Multiple Etsy Shops — The Easy Guide to Running More Than One Store

Etsy is an online marketplace dedicated to handmade, vintage, and craft supplies. With 88.5 million active buyers and over $2 billion in revenue last year, Etsy is a highly desirable marketplace for sellers. However, with approximately 5.4 million sellers on the platform, competition is intense. To thrive in such a competitive environment, many sellers find they need to open multiple shops, a strategy that carries the risk of a ban. This guide will provide you with the essential knowledge to safely and efficiently manage multiple Etsy accounts.

Key Takeaways

Can you have more than one store on Etsy? Definitely, but there are caveats and key principles that you must adhere to in order to comply with Etsy’s terms of service (a.k.a Seller Policy).
Etsy has a strict policy regarding store ownership and product listing. Violating any of these rules may result in the flagging/suspension of your Etsy account.
Etsy has an advanced anti-fraud system that automatically keeps track of much more than just IP addresses of store owners/managers logging in: unique browser fingerprints, behavioral patterns, OS and device metadata, cookies, and more.
If you want to run multiple Etsy shops you can resort to certain tricks: from using VPN tools and different browsers to setting up separate computers for day-to-day management or your stores.
However, there is a much more elegant and reliable solution: anti-detect browsers for multi-accounting. Octo Browser enables you to circumvent the platform’s strict requirements to manage multiple Etsy accounts safely and securely from a single system — and do that with near-infinite scalability.

How Many Etsy Shops Can You Have and Why Etsy Restricts Multiple Accounts?

Yes, you can definitely have more than one shop on the platform. Etsy does not impose any limitations on the number of stores opened and run by individuals or agencies. If you have the capacity for managing multiple Etsy shops, go for it!

At this point, you might be asking yourself “Great, so can you have multiple Etsy shops under one account?” No, you need different accounts, each associated with a unique email address, to run multiple Etsy shops.

When and Why You May Want to Open Multiple Etsy Shops

There are several reasons why sellers manage multiple Etsy shops, for example in order to:

Target Different Audiences. Running multiple shops lets you separate distinct product lines to better target each unique audience. This allows you to fine-tune your marketing and boost your chances of success.
Increase Product Visibility. Having multiple shops helps you capture a wider range of search queries, making your products appear more often in search results.
Test New Strategies. You can experiment with different photos, descriptions, or ad campaigns in each shop to see what works best for a specific audience.
Boost Income. More shops create more opportunities to earn.
Reduce Risk. If sales in one shop slow down, another can help make up the difference, which is especially useful for sellers of seasonal items.

Pros and Cons of Running Multiple Etsy Shops

If you are wondering how to open another Etsy shop and weighing your potential risks and gains, here are a few things to consider.

The advantages of running multiple Etsy stores are substantial:

The cons of having more than one shop are mostly associated with the increased administrative burden of managing multiple Etsy shops:

Better product positioning and focus on the target audience
Leadership in a particular product category that leads to increased traffic and conversions
Less clutter in the product catalog leading to an improved user experience
Ability to use your stores as sandboxes for quick experiments with content, UI/UX, pricing levels, et cetera. Once you have something that works, you can quickly apply it to the rest of your Etsy stores for increased conversion.

Store inventory management and updates become proportionately more complex with multiple Etsy accounts (especially if you share the same inventory pool across multiple stores)
Customer support quality needs to be ramped up to maintain the same SLA standards
Having more listings results in a higher aggregate costs of listing renewals
You may need to set aside a separate marketing budget for each store
You'll need to get creative with product descriptions, photos, and marketing texts to avoid duplicates.
Even if you follow Etsy's rules and guidelines, if one of your shops is in breach, all other associated shops could be subject to suspension.

Common Mistakes in Managing Multiple Etsy Accounts That Lead to Bans

Opening multiple Etsy accounts for running separate shops can be a winning strategy, but you need to be careful juggling them to keep both the platform and your customers happy. Here are some of the most typical mistakes made by store owners and tips on managing multiple shops in a way that will keep them up and running at all times without the risk of getting flagged.

Duplicate listings and assets

The most common cause for store flagging, duplicate items (including product titles, description, tags, and photos) should be avoided at all times. Take your time to modify these attributes even if your products are visually and functionally similar — this will help you steer clear of unnecessary problems related to running multiple Etsy shops.

Signing in to your stores from the same IP address

Etsy keeps taps on every login and logs all IP addresses. Its anti-fraud system will raise an alert if two logins from the same IP address are detected and one or all of the involved accounts may end up getting suspended.

Failure to disclose ownership of other shops

Making full disclosure about all of your other stores on each of them is an important element of Etsy compliance. If you are playing by the rules and managing your multiple Etsy accounts as prescribed by the platform, make sure to explicitly disclose the existence of all of your stores. This will help build trust with the platform and drive more visitors to your other outlets.

Using free VPN tools

Free VPNs are much easier to detect than their commercial counterparts. They use a much smaller pool of IP addresses, have higher user density per IP address, and rely on well-known data centers for traffic routing, making them a bad choice for anyone running multiple Etsy shops.

Sluggish customer service

The quality of customer service and the speed of responses to customers’ inquiries are important KPIs that Etsy uses to gauge the performance of every Etsy seller account. If you choose to run multiple shops, make sure you are fully prepared to support your customers just as efficiently as always.

Identical store designs

One of the first questions in the “how to add a second etsy shop?” collection should be that of making it look different and unique, so that there is no confusion with your original one. This is great for compliance and sets you apart from competitors selling similar items in your category.

