How Many Sellers Are on Etsy in 2025 (New Data) 📊

Etsy finished 2024 with 5.6 million active sellers on its core marketplace, a decrease from the previous year’s 9 million. While the total number of sellers declined, Etsy’s overall business remained strong, with $10.9 billion in marketplace Gross Merchandise Sales (GMS) and 89.6 million active buyers.

The shift reflects Etsy’s focus on seller quality, retention, and platform trust. Rather than onboarding as many new shops as possible, Etsy is prioritizing experienced sellers who contribute long-term value.

This report provides an overview of how many sellers are currently active on Etsy in 2025, along with detailed insights into seller demographics, country distribution, category performance, and seller revenue trends based on Etsy’s official filings and census data.

Etsy finished 2024 with 5.6 million active sellers on its core marketplace, a decrease from the previous year’s 9 million. While the total number of sellers declined, Etsy’s overall business remained strong, with $10.9 billion in marketplace Gross Merchandise Sales (GMS) and 89.6 million active buyers.

The shift reflects Etsy’s focus on seller quality, retention, and platform trust. Rather than onboarding as many new shops as possible, Etsy is prioritizing experienced sellers who contribute long-term value.

This report provides an overview of how many sellers are currently active on Etsy in 2025, along with detailed insights into seller demographics, country distribution, category performance, and seller revenue trends based on Etsy’s official filings and census data.

Key Takeaways

• Etsy’s seller base shrinks, but retention improves. Active marketplace sellers dropped to 5.6 million in 2024 (from 9 million in 2023), but seller GMS retention remained strong, with the 2020 cohort still generating $1.7B in Year 4.
• The U.S. dominates Etsy’s demand, accounting for 74% of buyer GMS. However, 28% of sellers now export internationally, with strong representation in the U.K., Canada, Germany, and France.
• 91% of sellers operate below 5,000 orders/month, and only 29% run their Etsy shop as a full-time business. Despite this, personalization remains a core driver, with 30% of GMS coming from made-to-order or custom listings in 2024.

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Top Statistics 

• Number of Sellers: 5.6 million active Etsy sellers in 2024
• Seller Retention:  2020 cohort retained $1.7B in GMS by Year 4
• Sellers by Country: 74% of Etsy buyers GMS comes from the U.S.
• Seller Revenue & Size: 91% of Etsy sellers have under 5,000 orders/month
• Seller Demographics: 83% of Etsy U.S. sellers identify as women
• Sellers by Category: Jewellery & Accessories generated $3.6B GMS in 2024

How Many Sellers Are on Etsy in 2025?

As of December 31, 2024 (the most recent available data), Etsy has:

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• The 5.6 million Etsy marketplace sellers reflect individuals or businesses that have transacted (sale or listing fee) in the trailing 12 months. This number excludes Reverb and Depop sellers and represents the core creative economy Etsy is known for.
• The drop from 9 million active consolidated sellers in 2023 to 8.1 million in 2024 (-10%) is intentional. Etsy implemented stronger fraud detection, introduced a seller setup fee, and tightened enforcement of its “Creativity Standards,” which led to fewer low-quality or fraudulent accounts onboarding.
• Etsy’s core user base remains massive, with 89.6 million active marketplace buyers (defined as those who made at least one purchase in the trailing 12 months). When you include Reverb (musical instruments) and Depop (fashion resale), Etsy Inc. serves 95.5 million active buyers worldwide.
• This makes Etsy one of the largest niche marketplaces globally, second only to Amazon among platforms offering handmade, vintage, or custom goods.
• Seller-to-buyer ratio: Roughly 1 seller per 16 buyers on the core Etsy marketplace, an important signal of opportunity for sellers trying to reach sizable demand without overwhelming competition.
• Customization still dominates: ~30% of Etsy’s total Gross Merchandise Sales (GMS) in 2024 came from custom or made-to-order products, reinforcing the need for differentiated seller listings.

Etsy Seller Retention and Cohort Trends

Retention matters more than raw signups. Here's how Etsy's sellers are sticking with the platform over time:

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This indicates that while new seller acquisition has slowed, long-term GMS retention remains strong.

1. 2019 Sellers (Pre-COVID)
   
   • These sellers nearly doubled their GMS in Year 2 ($832M → $1.5B), showing strong momentum.
   • Year 3 and 4 show a gradual decline, but still above their starting point, a good sign of long-term viability.
     
     
2. 2020 Sellers (Pandemic Boom)
   
   • These sellers entered during the ecommerce surge.
   • While GMS dipped slightly from $2.9B to $2.6B in Year 2, the cohort still retains ~59% of its Year 1 GMS by Year 4, an unusually high multi-year retention rate.
     
     
3. 2021–2022 Sellers (Post-Boom Normalization)
   
   • 2021 cohort shows marginal GMS decay, indicating better long-term seller value than raw signup surges.
   • 2022 sellers actually showed growth in Year 2 GMS ($1.5B → $1.6B), suggesting higher quality onboarding and possibly better tools/support available to sellers.
     
     
4. 2023 Sellers
   
   • Only have one year of data,  too early for retention trends, but GMS started at $1.4B despite fewer net new accounts, which suggests Etsy is filtering for quality.

Why This Is Important

• Retention = Quality: A platform that keeps sellers active and profitable is more valuable than one that just attracts signups.
• Cohort GMS ≠ number of sellers: GMS includes how much revenue each cohort generates, so fewer but more successful sellers can drive higher GMS.
• Sustainable growth: Etsy appears to be transitioning from hyper-growth in user signups (2020–21) to optimizing for lifetime seller value.

