Etsy listing checklist: every field, and what to put in it
Etsy's listing form asks for around twenty things, in an order that mixes copy, policy, and logistics. This is every field in the order Etsy asks for it — what each one is for, what to write in it, and where its limit is.
Etsy changes the form from time to time. The limits below were current in August 2026; if the form in front of you disagrees, the form wins.
Photos and video
Up to 10 photos. The first is the one a shopper sees in the results grid, so it should show the whole item plainly rather than a styled scene. Use the rest for the things a buyer would ask about: scale next to something familiar, the back, the texture, any variation you offer, and the item in use. A video is optional and shows motion a still cannot — a candle lit, a fabric moving.
Title
140 characters, which is a ceiling and not a target. Name the item once, in the plain words a buyer would use, then add the objective traits that tell your version apart — colour, material, size, the one distinguishing detail. Leave out opinions ("beautiful"), price and shipping language, and occasion wording unless it is part of what the item literally is.
Product notes: “lavender soy candle, 8oz amber glass jar, hand poured, cotton wick”
Lavender Soy Candle, 8 oz Amber Glass Jar, Hand Poured
More on this in how to write an Etsy title, or draft one from your notes with the free Etsy title generator.
About this listing
Three questions — who made it, what it is, and when it was made. They are not copy: they decide which of Etsy's three categories your listing belongs to (handmade, vintage, or craft supply), and vintage means the item is at least 20 years old. Answering them to suit a category you would rather be in is a policy problem, not a wording choice.
Category
Pick the most specific category that is actually true. The choice does double duty: it is how Etsy files the listing, and it decides which attributes you are offered next — a vaguer category hands you fewer structured facts to fill in.
Attributes
The options Etsy offers based on that category: primary and secondary colour, material, occasion, holiday, room, style, and others depending on where you are. These are what Etsy's own filters read, so a shopper narrowing by "blue" only sees you if you said blue here. Fill in every one that is true and leave the rest blank — a wrong attribute puts you in front of people looking for something else.
Renewal and listing type
A listing runs for four months and then expires. Auto-renew re-lists it and charges the listing fee again; manual renewal means you decide each time. Separately, say whether the item is physical or digital — a digital listing takes file uploads instead of shipping details.
Description
Answer what a buyer would otherwise message you to ask, in roughly that order: what it is and what is included, dimensions and weight, materials, care or usage, how it is made, and what to expect on processing and delivery. Etsy collapses long descriptions behind a "read more" on mobile, so the first few lines should carry the essentials rather than a greeting.
This is also where the language a good title leaves out belongs — the gift angle, the mood, the reason someone buys. In a description a buyer reads it as your voice; in a title it reads as padding.
Production partners
If anyone outside your shop helps make or produce the item, Etsy requires you to declare them here. It is a required disclosure on handmade listings, not an optional field.
Section
Which of your shop's own sections the listing sits in. It is your storefront's navigation, so it matters to a shopper already browsing your shop rather than to anyone arriving cold.
Tags
Thirteen tags, up to 20 characters each. Use all 13, in multi-word phrases, covering the different angles someone might describe the item from — the product and its material, the occasion or recipient, the style, and the use.
All thirteen tags for the candle above:
lavender candle · soy wax candle · amber jar candle · hand poured · relaxing scent · bedroom decor · housewarming gift · gift for her · calming candle · minimalist decor · scented candle · self care gift · aromatherapy
The long version is in using all 13 Etsy tags, and the free Etsy tag generator drafts a full set from your notes.
Materials
Up to 13, and only what the item is genuinely made of. This is a factual field rather than a second tag box — "soy wax", "cotton", "amber glass", not "handmade" or "gift".
Price, quantity, and SKU
Price the item including what it costs you to make, pack, and ship it. Quantity above one keeps the listing live after a sale instead of ending it. The SKU is yours alone — buyers never see it — so use whatever your own records use.
Variations
One listing with size or colour variations beats five near-identical listings: reviews and history stay in one place. Variations can carry their own price and their own quantity, and you can attach a photo to a colour so the picture changes when a buyer picks one.
Personalisation
Turn this on only if you actually want free text from the buyer — a name, a date, an engraving. Say in the prompt exactly what you need and in what form ("first name, up to 12 characters"), because an ambiguous prompt becomes a message you have to answer before you can make the thing.
Shipping
A shipping profile you can reuse across listings, plus processing time — how long between the order and the parcel leaving you — and the item's packed weight and size, which is what calculated postage is worked out from. Processing time is the number buyers hold you to, so set the one you can meet on a bad week.
Returns and exchanges
Set a returns policy, or reuse a saved one. Whatever you choose, say the same thing here and in your description — a policy that contradicts your own copy is a case you will lose.
Before you publish
- Does the first photo show the whole item, clearly, on its own?
- Does the title name the item once, with its objective traits early, under 140 characters?
- Are all 13 tags used, none of them a single word, none a duplicate of another?
- Does every attribute you filled in match the item exactly?
- Does the description answer size, materials, care, and what is included?
- Is every claim in the copy — material, origin, technique — one you can stand behind?
- Is the processing time one you can meet when you are busy?
Doing this for a whole shop
The checklist is the same for listing two and for listing two hundred; the copy fields are what take the time. ListingBrief AI turns one set of product notes into the title, 13 tags, and description for Etsy and the matching Shopify fields in one pass —see what it produces, or start with 5 free listings, no credit card.
Frequently asked questions
How many tags does an Etsy listing get?
Thirteen, and each one can be up to 20 characters. Every slot you leave empty is a phrase your listing simply does not carry, so fill all 13 — multi-word phrases rather than single words.
What's the difference between tags and attributes?
Attributes are a fixed set of options Etsy offers you based on the category you picked — colour, material, occasion, room, and so on — and they are what its filters read. Tags are free text you write yourself. Attributes are structured facts; tags are the shopper's own wording.
Do I have to fill in every field?
No. Etsy will not let you publish without the basics — a photo, a title, the About this listing answers, a category, a price, a quantity, and a shipping option. The optional fields are where thin listings stay thin: materials, attributes, and a description that answers what a buyer would otherwise message you to ask.
Can I reuse an Etsy listing on Shopify?
Not field for field. Shopify has no 13-tag slot and no attributes; it wants a product title, a body description, a product type, collections, and a meta description. The underlying facts about your product are the same, so the work is re-shaping them rather than rewriting them.