This policy is a part of our Terms of Use. By using any of Etsy's advertising services, you're agreeing to this policy and our Terms of Use. This Advertising & Marketing Policy may change over time, per the terms of Etsy's Terms of Use. By continuing to use Etsy's services you agree to those changes.
1. Etsy Ads
2. Offsite Ads
3. Shop-Specific Promotions
4. Disclaimers
1. Etsy Ads
Sellers can purchase paid advertising on Etsy through the Advertising Dashboard in Shop Manager. Etsy Ads display a seller's listings or shops prominently on Etsy's websites and mobile apps. Etsy Ads are displayed in one or more locations, such as users' search results, based on at least four main ranking factors: search relevance, listing quality (including compliance with Etsy's policies), the bids (or amount budgeted for bids) to display the listing, and for some listings, likelihood of views or sales. You may choose to promote some or all of your listings or shops as Etsy Ads. For more information see Search and Advertisement Ranking Disclosures.
If you had an active campaign in the previous Etsy Ads program as of February 26, 2020, your budget will be applied by default to the updated Etsy Ads program. The previous Etsy Ads program included both onsite ads on Etsy and Google Shopping Ads, whereas the updated Etsy Ads is dedicated to only Etsy onsite ads. You can select which listings to include in Etsy Ads, decide on your budget, or stop your Etsy Ads campaign at any time, in Shop Manager.
Your listings or shops may also be included, at Etsy's sole discretion, in other marketing and third party advertising programs as laid out in Section 5 of Etsy's Terms of Use.
A. Purchasing Etsy Ads
Etsy Ads are based on an auction for ad space on Etsy’s properties. Etsy enters "bids" for this ad space on your behalf based on a daily budget you set. Specifically, Etsy Ads use a sealed bid generalized second-price auction system to determine the cost and placement of ads. In other words, ad inventory is "auctioned off" at varying prices, depending on the competition. For example, if more Etsy Ads qualify for a particular search query, the auction price may also increase. Therefore, the actual costs you incur will vary depending on the number of participants in the auction and their bid amounts. A bid is the maximum amount of money you will be charged if a buyer clicks on your Etsy Ad. Etsy’s calculation of bids is based on information you provide, such as your daily budget or the listings you wish to include for Etsy Ads. It may also be based on other information collected by Etsy, such as, for example, search relevance, listing variety, listing quality (including seller compliance with Etsy's policies), or likelihood of views or sale. For more information on the factors that go into Etsy search relevance, see Etsy’s Ultimate Guide to Search.
Etsy Ads fees are charged on a cost-per-click (or "CPC") basis via a bidding system such as described above, and you are responsible for paying for any clicks your ad receives. This means that you will be charged only when your ad is clicked, not simply when it is displayed. By providing a budget for Etsy to enter bids on your behalf (or providing bid amounts yourself if available), you agree to pay any amount up to and including the bid amount for a click on your ad. Your daily maximum budget can be set at or above a predetermined minimum determined by Etsy and you will not be charged more than your maximum budget on a daily basis. All bids are made in United States dollars (USD). You may pause an ad campaign at any time, but you will still be responsible for any charges incurred prior to pausing your campaign. Etsy is not able to grant refunds for any charges related to clicked ads.
Your ad costs will be visible in your payment account and on the attribution page of the Etsy Ads dashboard, typically within 24 hours of when the fee has been incurred, along with other pending fees, such as listing fees. These costs and fees may be charged on a recurring basis. You can learn more about these, and other fees in our Fees & Payments Policy.
B. Setting an Etsy Ads Budget
You can set a budget to limit the amount you're willing to pay for Etsy Ads to promote your listings or shops on Etsy. Your daily budget can be set at or above a predetermined minimum set by Etsy and you will not be charged more than your maximum budget on a daily basis. Etsy Ads does not generally permit you to set a cost per click bid amount. In some circumstances, Etsy may decide to allow the setting of a maximum cost per click bid, subject to minimum bid requirements set by Etsy, budget limitations, and the other requirements described above.
For each Etsy Ad, Etsy's bid management system will automatically determine your bid selection ("auto-bidding"). Auto-bidding is designed to determine the bid price that will deliver positive return on ad spend for a particular listing within a given budget over a day, where those auto-bids are subject to the auction process described above. You understand and acknowledge that Etsy’s auto-bidding system means that Etsy may change your bids at any time, subject to your set budget. If a product permits, you may have the ability to set a maximum cost per click that the auto-bidding system will not surpass.
By default, all of your listings will be promoted, including any new listings you create; however, if you are using the Sell on Etsy App to add new listings, you may be asked whether or not you want that new listing included in Etsy Ads. You may also exclude one or more listings manually from Etsy Ads via your Etsy Ads dashboard. If you make any edits to your Etsy listings during your campaign, your ads will be updated automatically to reflect those changes, although those updates may not be instantaneous.
