What Etsy reports
In its 2025 annual report Etsy listed 86.5 million active buyers, 34.6 million non-habitual repeat buyers and 5.9 million habitual buyers. Repeat means shopping on at least two separate days in the previous 12 months. Habitual means at least six days and 200 USD spent.
Adding the two repeat groups and dividing by active buyers gives about 46.8%. That’s my own sum from rounded numbers. It’s a platform-wide figure. It isn’t how often buyers return to the same seller.
The Q3 2026 shareholder letter shows 87.5 million active buyers, 34.7 million repeat and 6.0 million habitual.
Measure your own shop
- Simple rate. Customers with two or more orders in a period, divided by all customers in that period.
- Better: track people by the month of their first order. How many bought again within 90, 180 and 365 days?
A simple lifetime value sum
Average order value x orders per year x years as a customer x profit margin, minus what it cost to win them.
Example: 40 USD order, 1.5 orders a year, 2 years, 40% margin. 40 x 1.5 x 2 x 0.4 = 48 USD, before the cost of getting the customer. Treat it as a rough guide. Returns and the time period change the answer.
What you may not do
Etsy's rules don’t let you add Etsy buyers to a mailing list or market to them without their consent. Don’t try to create repeat sales by moving them off Etsy. See the off-platform rules.
Ways to earn a return visit that stay within the rules
- A good package and a thank you note.
- Fast, kind replies.
- New products that match what they bought, shown in your shop.
- Social accounts they choose to follow.
A simple first step
Export last year's orders and count how many customers ordered twice or more.
Keep reading
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Rules, numbers and dates change often. This page reflects the sources below as checked on Nov 9, 2026. Confirm current figures with the official source before you act.