How to use Bestsy
Step-by-step Etsy API key & Telegram bot setup lives on its own page: Setup Guide. This page explains the whole system — from signing up to using every extension feature.
Contents
1. System overview
Bestsy has two parts working together:
- The Chrome extension — installed in your browser, calls the Etsy API directly with your own key (BYOK — Bring Your Own Key), scans the keywords/listings/shops you track on a background schedule, and surfaces data right on Etsy's pages.
- The bestsy.app website — where you sign up, pick a plan, and manage license codes (each license code represents one device/browser allowed to use the extension).
Your Etsy API key only ever lives in your browser — it's never sent to our servers. The extension calls Etsy directly from your machine using that key.
2. Getting started (5 steps)
- Create an account at Sign up — you get a trial automatically.
- Install the extension: click Download Extension at the top of any page, full steps in the Setup Guide.
- Get your license code: once logged in, go to Dashboard and copy the code under "License codes".
- Activate it in the extension: open the extension popup → License tab → paste the code → click "Save & verify."
- Add your Etsy API key: Keys tab in the popup → paste your Keystring + Shared secret (how to get these is covered in the Setup Guide).
Once those 5 steps are done, the extension is fully live — nothing else is needed to start scanning.
3. Your account dashboard
Current plan shows your plan name, days left if you're on a trial, and "Shops tracked" — a number the extension self-reports on every check-in. It's informational only; nothing blocks you from tracking more shops than this number.
License codes: each license code = one device/browser allowed to run the extension. How many you can create is capped by your plan (a separate limit from the shop count above).
- Create a new license code: type a label (e.g. "Work laptop") → click "Create license code." This form only appears if you haven't used up your plan's license limit.
- Rename: edit the label field next to any license and click "Rename" — handy for telling multiple devices apart.
- Revoke: click "Revoke" to disable a license — the device using it stops working at its next check-in (not instantly, see section 9).
Don't confuse the two limits: "shop limit" (how many competitor shops you can watch at once) and "license codes" (how many devices) are two separate limits on the same plan.
4. The extension popup — tab by tab
Click the extension's icon in Chrome's toolbar to open the popup. There are 8 tabs:
- Keys — enter your Etsy API key (Keystring + Shared secret), toggle the on-page metrics/highlight overlay on or off ("Enable metrics panel + highlight"), and enable/configure Telegram alerts (Bot token + Chat ID).
- If an admin has enabled "use_system_key" for this license (usually for beta testers), both Etsy fields lock automatically and show "Your account is using our shared Etsy API" — nothing to enter there.
- Turning the Telegram toggle on for the first time triggers a Chrome permission popup asking for access to
api.telegram.org— you must click Allow before the Bot token/Chat ID fields appear. Declining switches the toggle back off automatically. - Clicking "Save" shows "Saved." for 2 seconds then fades out — it doesn't validate the key format; you'll only learn a key is wrong the next time the extension actually calls Etsy (see section 9).
- Watchlist — your tracked keywords, listings, and shops. Add keywords directly here; listings and shops can only be added via the "☆ Watch" button on the actual Etsy page (see section 5) — there's no add control in this tab itself.
- Each item has its own "Remove" button — this only stops tracking it, it does NOT delete the scan history already collected (history is still there if you watch it again later).
- The "🔄 Scan Now" button triggers an immediate scan instead of waiting for the schedule — it shows "Scanning..." then "Scan started (runs in the background...)", or "License invalid/expired" if your license isn't active yet.
- Top — ranks tracked keywords by Composite Bestseller Score (see section 6).
- Pick a specific keyword or leave the dropdown on "All keywords", then you must click "View" — scores are not computed automatically when the tab opens.
- Needs at least 2 scans spaced a few days apart before a score exists; otherwise it shows "not enough data" rather than a misleading number.
- Highlight — three values that control which products get visually highlighted on search/shop pages: minimum daily views (default 8), maximum listing age in days (default 14), and the highlight color.
- Saved — listings you've saved (via the "💾 Save" button on a listing page).
- The sort dropdown has 4 options: Date saved, Views, Daily views, Favorites.
- Each item has its own "Remove" button — this only removes it from Saved, it doesn't affect the Watchlist if that same listing is also being watched.
- The CSV export button (see section 8) exports only what's in this Saved tab, not your whole Watchlist.
- Settings — how often the background scanner runs, in minutes (minimum 60).
- License — paste your license code from the dashboard here and click "Save & verify" to activate. Once activated it shows your plan name and shop limit.
- Help — a bilingual EN/VI cheat-sheet covering sections 4 and 5 right inside the popup (click the EN/VI buttons to switch), plus a link to this full guide and support contacts — no need to leave Etsy to look something up.
5. What appears on Etsy pages
Search results page: a small metrics block appears under every product card (views, daily views, favorites, created/updated dates, estimated units sold & revenue) with a "📋 Copy tags" button. Cards that cross your Highlight thresholds get a colored outline.
Shop page: a floating "📊 Shop Tracker" button in the bottom-right corner opens a slide-in panel with overview counters (Active listings, Sales, Reviews, Listing Favs) each showing an up/down change since the last scan, "Daily Sold" and "Sold (cumulative)" charts (need ≥2 scans to appear), "Top sellers" and "New listings" lists for that shop, and a "☆ Watch this shop" button to add it to your watchlist.
