A quieter week, as expected, with attention shifting from the season’s peak intensity toward wind-down and early reflection.
Return scam pattern confirmed circulating
Following Friday’s alert about fake refund-redirect requests, we heard from a few additional sellers describing similar attempts this week, consistent with the pattern of scams exploiting genuinely elevated normal activity, in this case, real post-holiday returns.
Gift card redemption activity, an encouraging real signal
Several sellers reported a genuine uptick in sales this week that they specifically attributed to gift card redemption, a nice confirmation that the “quiet window nobody talks about” we covered Saturday is a real, actionable opportunity rather than just a theory.
The season overall: a strong year, by most seller accounts
Looking back across everything we’ve tracked since this site’s coverage began, tariff cost pressure, the Creativity Standards overhaul, a platform boycott, a search visibility scare, a CEO transition, most sellers who’ve shared their overall experience describe this as a genuinely strong season despite, or in some cases even helped by, an unusually eventful year of platform and policy change.
A brief note on what’s ahead
With the immediate rush behind us, we’ll spend the final days of the year looking at closing out 2025’s numbers properly and what to actually plan for heading into January, rather than continuing in the day-to-day urgency mode that’s dominated our coverage since November.
What we’re watching
The quieter post-holiday shopping window continuing to play out, and the first signs of what 2026 planning looks like for sellers heading into a new year under a new incoming CEO.
Back next Sunday, into the final days of the year.
This week on Crafts Daily Wire
- This Week on Etsy: Listing Photo Requirement Changes
- MyDesigns.io for Etsy Sellers: How It Stacks Up Against the Free Alternatives
- Christmas Eve: The Very Last Instant-Gift Rush
- Christmas Day: Taking the Rest You’ve Earned
- Scam Alert: What’s Targeting Etsy Sellers This Week
- Post-Christmas Keywords: Gift Cards, Returns, and the Quiet Shopping Window Nobody Talks About