2. Offsite Ads
Etsy purchases offsite advertising from a network of participating providers, such as social networks and search engines. Etsy's network of participating shopping engines may change at any time. Etsy currently syndicates listings to a variety of channels. Under the Offsite Ads program, Etsy pays all of the upfront costs of advertising on these providers. If such advertising includes your listing, a buyer clicks on it, and then orders from your shop within 30 days of that click, you will be charged an advertising fee on these orders. Please see our Fees & Payments Policy for information on how the advertising fee is calculated.
A. Participation in Offsite Ads
All Sellers are automatically enrolled in Offsite Ads. Some sellers are able to opt-out of the program, others are required to participate based on the following criteria: (1) if your shop made $10,000 USD or more total sales in any consecutive 365 day period after February 20, 2019, you will be required to participate in Offsite Ads for the lifetime of your shop even if you fall below that threshold at a later period; and (2) sellers who have not exceeded the $10,000 USD threshold in any consecutive 365 day period after February 20, 2019, or as otherwise required by law, may opt-out of the program. The consecutive 365 day period will be extended to 366 days during a leap year. Dates are determined Eastern Standard Time.
For the purpose of calculating this $10,000 USD threshold, sales are calculated by multiplying item price by quantity minus any discounts or formally cancelled orders. Please see our Fees & Payments Policy for additional information on how this threshold is calculated. These totals are displayed in your Shop Manager. Beginning a month after initial calculations when the program starts, Etsy will perform subsequent calculations on the first day of each calendar month and will give you notice if you have crossed the $10,000 USD threshold. Once you hit the $10,000 USD threshold, you are no longer permitted to opt out of Offsite Ads, prior opt outs while under the $10,000 USD threshold no longer apply, and Etsy may promote your listings or shops under the Offsite Ads program on third-party platforms in our sole discretion, even if you fall below the $10,000 USD threshold at a later date.
If you opt out of Offsite Ads, it may take up to three business days for your listing to no longer be displayed as part of this program. Etsy may continue to use your listings, including for analytics and marketing purposes, to improve Offsite Ads even if you opt out of allowing Etsy to display your listings in this program. Even if you opt out, if a buyer clicked on your offsite ad before your opt out is effective, you will still be charged the advertising fee for any orders placed within 30 days of that buyer’s click.
All of your listings or shops may be promoted, including any new listings you create. If you make any edits to your Etsy listings or shop, your ads will be updated automatically to reflect those changes, although those updates may not be instantaneous.
In addition, certain third party platforms on which Offsite Ads are promoted may enable offsite checkout functionality for Etsy listings that are displayed as Offsite Ads (“Partner Checkout”). Specifically, Partner Checkout allows buyers to purchase and complete the checkout process for such Etsy listings via Etsy Payments entirely on and through the third party platform, without a redirect to Etsy.com or Etsy’s mobile apps. In the event of any purchase of your listings through Partner Checkout, the buyer will be made aware that they are purchasing through your shop via Etsy Payments, and will receive links directly to your shop and shop policies. You will continue to be responsible for your listings, including shipping, customer support and dispute resolution, regardless of whether a sale is made through the partner check out flow or directly on Etsy.com or Etsy’s mobile apps, in accordance with Etsy’s policies. In addition, the Indemnification terms that are included in the Terms of Use will be deemed to include any third party platforms that enable Partner Checkout as intended third-party beneficiaries of such indemnification rights, on the same terms and to the same extent as Etsy and including with respect to Partner Checkout and any listings promoted or sold through Partner Checkout. If you participate in Offsite Ads, some of your listings may additionally be available for Partner Checkout, and as a result, you will be subject to the related terms and policies described above. You may opt out of Partner Checkout only by opting out of Offsite Ads.
Advertising on third party platforms, including related Partner Checkout, is subject to the terms and policies set forth by each participating platform, which may be different from Etsy's. You are responsible for complying with the terms and policies of the participating third party sites, which are linked here and above. By failing to do so, your listing may be removed from Offsite Ads. If your shop, listing, ad or account violates Etsy’s policies, Partner policies, or Etsy determines, in its sole discretion, is not appropriate for Offsite Ads, you, your shop, or one or more of your listings may be restricted from appearing in one or more partner’s channels, or prohibited from participating in Offsite Ads altogether. As always, you are responsible for following Etsy's Terms of Use, including requirements about Your Content, your Use of Our Services, and our rights to Termination.
If you opt out of, or are otherwise removed from, Offsite Ads, you will still be charged the advertising fee for any orders placed within 30 days of a buyer’s click on your offsite ad, even if that ad is later no longer displayed as part of Offsite Ads.
3. Shop-Specific Promotions
A. Sales and Coupons
Sellers on Etsy may choose to offer promotions specifically for their own shops and/or listings. Etsy currently offers two promotional tools: Sales and Coupons.
