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Pre-holiday Etsy checklist: 9 things to fix before Q4

旺季前 Etsy 清单:Q4 前要修的 9 件事

  1. Confirm first photo ~635px (Rule 02) before Q4 ads.
  2. Verify desktop image-zoom; short side under ~2000px disables it (Rule 01).
  3. Local-check masters before bulk upload — skip the 794px trap (Rule 06).
  4. Flatten transparent PNG heroes if tiles go black (Rule 08).
  5. Fill attributes, 13 distinct tags, and put product words first in the title within 140 chars.
  6. Scan description facts; re-run listing health for one snapshot score.
  7. Schedule six weeks early; split photo vs metadata owners.
  8. Shared heroes must still represent each holiday listing you advertise.
  9. Re-audit paused listings you reactivate for the season.

Before the rush

I learned Q4 the hard way: traffic magnifies small listing defects. A soft hero, missing attributes, or a shortened title hurt more when competition spikes. This checklist lists nine fixes TagPeek can verify against Etsy’s published rules — no sales estimates, no secret ranking formula.

I schedule this checklist six weeks before peak so page refreshes and attribute batch edits finish before daily order volume spikes.

Photos and ownership

In our shop, photo checks go to whoever exports files; metadata checks go to whoever owns admin. Splitting roles stops one tired editor from skipping attributes.

Variation listings often share one hero — I confirm that hero still represents each holiday listing I push in ads.

Gift sections still need per-listing audits. Featured placement does not fix weak files.

Bundles should read at thumbnail scale. Collages of tiny products can pass pixels while failing a squint test.

Processing time and shipping profiles affect conversion but sit outside photo checks — I update them in separate ops sessions so checklist work stays focused.

Policy-prohibited claims are separate from pixel rules. Read Etsy policy pages for your category before holiday copy pushes.

Paused listings I reactivate for the season get fresh audits — last year’s photos may fail current floors after platform updates.

After bulk CSV imports, I spot-check heroes and attributes on top listings before launching sales.

I keep a one-pager by the packing table: 635 hero, 2000 zoom side, thirteen tags, 140 title chars, attributes filled — each with a rule link.

Priority when time is short

When two fixes fail at once, I fix photos first — metadata cannot restore detail lost to undersized uploads.

I save detector-approved export presets in a shared folder dated for the holiday season.

I re-audit weekly during launch sprints; monthly for stable catalogs.

Buyers asking repeated size questions signal photos or attributes need work even when scores pass.

Watermarked heroes may affect program eligibility — detector self-checks remind me before seasonal pushes.

sRGB exports remain my default in exactly what to re-uploads to reduce color shift after Etsy processing.

I do not rewrite listings from forum demotion myths. I stick to verifiable requirements in the rules library.

Before I ramp Etsy Ads spend, I open each promoted listing and audit it — ads amplify whatever buyers land on, good or bad.

If the title fails first, I fix the start of the title before rewriting all thirteen tags — buyers see titles in more places than tags.

After flattening transparent heroes, I re-run the local check on the flattened master so zoom and display both pass.

Print the nine items as a paper checklist and tick boxes during a live audit with your team — low tech, hard to skip steps.

Sources in TagPeek

Image-size guidance: Etsy recommends at least 2000px on both sides. This tool measures image dimensions; it cannot establish live zoom availability from dimensions alone. Verify zoom on the listing itself.