.

Sept. 10, 2009 at 7:49 p.m. natalya1905

Thanks for your job! This will definitely help to get more relevant tagging and search results.

Sept. 10, 2009 at 7:52 p.m. MaryLittfin

This tagging thing bogs me down just about every time. Thanks for any help with it.

Sept. 10, 2009 at 7:53 p.m. LoveandDream

great! thank you :)

Sept. 10, 2009 at 7:53 p.m. patriciavidour

Thanks! A great help, it was very difficult for me to know the different names for tha colors, now I am adding with the tool you gave us!
Thank you!!

Sept. 10, 2009 at 7:53 p.m. esmeraldadesigns

neat, this should help both buyers and sellers:)

Sept. 10, 2009 at 7:56 p.m. LisaFerinDesigns

Happy to hear this--I think it will be very helpful!

Sept. 10, 2009 at 7:58 p.m. bahardecoration

Thank you! I hope it very helply.

Sept. 10, 2009 at 7:58 p.m. lisalaubhan

thanks to you!!! i am new to etsy, so anything to help me with tagging will be wonderful!

enjoy!

Sept. 10, 2009 at 7:59 p.m. rkdsign88

Sounds great!Looking froward for this update.

Sept. 10, 2009 at 8:05 p.m. PillowSewCute

This makes sense, and tagging much easier!

Sept. 10, 2009 at 8:08 p.m. ChiliCrab

Thanks for this useful improvement!

Sept. 10, 2009 at 8:24 p.m. Yayahandicraft

Thank you for all your work and time

Sept. 10, 2009 at 8:28 p.m. Nushkie

Always appreciative of your tips and updates. Thank you!

Sept. 10, 2009 at 8:35 p.m. lovepearl

Thank you!

Sept. 10, 2009 at 8:48 p.m. tellis

Anything that makes it easier for the buyer to find me is MUCH APPRECIATED!!! Thanks!

Sept. 10, 2009 at 8:57 p.m. FrederickAvenue

Thank you for all that you do to make our (sellers) lives a little easier!!!

Sept. 10, 2009 at 9:18 p.m. ImpressionsExpress

It is definitely quicker listing now! Thank Etsy and keep up the great work!

Sept. 10, 2009 at 10:15 p.m. artsgallery

Thank you for the updates,
Art

Sept. 10, 2009 at 10:56 p.m. globalcoolo

Great!!! Thank you!

Sept. 11, 2009 at 12:25 a.m. LavenderField

Thanks, hopefully this will improve the views (and the sales, of course)

Sept. 11, 2009 at 1:48 a.m. PandoraSpocks

Awesome! This should definitely help both sellers and buyers. But while we're talking about categories, I'd like to suggest that there be a "beret" subcategory in the various hat sections. Berets are so popular right now, and it's not listed!

Sept. 11, 2009 at 2:15 a.m. fmena

this is great. This is going to help everyone with searching.

Sept. 11, 2009 at 2:51 a.m. VavaVeve

Wow! I just signed up and designed my shop tonight (which went really well BTW), and already I received an email from Etsy telling me about some improvements! This is a fast moving group with lots of great ideas! Thanks Etsy!!

Sept. 11, 2009 at 6:05 a.m. Loustudio

Ok.Thanks for info.

Sept. 11, 2009 at 8:15 a.m. jazjewels

Thanks! Sounds great!

Sept. 11, 2009 at 8:51 a.m. CreativeEyeStudio

It sounds like this will be helpful and will save some time. I look forward to trying it this weekend. Thanks for the update!

Sept. 11, 2009 at 9:23 a.m. ablissful

Can't wait to learn more about this. Thanks!

Sept. 11, 2009 at 9:45 a.m. SharryJo

Sounds great to me, Should clear up many questions. Ican't wait to see the changes. Thanks

Sept. 11, 2009 at 12:30 p.m. PaperedFair

Actually, I'm finding that the new change is limiting my exposure a bit. I want to be able to appropriately list my holiday paper items in both 'holiday' and 'paper goods' categories so that they can be seen in both. Am I missing something here?

Sept. 11, 2009 at 2:49 p.m. neelieileen

Thank you so much. I appreciate all your efforts to update Etsy.

Sept. 11, 2009 at 7:55 p.m. samsstuff

Thanks for keeping us informed on all the great changes here on Etsy!

Sept. 12, 2009 at 10:08 a.m. RawBoneStudio

Very helpful. Thanks!

