Etsy Seller Interview with Tim and Andrea of CrystalWoodBlessings

How CrystalWoodsBlessings 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! We are Tim and Andrea, and we run a business and an Etsy shop called Crystalwood Blessings. Our tagline, which sums up our shop  is " healing stones and crystal crafts for better living". Our passion and focus is on the metaphysical side of the wonderful world of rocks and gems.

I (Tim) have been a lifelong admirer and collector of different rocks and minerals, and in early 2019, I thought it would be fun to start selling various rocks, gems, and related things on Etsy as a way to earn extra money so I could purchase some lapidary equipment I’ve had my eye on and, of course, to purchase more rocks and gems for my personal collection. Addicts become dealers, right lol.

So I decided to specialize more in rough and raw stones in their natural state, as so many people were already selling polished or tumbled stones, and right from the start I wanted to create a shop that was somewhat unique.

Since Etsy focuses on handcrafted items, I had decided to sell various packages of rough stones in specific size and weight combinations, which meant a lot of manual breaking down of larger material into the sizes I wanted, so that became the handcrafted part.

Fortunately, there were a number of different stones I was able to harvest locally, and I also had a great local wholesaler, so between those two, I was able to start building up a variety of inventory.

Favorite items

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

For me, it’s the pendants. I personally cut larger stones into slabs, or sometimes I’ll buy rock slabs from others (usually people I know) and from there cut them down into various pendant shapes, then tumble polish and finally drill them to accept my handmade adjustable cords.

It’s a process I enjoy and am involved with in every step. Some of the pendants we sell are made from material we harvested ourselves, which means we are truly involved in every single step of the process.

Our line of pendant necklaces has consistently sold well, and I think that, in addition to our prices being quite reasonable, they are also unique as they are not fashioned into cookie cutter duplicates like mass production machinery would make them. My approach to this kind of jewelry is more of a minimalist style; imperfections and all, which I feel gives them character. I also make a point of showing photos of each pendant, so my customers know exactly what they are getting. That takes extra effort, but I believe it’s worth it.

Here’s a link to our pendants section:

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 don’t recall the exact amount of time, but I don't think it took very long for sales to begin, and then it just went upward from there. We’ve had some decent success running Etsy ads, but you have to keep a close eye on your expenses vs. revenue. With the upcoming fall/Christmas season, we’ll soon be upping our ad budget.

We also have a social media presence on IG, FB, and Pinterest (all under the name Crystalwood Blessings) where we post new products and anything else that may be relevant.

Managing CrystalWoodsBlessings

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?

At first it was just me (Tim), but as the shop grew I needed help, so my wife came on board and our business became a partnership. I do more of the physical side; creating the products and getting them ready for sale. Andrea is more involved with keeping the shop and inventory organized, as well as product packaging and some of the bookkeeping.

I believe much of our success comes from how we ship what we sell. Here in Canada, tracked parcel shipping is quite expensive and with an average Etsy order being around $20.00, it would cost that amount to send it out tracked, which becomes cost prohibitive to many.

Fortunately, we have what is called "oversize lettermail," which is cheap untracked mail, but it’s limited to 500 grams and 20 mm in thickness. However, this option allows us to provide our customers with free shipping and much of what we sell is built around oversize lettermail weight and dimensions. Etsy doesn't really like sellers shipping untracked (we’ll never get star seller status because of this) but we feel that this is what our customers want.

For tools and apps, I’ve used Erank and now Alura to help optimize and improve listings. I use another site called Vela, which is great for editing many or all of my listings quite quickly and easily. Finally, Etsy has a great seller community forum that is worth looking at for advice and other tips to help get you on your way.

For software, I use Adobe Lightroom as my main photo editor. I also use the Corel Paintshop Pro photo editor for adding text and numbers and other fine tuning photo editing. Another very handy tool I use is Adobe Express (which used to be called Adobe Spark), which is part of the Adobe Creative Cloud suite. It’s fantastic for creating social media posts and professional looking photo collages, which I've featured in many of my listings.

The future of CrystalWoodBlessings

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

We are always striving to come up with new lines of products that help fill a need and give more diversity to our shop.  Our line of rock slabs for lapidary crafts etc has been an exciting new development.

This year we’ve had the goal of being a more local physical presence, so we’ve begun being vendors at various local rock and gem shows.  There’s quite a circuit of these to get involved in.

Advice for new sellers

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

Be focused on what sort of presence you want to have and be driven to succeed. On one hand, yes, it’s quite easy to sign up and begin a shop, but it’s quite another to be successful at it. Do a bit of research on Etsy and pretend you are looking to buy the kinds of things you want to sell. See how others are marketing these products and what their pricing is. This will give you a good idea of your competition and also how you can provide your own unique aspect to your shop.

Make sure you take good quality product photos! Your product photos, especially your cover photo, will be the buyer’s first impression of your listing. You can get away with a good cell phone here, but a DSLR would be a better choice. Just make sure your photos are sharp and your exposure is well balanced. Some basic photo editing skills here would also go a long way.

I also feel it's beneficial to have a consistent look across all product photos. You can see that in our product photos if you scroll through our shop. This way, it's easy for customers to identify our products if they are scrolling through pages of product photos.

Final note: Be sure to give your products good keywords and make your descriptions relevant to those keywords. There are some great online platforms like Alura to give you some help here if you are having trouble.

There are many who have created successful side businesses or even full-time career. Thanks to Etsy, this became reality for us, and I’m sure it can be possible for you too!

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

‍Question: How much is your monthly revenue?

Answer: $6,000

‍Question: What is your shop’s conversion rate?‍

Answer: Around 4%

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