How To Run A Sale On Etsy? [Run Sales Or Create Coupons In 2023]

How To Put Items On Sale On Etsy?
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Running a sale on Etsy is one of the most effective ways to boost your sales and increase your customer base. Understanding what kind of offers and sales you can run on Etsy shop can be super-helpful if you are a new seller.

In this how-to guide, I’m going to show how to run a sale on Etsy in 2022, including:

  • Types of sales and coupons you can offer on Etsy
  • How to discount a single item on Etsy?
  • How to put Items on sale on Etsy?
  • How to give Etsy quantity discount?
  • How to show price reduction on Etsy
  • How to create an Etsy coupon for specific items?
  • How to send someone a coupon on Etsy?
  • How to announce a sale on Etsy?
  • How to send coupons for cart abandoners and followers?
  • And what to avoid so you don’t lose money while trying to run a sale?

But first, why should you bother running sales? And how can it help your shop grow?

Is it worth to run an Etsy sale?

Let me give you a few reasons why setting up a sale on your Etsy shop can be helpful for you:

  • Running sales is one of the popular ways to increase the visibility of your Etsy shop and get more orders.
  • Offering discounts will help you find new customers who are more likely to buy from you again.
  • You can clear old inventory easily by offering deep discounts on older collections and bundles while increasing the perceived value of your products.
  • Sending custom offers and discounts is a great way to show your appreciation for your customers and reward their loyalty.
  • You can also increase your revenue by cross-selling and bundling your products.
  • Giving discounts to those who have favorited items but not purchased (or abandoned their carts) is one approach to encourage them to buy.

Running sales can help you get more customer traffic and repeat orders, which Etsy loves the most! And possibly running sales ‘can’ help you increase your sales number and monthly revenue to qualify for the star seller badge. It’s like a snowball effect.

Does Etsy Charge You To Run A Sale?

NO, Etsy does not charge you to run a sale or create a coupon.

So, what type of sales and discounts can you run on Etsy?

Etsy allows you to run various kinds of sales and discounts to attract more customers or sell more products.

Broadly, there are four types of discounts and coupons you can offer on Etsy- a free shipping discount, a quantity discount, a fixed price discount, and a percentage discount.

You can set start and expiration dates (aka end date) of all of these deals or end them sooner than you planned.

a.  Running Sales on Etsy

1. A fixed percentage off sale

A fixed percentage discount is when you run a sale of a specified amount (fixed % off) on specific or all items of your shop.

sales on etsy
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Shopwide off

You can offer a discount from a minimum of 10% to a max of 70% and can set minimum criteria to qualify.

For example: Putting a 30% Valentine sale on all items or a particular section of your store.

To make shoppers spend more, there are two types of percentage off discounts you can put on your shop.

1a. Quantity Discount

It is a discount in which you offer your customers a certain percentage off for buying more than one product.

Quantity Discount ON ETSY
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Quantity discount on Etsy

For example, ‘buy two items, get 20% off or ‘buy three items, get 40% off.’

This type of discount helps entice a buyer to buy more items and increases the average value of your cart.

1b. Discount on Order Total

Discount on order total means that you offer fixed dollars off to customers if they spend a certain minimum amount of money.

Dollar off sale on etsy
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Dollar off sale on Etsy

An important thing to keep in mind is that this discount is applied to your whole shop and you cannot pick specific items to put on sale.

For example, ‘buy $50 or more worth of items and get 20% off,’ or ‘spend $100 and save 20%.’

Like the quantity discount, discount on the order total also tempts bargain hunters to spend more money in your store.

How To Run A Sale On Etsy?

Follow these steps to put your items on sale. You can put a single item on sale or choose the products you want to put on sale. I will show you the steps for both.

