New Search Features on Etsy

Guest Blogger AmbientLights.etsy.com:

Some updates to the Etsy search functions have been implemented!!

Etsy has simplified the basic search drop down menu. The menu now nicely and simply reads “Handmade, Vintage, Supplies, All Items” and “Sellers”. By default, when searching in any one of these (Handmade, Vintage, etc) it will use the criteria words you have typed and search the titles and tags of item listings.

To customize your search, you can click "Advanced Search" that is to the right of the basic search form. Again by default it will automatically select “Item Tags and Titles” but the Advanced Search gives you lots of options.

From top to bottom in Advanced Search:

➢ Type in your criteria words.

➢ Select “Handmade”, “Vintage”, “Supplies” or “All Items”.

➢ Select subcategories such as “Bags and Purses”, “Art", “Jewelry”, “Bath and Body”, etc.

➢ Select what you want to search within; “Tags”, “Titles”, “Descriptions” or “Materials”. You can select one, two, three or all four of these.

➢ Filter by price

➢ Select to sort your results by “Most Recently Listed”, “Least Recently Listed”, “Price High to Low” or “Price Low to High”

➢ Select to view results as “Gallery” or “List” mode

➢ Click Search!


Selecting different options and using different key words will yield different results. By doing a little tweaking to your search options you're sure to get the results that you're looking for!

Etsy plans to add a few more options in the future to the Advanced Search such as searching by Seller, Location, Most Relevant (default results will still be Most Recently Listed), as well as “more intuitive ways to refine your search.”

The search results page has also been redesigned. The Search Tools, Search Tips and Matching Sellers boxes have migrated from the right side of the page to the left (they say this is following a standard in use on many ecommerce websites and search engines). The Matching Sellers are the sellers that have items listed on the particular search results page that you are on. Etsy has added a price filter on all item search results pages and they (Etsy) say that additional filters will eventually be incorporated into this area on the left.

One more tidbit to add to the new features is that if your search yields no results (which I don't think happens too often as there are so many diverse wonderful items on Etsy), you will now be shown suggestions for searching and also see recently listed items on the site.

It is good that Etsy is listening to site users about the search functions. Many suggestions are finally coming to fruition. I’m excited to see the additional changes they will be making with the search function in the coming months.