Sept. 12, 2009 at 1:01 p.m. panchromatica

Much needed I think, because mistagging is a major problem.

Sept. 12, 2009 at 1:19 p.m. Hypnotransformations

Great! This helps, thanks for the new feature!

Sept. 12, 2009 at 2:03 p.m. VeryCarey

Great to have tools to make your listing more search specific. And just in time for the holidays.

Sept. 12, 2009 at 2:19 p.m. DoubletakesDesigns

Hoping all this makes things show up for more people! Since I'm pretty new at this I'm still rather floundering! Love the ease of listing on here though!

Sept. 12, 2009 at 7:39 p.m. bhangtiez

very helpful, thanks!!!!!!

Sept. 13, 2009 at 9:54 a.m. maxscentsoycandles

Thanks for this tech update. I can't wait to dive in and add sub-categories to all of my listings!

Sept. 14, 2009 at 8:59 a.m. heavenlytrinkets4Him

As a New seller, I am grateful to have received this information. Very helpful. Thank You.

Sept. 15, 2009 at 5:20 a.m. vinevirak

Thank you!

Sept. 15, 2009 at 6:34 a.m. lindabutterfly

Good we can still add extra tags, because my greetings cards are under the main tag Paper, but if I attach a crochet ring, for example, I need the tag appropriate for that, Accessories, or a magnet needs the housewares tag. My greetings cards with a gift mean I am a multi tag lady!

Sept. 15, 2009 at 11:20 a.m. terminy

Awesome- thanks!

Sept. 15, 2009 at 7:27 p.m. dsenyo

Thanks for the post. I appreciate the example being Bags & Purses. Very applicable for me!

Sept. 15, 2009 at 9:01 p.m. IrishEyez

I'd just like to point out 2 things that relate to my listings.
1. My items are both handmade and suplies. I never know which to list them under.

2. There is a severe shortage of tags for scrapbooking items. My items don't fit under any of them!

Sept. 15, 2009 at 11:48 p.m. Kingstreasuresca

I would like to see more tags .. there is not yet a Gemstone tag or Semi-precious tag

Sept. 16, 2009 at 1:24 p.m. nappingcat

thanks for the info

Sept. 16, 2009 at 1:29 p.m. KandiceInWonderland

Is it just me? All my recent listings ONLY show up in my main tag/category! None of the other tags/subcategories appear to be registering. For instance, miniature books that can be used for school trading photos and also as an American Girl Doll accessory ONLY show up under "books and zines", not under "back to school" or "American Girl Doll" or "Children", tho those are all sub-categories I've listed for them. What am I missing?

Sept. 16, 2009 at 5:10 p.m. rjess7832

Nice to know, thanks!

Sept. 16, 2009 at 5:50 p.m. monicaazulann

Thank you. I'm still new to it all!

Sept. 17, 2009 at 9:05 a.m. banfflines

Thank you for the info.…always open to ways which will boast my presence.
Sandra

Sept. 17, 2009 at 9:32 a.m. alyssakaycollections

Thanks for working on this. Something for us to ponder!

Sept. 17, 2009 at 3:46 p.m. OctoberMansion

We are glad to see this update. In the past, there seemed to be a lot of prints mixed in with original art. I'm sure this will help people with their tagging.

Sept. 18, 2009 at 12:56 a.m. LavenderField

Good for us! Thanks!

Sept. 19, 2009 at 5:31 p.m. ImJewelee

Hmmmmmm... we will see what happens with this new feature! Going to list something to try it out. Thank you!
♥ Julee

Sept. 21, 2009 at 2:59 p.m. vardashilo

Thanks for your help

Sept. 21, 2009 at 10:12 p.m. lunaclaydesign

wow, more changes...alot of sellers asking why sales and views are down the last two-three weeks..between this and SEO changes who can find anything or anyone...maybe we do need to go in and again change our tags..our shop titles..etc

Sept. 28, 2009 at 6:01 p.m. KisforCalligraphy

Although I appreciate any efforts that are made to help improve the overall experience for Etsy users, this change has done more negative to our views and sales than it has helped in minimizing mis-tagging.

With all due respect, this change is actually going to encourage more mis-tagging. But hey I am sure "renewing" has increased ten fold! I am truly disappointed by this change and saddened to think that the powers of Etsy could be so deviant. Hoping this is change is just all a bad dream! Pinch me!

Nov. 2, 2009 at 5:56 p.m. archaicdesign

It will be interesting to see how all this will work out.

Previous Page | Next Page