Etsy’s strategy in 2024–2025 focuses on onboarding fewer but higher-performing sellers, filtering out churn-prone users, and supporting long-term business growth.

Etsy Sellers by Country

Etsy remains predominantly U.S.-centric, with 56.86% of its web traffic originating from the United States. However, the platform has a significant international presence, with the United Kingdom accounting for 9.25% of traffic, followed by Canada (5.05%), Germany (4.3%), and France (2.99%).

While Etsy doesn't publish exact seller counts per country, these traffic percentages suggest that the United Kingdom is Etsy’s second-largest market by both buyer and seller volume. Other key international regions include Germany, France, Canada, and Australia, all highlighted as growth markets.

Etsy also reports that 28% of sellers export products internationally, and the platform’s tools (e.g., multi-currency pricing and shipping integrations) continue to support that expansion. The U.K., in particular, plays a central role post-Brexit, both as a domestic market and as a base for cross-border European sales.

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Though Etsy doesn’t publish exact seller counts per country, the UK, Germany, France, Australia, and Canada are key growth regions, especially post-Brexit.

Tariffs & Cross-Border Costs for Etsy Sellers 

Managing e-commerce tariffs is becoming more important for Etsy sellers in 2025, particularly those shipping internationally or sourcing materials from overseas. While Etsy handles sales tax in some regions, sellers are responsible for customs duties, VAT reporting, and any fees related to cross-border sales.

Etsy tariffs vary by country. U.K. sellers face post-Brexit customs and EU import VAT, while U.S.-based sellers importing materials, especially from China, may see higher costs due to increased tariffs on craft supplies, fabrics, and packaging.

Etsy Sellers by Revenue and Size

While Etsy doesn’t disclose individual seller revenues, we can infer some trends:

• Top sellers in the U.S. and UK dominate the high-revenue segments
• 30% of GMS in 2024 came from custom or personalised items
• Approximately half of Etsy sellers sell exclusively on Etsy
• 29% of Etsy sellers run their shop as a full-time occupation
• Many earn between 10%–30% of their total household income from Etsy

This aligns with Link My Books’ own internal data: most ecommerce sellers manage under 5,000 orders/month.

These numbers still require accounting software, especially if the sellers are doing bookkeeping for multiple platforms and selling on Etsy as well. 

Top Sellers Drive the Most Revenue, But Are Few

• High-GMS sellers are concentrated in the U.S. and U.K., Etsy’s two largest markets by buyer volume.
• Etsy’s marketplace is long-tail by design: the majority of sellers are small businesses, hobbyists, or solo entrepreneurs. But a relatively small number of top sellers likely generate a disproportionate share of GMS, common in all ecommerce platforms.

Personalization Is a High-Value Driver

• 30% of all Etsy GMS in 2024 came from custom or made-to-order listings
• These often carry higher average order values and repeat purchase rates, especially in gifting, weddings, and niche collectibles.

Full-Time vs. Part-Time Sellers

• Only 29% of Etsy sellers describe their creative business as their sole occupation
• That means 71% are running Etsy shops part-time, either as a side hustle, supplementary income stream, or testing out product-market fit.

Etsy Income Contribution

• Etsy earnings contribute 11% of household income on average.
• Among those with dependents (42% of sellers), this supplemental income helps with bills, food, rent, or childcare.
• Notably, 1 in 4 sellers who’ve been on the platform over a year say Etsy income is more important now than a year ago, suggesting growing reliance over time.

Etsy Seller Demographics (Census Highlights)

• Gender: 83% of U.S. and 76% of U.K. sellers identify as women, Etsy remains a female-dominated platform.
• Age: Average seller age is nearly identical,l ~42.6 years.
• Education: More U.K. sellers (64%) have a college degree or higher compared to 52% in the U.S.
• Full-Time Sellers: 29% of U.S. sellers treat Etsy as their full-time occupation. UK data was not provided.
• Financial Dependents: 42% of U.S. sellers support others, indicating Etsy income contributes to family well-being.
• LGBTQIA+: 13% of U.S. and 10% of U.K. sellers self-identify under the LGBTQIA+ spectrum.
• Sustainability: Nearly half of U.S. sellers (48%) use recyclable packaging, reinforcing Etsy’s eco-conscious brand positioning.

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This demographic data from Etsy’s 2024 report reinforces its role as a mission-driven marketplace: it empowers women, supports economic resilience, and enables creative entrepreneurship, often from home-based sellers.

Etsy Sellers by Category (GMS Share)

From Etsy’s investor presentation and annual filing:

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These sales statistics by category account for approximately $9.48 billion of Etsy's total $10.9 billion marketplace GMS, just over 87% of the total Etsy GMS.

Automating Accounting is a Top Priority for Etsy Business 

In 2025, automating accounting processes is a top priority for Etsy businesses. With 5.6 million active sellers and $10.9 billion in Gross Merchandise Sales, managing financial data manually has become increasingly difficult.

Link My Books offers a solution by connecting Etsy, Shopify, and Amazon directly to accounting platforms like Xero and QuickBooks. It simplifies bookkeeping, reduces errors, and ensures accurate tax reporting.

✅ Automatically syncs Etsy payouts, fees, and refunds
✅ Applies the correct VAT rates by region
✅ Reconciles multi-currency transactions efficiently

Start your free trial and bring clarity to your Etsy accounting today.

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