Etsy already machine-translates your listings for shoppers in other languages. Any translation you write yourself replaces that automatic version, so the question is which listings deserve your own words.
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Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Why Leaving Everything to Auto-Translate Falls Short
- How Etsy Handles Languages Behind the Scenes
- Step-by-Step: Translating Your Shop and Listings
- Fees and Currency When You Sell Abroad
- Common Translation Mistakes
- Tools and Resources
- Worked Example: A Small Ceramics Shop Adds German
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Key Takeaways
- The Bottom Line
Introduction
Shoppers browse Etsy in more than a dozen languages. If your listings only read well in English, a buyer in Lyon or Munich sees a machine version of your words, and you have no say in how it comes out.
This guide shows you how to translate Etsy listings and your shop pages by hand, which parts Etsy translates for you, and how to keep your default language clean so search can index you properly. It’s based on Etsy’s Help Center articles on translations, default shop language, shopping languages, SEO, tags and seller fees, all reviewed in November 2026.
Start with what Etsy already does for you.
Why Leaving Everything to Auto-Translate Falls Short
Most sellers never open the Languages and translations page. They assume Etsy handles it, and in a narrow sense it does.
Etsy’s translation help article says listings are automatically translated and that shoppers searching the site see listings in their preferred language. So your listing does show up in French for a French shopper.
The problem is control. A machine reads “chunky knit throw” or “dainty stacking ring” one word at a time. It doesn’t know which phrase a German shopper actually types into the search bar, and it can’t tell that your “pot” is a planter, not a cooking pot.
Etsy’s answer to this is built into the same article: “Any manual translations you provide will override automatic translations.” Everything in this guide builds on that rule.
Now:
You don’t need to translate every listing. You need to translate the right ones, in languages you can write well, and leave the rest to the machine.
How Etsy Handles Languages Behind the Scenes
Three separate language settings shape what shoppers see. Mixing them up causes most translation problems.
1. The shopper’s language
Every shopper picks a viewing language in their account settings or at the bottom of any Etsy page. Etsy’s language settings article lists the full-site languages as Dutch, English (IN), English (UK), English (US), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish.
That’s 13 versions of the site. Your listing appears in whichever one the shopper chose.
2. Your default shop language
The first language you register as a seller becomes your default shop language. Etsy’s default language article adds a warning that matters more than anything else in this guide:
If text in your listings isn’t in your default shop language, your items may not be properly indexed in search.
In practice, a shop set to English should write its main title, description and tags in English. A French title typed into the English fields works against you.
3. Your added languages
On top of the default, you can switch on extra languages. Each one adds a set of translation fields to every listing and to your shop pages. Etsy recommends adding only languages you are fluent in.
What translates automatically, and what doesn’t
Etsy’s translation article spells out the split:
| Element | Who translates it |
|---|---|
| Listing title | You (manual) or Etsy (automatic) |
| Listing description | You (manual) or Etsy (automatic) |
| Listing tags | You (optional manual) or Etsy (automatic) |
| Categories | Etsy, automatically |
| Attributes | Etsy, automatically |
| Tagline, announcement, message to buyers | You, in Languages and translations |
| Shop sections, About, policies | You, in Languages and translations |
The category and attribute rows are good news. If you’ve already set color, material and occasion in your listings, those carry over into every language without extra work. Our guide on filling out Etsy listing attributes covers how to set them properly.
Step-by-Step: Translating Your Shop and Listings
Here’s how to do it.
Step 1: Check your default language
What: Confirm which language Etsy treats as your shop’s default.
Why: Every other step depends on it. Your main listing fields should always be written in this language.
How: Sign in, go to Shop Manager, then Settings, then Languages and translations. Select Manage languages. Your default language shows at the top of the window that appears.
Example: A seller in Canada who opened the shop in French may be surprised to find French as the default while writing English titles. That’s the mismatch Etsy warns can hurt indexing.
Step 2: Add only the languages you can write well
What: Toggle on one or two extra languages and save.
Why: Every language you add creates translation fields you’ll want to fill. Etsy’s own guidance is to add languages you’re fluent in.
How: In the same Manage languages window, switch on each extra language, then select Save changes.
Example: A bilingual English and Spanish seller adds Spanish only. They skip German, even though German shoppers visit the shop, because they can’t check a German translation for accuracy.
Step 3: Pick which listings to translate first
What: Rank your listings and start with the top sellers.
Why: Manual translation takes time per listing. Put that time where traffic already exists.
