The seasonal celebrations calendar and the best-selling items on Etsy for each holiday
Whether you’re new to Etsy, or you’ve already been a seller for a while, you should know that seasonal shopping trends can help you boost your sales. All of the major holidays, as well as the seasons of the year, have a major impact on buyers’ shopping behavior. For example, we start the new year with planners and calendars, and we end it with Christmas gifts and shiny New Year’s outfits.
In order to understand seasonal shopping better, let’s look at some of the most important events and celebrations that take place throughout the year. For each one, we’ll also look at some examples of products or sales strategies that can help you boost your sales on Etsy.
1. Best-selling items in January – new year, new resolutions
January is the month that gives people hope for a fresh start. And when we start anew, we use planners, calendars, and stationary!
If you’re an artist that sells prints on Etsy, you can work in advance to create a calendar for the following year, comprising your best-selling prints so far.
This is definitely the time for sellers who design stationery articles, notebooks, planners, and so on. Everyone wants a new planner for the year, so now is the time to spruce up your listings and maybe do a bit of promotion.
2. Valentine’s Day best selling items on Etsy
Love it or hate it, Valentine’s Day is a major holiday that is celebrated in so many countries. And it’s the perfect occasion to revisit your Etsy listings that would make lovely Valentine’s Day gifts.
Without a doubt, personalized gifts rule this holiday. People want to treat their loved ones to something unique, and it just so happens that Etsy is one of the best markets for this.
But we shouldn’t forget about best-selling products like jewelry, cards, accessories for men, candles, and all things romantic.
And most importantly, do not miss Galentine’s day! On February 13th, we celebrate platonic love, and we treat our best friends with some lovely gifts, like bath bombs, spa products, adorable cards, and other tiny attentions.
3. Saint Patrick’s Day best-sellers
In the second half of February, you should already be thinking about Saint Patrick’s Day (officially celebrated on March 17). Evidently, not many products can be tailored to have a use for Saint Patrick’s Day. But let’s have a look at some successful examples.
Personalized T-shirts, for one, are some of the best-selling products for this holiday. Leprechaun and shamrock gifts are performing very well – handmade stuffed leprechauns, themed socks, shamrock earrings, knitted scarfs, leprechaun hats, etc. Beer, and particularly Guinness beer, is also a star of Saint Patrick’s Day.
4. Mother’s Day best-selling items on Etsy
Mugs, cards, jewelry, gift boxes, gardening supplies, home decor pieces, candles, everything that’s unique and says I-love-you-mum will sell. Personalized items are still top choices for Mother’s Day gifts.
Although Mother’s Day is celebrated on the 1st of May, make sure you prepare in advance for the holiday. Always remember that your customers will purchase the gifts way before the actual holiday, to make sure they receive them on time.
Start revamping your Etsy listings for Mother’s Day at the end of March/beginning of April, and be transparent about the processing and shipping duration for your orders. You don’t want to disappoint your seasonal shoppers!
5. The Wedding Season – best-selling items during the summer
The summer period can be hard for some sellers on Etsy. A lot of people save up and go on vacation, and they try to cut back on their online shopping budget. But there is a niche that is thriving in spring-summer, and that is the wedding & party niche.
Of course, the pandemic had a major impact on weddings, parties, and summer events, like festivals. But we’re slowly starting to organize these types of events again, even if at smaller scales. Life does go on, and we should continue to celebrate some of our most precious moments with our loved ones.
That being said, let’s look at some lovely products that can be introduced in the wedding theme.
Personalized wedding favors, invitations, table & name tags designs, wedding bands, dresses, jewelry, and so many more.
6. Back-to-school products
Whether it’s online or offline, school, uni, and most courses start in September-October. And even if we’re studying alone, at home, in front of our computer, many of us still love having a cool new notebook, a great planner, or a special pen to make us feel more motivated.
For the back-to-school season, personalized T-shirts are a best-seller. These make fun gifts for uni freshmen, cool teachers, or bookworms.
