Etsy Seller Interview with Marcin of 4LCKSocks4Luck

How 4LCKSocks4Luck got started

Introduce your Etsy shop and tell us your story. How did you begin and decide on what to sell on Etsy, and how do you create your products?

The 4LCK company was created in 2015. We always wanted to make the world more colorful and give people a choice about how to differ from others or express themselves using elements of their outfits. We decided to produce colorful socks because they give almost unlimited possibilities for designing patterns. 4LCK is a brand for people who get happiness from freedom! So, in our socks, we focus on the original design and choose the undercoat to expose the colors.

Our next priority is high quality. We manufacture socks in Poland. Thanks to that, we have better control over quality and manufacturing processes. Since the very beginning, we have been looking for platforms that could give us the possibility to reach customers all around the world. Going through the internet, we found a few of them, got some experience, and finally we concentrated on Etsy. The main reasons for choosing Etsy were:

• The most user-friendly interface is really important when you begin as well as in the long term.
• Customers have a high level of awareness.
• Products offered on Etsy are of high quality and not mass-produced.

During our cooperation, the position of Etsy even grew due to the acquisition of other platforms, so our choice was the best.

Favorite items

What are your favorite items? What makes these so special? Why do you think these items might be selling well?

We see the quality and uniqueness of products offered on Etsy as the biggest value of this platform. So our socks perfectly suit Etsy's customers' expectations. Even the little tag with the 4LCK logo makes them unique and original. We have offered here our full portfolio since the first day, and we introduce new products as soon as they are ready to deliver. From our experience, we see that customers are looking on Etsy for more unique and sophisticated patterns than popular or classic ones. People also like our funny models, e.g.,

We are also happy that customers appreciate our socks with values written on them, like "Free Planet" for LGBT-friendly people.

or "Stop plastic" for nature ambassadors.

Getting sales on Etsy

How long did it take for you to earn your first sale and how do you currently attract customers to your Etsy shop?

It took a few weeks until we made our first sale on Etsy. There are two reasons that come to mind:
- The search algorithm needs time to learn and understand new products.
- We improved the content about our products by adding more text, photos, and tags.

 In the coming months, we will also add translations to better position ourselves in other markets. So remember, more work, meaning more content, gives better and faster results!

Managing 4LCKSocks4Luck

How do you manage your shop? Are you running solo or do you have any team members? What tools or services do you use to run your shop and how do you handle fulfillment?

We (two people) run our shop entirely on our own—packing, shipping, and answering questions. The only tool we use is the accounting application for invoicing. We don’t use any fulfillment centers yet; using our own warehouse is enough for now. It is a matter of scale; the use of fulfillment centers in every country necessitates a larger business scale.

The future of 4LCKSocks4Luck

What goals do you have for your shop in the future?

We would like to develop a new line of products to have a wider choice for customers who have already bought our socks and come to us for the next funny clothes. In parallel, we don’t forget about new patterns, and we’ll provide new models every year. As an effect, we want to grow and considerably increase the scale of our business every year.

Advice for new sellers

What’s your advice for a new seller starting an Etsy shop?

Based on our experience, we advise new sellers to focus on the quality and uniqueness of their products as well as the quality of their service. Be fast, open, and helpful for your customers and potential customers. When placing products on Etsy, don’t forget about good photos, comprehensive descriptions, and tags. And of course, be patient, because building high scores with search algorithms takes time. Using this opportunity, I would like to wish Etsy further growth. I keep my fingers crossed for your success, and I would like to thank you for your help and support in the development of our business.