Etsy sales CSV analysis: avoid counting line totals twice

Choose an order-item export for product analysis

Etsy provides different CSV exports for order items, orders, payments and deposits from Shop Manager’s Settings → Options → Download Data area. Choose the type and period deliberately. A bank deposit record and an item-sale record answer different questions; importing both into one sales table can count the same activity twice.

For a product comparison, begin with your own Order Items export and preserve an untouched copy. Record the chosen date range in the filename or a separate note. Two monthly exports are easy to merge incorrectly when one actually contains the whole year. Avoid combining files until you have checked their periods and transaction identifiers.

Etsy Help: download transaction spreadsheets ↗

Map the meaning, not just the column name

Sign in to KitForma’s Etsy research tool and choose a UTF-8 CSV. The file is analyzed on your device. It detects comma or semicolon separators; choose the date interpretation in the mapping controls. Monetary values must use a decimal point without thousands separators. Ambiguous entries such as 1,250 are rejected, because their meaning cannot safely be inferred from punctuation alone.

Select the required product title, quantity and amount columns, plus a currency column or an explicit three-letter currency. You can also map listing and transaction identifiers. State whether the amount is a unit price or a line total, then confirm that the file is yours and the mappings were reviewed. Names vary between exports, so check against a known transaction in your own records. Identifiers remain text.

Illustrative rows:
Ceramic cup | quantity 2 | item total 30.00 | USD
Printable planner | quantity 1 | item total 8.50 | USD

Units: 3
Recorded item totals: USD 38.50
Wrong calculation: (2 × 30.00) + 8.50 = USD 68.50
If 15.00 is the cup UNIT price instead, 2 × 15.00 is correct.

Reconcile a small sample before using the summary

Pick a few rows you can explain independently. Include one multi-unit line, one refunded or adjusted transaction if present, and one date that makes the month/day convention unambiguous. Compare the summary and validation notes with the source record. Negative adjustment rows are reported as invalid; the worksheet does not reconcile refunds automatically. A plausible grand total is not enough: opposite mistakes can cancel each other out.

Inspect skipped and invalid rows separately. A row with no usable quantity or amount should not quietly become zero. If the same transaction appears twice, review the original exports before removing anything: one order can legitimately contain several different items. Duplicate detection needs an item-level key and context, not only the buyer or order date.

Read item totals as item totals

Keep currencies in separate groups unless you supply a documented conversion process outside this worksheet. Adding USD 38.50 and EUR 12.00 does not produce a meaningful 50.50 in either currency. Similarly, a count of CSV rows is not necessarily an order count, and an order count is not the number of units sold.

Use the result to answer bounded questions: which product has the most recorded units in this export, which item total needs checking, or which period is missing? Do not label the number net profit. Fees, refunds, taxes, shipping treatment, advertising, production costs and settlement timing require additional records and decisions.

Download the reviewed report and keep the source period with it. Close or reload the tool page when finished to clear its in-memory input. No customer names or delivery addresses are needed for a product-level comparison. KitForma’s local CSV analysis does not reveal competitors’ private orders or fetch your Etsy account automatically.

1. Keep the original export.
2. Verify type, period and one row’s meaning.
3. Map quantity, amount, date and currency.
4. Reconcile a multi-unit sample.
5. Review invalid rows and currency groups.
6. Save a clearly labeled report.