And for those who are actually living the offline learning experience, bags and backpacks are a great gift idea!
7. Best-selling Halloween items on Etsy
As we’re slowly nearing the end of the year, we can’t forget one of the MAJOR seasonal celebrations on Etsy, and that is Halloween. We love to see how people get creative with their listings for Halloween, and for autumn/fall in general.
If you want to add a seasonal touch to your product photography, check out the examples we gave in our Top 10 Etsy Product Photography Background Ideas. Autumn/fall is definitely a mood. And you might want to experiment with it.
For Halloween, some of the best-selling items on Etsy are party supplies, Halloween-themed T-shirts, funny costumes, craft supplies, wreaths, and creepy/fun Halloween candy packs. If you’re in either of these niches, definitely consider releasing a few Halloween-themed products!
8. Thanksgiving products to sell on Etsy
Since Thanksgiving is a holiday that gets the family together at the dinner table, table decor is the first thing that comes to mind. Personalized name tags, napkin rings, centerpieces, are just some ideas of products that will attract seasonal shoppers.
But personalized T-shirts remain a successful product in this category as well. With the right pictures and keywords, these can become best-selling items around the Thanksgiving period without a doubt.
9. Black Friday & Cyber Monday
Around the same time as Thanksgiving, Black Friday & Cyber Monday are also celebrated on Etsy. Although these events were initially focused primarily on technology-related products, in recent years, sales have extended to all of the niches.
So the great news is that you can boost your sales for ANY PRODUCT during the Black Friday/Cyber Week period. How? You can run limited sales on some of your Etsy listings. Add a shop announcement to let your potential customers know that you’re running a limited sale and that they need to act now. (A great incentive to do some Christmas shopping as well).
10. Finally, the greatest holiday for online shopping on Etsy: Christmas
Christmas is the holiday of gift-giving. And many of us turn to Etsy to look for inspiration for unique, handmade, and personalized gift ideas. From wrapping paper to expensive jewelry, most products on Etsy can be marketed for the Christmas period.
The most important thing is to find your audience. Who would love to receive your products as a gift for Christmas? A mom that loves gardening? A dad that loves vintage leather goods? A Friends fan? A grandma that loves knitting? Someone who has kids? Using the right keywords should do the trick.
This is the holiday where you get creative with your keywords, product photography, and photo backgrounds. Furthermore, you want to get prepared in advance. Remember what we said before, you don’t want to disappoint your customers. Make sure to mention the processing & shipping duration for your orders.
How to make the most of Etsy seasonal shopping
Finally, let us give you some tips about seasonal shopping and how to increase the chances of your products becoming best-sellers on Etsy:
- Get creative with product photography. You don’t have to change your product photos for every holiday and season, but focus on the ones that would work best for your store. Read our article to learn more about product photography backgrounds, and how you can use them to get more sales on Etsy.
- Use keywords in your titles, tags, and descriptions that target specific holidays. Like “Mother’s Day Gift”, for example. You don’t need to keep these keywords in your product title all year round, play with this and analyze the stats for your listings. See what they tell you.
- If your product is not seasonal, make your wrapping or thank you cards seasonal. It can be treaky to market certain products as seasonal. But that is why you can use your packaging to make your products more appealing to seasonal shoppers. You can include a thank you note or a cute card that is Christmas themed for the orders you get in November and December. Or you can offer a gift-wrapping option to your customers. Make sure to use your product photography to highlight these festive changes you are offering during the Christmas period.
- Get your seasonal products ready a couple of months in advance. As we said before, you don’t need to target all of these celebrations. Choose a few that suit you best, and get your products ready for them on time. Think about: product photography, festive keywords, shipping times, etc.
- Finally, be transparent about your shipping duration. This is another reason why you need to prepare your product listings months in advance. If you offer international shipping, you know that the shipping duration to some countries can take weeks. It’s important to stay informed about your orders’ shipping duration, and to include this information accurately on Etsy. Otherwise, shoppers might get disappointed and leave negative feedbacks when their Christmas presents arrive at the end of January.