Etsy Stats & Google Analytics GA4

[BadBob]

I have Google Analytics set up and running on all my sites. I have only collected a few weeks of data, but it is already obvious that many of Etsy's stats are useless.

Etsy makes no effort to block referral spam, which is many sessions. Fortunately, GA4 lets us block these domains. I don't think this is retroactive, so the junk that has accumulated is still there.

Etsy doesn't filter sessions that originate outside the US. Since I only sell to the US market, the numbers in the Etsy stats are inflated. I could filter out all the domains outside the US, but that would be a major chore. With some basic math, I have determined that only 11% of the sessions shown by Etsy are potential customers. This is the slow time of year, and I only have enough data to compare the last 30 days.

Goimagine blocks referer spam. This was mentioned in one of the live videos, and I don't see any in GA4. There are no sessions from outside the US, but currently, there is very little traffic from outside the US. Goimagine's analytics are close to what I see in GA4, although I don't have enough data yet to be sure.

Do I start selling outside the US? It would be a lot of work to go to each country and determine the requirements.  I was selling worldwide for a while until they started adding all the new rules. I stopped because it was getting complicated.

 

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

I am sure Kevin will step in here and give more advise. But I will state the obvious and that is taxes and shipping. Much more work plus no guarantees on packages arriving. DSL is probably the source for shipping and yes they are pretty good I have had problems with them receiving packages when I was ordering from China a few things. I do not do Etsy or ship overseas so can not speak about that end. 

[GrampaJim]

I don't have Google Analytics set up, its been on my to-do list for a long, long time.  Any suggestions on where to start?

[BadBob]

53 minutes ago, GrampaJim said:

I don't have Google Analytics set up, its been on my to-do list for a long, long time.  Any suggestions on where to start?

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=setuo+etsy+with+ga4

[kmmcrafts]

I also quit selling outside of the US ( other than Canada ) back when they implemented the new rules etc too... so I guess I don't have much help to offer. 

I've heard it's pretty simple to fill out the forms and I think the paperwork cost $10.. However it started in Europe ( I think) and now many more countries have also started doing the same thing. I also believe you now have to report a sales tax or something for other countries or certain ones? 

Back when all this was implemented I tapped out because I was really busy and just didn't have time to really look into the requirements.. now things so slow maybe I need to look into it.. I lost about 23% of business by dropping the international but like I said I was so busy I could hardly keep up with the US orders so at the time it was kind of a relief.