How: Open your Stats and sort listings by visits and orders. Check where your buyers come from in recent orders. If you’re still building a catalog, our step-by-step Etsy shop setup guide covers the basics first. Our walkthrough of reading Etsy shop stats shows where those numbers live.
Example: A shop with 60 listings translates its 10 best sellers in week one. The other 50 stay on automatic translation until the first batch has shown whether it’s worth the effort.
Step 4: Translate each listing’s title, description and tags
What: Fill in the Translations section on each chosen listing.
Why: Manual text replaces Etsy’s machine version for that language, so this is where you take control of wording.
How: Go to Shop Manager, then Listings. Select a listing and scroll down to the Translations section. Add the title, description and, if you like, tags for each language. Etsy reminds sellers to keep each language in its own fields: French in the French fields, English in the English fields.
Write each translation the way a local shopper would search. Etsy’s tags article allows up to 13 tags per listing and up to 20 characters per tag, so keep translated tags short too. Translate meaning, not word order.
Example: “Personalized dog collar” might become a German title built around the word a German pet owner would type, rather than a word-for-word swap. A fluent speaker spots this instantly. A machine often doesn’t.
Translated text only helps if the photos already sell the item, so check our guide to product photography for Etsy listings too. For the English side, our guides to writing Etsy titles that rank and choosing Etsy tags apply in any language.
Step 5: Translate your shop pages
What: Add translations to your shop-level text.
Why: A buyer who clicks through from a translated listing lands on your shop. If the policies and About section are still English-only, trust drops at the exact moment they’re deciding.
How: Go to Shop Manager, then Settings, then Languages and translations. Etsy encourages you to translate your tagline, shop announcement, message to buyers, shop sections, About section and shop policies. Select Save changes when done.
Etsy’s SEO article notes that your tagline can be up to 55 characters, so plan the translated tagline to fit that space as well. Our guide to setting up shop sections and your shop home page covers what belongs in each of those fields.
Example: A jewelry shop translates its returns policy into Spanish first. Policy text is where machine translation errors cause the most confusion, because a buyer may rely on it word for word.
Step 6: Decide whether to keep automatic translation on
What: Choose between leaving Etsy’s automatic listing translation on or switching it off.
Why: Automatic translation covers every listing you haven’t translated yourself. Switching it off removes that safety net.
How: To turn it off, go to Shop Manager, then Settings, then Options. Scroll to the Automatic Listing Translation box, select Disabled, and save.
Etsy’s help article explains how to switch it off but doesn’t detail how disabling changes your visibility to shoppers browsing in other languages. Read the description next to the setting in Shop Manager before you change it. Our explainer on how Etsy’s search algorithm ranks listings covers the signals Etsy has confirmed.
Rule of thumb: leave it on unless you’ve translated every listing into every language you sell to. For most small shops, a mix of manual translations on top sellers and automatic translation everywhere else is the safer setup.
Step 7: Recheck translations whenever you edit a listing
What: Update the translated fields each time you change the main listing.
Why: Your manual translation stays in place even after you rewrite the English title. If you change a size, price note or material in one language, the other language can end up describing a different product.
How: Keep a short change log. Each time you edit a translated listing, open its Translations section before saving and update each language.
Example: A seller switches from sterling silver to gold-filled wire and updates the English description. The Spanish description still says sterling silver. A buyer orders expecting silver and opens a case. Our guide on resolving Etsy cases explains how “not as described” cases work.
Fees and Currency When You Sell Abroad
Translation itself is free. Etsy charges no fee for adding a language or filling in translation fields. Etsy’s listing fee article says there’s a $0.20 fee for creating or renewing a listing, and no fee for editing one.
International orders carry the same fees as domestic ones, plus a few extras worth knowing. Etsy’s fees and taxes article lists these for sellers:
- Transaction fee: 6.5% of the total order amount, including shipping and gift wrap.
- Listing fee: $0.20 per listing, expiring after 4 months.
- Currency conversion: a 2.5% fee when you list in a currency other than the currency of your payment bank account.
- Offsite Ads: 15% of the order total if you made less than $10,000 on Etsy in the past 365 days, or 12% at $10,000 or more, never more than $100 per order. Our Offsite Ads guide explains when you can opt out.
Payment processing fees vary by country. Etsy’s payment processing fees article lists 3% + $0.25 USD for the United States.
The cheapest translation decision is the currency one. If your listing currency matches your bank account currency, you skip the 2.5% conversion fee on every order, foreign buyer or not.