Maintain healthy store management practices

When running multiple Etsy shops, don’t forget to use different browsers for different accounts to prevent session conflicts. When using third-party tools for store management, make sure to log out of your current account before signing in to another one. Failure to do so may cause issues and draw unnecessary attention of Etsy administrators or its automated anti-fraud system.

Best Tools to Manage Multiple Etsy Shops

Managing multiple Etsy shops can be a real challenge, especially if your business is growing and you need to be everywhere at once. Fortunately, there are tools out there that can help streamline your store management routines and get more done in less time.

Octo Browser

Anti-detect browsers are specialized software tools that enable store owners/managers working with multiple online accounts to do it safely by spoofing digital fingerprints so each account appears to come from a unique device and user.

Key Octo Browser strengths:

Very advanced fingerprint spoofing with frequent updates from the developer.
Modern UI and streamlined workflows for creating, cloning, and sharing profiles.
Fully integrated, easy-to-use proxy shop and great team collaboration features.

If you are running multiple Etsy stores as an individual or hired manager, Octo Browser will provide the best value. It effectively combines high-precision fingerprint spoofing, intuitive profile management, built-in proxy support, and teamwork tools, making it the optimal solution for businesses selling on the Etsy platform and trying to avoid bans.

Nembol

What it does: lets you sync products, inventory, and orders across different eCommerce platforms, including Etsy.

How it helps: no more updating each shop one by one — everything stays in sync automatically.

Vela

What it does: connects multiple Etsy shops so you can edit titles, prices, tags, photos, and listings in bulk.

How it helps: a huge time-saver if you've got a big catalog and need to update lots of items quickly.

Vendoo

What it does: helps resellers manage inventory across various marketplaces, including Etsy, with convenient tools for bulk actions like item delisting and relisting.

How it helps: makes cross-listing and tracking inventory way easier, so you can sell more without increasing your workload.

How to Use Octo Browser to Manage Multiple Etsy Shops

Octo Browser is an ultimate solution for managing multiple Etsy shops. With state-of-the-art browser fingerprint spoofing and a huge pool of high-speed residential proxies, it is an essential tool for any serious Etsy business with an ambition to expand its presence on the platform while avoiding the risk of getting flagged and suspended.

Here are the simple steps you need to follow to start trading safely and completely anonymously:

Step 1: Register and choose your plan

Create an account on Octo Browser website and download the software. Once installed, choose the subscription you need.

Step 2: Create your first profile

This can be done in two ways:

By clicking the “Quick Profile” button in the top right corner of the screen — this will instantly create a profile with a randomized set of parameters.

By clicking the “Create Profile” button in the top right corner of the screen — this will bring up a dialog window where you will be able to manually adjust every aspect of the profile being created.

When creating a new profile manually, you can configure a number of important parameters:

Name and description;
Tags for ease of searching;
Start pages and bookmarks;
Configure fingerprint parameters such as user agent, OS version, screen resolution, fonts, languages, timezone, geolocation and hardware settings;
Upload a custom cookie file to be used with the profile;
Password-protect the profile to prevent unauthorized use;
Configure Chrome extensions to be used with the profile.

Step 3: Configure proxies

To prevent Etsy from linking your accounts, you must connect a unique proxy with its own IP address to each new profile. You can do it in two ways:

Using a Third-Party Proxy. Click "Direct" next to your profile, then "Set a new proxy." Select the proxy type and enter the IP address, port, login, and password. If you have a dynamic proxy, paste the IP rotation link. Click "Confirm" to save.

Using the Built-in Proxy Shop. To buy a proxy directly from Octo Browser, click "Buy Proxies" and choose a provider. Once you have purchased traffic, go back to the "Profiles" section. Click "Direct" next to your profile, select your provider, and then choose the country, region, and city before clicking "Confirm."

Step 4: Start a profile

Once you are done configuring the profile, you can start it by clicking the play button to the right of its name. It will immediately open a new browser window with the preconfigured fingerprint that you can use to log into your Etsy account.

Bottom Line

Running and managing multiple Etsy shops is 100% possible and can be done in two ways:

In compliance with Etsy’s terms of service, yet with significant limitations in the amount of leeway you’ll have in terms of item listing and ease of store management.
Using anti-detect browsers and creating artificial identities for managing as many stores as you want.

It is a natural desire to expand your business beyond its current state and launch multiple stores to sell authentic, high-quality products. If you are ready to grow on Etsy, consider Octo Browser for the role of your reliable multi-account companion. With just 10 EUR per month for a 3-profile Lite subscription, nothing can beat its value!

FAQ

Can you have 2 Etsy shops?

Yes, you can. You can have multiple Etsy shops registered to different email addresses. However, to prevent them from banning risk it is better to run multiple Etsy accounts with the help of an antidetect browser like Octo.

Is it better to have multiple Etsy shops or one?

It’s a matter of personal preference and business goals. Having two similar stores with different identities can definitely help grow your revenue and market exposure. However, it will naturally come with an increased administrative burden associated with managing multiple Etsy shops.

How do I open a second Etsy store?

Use the same procedure that you went through when registering your current Etsy account.

Can I have multiple Etsy stores under one account?

No, Etsy does not support multiple stores under a single account, so you will have to register a new account to launch a second Etsy store (and repeat this step for all subsequent stores).

Is it a good idea to have multiple Etsy shops?

It definitely is if you have a good product line, see growing demand, and potential for scaling up your operations. Make sure to use multi-account tools like Octo Browser to stay under the radar of Etsy’s anti-fraud system and avoid getting bans.