Behind the Virtual Storefront: Interview with Etsy Seller One Strange Girl

Next up in this series are the lovely vintage finds of Janine Sodano, of One Strange Girl. I found Janine's shop through the Etsy Local search feature for Richmond, VA, and thought she would add an interesting perspective with her fun antique objects. Read on!

Janine Sodano
www.etsy.com/shop/onestrangegirl?ref=si_shop

1. Please describe your Etsy shop and your personal outlook as a seller. 

My Etsy shop focuses on vintage postcards, pictures and ephemera and a few handmade items that are vintage inspired. I am a lover of all things vintage, second hand and good old junk. You can always find something wonderful in them.

2. What is the greatest challenge/strength of selling your category of items on Etsy? 

There are a lot of vintage Etsy sellers, and many that focus on postcards. I am able to acquire mine fairly cheap so that allows me to price them for less than most sellers.

3. What is your most popular item and why do you think it's a bestseller? 

The holiday postcards sell well. Especially the smaller holidays....St. Patrick's Day, Memorial Day. I think they appeal to a wide variety of people. Due to the low price, it's a nice way to have that vintage, shabby, antique style without spending a large amount of money.

4. Are you a full-time Etsy seller, and if not, approximately what percentage of Etsy revenue makes up your total income? 

I am not currently a full time seller, but plan to be this fall. Right now Etsy is only a supplement to my current income allowing me to spoil my children a lit bit more. :) 

5. How do you see your shop growing in the future, and what changes would you make to achieve your goals? 

I would like to expand into more areas of the antique business and I think focusing and promoting my shop will help accomplish that.

6. Where does most of your customer base come from? Do you make targeted efforts to promote your shop? 

Most of my customers are generated directly from Etsy searches. I do have a nice base of repeat customers and I love that :) Lately I have been promoting on Pintrest. I haven't see a huge uptake in traffic, but I'm hopeful.

7. Do you sell your work at other venues online and/or at a physical location? How does Etsy compare to other venues? 

I used to have an antique shop, but the overhead was costly. Now I just sell on Etsy. I like it much better. 

8. What is the best part of running your Etsy shop? Most difficult part? 

I enjoy finding the next great thing. The key to my shop is that I love what I list. It makes me happy. I can't sell anything just to sell. So when I find a buyer who likes it as much as I do - I'm happy.

9. Has running an Etsy shop helped you find other opportunities besides direct Etsy sales? 

Not that I can think of. But honestly I haven't looked,

10. What advice can you offer to first-timers who want to sell on Etsy? 

Do what you love, what interests you. Find your niche. And always, always respond promptly to your customers. Your impression is just as important as your product.

11. Anything else you’d like to add? 

Thank you for this opportunity and I wish something like this was available when I started. :)

Behind the Virtual Storefront: Interview with Etsy seller ArtMobile

I discovered Marco's shop when I typed "Richmond, VA" in the "Shop Local" feature on Etsy. Marco Mahler's shop, ArtMobile, intrigued me because fine art mobiles like his are an unusual item to find on Etsy, and he takes great photographs of his work. His mobiles are fun and stylish, and pretty classy-looking if I do say so myself. His 3d-printed mobiles are apparently the first of their kind! Also, I don't see that many guy sellers on Etsy, so his shop stood out to me for that reason, too.

I hope you enjoy reading the interview with Marco. Turns out he's pretty business-savvy. I learned a lot from reading answers. Enjoy!

Marco Mahler of ArtMobile
www.etsy.com/shop/artmobile
www.marcomahler.com
www.facebook.com/marcomahler
www.twitter.com/marcomahler
www.shapeways.com/shops/mobiles

1. Please describe your Etsy shop.

 
I sell ready-to-ship handmade and 3d-printed mobiles and take custom, consignment and wholesale orders.
 
2. What is the greatest challenge/strength of selling your category of items on Etsy?
 
Challenge:
To have my items show up in search results. Etsy has been getting more and more cluttered with various listings that don't necessarily relate to certain search terms.
 
