Etsy Seller Interview with Tiana of CROSSxSTITCHxUKRAINE

How CROSSxSTITCHxUKRAINE 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?

Hello, my name is Tiana, and I am the creator and owner of the Etsy store CROSSxSTITCHxUKRAINE. This is a digital product with cross-stitch patterns. I have been a creative person since childhood, and I really like to create beautiful products with my hands. Therefore, at the beginning of 2017, I decided that it was time to show my work to the world. I started selling designer beaded jewelry made by hand. (At that time, I worked as an organizer at handmade fairs in Kyiv, Ukraine. I also sold my products at fairs. Also, there were wire products. I had about 100 handmade goods, and this is a necklace, earrings, bracelets, key chains, and 1.5-meter beaded cords. I also later decided to work on epoxy resin products, inside of which were beautiful flowers. 

Unfortunately, I did not have a single sale for 6 months, and the goods were kept a little. Nevertheless, I understood that somewhere I made a mistake when placing the goods and did a poor job on the photos. I'm new to this business; what else can I say? Yes, there was a lot of competition. Purchasing material for jewelry turned out to be very costly for me. 

Therefore, after a little thought, I decided to take up another craft, but it also remained handmade. At the end of 2017, my daughter Maya turned 1 year old. It's no secret that small children need safe toys; they should be soft, not torn, colorful, and develop fine motor skills. I sewed for my daughter (I am a seamstress by profession) the first soft book with animals with elements of fine motor skills; it was difficult for a child to tear it, and it could also be washed many times. And the thought came to me: why should I not sell this product? And so I started designing soft books for newborns, sewing them, and putting them on the Etsy store. 

For half a year, I was only able to sew 15 such books, while competitors had at least 200 products on the same subject, and the delivery was much faster and cheaper, because sending from Ukraine takes at least 14 days, whereas local sellers offered 3-day delivery and were much cheaper. And with my little daughter, I had very little time left for such a laborious task, since sewing a book took me an average of two weeks. With such speed in sewing books, I again stopped to think. There was something to think about since I became pregnant with Vitya, and now I didn't have time for tailoring at all, you know, with two children and household chores for you. 

Therefore, in 2018, I went to bed with my little son and, willy-nilly, leafed through the pages of Etsy and thought about what I could do so creatively that I would also have time to do housework and take care of the children. I saw the cross-stitch designs and got to thinking! I loved drawing and making my own creations even more! After studying for a month for three programs that I needed for work, I started a new activity. It took me less and less time to make one cross stitch; I gained speed and skill, putting the first 50 designs on Etsy, and in the first week I already received a couple of sales. Oh, what happiness! And for me, this is a small personal success! 

So since January 2019, I have started drawing different designs for cross stitch, changed more than three store designs and many banner designs, sorted out tags, redone titles and descriptions, and tried to understand how it works. In the meantime, sales were gradually going on. In 2021, I achieved, so to speak, the ideal for my store, each time improving it and listening to the wishes of customers. Sales have tripled. Now that I am increasing the conversion and recognition of my store, there is always enough work. The main thing is not to give up.

Favorite items

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

My favorite products are colorful pets. This is a personalized order. Buyers send me photos of their favorite pets, which I process in Photoshop because most photos are of poor quality, and then I paint the pet in rainbow colors, taking into account the buyer's wishes, and adding streaks and splashes of flowers in another program. I send the layout to the buyer, and if there are no amendments, I already create symbols for embroidery. This product is successfully sold, as every pet owner wants to perpetuate the memory of his beloved furry friend, and not just in ordinary colors but in a designer art format. Of course, this product is no longer sold to anyone, as it is personal and personalized. This job takes me 2–5 days.

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 had my first sale by the end of the week. I attract customers with discounts, coupons, promotions, and special offers. The design of your store is also not unimportant, nor is a tedious but semantic description of the goods.

Managing CROSSxSTITCHxUKRAINE

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?

I run the store myself; this is my favorite brainchild! A good and useful tool for me is store analytics, product statistics, and the control panel, where you can see which products are saved by visitors.

The future of CROSSxSTITCHxUKRAINE 

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

My goal is brand recognition and credibility. Therefore, I work hard on this and take into account all the wishes of customers, changing or improving my products for them.

Advice for new sellers

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

Never give up; if you don't succeed, try to change direction and keep going until you achieve the long-awaited success. Visit the forums, communicate, and ask other sellers for advice; this will help you a lot to understand how everything works. The main thing is not to be shy; we all started somewhere and made mistakes more than once. Do not be afraid of mistakes; go only forward!

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

Question: How much is your monthly revenue?
Answer: $700

Question: What is your average profit margin?
Answer: $400

Question: What is your shop’s conversion rate?
Answer: 1.7%