A Sale is a promotion that offers free shipping or discounts on your listing price(s) by a percentage. You can run a sale on a single listing or on multiple listings. Sales are public and will be displayed to all buyers, or, if certain seller-selected features are available, to a selected category of buyers. On occasion, Etsy may aggregate Sales and promote them through our websites, apps, and emails. When you run a Sale, you are obliged to follow not just these Etsy Terms but all laws (including consumer protection rules) that apply to sales and promotions in your jurisdiction.
A Coupon is a code that may be redeemed for a discount on an item or for free shipping. Coupons are not displayed publicly; as a seller, you may create, promote and distribute Coupons at your discretion. Please note, however, that except for Abandoned Cart coupons and Thank You coupons sent through the Targeted Offer tool, a Coupon code can be used by any buyer who redeems the code and that a buyer can use a Coupon code on multiple listings and on multiple occasions until any expiration date that you set when creating the Coupon.
Sellers are responsible for following Etsy's policies and all applicable laws associated with Sales and Coupons. For Sales, it's your responsibility to set the terms and conditions for the promotion in the "Sale details" section. For Coupons, it's your responsibility to communicate any terms or limitations for the promotion to buyers when sharing the Coupon code. Sales and Coupons may not be used for off-platform transactions.
B. Targeted Offers
Etsy's Targeted Offers is a free marketing tool that allows you to offer a Coupon to specific audiences of buyers who have interacted with your shop by either favoriting one of your listings (a “Favorited Item coupon”) or adding one of your listings to their cart (an “Abandoned Cart coupon”). You also have the option to automatically send a Coupon to thank buyers who have made a purchase from your shop (a “Thank You coupon”). Abandoned Cart and Thank You coupons sent through the Targeted Offers tool are single-use coupons and can only be used by the specific buyer who interacted with or made a purchase from your shop.
While Targeted Offers is a free marketing tool provided to you by Etsy, please note that you are responsible for honoring the discount for your listing price. You will not be able to limit the number of sends if you opt-in to sending coupons through the Targeted Offer tool. If you wish to discontinue Target Offers, you can manage or turn off your campaigns at any time from your Sales and Coupons dashboard, but any coupons that have already been sent to a buyer will remain valid and usable through their expiration date. Etsy will automatically apply expiration dates on Abandoned Cart and Thank You coupons sent through the Targeted Offers tool. Coupons will be valid until expired as indicated on the e-mailed coupon details.
Please note that Coupons will only be sent to buyers who have opted in to receive Coupons and Promotions via email from Etsy sellers. Buyers are not eligible to receive more than one of each type of Targeted Offers coupon from the same shop simultaneously. Buyers will only be eligible to receive a new Abandoned Cart coupon for your shop after thirty (30) days have elapsed since they redeemed a previous Abandoned Cart coupon from your shop.
Etsy may make changes to or stop this Targeted Offer service at any time upon notice to you.
4. Disclaimers
Etsy reserves the right to change the terms of these advertising programs at any time, including addition of fees, addition or removal of platforms, or end the program (in whole or part) at any time. We will notify you of material changes.
Using advertising and promotional services through Etsy does not constitute an obligation on Etsy's part to display an ad or promote your listings or shops. Etsy can't guarantee that a displayed ad or promotion will be clicked, and we can't guarantee that if a user clicks that the related listing will be sold.
Etsy's advertising services and advertising policies change over time, as do those of Etsy's third party channel partners, and neither Etsy nor its third party channel partners guarantee any particular program's features, results, or third party channels. Etsy reserves the right to change or terminate any campaign, incentive offer, or a program in part or as a whole at any time.
Etsy may, and you give Etsy permission to, automate parts or all of an advertising service provided, including combining bids across listings, geographical regions, keywords, ad formats, verticals, and on and off-Etsy marketing channels and platforms. You give Etsy permission to do so, with notice from Etsy, even if those features or options replace the parameters and options you set for the particular advertising service.
In the event Etsy begins, ends or modifies an advertising service, you give Etsy permission to transfer your bids, budgets, and campaigns to that new program, to the extent transferable for the defaults and features of the new or modified advertising service. Etsy will provide notice in the event of any such transfer.
You may be given the opportunity to participate in beta tests of advertising services offered by Etsy and/or third party channels. Those beta services are subject to separate terms for a particular program provided to you as part of your participation in that program, as well as this policy and the overall Etsy Terms.
From time to time Etsy may test or experiment with additional advertising products and the advertising services offered by Etsy, as well as the look and feel of any type of advertisement, may change as our programs and platforms evolve.
Ads and promotions may not include content that infringes upon or violates the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other personal or proprietary rights.
Please see our Intellectual Property Policy for more information. You are responsible for ensuring that your ads and promotions comply with all applicable laws and regulations.
Etsy reserves the right to reject or remove any ad or promotion for any reason, in our sole discretion, including marketing that negatively affects our relationships with our members or partners.
Last updated on Apr 9, 2024