Strength:
Making your items available to a large number of people looking to buy handmade items. Etsy's platform is time efficient for listing and selling items. Most people don't buy something the first time they see it. With Etsy, they can add your items to their favorites and consider purchasing them later.

3. What is your most popular item and why do you think it's a bestseller?

Currently my most popular items on Etsy are a number of mobiles I make with acrylic glass shapes (also known as plexi glass). I'm not aware of anyone else making mobiles with acrylic glass shapes. I think I have a bit of niche within a niche with them.

4. Are you a full-time Etsy seller, and if not, approximately what percentage of Etsy revenue makes up your total income?

My main source of income comes from large custom mobiles. The sales I get from Etsy are are more like fillers for gaps in my work schedule. If I get too booked out with large custom mobiles, I temporarily close my Etsy shop.

5. How do you see your shop growing in the future, and what changes would you make to achieve your goals?

I've been thinking about making and adding larger, more expensive mobiles to my shop. However, I would be taking a risk by putting the time and cost of materials into making them without knowing if they will get sold.

The nice thing about making custom mobiles is that I get them sold before I make them, or at the very least, I get a 50% down-payment before I put any time and materials into making them.

6. Where does most of your customer base come from? Do you make targeted efforts to promote your shop?

I get most of my customer base from Google. I have a website with targeted keywords that I maintain regularly and add blog posts to. For many search terms related to mobiles, my website gets listed on the first page in Google's search results, sometimes even on top. From my website I link to my Etsy shop. I also maintain a Facebook page and a Twitter account.

7. Do you sell your work at other venues online and/or at a physical location? How does Etsy compare to other venues?

I list mobiles on eBay from time to time, but I get better results from my Etsy shop. I do sell mobiles through brick-and-mortar shops from time to time, both as wholesale and consignment. Last Christmas season I had a pop-up shop at Modern Artifacts in Carytown [in Richmond, VA]. The obvious advantage of any sales through Etsy is that I get 100% of the sales price. With wholesale or consignment, I only get 50% to 70%, depending on the agreement I have with a specific shop.

8. What is the best part of running your Etsy shop? Most difficult part?


I used to have a shop installed on my website which I kept having technical difficulties with from time to time. By having a shop on Etsy and simply linking to it from my website, I don't have to spend any time on technical issues. I have found and connected with other people on Etsy who make mobiles and have had ongoing conversations with them over the years. We refer inquiries to each other from time to time.
 
9. Has running an Etsy shop helped you find other opportunities besides direct Etsy sales?
 
Yes, I have received both custom orders and wholesale orders through my Etsy shop, as well as requests to consign my mobiles at brick-and-mortar stores.

10. What advice can you offer to first-timers who want to sell on Etsy?
 
Take great photos of your items. Write descriptions that contain all the keywords for your items so buyers can find them. Don't just make your items available on Etsy. Try to branch out as much as possible and see what works. For example, last month I sold several mobiles on Etsy, but I also sold (via my website) and made two large custom mobiles, wrote a "How to make a mobile" article for MAKE magazine, and sold several 3d printed mobiles through a shop I have with a collaborator on Shapeways.
 
11. Anything else you’d like to add?
 
Stay in touch with what made you excited to make things in the first place.

***
Thanks Marco! Readers, let us know what you think of his awesome mobiles!

Behind the Virtual Storefront: Interview with Etsy Seller SarahYoung5

I've been a seller on Etsy for almost seven years (!) When I first started my online shop, Sprout Head, I thought it was a way for me to quit my day job and just focus on art. Well, seven years later it is still only supplemental income -which I'm grateful for - but not enough to live on... yet. I've been doing quite a bit of thinking about my various art businesses, as you might've already read in my previous post. Earlier this month, I taught a workshop on Etsy Seller Basics at the VMFA Studio School, and I wanted to give workshop participants an inside glimpse of the business aspects of Etsy sellers working in various media. I interviewed some Etsy sellers and would like to share some of their insights with you as well!