Etsy ties the conversion fee to your listing and bank currencies, not the buyer’s, so you don’t need to change your listing currency to sell abroad. Our Etsy fee calculator guide walks through the full per-order math, and the international shipping guide covers customs and duties.
Disclaimer: Fees are taken from Etsy’s Help Center as of November 2026 and can change. They are shown for US-based sellers unless noted. This is general information, not tax, legal or financial advice. Check your own Payment account and Etsy’s current fee pages before pricing.
Common Translation Mistakes
These are the mistakes that turn a translation project into lost sales.
Mistake 1: Writing a second language in the default fields
Pasting French text into your English title box doesn’t make you visible in France. It puts non-default text into the fields Etsy uses for your default language, which Etsy says can stop items being indexed properly. Use the Translations section instead.
Mistake 2: Adding languages you can’t check
Adding Japanese because you saw a traffic spike, then filling it with raw machine output, gives you a manual translation that overrides Etsy’s own machine translation. You’ve swapped one machine for another and lost the ability to blame Etsy for errors. Only add what you or a trusted translator can review.
Mistake 3: Translating listings but not policies
Buyers check returns, exchanges and shipping times before they pay. Etsy’s SEO article makes the same point: shoppers look at return and exchange policies when deciding to buy. If your policy text is English-only, translate it before your next listing. Our guide to setting an Etsy return policy shows what to include.
Mistake 4: Forgetting sold out and inactive listings
Translations only reach the listings you edit. Etsy notes that listings need to be published and active to edit them. To translate a sold out listing, Etsy’s steps are to add the translations, renew the listing, then deactivate it. For drafts or inactive listings, you add translations, publish, then deactivate.
Renewing costs $0.20. Budget for it if you plan to translate a large back catalog, or delete listings you’ll never restock.
Mistake 5: Changing the default language the hard way
Some sellers want to switch the default language entirely, for example after moving countries. Etsy Support will only change the default for open shops once you’ve added the new language as a translation across the shop and in each listing. When Support makes the switch, what you wrote in that language’s fields becomes your new default copy.
That means every listing, including sold out and inactive ones, needs the new language first. Plan it as a project, not a quick settings change. If you’re also renaming the shop as part of a move, read our guide to changing your Etsy shop name first.
Mistake 6: Ignoring Google
Etsy’s SEO article says your item title is used to create your listing page title, and that search engines only show the first 50 to 60 characters. Put the most useful details first in every language. Note also that your listing URL is based on the title when you first publish and doesn’t change after edits.
Tools and Resources
The tool list is short.
- Etsy Shop Manager, Languages and translations page: where you add languages and translate shop-level text. Free with every shop.
- Etsy Shop Manager, listing Translations section: where each listing’s title, description and tags go. Free.
- Etsy Help Center, How to Translate Your Shop and Listings: the official steps. Free.
- Etsy Help Center, How to Change Your Default Shop Language: read this before any default language change. Free.
- A fluent reviewer: a friend, fellow seller or paid freelance translator who speaks the target language natively. Cost varies.
- A spreadsheet change log: one row per listing, with columns for each language and the date last updated. Free.
- Your shop Stats: to choose which listings get translated first. Free inside Shop Manager.
If you also use outside tools for listing research, our roundup of Etsy SEO and analytics tools covers the main options.
Worked Example: A Small Ceramics Shop Adds German
This is a hypothetical example built to show the process and the fee math. The shop and its numbers are illustrative.
Before: A US-based ceramics seller has 40 active listings, all in English, with automatic translation on. The seller’s partner grew up in Germany and speaks German fluently. Stats show a steady trickle of visits from Germany and Austria but few orders.
What they did:
- Confirmed English as the default shop language.
- Added German in Manage languages and saved.
- Picked the 8 listings with the most visits.
- Had the German-speaking partner write titles, descriptions and tags for those 8, using the words a German shopper would search for a “planter” rather than a literal translation.
- Translated the tagline, announcement, About section and all shop policies into German.
- Left automatic translation on for the other 32 listings.
- Kept the listing currency in USD to match the seller’s US bank account.
The fee math for one German order: a $40 planter plus $6 shipping, for a $46 order total.
| Fee | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction fee | 6.5% x $46 | $2.99 |
| Payment processing (US) | 3% x $46 + $0.25 | $1.63 |
| Listing fee | flat | $0.20 |
| Currency conversion | not charged, listing currency matches bank | $0.00 |
| Total Etsy fees | $4.82 |
That leaves $41.18 before materials, packaging and postage. If the order came through an Offsite Ad, add 15% of $46, or $6.90, for a shop under $10,000 in yearly Etsy sales.
