How CaitiesCraftingShop 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?

I started to sew in 2019 and bought my patterns and supplies at various thrift stores. The day I realized you could sell sewing patterns on Etsy as a supply category was the day I started my store. I source my products from a wide range of places, but I purchase most of my inventory online, either directly from the manufacturer or on websites like eBay or Mercari.

In terms of shipping supplies, I source my bubble mailers, clear packing sleeves, shipping labels, etc. all on eBay. Since I purchase shipping materials in bulk, I have scoured the internet for the most affordable sources, and I always end up back at eBay. Since I rarely use boxes and I don’t need them in bulk, I buy boxes 10 at a time from Uline, but Uline is much more expensive than eBay for other supplies. My favorite source for mailers on eBay is Upaknship.

Favorite items

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

These are my favorite items:

Easy Sewing Pattern for Womens Dress, Tiered Dress Pattern, Summer Dress, Linen Dress, Size 6-14 and 14-22, McCall's 7948, Uncut and FF
Easy Sewing Pattern for Women's Nightgown, Floor Length Nightgown, Womens Pajamas, Butterick 6838, Size XS-M and L-XL, Uncut FF
Sewing Pattern for Womens Dress, Summer Dress, Maxi Dress Pattern, V Neck Dress, McCall's 7969, Size XS-M and L-XXL, Uncut FF

These are some of my best-selling items. Typically, new release patterns are the most popular, but some of these were initially released years ago and remain favorites of customers.

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?

I was thrilled to make my first sale on Etsy just a few days after opening my store. I still vividly remember dashing to the other room to pack it up right away; it was a very exciting moment for me. A majority of my customers come from either organic search or Etsy’s offsite advertising program. I don't pay for advertising on Etsy. While it can be a great way to get your shop in front of more eyes, I've found that since I sell low-cost items, I barely broke even or lost money using Etsy ads. The Etsy ad program seems to be more beneficial for shops that sell higher-value items that can tolerate a larger margin being taken from the sale.

Managing CaitiesCraftingShop

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?

It is just me! Running my shop by myself can be a challenge, but I do utilize a lot of tools that help me keep everything running smoothly. I find Google Analytics and Etsy Stats to be very beneficial for gauging how my store is running in comparison to previous years and what listings bring in the most traffic. Keeping an eye on my statistics allows me to see how people are interacting with my store and determine what's working and what's not.

Google Sheets is another lifesaver. I use it to keep track of all my inventory and sales, so I always know what's going on and when I begin to turn a profit on stock orders. Since I sell ready-made items, I have to log every pattern that comes into rotation for tax purposes at the end of the year, so it takes a considerable amount of time to log everything accurately.

For shipping and fulfillment, I use Pirate Ship. I never purchase shipping labels directly from Etsy; purchasing labels on Pirate Ship is far more beneficial in my eyes. If I get an incorrect USPS adjustment, I can dispute it right on Pirate Ship, while Etsy does not have anything in place for disputes with USPS. I also have an Amex Gold Business Card, which gives me 4x points on all of my shipping labels purchased on Pirate Ship. The points really add up by the end of the year; I never have to buy airline tickets anymore!

The future of CaitiesCraftingShop 

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

I would love to create PDF patterns to sell. There is a lot of demand for PDFs in other countries outside of the United States due to the high shipping costs associated with physical items, but the learning curve to create them has been an uphill battle.

Advice for new sellers

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

  1. SEO!! Make sure your product listings are optimized for search engines by using relevant keywords in your title, tags, and product description. This will increase the chances of your shop appearing high in search results.
  2. Create as many product listings as you can. Based on my experience, having a large number of products in your shop increases your odds of appearing higher in search results. A lot of other aspects go into search rank, but when I am low on inventory, my sales and views go on a downward spiral.
  3. I always set my listings to manually expire instead of auto-renewing. A new listing gets a higher rank in search, and I have found that when one of my listings expires after 4 months of no sales, if I duplicate it into a new listing, sometimes it will sell right away. This trick has helped me sell what I consider to be "dead stock."
  4. Be patient: building a successful Etsy shop takes time, effort, and patience. Don't get discouraged if you don't see immediate results.

Some sellers really get inspired by hearing numbers. Feel free to share these if you like.

Question: How much is your monthly revenue?
Answer: It varies depending on the season, but it is usually between $15,000 and $20,000.

Question: What is your shop’s conversion rate?
Answer: In between 2-3%

Alura Team
Alura Team

Alura is your all-in-one platform for selling on Etsy. With more $500.000+ gross sales over four years selling on Etsy, Alura is built by experienced sellers for sellers. Start with a free account and explore all the features you need to start, run, and grow your Etsy shop.