  1. Go to the shop manager (shop icon on the top of your shop) and click it. Click marketing and then sales and coupon.
step 1 how to run sale on etsy
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2. Select ‘create a new offer.’

select new offer (step 2 run an etsy sale)
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3. Choose ‘run a sale.’

run a sale on etsy
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4. Select ‘percentage off’ from the dropdown and pick the discount. You can choose from 10%-70$%.

step 3 select discount to run etsy sale
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5. Choose where you want to set your sale. You can choose everywhere or select a particular country. (see above image)

6. Now select the type of sale you want to run. Select one of the following:

  • Order total: if you want to run a sale like ‘20% off the $40 total order’.
  • Choose quantity: If you like to put a sale like ‘buy 2 get 20% off.’
  • None: if you don’t want to set any qualifying criteria

7. Enter start and end dates.

8. Add terms and conditions if you want to.

9. Give your sale a name.

10. Click continue to select listings.

Now you have options to pick how many listing you want to put on sale.

How to discount a single item on Etsy?

To give a discount on a specific item, you can search the item using the search bar (after you have followed the above 1-10 steps). Once you find your product, select review and confirm.

choose a listing item for sale
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Search for your listing item

How to Run Etsy Sale On Specific Items?

If you want to put the sale on specific items, select add multiple listings. It will show your shop sections.

add listings to sale
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Select sections you want to run sale

You can now choose the section of your listing you want to run a sale on.

It will show all the items in the section. If you want to remove an item from the sale, you can delete the listing by clicking ‘x’.

multiple listings from sale
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Delete the listing you don’t want to run sales on

You can add products from other sections and pick what you want to put on sale.

How to give Etsy Quantity Discount?

To give Etsy quantity discount, follow the above 1-5 steps.

Next, select the quantity and enter the number.

how to give quantiy discount
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For example, choose 2- if you want the ‘buy 2 get 20% off’ sale or 3- if you want a ‘buy 3 or more get 20% off’ sale. This sale will be valid on all your Etsy items.

How To Show Price Reduction On Etsy?

The only way to show markdown or price reduction is to run a sale. Once your sale is live (if you select minimum- no), Etsy will show new sale prices with the original slashed. Follow the steps above to run a % off sale on the single listing or specific listing of your choice.

b. Creating and offering Coupons

Etsy also allows you to create custom coupons that shoppers can use on specific or all items of your shop.

Shoppers can never find the coupon until you share it with them or announce it in your shop. 

Like sales, there are many types of coupons that you can create on Etsy, including some additional offers.

Difference between coupon and putting a sale

When you put a sale on Etsy, it is visible to all Etsy shoppers who visit your shop or view your listings as markdowns or sales.

Whereas when you create a coupon, you choose how to share it with your shoppers- by emailing it to them, sharing the unique code on social media, or adding it to your shop announcement or banner.

It means shoppers won’t know about a coupon until you tell them.

Here are the typed of coupons you can create

A percentage discount coupon

As the name suggests, you can offer a fixed % off coupon for your Etsy shop items or on order total.

You can give a coupon of a maximum of 70% off and set its end date.

It also includes:

Quantity off percentage coupon

It is the same as the quantity discount sale above but in the form of a coupon. You can offer this coupon to your customers for buying more than one product.

etsy coupon %off
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For example, ‘Use Coupon20 to buy two items and get 20% off.

Coupon for % off discount on order total

 You can offer a discount on the entire cart once it qualifies as a minimum set order value.

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For example, ‘buy $50 or more worth of items and get 20% off with coupon: Order20.’

A free standard shipping coupon

 You can also offer a coupon for free standard shipping for specific products/carts.

You can also set a minimum order value to qualify for this type of coupon.

Make sure you calculate shipping rates before offering this type of coupon to shoppers so that you don’t lose money on the deal.

Custom fixed amount off coupons

Unlike a percentage-off coupon, it is a fixed amount coupon that applies to your whole shop. You can set the minimum order number or cart value to qualify for this coupon.

Coupon for X amount off on Y spend

For example, ‘Spend $50 and get $20 off with COUPON: GIFT30off50.’

Coupon for X amount off on Y minimum purchase

 For example, ‘Buy 3, or more items and get $15 off with coupon: Get15off3.’  

So now you know what type of sales and coupons you can run on Etsy, it’s time to look at the steps for running sales or creating coupons on Etsy.

How To create Coupons On Etsy?

Offering coupons is also as easy as running sales.

