The Do's and Don'ts of Copying Your Etsy Listings

We’ve seen this discussed a lot in various groups and there’s a lot of opinions, but here’s why we think it’s smart to think twice before you start copying your Etsy listings.

You might be thinking, "Printables seem easy to reproduce, so why not just copy a best-seller?" There’s a few reasons this might not be the shortcut to success you're hoping for.

Starting Afresh: The Reality of Copying Sold Printables

When you copy a sold printable, you're essentially crafting a brand new listing that won't inherit any of the engagement, favorites, or reviews that the original printable enjoyed.

And, if a shopper had bookmarked the original design or added it to their cart, your version won't be on their radar.

So, while the design might be similar, the traction will be altogether different.

Switcheroo Alert: The Pitfalls of Altering Existing Listings

Now, let's look at a misstep you don’t want to take: changing items within an existing listing.

Imagine you have a popular listing for a Printable Self-Care Workbook. You’ve been working on a new product that you love - a Printable Manifestation Planner. Can’t hurt to expose all that juicy traffic to your new product, can it?

So you swap the info in the self care workbook for the info in the meditation workbook - they’re similar so the audience would probably be interested anyway, right?

But - it's like promising readers a thrilling mystery novel and delivering a cookbook.

Both are valuable, but they cater to different needs. Such switches can be jarring for your audience, eroding the trust they've placed in your shop.

And, you’re tanking the very good traffic that you had for your self care workbook.

What You Can Do

The best path forward? Create a new listing for every new printable. If your new printable is using similar keywords and much of your description is the same (like your FAQs or terms and conditions) as an existing listing you CAN duplicate that listing to create a fresh new listing. Then add the new images, description, keywords etc.

It’s like using a template, which you can then adjust for your new design. But it's crucial to preserve the essence and authenticity of the original listing.

We like this feature so much that we have a few listings sitting in Draft in Etsy, that have most of the information we use often. We duplicate one of those, update it, and publish.

And You Can Also…

If you have a printable that sells well, you can copy it, give it a different look and feel, and then create a new listing for it. So that increases your shop inventory and hopefully also your shop’s appeal. But that’s also not directly copying your successful listing.

Trust in Printables: Building Loyalty One Design at a Time

In the printables arena, honesty and clarity are your best allies.

Maintaining transparency in your Etsy shop is about growing trust so that your customers become repeat buyers who look forward to your new releases. We have a solid tribe of loyal repeat buyers because we never bait and switch.

Take a look at our other Etsy tips and tricks. Now that I think about it, they’re not tricks meant to fool anyone, they’re meant to make your Etsy life easier. So they’re tips. Enjoy :)