I plan to make these interviews a running feature on my blog, called "Behind the Virtual Storefront." There are many people out there who currently run an Etsy shop or want to start their own businesses, so I hope this will be helpful to them. For those who don't, I hope you just enjoy looking at fabulous art and reading what these awesome artists and sellers have to say!

For my first interview, I have chosen Sarah Young, of the Etsy shop SarahYoung5. She is an artist, puppetmaker, and printmaker who lives in Brighton, England. I first discovered Sarah's art as examples in the book "The Printmaking Bible: The Complete Guide to Materials and Techniques" by Ann d'Arcy Hughes and Hebe Vernon-Morris.

I fell in love with her print, "Interval" - isn't it beautiful? Her work is whimsical and full of fantastic patterns and colors. Read on!

Sarah Young

www.etsy.com/shop/sarahyoung5

www.sarahyoung.co.uk

1. Please describe your Etsy shop and your personal outlook as a seller.

My Etsy shop sells mostly tea towels that you can cut out and stuff to make cushions, toys or doorstops or use just as tea towels. I also sell hand printed relief and silkscreen prints and some digital prints.

2. What is the greatest challenge/strength of selling your category of items on Etsy?

I think it helps that my tea towels have more than one use, are light, (very postable) and are quite cheap.

3. What is your most popular item and why do you think it's a bestseller?

I think it is Felix the fox, closely followed by Hester [the Hare]. I think it's a strong design, and foxes have been 'in', very popular for some time now!

4. Are you a full-time Etsy seller, and if not, approximately what percentage of Etsy revenue makes up your total income?

No, I do a lot of other things. Difficult to say, but maybe 30%. It's definitely been very helpful, and has got us through some very lean periods!

5. How do you see your shop growing in the future, and what changes would you make to achieve your goals?

I'd like to see it as an outlet for new ideas/products. Hopefully alongside good selling work as well. Though hopefully the two aren't mutually exclusive! I have to do the work, but also I haven't devoted very much time to understanding how to use Etsy in the best ways. The classic problem of too busy working but not enough time understanding how or being able to promote or sell. I would like the prints to do better and have recently put up a series of small alphabet silkscreen prints, so will be interested to see how they are received. I will be putting ceramic work up in the future also, but I'm not quite sure whether to have a separate shop or put it all together.

6. Where does most of your customer base come from? Do you make targeted efforts to promote your shop?

UK and USA mostly. I do treasuries now and again but that's about it. I need an elf.

7. Do you sell your work at other venues online and/or at a physical location? How does Etsy compare to other venues?

Yes, art fairs, galleries, shops and my own website. They all seem to work well together. They help promote each other.

8. What is the best part of running your Etsy shop? Most difficult part?

The potential for getting seen by such an amazingly wide audience, being able to have interaction with your customers/ people who like what you're doing/ fellow Etsy sellers. Although this has all been online, so far, for me, I think some of the little bits of contact or encouragement have been really lovely. It's not faceless and you don't feel alone, even if you feel you use only a tiny amount of Etsy's potential.

9. Has running an Etsy shop helped you find other opportunities besides direct Etsy sales?

Quite a few shops and galleries have approached me via Etsy.

10. What advice can you offer to first-timers who want to sell on Etsy?

I don't feel I'm in a very good position to give advice as I haven't done all the things I'm sure I should be doing with Etsy. But do your own thing, from the heart.

Probably keep it simple, though I don't! 

Try to make it a personal experience for your customers, it does take more time, but I usually just feel quite grateful that they want some of my stuff!

11. Anything else you’d like to add?

I know it has changed peoples' lives for the better, and I think the people behind Etsy can't ask for anything more wonderful!

* * *

Thanks for joining Sarah and I today! I'll post more interviews soon! 

xo aijung