Listing page: a floating "🔍 Check Listing" button opens a panel with full metrics, "☆ Watch" and "💾 Save" buttons, plus an SEO checker: title character count (140 limit), description, and per-tag character counts (20-char limit each, 13 tags max) — each with a quick copy button.
If your license isn't valid, these panels show a lock icon (🔒) message instead of data — see section 9 to fix it.
6. What the Score & Highlight actually mean
The Composite Bestseller Score blends 4 signals measured over a rolling 14-day window: 40% estimated sales-velocity rank (vs. other listings for the same keyword), 20% a "sold out & renewed" signal, 20% favorite-growth rank, 20% current search-rank position. It needs at least 2 scans to compute — until then it shows "not enough data".
Highlight is simpler — it just outlines products that cross the thresholds you set on the Highlight tab (minimum daily views + maximum listing age). It's unrelated to the Score above; it's a separate, quick "catch my eye" tool while browsing search/shop pages.
7. Telegram alerts & reports
After every background scan, the extension automatically sends a report for everything you're tracking — no need to open the popup or revisit the Etsy page:
- Per keyword: a top-15 message ranking the highest-scoring listings (linked titles, score, and estimated units sold).
- Per individually-watched listing: a message with what changed since the last scan — estimated units sold, views, favorites, and review count.
- Per individually-watched shop: a message with Active listings/Sales/Reviews/Listing Favs and their change since the last scan, plus that shop's Top sellers and New listings (5 each).
The sold out & renewed alert is separate from the scan schedule — it fires the moment it's detected, and only once per event (it won't repeat on later scans):
🔥 Sold out & renewed: <listing title>
"Sold out and automatically renewed after N.N days." plus the listing's URL.
What the messages actually look like
The 3 most common message types, shortened for readability — real messages have clickable links to the listing/shop:
📊 Top 15 — "cat mom sweatshirt" 1. Cat Mom Sweatshirt Funny Cat Lover Gift — 87 pts · ≈23 sold 2. Cute Cat Mom Hoodie Pet Owner Shirt — 81 pts · ≈19 sold 3. Crazy Cat Lady Sweatshirt Cat Mama Tee — 76 pts · ≈15 sold … (up to 15 lines)
📦 Listing update: Cat Mom Sweatshirt Funny Cat Lover Gift Sold: +3 since last scan · Views: +58 (412 total) · Favorites: +7 (96 total) · Reviews: +2 (214 total) https://www.etsy.com/listing/123456789
🏪 Shop update: CatMomCrafts Active: 142 (▲3) · Sales: 8,204 (▲41) · Reviews: 3,912 (▲12) · Listing Favs: 22,105 (▲310) 🔥 Top sellers: 1. Cat Mom Sweatshirt Funny Cat Lover Gift — ≈2.1/day 2. Custom Cat Portrait Ornament — ≈1.4/day 🆕 New listings: 1. Cat Dad Coffee Mug Funny Pet Gift https://www.etsy.com/shop/CatMomCrafts
The more keywords/listings/shops you track, the more messages you'll get per scan cycle — consider a dedicated Telegram group if it gets noisy.
For step-by-step Bot token / Chat ID setup, see the Setup Guide — Telegram section.
8. Exporting data (CSV)
On the Saved tab, click "⬇ Export CSV" to download your saved list (not the whole watchlist) as a .csv file with columns: Title, URL, Type, Views, Daily Views, Favorites, Saved At. The file includes a UTF-8 BOM so it opens correctly in Excel with no character issues.
9. FAQ / Troubleshooting
I revoked a license but the device still works? Expected — the extension only re-checks its license when the popup opens, right before a scheduled scan, or when you click "Scan Now." A revoke takes effect at that next check, not instantly.
Does a brief internet outage lock me out? No — if a license check fails purely due to a network error (not an explicit "invalid" response from the server), the extension keeps your last-known valid status rather than locking you out.
"API key is invalid or has expired": double-check both the Keystring and Shared secret were copied without extra spaces.
"The Etsy API is rate-limiting requests (429)": Etsy limits each key to roughly 10 requests/second and 10,000/day — wait a few minutes and try again.
Shop panel shows "—" for Sales? That figure is read directly from Etsy's shop page layout — if Etsy changes that page, it may briefly stop parsing; other metrics aren't affected.
The Top tab shows no scores at all? After picking a keyword (or leaving it on "All keywords"), you have to click "View" — scores don't compute automatically when the tab opens. If it still says "not enough data", that keyword needs at least 2 scans a few days apart.
Turning on Telegram triggers a Chrome permission prompt for api.telegram.org? Expected — the extension only requests that access right when you flip the toggle (not upfront at install) to keep permissions minimal. Click "Allow" and you're set; if you click "Block" by mistake, just toggle it off and on again to get the prompt back.
How long does PayPal/Pingpong activation take? It's manually reviewed — after clicking "I've paid," our team verifies and activates within a few hours, not instantly like card payment.
Still stuck? Check the Setup Guide, or reach support at support@bestsy.app or on Telegram.