Etsy Vacation Mode: When & How To Use It

Etsy’s “vacation mode” is a way to pause your shop sales in case you need to step away from fulfilling orders for customers.

Some Etsy sellers love to use it and others refuse to take advantage of this feature for fear it will negatively affect their shop.

There are many legitimate reasons to use vacation mode:

• You’re temporarily unable to run your shop for any reason.
• An emergency happens and you are unable to manage your shop.
• You’re traveling for a period that does not allow you to run your shop.
• You are sick and can’t fulfill orders physically.
• When you give birth and need a maternity leave.
• You need a break to catch up on a large amount of current orders.

All of these reasons can benefit from you turning on vacation mode.

Any time you are unable to fulfill orders in a reasonable time frame then you should consider using vacation mode.

If you are unable to fulfill orders for your shop it will always be better to use vacation mode than provide negative customer service which will permanently affect your shop.

How To Put Your Etsy Shop On Vacation Mode

Putting your Etsy shop in vacation mode is quite simple. This video shows how to put your shop in vacation mode.

Here’s how to put your shop in vacation mode:

1. Sign in to your account on Etsy.com
2. Click Shop Manager in the top menu to go to your admin section
3. Click on Settings in the left menu
4. Click on Options
5. Click the Vacation Mode tab at the top of the page
6. Change the setting to On
7. Fill in a temporary vacation mode shop announcement and Message auto-reply
8. Click Save

This is all you need to do to turn on vacation mode!

However, using vacation mode for your Etsy shop is a hotly debated strategy among Etsy sellers. Using it should be strategic and you should make to use it in a way that does not hurt your shop.

What Happens On Etsy Shop Vacation Mode?

So what actually happens to your Etsy shop when you put in on vacation mode?

It’s slightly more complicated than just turning off your shop. Here are the things that will change for your shop once it is on vacation mode:

Your Etsy shop on Vacation Mode:

• An announcement notice will appear at the top of your shop page saying that you’re taking a short break. The Add to cart button will be grayed out so customers can not add anything to purchase.
• Your shop will still appear if someone searches for your exact shop name. Your shop will not show up in search as an auto-suggestion or for any other search based shopping tools.
• Your items also won’t appear in Search. Vacation mode essentially removes all traces of you from the search algorithm while it is on.
• People signed in to Etsy who visit your shop can sign up to be notified by email of your return when you take your shop off of vacation mode.
• Your backend/admin section still works and you have access to your orders, cases, and messages.
• You can still work on current and past orders. This means you can still issue refunds, cancel orders, and print Etsy shipping labels. You can’t take new orders but you still need to fulfill outstanding orders and provide customer service and deal with open cases.

Your Etsy shop listings on Vacation Mode:

• During vacation mode you can make edits to current listings. This works just the same way as it does when your shop is not on vacation.
• You can also list new items and save them as drafts. You can’t publish new listings but you can use vacation mode to get the listings ready for your return. You will not be charged any listing fees until the listing is actually published after you return from vacation mode.
• Per Etsy’s website, “If you have auto-renew turned on for listings in your shop, these listings set to auto-renew will continue to be charged a renewal fee when they expire.”

Additional Etsy features on Vacation Mode:

• Vacation Mode does not impact Etsy Plus subscription billing. Your subscription fees will continue during vacation mode unless you cancel your Etsy plus subscription.
• Star Seller eligibility is determined regardless of vacation mode. They review the last 3 months of your shop’s performance on Etsy. If you come back from vacation and you reach the Star Seller criteria for the current review period, then you’ll be eligible for a Star Seller badge.

Those are the most important things that are affected in your shop when you turn on vacation mode.

It’s important to understand what will be affected and how these changes will impact what you do during the time you have vacation mode turned on.

Etsy Vacation Mode Message Examples

If you are going to put your Etsy shop on Vacation Mode for the first time you might not know how to handle your away message or dealing with customers during this time.

Your Vacation Mode message should accomplish a few things:

• make it clear why you are on vacation
• give dates when your vacation will begin and end
• be authentic and natural but also professional
• free of any promises for customers

You want to be clear, firm, and professional.

Here are some Etsy vacation mode message examples:

Thank you for visiting my Etsy shop (name of your shop). I’m currently taking a short break so I can work on creating all of your beautiful items. During this time I will not be accepting new orders but I will be answering conversations and will get back to you as soon as I can.

I expect to be back from this break the first week of May.

Welcome to my Etsy shop (name of your shop)! I’m currently taking a break while I’m out of the country but will be returning the last week of July. You can sign up to be notified when I return and products are restocked! Until then I am available to answer any messages and will get back to you within 24 hours.

Does Vacation Mode Hurt Your Shop?

“Does vacation mode hurt your Etsy shop?”

‍This is a common question I see on my videos and in Etsy groups online. There is concern that Etsy vacation mode can cause a drop in sales and views.

There are varying opinions on this topic and it’s caused a lot of controversy. Some people are convinced vacation mode tanks our Etsy search rankings and share horror stories of never recovering.

But for each horror story there are many other Etsy sellers who report no negative effects before and after vacation mode.

Etsy itself says that vacation mode does not affect your listing quality score which is one of the main ranking factors for Etsy search.

You will always be able to find people on both sides of this argument but ultimately what Etsy says about vacation mode is the truth. It’s also clear they prefer you use vacation mode instead of being unable to fulfill orders on time an angering customers.

Etsy Vacation Mode Alternatives

What if you need a bit of a break but don’t want to use vacation mode?

Here are a few alternatives to enabling vacation mode:

• extend the time to fulfill and ship in your Shop’s policies
• hire someone to help you fulfill your orders
• put up a “late to ship” or “delayed orders” message with a discount

There are ways to avoid using vacation mode if it works out the best for you and your customers.

How To Turn Off Vacation Mode

After using Vacation Mode you will eventually be ready to return to your Etsy shop. When this happens it is time to turn off Vacation Mode.

Here’s how to turn off Vacation Mode for your Etsy shop:

1. Sign in to your account on Etsy.com
2. Click Shop Manager in the top menu to go to your admin section
3. Click on Settings in the left menu
4. Click on Options
5. Click the Vacation Mode tab at the top of the page
6. Change the option to Off
7. Click Save

That’s it! Vacation Mode is off!

When you turn it off your shop will then return to it’s normal situation with everything live and you will start reappearing in searches.

Etsy Seller Tutorials

Here are a few useful Etsy tutorials on Pennies Not Perfection:

Etsy SEO

• What Does Etsy SEO Mean?
• Etsy SEO Tips

Etsy Sales Tips

• How To Get Sales On Etsy
• Making & Selling Printables on Etsy (Ultimate Guide)
• How To Make A Coupon Code On Etsy
• 5 Best Etsy Keyword Tools To Grow Sales
• How To Get Reviews On Etsy
• How To Run A Sale On Etsy

Check out more Etsy tutorials or request a new tutorial by reaching out on Instagram!

Etsy Seller Resources

Here are some Etsy seller resources that can help you start, run, and grow your Etsy shop: