Etsy's Handmade Blog
13.5 Questions about Showcase
Story by CustomerCare, matt
Published on August 5, 2008 in How-To 		Photo by

Etsy sellers!

1. What is Showcase?
Showcase is Etsy’s internal cooperative advertising program. We don't sell outside advertising to companies, but we do sell ad space to our sellers. By purchasing a spot in a Showcase, Etsy sellers can show off their items and help boost their sales and shop awareness. The Showcase is a great way to get more hearts, favorited items, and sales.

2. How does it work?
Showcase spots are sold as 24 hour chunks.

  • For $15, Etsy sellers can purchase a 24 hour spot in the Main Showcase, which is linked to from a prominent banner on Etsy's homepage. 
  • For $7, Etsy sellers can purchase a 24 hour spot in The Storque Showcase, which cycles through on the homepage of the Storque, Etsy's blog.
  • For $7, Etsy sellers can purchase a 24 hour spot in one or more of the Category Showcases. As of mid November 2007, we offer showcases in each Category. These Showcases are located at the top of the respective Category's pages.
  • For $7, Etsy sellers can purchase a 24 hour spot in one or more of the Jewelery Subcategory Showcases.

3. How many Showcases are there at a given time?
Usually there is the Main Showcase, The Storque Showcase, Gift Guide Showcase, Category Showcases and the Jewelry Subcategory Showcase one at any given time, but for holidays and special events, we often create additional themed Showcases.

4. Showcase spots were selling out so fast, I could never get a spot. Did you ever do anything about this?
Because of the great demand for promotional opportunities on Etsy, we started to expand Showcase throughout the site. We will always keep it affordable so we can help as many sellers as possible have access to this excellent promotional opportunity. See bethela's Showcase Deconstructed article.

5. What currency are the $7.00 and $15 fees in?
US Dollars.

6. What time zone determines the twenty-four hours of the day?
Eastern Time in the USA. This is GMT -4:00

7. Can I cancel a spot after I'd made a reservation? Is the fee refunded?
We will only cancel and refund spots under very special circumstances. Deciding you are no longer interested in your spot does not fly. If you feel like you really have a valid case please email support@etsy.com.

8. How many spots can I reserve?
You can purchase up to two spots per Showcase each month. On a given Showcase, each seller can have only one spot per day. For example, your jewelry can be in the Main Showcase, the Storque Showcase, and the Gift Guide all on the same day. But you cannont have two spots in one of those Showcases on the same day.

9. How do I choose which items appear on the Showcases?
The Category Showcases only draw from your items in the corresponding category (with the corresponding first tag). Go to Your Etsy and look for the Showcase link under the Promote section. There, you can manage which correctly tagged items you want to feature. With the Main Showcase and Storque Showcase (and our occasional holiday Showcase), you can change up which items you want featured on the fly and the changes will be reflected live in the Showcase.

10. What happens when an item being displayed sells?
When one sells, it pulls up the next featured item in your shop, then the next, then the next etc… If all your featured items sell and you do not add more, the Showcase will randomly pull another item from your shop (or in the case of Category Showcases, it will pull another one of your items from the corresponding category). This random item will change each time the Showcase is loaded.

11. What happens if the site is taken down for maintenance and I am on the Showcase?
You will be given bonus time to make up for the trouble.

12. How do I purchase a spot?
Step 1: Go to the Showcase Gateway.

Step 2: Choose the Showcase in which you'd like to reserve a spot.

Step 3: Select from the available dates on the top right side of the page.

Step 4: Hit the purchase button.

Yay! You are all set, the fee will be added to your normal Etsy bill.

Still having trouble? Check out the Step-By-Step Showcase Help Guide.

13. I cannot remember my scheduled Showcase day! What Do I do?
Remain calm! No need to post in the forums or email support. Instead, please login to Etsy, click Your Etsy, and check out your Etsy Bill. It will tell you the day of your Showcase and serve as a receipt for your purchase.

13.5 How do I know if the Showcase is right for me?
Some sellers have  done very well with the Showcase in terms of exposure and sales, some not so much. We recommend you check out bethela's article Showcase Deconstructed for tips on what considerations you should think about before purchasing.  Exboyfriend also did a great 2-part series for the Storque all about online advertising, A DIY-Friendly Guide to Online Advertising.

Tags admin, ads, advertising, CustomerCare, Customer Support, How-To, HOW-TO, Seller Handbook, selling, Showcase, site features
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74 comments     Login to add your own!

Sept. 6, 2007 at 6:56 p.m. postcardlady

Thanks for making the storque showcase clear to understand.

Oct. 16, 2007 at 7:50 p.m. gayeabandon

Whats the difference between the storque showcase and the main showcase? Do they have a different emphasis?

Oct. 29, 2007 at 11:21 p.m. Vanessa

The only difference between the main and storque showcases is that they appear on different page on Etsy.

From time to time we have a special "Themed" showcase, such as the Halloween showcase that is airing currently.

Nov. 5, 2007 at 5:10 p.m. asilomarworks

The category showcase does not appear on every page of the category, only page 1?

Nov. 5, 2007 at 5:35 p.m. Vanessa

That's right, asilomarworks. I'll clarify that above.

Nov. 5, 2007 at 8 p.m. asilomarworks

thanks, vanessa!

Nov. 7, 2007 at 3:51 p.m. DomesticGoddess1211

I hadn't done a showcase yet and I had a bunch of questions.. this was just what I needed thanks!!!!!

Feb. 22, 2008 at 10:27 p.m. eclipse

I am confused, this article says "Published on February 22, 2008" but there are comments dated 9/6/07. Is this actually a 5 month old article or are the timestamps on comments buggy?

July 8, 2008 at 5:36 a.m. BlueBirdBoutique

Thanks so much for all the info! I'm new here and haven't gotten my shop items set up yet, but I'm so anxious to start getting everything together, so this really helped out a lot!

July 18, 2008 at 6:55 a.m. brownbunnybyiris

I'm also a beginner and hope to have my store up and running soon. Any information is important right now! Thanks!

July 24, 2008 at 4:12 p.m. MarianneWinesett

OK...how do you manage to secure a spot in the showcases? When are new spots released? Is there a trick to getting one of these?

July 28, 2008 at 6:23 a.m. beadbuzz

I am listed in the Jewelery category of Showcase, but would also like to be listed in Accessories....is this possible? How do I do this (if it's possible)? I seem to have forgotten!
Help!

Aug. 5, 2008 at 6:31 p.m. Stargazer02

thanks!

Aug. 5, 2008 at 6:46 p.m. luchi

Hey! Those are my blue rose earrings in the big photo! Cool, article and helpful tips thanks!

Aug. 5, 2008 at 7:12 p.m. thewishingwell

Great information! Thanks!

Aug. 5, 2008 at 9:12 p.m. hannahfaerie

eclipse says:

I am confused, this article says "Published on February 22, 2008" but there are comments dated 9/6/07. Is this actually a 5 month old article or are the timestamps on comments buggy?

2/22/08 at 10:27p.m.

---------------------------

I was just thinking the same thing...

Aug. 5, 2008 at 11:17 p.m. MyTheta

I just posted about this in a forun yestersay... hmm thanks for the help ;)

Aug. 5, 2008 at 11:17 p.m. MyTheta

oops, 'forum'

Aug. 5, 2008 at 11:20 p.m. MyTheta

It is still difficult to book a slot - I just looked into it & there are zero available - when do you add more opennings or available dates?

Aug. 6, 2008 at 8:52 a.m. JAdamsDesigns

If the spots sell out that quickly, are there any plans to expand on the showcase, or start to offer even more spots? Possibly even other ways of advertising our shops? There are a lot of us on here that are all probably dying for a spot and to get better known. I was planning on having a Halloween shop, and wanted to advertise it this way, but being I'm not ready for that yet, I'm worried that I wont even get a chance to purchase a spot..

Aug. 6, 2008 at 10:17 a.m. Vanessa

I keep updating this post to bring it to the top of the heap and give it some exposure to new sellers. The timestamps are not buggy.

Aug. 6, 2008 at 1:03 p.m. minouette

6. What time zone determines the twenty-four hours of the day?
Eastern Time in the USA. This is GMT -4:00

Whether Eastern Standard Time is GMT -4:00 depends on season (i.e. Daylight Savings or not). There is EST and EDT.

Cheers.

Aug. 8, 2008 at 7 p.m. Crysto

very useful info!
Greatly appreciated!

Aug. 9, 2008 at 5:33 a.m. operatic

14. Does Etsy offer sellers any stats to indicate whether Showcase advertising is worth the money?

Aug. 14, 2008 at 5:46 p.m. notplainjane

Is there any way to access info regarding what items or how MANY items sell during a specific main showcase time? Didn't know if there was any way to help make my decision on when to list on main showcase - thanks!! - nPj

Aug. 16, 2008 at 8:11 a.m. Timeless

operatic says:

14. Does Etsy offer sellers any stats to indicate whether Showcase advertising is worth the money?

******************

I was thinking the same thing. You can guess that if you have an increase in your sales, that it might have something to do with your Showcase spot. But it would be nice to be sure.
$15 for a day is a lot of money if there is no telling if it's worth it.

Aug. 16, 2008 at 3:29 p.m. dianaallen26

This might be a dumb question but how do i find my products id? the showcase only listed 5 of my items and none of them i wanted to showcaes. how do i fix this? I'm a newbie so bear with me. thanks

Aug. 16, 2008 at 4:23 p.m. priscilladawn

I always wondered how showcase worked. Article is very informative. Thanks!!!!

Sept. 6, 2008 at 11:56 a.m. LillyPatBaubles

how far in advance do they open the dates for the showcases?

Sept. 9, 2008 at 7:44 p.m. hopestreetdesigns

Great information. Thanks!

Oct. 1, 2008 at 4:22 p.m. acageybee

Interesting! I was wondering how the Showcase items got picked. Not quite ready for that, but hopefully will be soon.

Oct. 5, 2008 at 6:47 a.m. miloglass

I'm new to Etsy.Thanks for all the great info

Oct. 19, 2008 at 2:25 p.m. KatsaraYarns

Is there a trick or a schedule for the release of Showcase openings? For the two weeks, I've checked availabilities 3 x daily. I think it was yesterday that there was a changeover to new spot dates for the next couple of weeks, but by the time I checked for availability they were 100% sold for the next two weeks. Does anybody know what the strategy is to get a spot, or when spots are released for sale? (I often see the same sellers over and over on the main page, so there must be something they know about how to book a spot, because there is a limit to how many can be purchased per month....)

Oct. 21, 2008 at 11:56 a.m. lilriverdesigns

I have the same question, I check the jewelry showcase 2 or 3 times a day and still the next day I look and they're booked for 2 weeks or a month. I can't find the schedule I looked. It's tiring and time consuming. when do the days go up for sale?

Nov. 13, 2008 at 4:01 p.m. aminahlady

Greetings, Can someone PLEASE give me clear info on how to book a main showcase. I thought it was today i'm in California and i'm sooooo disappointed. For Example on Thursday @ noon pacific time.
Thank in advance

Nov. 13, 2008 at 4:19 p.m. Vanessa

If you go to the Showcase Gateway
http://www.etsy.com/showcase_gateway.php
it tells you when new Showcase spots go on sale. The times are in Eastern Standard Time (East coast).

Nov. 25, 2008 at 12:03 p.m. Kris09

I tried to buy a spot in the Holiday Showcare but it told me that I couldnt because I didnt have any items in 'Holiday' section? I dont understand!

Dec. 28, 2008 at 11:51 a.m. MyWisteriaCottage

I would like to have a spot on the main showcase but I always seem to miss it. Is there a day that you post for the new main showcase and I have just missed it. Thanx

Dec. 30, 2008 at 8:21 p.m. rozzie

I just booked my first Showcase spot in the Storque this coming Sunday (Jan.4th!) I'm quite excited *cheers* It will be neat seeing my jewelry up on there :)

Dec. 31, 2008 at 10:29 p.m. PrimitiveFolk

MY first showcase is for tomorrow. I'm having trouble fitting my floral arrangements into a category. Not all are holiday, so I'm a little nervous...I hope they are noticed :-)

Jan. 16, 2009 at 3:38 p.m. BeeGracious

Thanks for the good information.

Jan. 16, 2009 at 4:50 p.m. CountrySquirePottery

I'm looking forward to my first showcase on Monday! Thanks for all the help.

Jan. 18, 2009 at 2:13 a.m. turquoise100

Thanks for your information. Is the showcase really useful?

Jan. 29, 2009 at 12:16 a.m. splashings

What time does the 24 hours for showcases start and end?
Do they run 12am(mid-night to mid-night), 6am to 6am? I've looked in all of the "help" areas that I can think to check, but don't see showcase times clearly defined anywhere.

Jan. 30, 2009 at 7:01 a.m. SweetPeaFabrications

did I miss the part where it tells when to check for newly released dates for showcases? I try to check each day, but have not been lucky enough to catch the "big" showcase events before all the slots are gone.

Jan. 30, 2009 at 2:31 p.m. runamuck

I'm confused. I was having no luck getting in the main showcase (always sold out!)...so I made a point on thursday of being at the computer right when the next gift showcase was going on sale..It wasn't yet availbale and then a minute or so later when I went to hit refresh it had already sold out!....what is the trick here?

Feb. 9, 2009 at 7:49 p.m. nichan

Hi...
i've been wondering if this showcase can be an effective tool?
is there anyone of you that get a lot of sales from this? not is there anyone that don't?

thank you...

Feb. 16, 2009 at 4:32 p.m. PrettyUniqueJewelry

thank you!

Feb. 28, 2009 at 12:11 a.m. EternalLegacy

Thanks for the insite!

March 15, 2009 at 2:12 p.m. MARYBE

Thanks for the explanation. (:>)

March 16, 2009 at 6:21 p.m. A2SeaCreations

I appreciate the info... clear and easy to understand for someone who tends to confuse things! (Like moi!)
Micki @ A2SeaCreations & A2Sea Photography

April 9, 2009 at 11:49 a.m. SidewaysTree

Good info, from comments too. Thanks!

April 12, 2009 at 8:56 a.m. SarikArt

I have been very interested in promoting myself via the showcase, and have my reserved my very first spot for the 16th, thank you for all the great info!

April 14, 2009 at 7:36 p.m. UrbanAdornments

Help! I purchased a jewelry "subcategory" spot (rings) - the problem is.....I couldn't find it on the day it was showcasing...where is my item at??????

April 22, 2009 at 10:03 p.m. RotsinaCreations

Thanks,, very helpful, great questions from everyone...

April 24, 2009 at 4:08 p.m. Filigrane

Hi, I'm not a seller but a buyer. Sometimes it's frustrating: time to look at an article in detail and the page disappeared when I return, whereas I had noticed other things which I wanted to also see in detail... Is there a way of re-finding or re-examinating the page?

April 24, 2009 at 4:11 p.m. Filigrane

PS: in my precedent message, I meant the main showcase on the frontpage of the site, the first one which is visible after connecting.

May 14, 2009 at 7:36 p.m. norakaren

I just purchased a spot yesterday at the showcase
I hope it brings the attention of shoppers and etsy itself.

May 16, 2009 at 7:05 p.m. expressions123

I must have read this answer a zillion times but...how many items can I list on my Children's Showcase?

May 19, 2009 at 8:12 a.m. StitchedByHand

This was very interesting. It would be nice to hear of any results people have had. Is it more effective for big ticket items or small for example?

May 21, 2009 at 4:07 a.m. boutiquebelle

i am also trying to grt on etsy main showcase but there is never any slots..how do you get an item featured in the treasury?

May 24, 2009 at 2:15 p.m. BetsyColbyDesigns

This article is very helpful. I'm going to sign-up for a spot shortly.

June 23, 2009 at 6:14 a.m. rose168

Good friends, I am glad to understand you would like your shopping pleasure, I do wholesale!

July 23, 2009 at 10:40 a.m. HomesforRoses

I had so many questions and this little guide was a huge help! Thank you, thank you!

Aug. 13, 2009 at 3:20 p.m. glassetc

On the category showcases can you change your items that appear during your 24 hour period?

Oct. 7, 2009 at 2:06 p.m. BlueGremlin

i better get on this

Oct. 8, 2009 at 8:51 p.m. DestinyDawn

How do you properly categorize your items so that they can be selected for the showcase? Every time I type in the product # it tells me the product is not in the right category!! Please help! I have a showcase booked, and I've removed most of the items and now I'm showcasing only three of the 6 items I paid for! Thanks, I'll check back often if anyone can spare the time to clear this up for me :)

Oct. 8, 2009 at 9:31 p.m. DestinyDawn

nevermind, i figured it out =L

Oct. 16, 2009 at 2:58 p.m. ceos

Thank you for the information! This will be quite helpful.

Oct. 27, 2009 at 9:04 p.m. HappyGreenMerchant

A THANK YOU RHYME FROM THE HAPPY GREEN MERCHANT: I MAKE MUSIC WITH MY WORDS I PUT EM ON CLAY I SPIN IT AROUND ON THE WHEEL EVERYDAY EVERYDAY I PRAY AND SAY THANK FOR MY SOUL AND PUTTING IT BACK INTO MY BODY, ETSY'S YOUR MY DREAM RYTHEM MAKIN MONEY MACHINE,SOUL THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN, NOW LETS SEE IF I CAN FIGURE THIS THING OUT. MAYBE HOW TO SET UP A PAY PAL ACCOUNT. AND SHAKE WHAT MY MAMA GAVE , IM TRYING HARD TO BEHAVE., LETS TURN THE PAGE AND WRITE A NEW CHAPTER, MAKE, IT A GOOD ENDING A TAKE A NAP.

Nov. 11, 2009 at 7:33 p.m. GaelicKnotStudio

So...how do we get into the main showcase. It's always sold out!

Is there a specific time and place when and where spots are made available?

Nov. 15, 2009 at 11:49 p.m. SleyTheDent

Hello,
I purchased a "gifts for him" showcase spot for Sunday Nov 15.
At 11:30 pm est the showcase was no longer, it was gone, there was no longer a link from the Etsy home page.
I purchased what I thought was 24 hr showcase, midnight to midnight, est.
I am very upset that it was taken down early.
Could someone please explain why this happened?
Thankyou.

Jan. 2, 2010 at 7:42 a.m. CrossedPromise

I'm pretty confused about this whole showcase thing... I purchased a spot for Jan 01 in geekery, when I went to go gloat privately over my stuff being at the top I could only see one item. Same for the other sellers stuff too... I refreshed and scrolled through pages but the items at the top never changed and I had to scroll to find mine *pout* So I guess my question is, what did I pay for exactly? I chose 10 items to rotate around with some other geeky merchandise for a day but I only saw 1 of mine and 1 of like 5 other people... Having seen showcases in other categories I was under the impression things shuffled around quite a bit to give equal exposure...
Can anyone make sense of this and clarify?

Jan. 29, 2010 at 11:06 a.m. chilisaucecards

I have used The Showcase a few times, and think it's great. I just posted some new Wedding invitation suites in my shop. I would like to purchase a Wedding Showcase spot, but it is saying that I do not have anything listed under "Wedding". I am confused as to what this is specifically referring to. Any ideas? I do have them Tagged as Wedding...

THANKS!

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