Expanding Your Products: Should You Have More Than One Etsy Shop?

Selling on Etsy connects you with a dedicated group of shoppers who know that Etsy is the place they can go to find one-of-a-kind products they can’t find anywhere else. That means there’s a huge SEO advantage because you don’t have to try to optimize your own website to attract customers.

But what happens if you want to expand your products? Should you sell them all in one shop or is there a benefit to opening a second shop to highlight your new products?

In this post, I’ll explain what to do when you want to expand your shop, including information about when it makes sense to open another Etsy shop and some tips on how to do it.

When Should You Expand Your Products?

Let’s start by talking about when you should consider expanding your products. Product expansion is one of the best ways to increase sales. It makes sense, right? You add more products to your shop. That provides your existing customers with something new to buy. It also has the potential to attract new customers to your shop.

Here are some reasons to consider adding new products.

Your shop isn’t getting enough traffic.
Your sales have decreased.
You have ideas for new products that you think your audience will love.

Any of these reasons is valid, but some don’t require the addition of a second shop.

When Do You Need a Second Etsy Shop?

If you own a printables shop and you want to add more printables to it, you don’t need to add a second shop to sell them. Your shop’s specialty is printables and that’s enough to make it feasible to add new products and sell them in the same place.

But what if you sell printables and you want to add t-shirts or home décor items? If you’re moving into a new product category, then it may make sense to add a second (or even a third) shop to make sure those products get the attention they deserve.

There are other examples too. Someone who had a wedding-themed shop that sold personalized wedding party gifts, printables, and other wedding-related items could add new products for weddings without opening a second shop. If they chose to add items for other events, it would depend on which events they were.

The bottom line is that you should consider adding a second shop in these circumstances.

You’re expanding into a new product category that’s vastly different from the products in your original shop.
You have new products that will not appeal to the audience for your existing shop.
You want separate branding or a shop name that reflects your new products.

Keep in mind that you can even have more than two Etsy shops if you choose.

How Do You Create a Second Etsy Shop?

To create a second Etsy shop, you will need an email address other than the one you use for your primary account. Some sellers would appreciate being able to manage two shops with a single log-in but that’s not an option as of this writing.

Here are the steps to create a second Etsy shop.

Log out of your primary account.
Click Sign In.
Click Register.
Enter the email address you want to use for your second shop.
Set a password for your new account.
Click ‘Sell on Etsy.’
Click ‘Open Your Etsy Shop.’
Follow the steps to open a new Etsy shop, which you can find in my Easy Etsy Profits

You’ll need to choose a name for your shop and write a description. You are free to use the same bank account for both shops.

Keep in mind that you will need to disclose your second Etsy shop in the public profile of your primary Etsy shop and vice versa. If you have more than two shops you’ll need to do the same thing on each public profile.

Finally, you should know that Etsy prohibits shop owners from selling the same items in different shops. If Etsy finds out that you’ve violated their Terms of Use, they could shut down all your shops. Check Etsy’s Seller Policy if you have questions.

Pros and Cons of Having More than One Etsy Shop

There are pros and cons to having more than one Etsy shop. Let’s start with the pros.

Etsy is all about niche sellers and having multiple shops can make it easy to target different audiences and increase your sales.
The rates are the same whether you own one shop or several.
Opening a second shop is often easier than opening the first because you can use what you learned to make your second shop successful quickly.

There are a couple of important cons to consider as well.

If you have two or more shops, you’ll need to log in and out a LOT, and that can be a pain for some sellers.
It takes more time to manage two shops than it does to manage one, particularly if you have customer questions or multiple orders to fill.

It’s important to be realistic about what you can manage and whether the extra work is something you’re willing to do to get a second shop up and running.

Tips and Reminders for Opening a Second Etsy Shop

Let’s end with a few tips and reminders to help you with a second Etsy shop.

Never list the same product in more than one shop at a time.
Always disclose all your Etsy shops in the public profile of each shop.
Make each shop distinctive, whether you divide products by type or focus on a different target audience.
If you have two shops, you can save time by keeping each one open in a different browser, so you don’t need to log in and out. For example, you might log into your primary account on Chrome and your secondary account on Microsoft Edge.

Most importantly, remember that you must maintain all shops in good standing to avoid being penalized or shut down by Etsy.

Conclusion

Opening a second Etsy shop can be an effective way to attract new customers or target a new audience. The tips and information provided here will help you make a smooth transition as you expand your business.

Do you need help expanding your product offerings and growing your shop? Click here to learn how to work directly with me.