FAQ & how our numbers work
Short version: we're straight with you about which figures come straight from Etsy and which are our educated estimates. Here's exactly what's what, and how much weight to put on each number.
What is SellScope?
SellScope is a research and profit tool for Etsy sellers. It helps you find promising products and niches, see what's working for other shops, research keywords, and (once you connect your own shop) track your real, reconciled profit after every Etsy fee, ad and refund. The research tools run on public Etsy data; your own shop's numbers come from your real orders.
Which numbers are real, and which are estimated?
Anywhere you see a figure labeled "Est." (for example Est. revenue / mo, Est. sales / mo, Est. demand), that's our calculation, not a number Etsy publishes. Everything without that label is a real figure Etsy reports.
| Real, straight from Etsy | Estimated, our calculation (labeled "Est.") |
|---|---|
| Price | Est. revenue / mo (for a listing or a niche) |
| Favorites | Est. sales / mo (units) |
| Views | Est. demand (for a keyword / niche) |
| A shop's total lifetime sales | Opportunity score |
| Reviews & rating | Est. total sales for a single listing |
| Competition (the count of competing listings) | |
| Listing age, tags, photos, video |
Why are sales and revenue estimated at all?
Because Etsy never publishes how many times a listing has sold, not to us, not to any tool. A shop's total lifetime sales are public, but per-listing and per-month order counts are not. So every "monthly sales" or "revenue" figure you see in any Etsy research tool is an estimate. The honest difference is that we label ours clearly and tell you how much weight to put on it.
How do you estimate sales and revenue?
We combine a range of public Etsy signals from both the shop and the individual listing, and weigh them by how much history that listing actually has to go on. Est. revenue / mo is then the estimated monthly sales multiplied by the listing's price.
It's a strong signal, not a guarantee. A listing with plenty of history behind it produces a tighter, more confident estimate. A newer listing with little to go on produces a rougher one, and we show you that difference rather than hiding it behind a single confident-looking number.
How accurate are the estimates, really?
Treat them as a strong directional signal, not an exact count. They're great for comparing listings and niches, spotting what's selling well, and judging whether a market is worth entering. They're not a promise of an exact number: if we estimate 50 sales a month, the truth might be 40 or 60. Estimates for listings with plenty of history behind them are our most reliable; those for newer listings with little to go on are rougher. We'd rather give you an honest signal than a precise-looking number we can't stand behind. It's also why you'll never see a made-up "search volume" figure from us.
What do "Opportunity", "Demand" and "Competition" mean?
Competition is real: it's Etsy's own count of how many listings match a keyword. Est. demand is our estimate of buyer interest, built from the sales estimates of the top listings for that keyword. Opportunity weighs the two together (demand versus competition) into a simple Low / Medium / High read. We deliberately do not show a "search volume" number, Etsy doesn't publish one, so anyone showing it is guessing.
Is my own shop's data estimated too?
No. Once you connect your own Etsy shop, your Dashboard, My Shop and Profit pages use your real orders and your real payment ledger, actual sales, actual revenue, actual fees and ad spend. Estimates are only for other people's shops and listings in the research tools, where real order data simply isn't available to anyone.
Does it work if I'm brand new or have a small shop?
Yes. The research tools (Explore, Products, Keywords, Shops and Compare) work straight away, before you connect anything, because they run on public Etsy data. Your personal Dashboard, My Shop and Profit pages need your shop connected, and they fill in as you make sales, so a brand-new shop will simply have less history to show at first.
Can I connect more than one shop?
Right now each SellScope account connects one Etsy shop. If you run several shops, email us and we'll help you sort out the best setup.
Does connecting my shop change anything on Etsy?
No. SellScope asks for read-only access and never edits, lists, relists, or changes anything in your shop. You can disconnect at any time from your settings or from your Etsy account, which removes our access.
How fresh are the numbers?
Research figures are pulled live from Etsy's API when you look them up. In line with Etsy's rules we don't keep long-term copies of other shops' listing content. We fetch it fresh and keep only our own derived figures.
Still have a question?
Email us at [email protected]. We read every message.
The term "Etsy" is a trademark of Etsy, Inc. This application uses Etsy's API, but is not endorsed or certified by Etsy.