My First 10 Days on Etsy: What I Did Wrong and What I Finally Got Right
A behind-the-scenes look at my first week on Etsy—navigating scammers, low views, and a hidden mistake that held my shop back. After discovering I listed my bracelets in the wrong category, I finally understand how much the details matter. This is what I learned on my journey toward my first sale.
11/19/20251 min read
I published my very first Etsy listing on November 8th. From that day on, I committed myself to uploading three new listings every single day. Every morning when I open my eyes—and again before I go to sleep—I check my shop hoping to see a message, a notification, or maybe even my first order.
But the reality of the first week wasn’t easy.
Within a few days, two scammers reached out to me with fake order links. It was discouraging and honestly made me wonder if I was wasting my time. On day six, I noticed Etsy had brought only five views to my store. Five. After all that work, something clearly wasn’t right.
I asked GPT to audit my shop, but the feedback I got was confusing and inconsistent. So I kept searching for answers. A new seller I met on Reddit reminded me of something simple:
“Read the Etsy Seller Handbook.”
I took that advice seriously. After going through the handbook and reviewing my listings carefully, I realized I had made a small but critical mistake: I had put my bracelets in the wrong category. Instead of placing them under “beaded” or “woven bracelets,” I had listed them as “charm bracelets.”
That one little misplacement could explain why Etsy wasn’t showing my products to the right shoppers. Categories are not just labels—they affect search visibility, buyer matching, and how Etsy understands what you’re selling.
I’ve now corrected the categories for all my listings. It’s a small change, but one that finally gives me hope. My shop feels aligned with what I’m actually selling, and I’m excited to see if this helps bring in more views—and eventually, my very first sale.
The journey is slow, but I’m learning that every mistake is part of the process. And every correction brings me one step closer to where I want to be.