Result: The translation work cost the seller nothing in Etsy fees, since editing listings is free. The only spend was the partner’s time. The seller now checks German visits and orders monthly and adds two more translated listings each time.
The point of the example is the process. Your results will depend on your products, prices and the languages your buyers use.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Etsy translate my listings automatically?
Yes. Etsy’s Help Center says listings are automatically translated and shoppers searching the site see listings in their preferred language. You can replace the automatic version with your own translation for any listing.
Do manual translations replace Etsy’s automatic ones?
Yes. Etsy states that any manual translations you provide will override automatic translations. Your text shows instead of the machine version for that language.
Which parts of a listing can I translate myself?
You can manually translate a listing’s title, description and tags, with tags optional. Etsy translates the categories and attributes you select automatically.
How do I add a new language to my Etsy shop?
Go to Shop Manager, then Settings, then Languages and translations, and select Manage languages. Toggle on the languages you want and select Save changes.
Which shop pages should I translate?
Etsy encourages sellers to translate the tagline, shop announcement, message to buyers, shop sections, About section and shop policies. All of these are edited from the Languages and translations page.
How do I turn off Etsy’s automatic listing translation?
Go to Shop Manager, then Settings, then Options. Scroll to the Automatic Listing Translation box, select Disabled and save. Read the setting’s description first, since most shops are better off leaving it on.
Can I write my listings in two languages in the same fields?
You shouldn’t. Etsy warns that if text in your listings isn’t in your default shop language, your items may not be properly indexed in search. Put each language in its own translation fields.
How do I change my default shop language?
Add the new language, then translate your shop information and every listing into it, including sold out and inactive listings. Then contact Etsy Support, which can switch the default once those changes are complete.
Does it cost anything to translate Etsy listings?
Etsy charges nothing to add languages or edit listings. Renewing a sold out listing so you can translate it costs $0.20, the standard listing and renewal fee.
What languages can shoppers view Etsy in?
Etsy lists Dutch, English (IN), English (UK), English (US), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish as full-site languages. Shoppers choose one in their account settings or at the bottom of any page.
Do I need to change my listing currency to sell to buyers abroad?
No. Keeping your listing currency the same as your payment bank account currency avoids Etsy’s 2.5% currency conversion fee. That fee applies when the two currencies differ.
How long does it take to translate an Etsy shop?
It depends on listing count and your fluency. A practical approach is to translate shop pages and your top 5 to 10 listings first, then add more in small batches.
What’s the most common translation mistake?
Typing a second language into the default listing fields. It doesn’t reach foreign shoppers any better and can hurt how Etsy indexes your listings.
Key Takeaways
- Etsy machine-translates listings by default, and your manual translations override that version.
- Write your main listing fields only in your default shop language, since Etsy warns mixed text may not be indexed properly.
- Add only languages you or a trusted reviewer can write fluently.
- Translate shop pages, especially policies, along with your best-selling listings first.
- Leave automatic translation on unless every listing is translated by hand.
- Match your listing currency to your bank currency to avoid the 2.5% conversion fee.
- Update every translation each time you edit the main listing.
The Bottom Line
Start today with one check: open Languages and translations and confirm your default language. If you speak a second language well, add it and translate your shop policies plus your five most-visited listings this week.
Next, track visits and orders from that language for a month before translating more. Then run the numbers. Calculate your per-order fees with our Etsy fee calculator guide to check that international pricing still leaves you a profit.
If foreign buyers keep coming, you may eventually want a store you control in their language. Our complete guide to leaving Etsy for your own store covers that path.
Related Articles
- Etsy International Shipping: Costs, Customs, and Duties – what to charge and declare once foreign orders arrive.
- How to Write Etsy Product Descriptions That Sell – get the English version right before you translate it.
- The Complete Guide to Etsy SEO – how titles, tags and attributes work together in search.
About This Research
Chloe Cruz writes Marketplace Hackers’ guides on Etsy fees, SEO and store growth, and has spent four years writing about eCommerce.
This guide is based on Etsy Help Center articles reviewed in November 2026: How to Translate Your Shop and Listings, How to Change Your Default Shop Language, How to Change Your Language Settings for Shopping on Etsy, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Shop and Listing Pages, How to Use Tags to Get Found in Search, What are the Fees and Taxes for Selling on Etsy, and What are Payment Processing Fees for Selling on Etsy. The ceramics shop example is hypothetical and built from those published fees.
Content reviewed and updated: 2026-11-11
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