Hey yeah, bit of a hard slog- lots of competition and as far as I can see so far, their alogorithm favours the well established sellers- even if you pay them to advertise for you!
Also buyers prefer the tried and tested sellers too....its that same old adage when you're trying to get a job without the experience....
But no, its my 2nd Etsy shop, the other one is only a few weeks older than this one.....https://chocscorpisurfaceart.etsy.com
and I still have my old Redbubble and Fine Art America POD shops going still and intend to start another Etsy POD shop to use to fundraise for a couple of dog an cats charities in Thailand by using the photos of their dogs that I took when I was volunteering their last month.
I have a few designs done already but I can't access the hd atm as it is failing and I have disk drill creating a copy of everyting on there right now before I lose it all- and thats all the media from hivefest too...😳
First things first, get that hd safely copied!
The chicken and egg really is a pain in the butt. I am guilty too of looking at reviews and quantity sold when I buy from an online seller!
Good luck with all the shops. Once I get into etsy I shall have a wee look around 😜