As we move toward the final stretch of the year and holiday prep picks up steam, Etsy just released its Q3 2025 results. As usual, let's unpack where the marketplace is currently and what this means for your shop heading towards the end of 2025 and beyond.
State of Etsy - Q3 2025 performance
What’s really happening behind the numbers? Let’s break down where Etsy currently stands, the priorities shaping its next moves, and the key focus for Holiday Season 2025 you should understand to stay ahead.
1. Etsy sales are still slightly down, but momentum is building
Etsy’s total sales (GMS) for Q3 (July-September) reached $2.4 billion, which is still down by around 3% year-on-year.
The good news? This is better than last quarter's 6% drop year-on-year.
The even better news? If your store has seen single or double-digit growth last quarter, you are significantly outperforming the competition.
Below you can see the biggest niches/categories on the platform with most of them reporting slight declines compared to 2024. Only the smallest categories (Craft Supplies and Toys & Games, less than 13% of overall sales) report slight growth.
In other words, the market is still tight and the growth doesn’t come from Etsy itself but from how well you position your shop within it. If you are experiencing steady or improved results right now, it is because you have adapted in three key ways:
- Stronger search positioning - e.g. good SEO;
- Better engagement through images, pricing and discounts - good Visual marketing;
- Clearer seasonal messaging and reactivation of customers - successful Email marketing.
If you feel your store may be lacking in any of these areas, we are here to improve this together. From SEO to Visual and Email marketing, our programs support each of the key directions for growth.
2. Etsy Holiday Season 2025 plans - focus on curated searches and discovery
The #1 priority Etsy pinpoints is curated holiday content.
From the so called Etsy Holiday Trend Edit through all the on-site and on-app experiences like The Holiday Hub and expert-curated lists, Etsy's team funnels traffic through specific curated landing pages.
What does this mean for Etsy SEO in Holiday Season 2025?
Etsy is continuing the trend from recent years to rely less on "typed-in searches" and more on discovery through custom curated search links. Simply put, all of these landing pages contain Etsy search keywords that will be seeing greatly increased visibility throughout the coming weeks
Strong SEO boosts will come from optimizing for the keywords that Etsy is pushing on the seasonal pages.
With this season bringing in multiple relevant occasions over 5-6 weeks - from Thanksgiving, through Christmas, Hannukkah, New Years, Boxing Day - and of course Black Friday / Cyber Week - the landing pages will be very dynamic. One of the key goals of the SEO Team here is to follow along with everything Etsy's seasonal marketing pushes forward and to optimize the most relevant listings in every store for these high-profile keywords Etsy is highlighting.
3. Etsy and OpenAI partnership
Etsy signed a deal so that U.S. users can discover & purchase Etsy items directly within ChatGPT. This is a curious new development - we will see whether it brings a meaningful volume of sales for Etsy to brag about next quarter.
Etsy treats this like affiliate marketing currently without additional seller fees but if it delivers, these ChatGPT referrals will likely be treated like Offsite Ads sales.
From what Etsy announced on the quarterly earnings call, customers can place an order directly through ChatGPT without ever visiting the Etsy website or App. Buyers will likely show up as guests in your orders feed, although they will have the option to link or create accounts.
4. Changing the leadership - New Etsy CEO
Etsy’s leadership also enters a new phase with Kruti Patel Goyal stepping in as CEO in the beginning of 2026. She has been with Etsy for over a decade, serving in senior roles across product, marketplace operations, and seller experience. We are about to see how Etsy will develop following the transition, although we don't expect any radical changes since Kruti has already been involved in all the recent developments over the last years.
While Etsy’s overall sales are still trailing last year, we are seeing individual shop growth ranging anywhere from 30% and beyond which is proof that real gains are absolutely possible in the current market.
We are in peak season and you already have a lot of your success factors in place. This is the time to leverage everything you have been building this year and to bring it all together.
Optimization of your store around Etsy's seasonal initiatives will help you make the most of your traffic and the high purchase intent over the next weeks.
Collaborate with your SEO expert to uncover what is trending and get ideas for specific improvements relevant for your store, and engage the Creative team to reimagine how your listings capture attention and encourage clicks.
The shops that put in the work now by aligning creativity with strategy, will be the ones best positioned to ride the wave of holiday demand and carry that momentum into 2026.
On a side note - our Creative Team has last Q4 slots for Etsy Visual Marketing and Etsy Email Marketing.
If you want to give your shop a fresh seasonal look for Black Friday or tap your existing client-base with Holiday Season campaigns, you can follow the links and apply for a slot.