  1. Go to marketing > sales and coupons in your shop manager dashboard.
  2. Select ‘create a new offer.’ Select ‘create a coupon.’
  3. Choose the type of coupon you want to create from the dropdown menu and fill in the value.
  4. Select ‘none’ if you want to choose a single item or specific products.
  5. Enter dates of coupon validity and then a coupon name.
  6. Click continue to select listings.
how to create a coupon on etsy
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How to create an Etsy coupon for specific items?

To create coupons for a specific item, follow the above steps while choosing ‘percentage off’ as coupon type.

After step 6, either search the listings in the search bar or add listings from multiple listing dropdowns.

choose a listing item for sale
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You can click ‘x’ to remove the listing if you don’t want to include it in this coupon.

** Rest all the coupons (fixed amount off, minimum quality, minimum order total or shipping) apply to the whole shop.

How to send someone a coupon on Etsy?

Once you create a coupon, you will get a link to share with anyone you like.

This link has a coupon embedded in it. When someone clicks on the link, adds items to the cart, and checks out, the coupon will automatically be applied to their order.

**If your coupon is valid for selected items, let them know the eligible items. Etsy does not show the coupon on checkout if a customer tries to redeem it for ineligible items.

C. Sending offers to interested shoppers

You can also send special offers to shoppers who have shown interest in your brand or listings. It includes those who have left your items in the cart or liked your listing.

The only requirement is that they need to be registered users on Etsy and signed up for emails from Etsy.

You can create a coupon of % off, fixed amount off, or free shipping, and Etsy will then send it to them via email.

How To send coupons to interested buyers?

To offer coupons to interested buyers, go-to marketing > sales and coupons in your shop manager dashboard.

Sending offers to interested shoppers
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You will see a screen like this. Set up a coupon to the type of shoppers you want to send the coupon. Follow the steps mentioned to create a coupon above.

Once you have created your coupon, Etsy will send it to the interested buyers. 

How Do I Announce A Sale On Etsy?

To announce a sale, do one of the following things

  • Add a banner on your shop home page. (Use these templates to create sale banners)
  • Write in your shop announcement how many days are left in the sale.
  • Share it across social media channels like Pinterest, Twitter, or Facebook. If you have linked your social media profile, Etsy will automatically post the sale on all your connected accounts with just a few clicks.
  • Go shopping manager > marketing >social media > sales or promotion (scroll down) > click on the sale you want to share.
  • Add a text link in your email signature that points to your shop’s sale page.
  • If you have an online store, embed an Etsy Sale banner on it, and promote the sale.

How do I find my Etsy shop coupons?

To find your Etsy shop coupons, go to sales and coupons. Scroll down below to see the ‘Offer details and stats.’ It will show all the coupons and sales you have created for your Etsy shop.

It will also show you how many people have used it and the revenue you have generated.

find coupon
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A demo coupon

You can click on the coupon to copy the code URL, delete the coupon, or edit included listings.

How to end the sale early?

If you want to end the sale early, go to your shop manager> marketing and click on ‘sales and discount.’

Scroll down, and you’ll see the ‘Offer details and stats’ section. Click on the sale name, and it will open a sidebar with more details.

Scroll down to see the ‘end sale early’ option. Click on the button, and it will end your sale.

Now that you know how to run a sale on Etsy, what are some of the things you should avoid? 

Don’t offer discounts that are too large as it will reduce your profits. A good way to gauge how much discount you want to give is to think about how much you want to make on each sale. 

Make sure you have a fair understanding of Etsy selling fees and the different types of fees Etsy charges.

Avoid running sales too frequently as it will devalue your products in the eyes of customers. You want them to feel special, not like they’re getting a deal all the time.

Make sure you keep track of how many items you’re offering at a discounted price. You don’t want to sell out of all your inventory or raw materials before the sale ends.

Ready to put your Etsy shop items on sale?

Running a sale on Etsy is a great way to boost sales and get more exposure for your shop. By following the steps in this article, set up sales or create coupons that apply to specific items or your entire shop.

Etsy makes it easy for you to do so. Etsy is all about being creative, so get your thinking cap on and start planning your next sale!

If you have any questions relating to how to put items on sale on Etsy or create coupons, please let me know in the comments below. I’ll do my best to respond.

If you like this article and find it helpful, please share it with your friends. Happy Selling!

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