How Feltavenue 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?
My name is Ann Darby, and I am the owner of Felt Avenue. I make handmade felt eyes, ergonomic crochet hooks and safety eyes for amigurumi. My mom taught me to crochet when I was about 7 years old, and I haven't put the hook down since.
December of 2021, while prepping for future craft shows, I had made a popular crochet plush and posted it in a crochet group on Facebook. No one really acknowledged my creation, instead, they wanted to know where I purchased the felt eyes. When I mentioned that I had made them, several people wanted the name of my shop. That day, I created an Etsy shop and listed the eyes I had on hand, just for fun. I think I started with around ten designs. Over the last 3 ½ years, Felt Avenue has grown to 440 different styles of felt eyes, ergonomic crochet hooks, and recently added safety eyes to the mix.
Everything at Felt Avenue is done from our home, from the design process to the printing and cutting, to assembly, inventory storage, and order packing.
The inspiration for the products comes from my own need to save money but at the same time preserve quality. Which is why it’s important to me to keep my prices affordable, as my customer base is primarily fellow business owners. Affordable, quality supplies help lower my customers’ production costs, which increase their profits, and let’s face it, every bit of savings helps these days.
I started with one computer, an iron, and a vinyl cutting machine. For the first 1 ½ years, I didn’t even have a thermal label printer. I used our home printer and taped every mailing label onto the packages, because again, saving money and keeping products affordable is important to me.
Now I use four laptops, two printers, two vinyl machines, two 3D printers, three big laser cutters, two heat presses and yes, I finally bought a thermal label printer.
Favorite items
What are your favorite items? What makes these so special? Why do you think these items might be selling well?
My favorite items have to be felt faces, and ergonomic crochet hooks. My best sellers are Felt eyes. They save so much time when you're making multiple copies of the same plush for craft market stock. The crochet hooks always spark a conversation when I’m crocheting in public, and they’re just fun to use.
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?
The first sale came a few hours after I had opened my shop. I posted a link on Facebook and Instagram, and it grew from there. I also joined Tiktok and Pinterest to bring customers into my shop, and most recently, Lemon8. Over the last 3 ½ years I have gained so many amazing customers and friends that also share my shop on their own social media channels.
Managing Feltavenue
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?
Primarily, it’s just me managing Felt Avenue from our home. My oldest daughter helps design eyes, while my husband will help cut and pack orders occasionally. I do the rest, such as designing, printing, cutting, as well as printing and assembling crochet hooks and packaging eyes. I also have the help of our official foot warmers/comic relief, our Dachshunds, Otis, and Snickers.
The key is organization, and a schedule! You must stay organized to help your future self.
I use Adobe Illustrator to design the eyes and to format them to print. I use my old, faithful camera, a Nikon D5100 for product shots, and Adobe Lightroom to edit felt product shots, as I prefer a clean white background.
For finances, I use QuickBooks. I can connect to my bank and Etsy, which helps immensely when tax time comes around.
For shipping, I use Etsy’s shipping labels for mailing and drop off at our local USPS at the end of the workday.
The future of Feltavenue
What goals do you have for your shop in the future?
Since all my children are in school now, I would like to concentrate on Felt Avenue full-time, since I now have an 8-hour chunk of the day free. Currently, I work about 3 -4 hours a day, Monday through Friday. I imagine what I could do if I dedicated 8 hours a day to Felt Avenue.
Though I have no plans to leave Etsy, I have opened a stand-alone website as a secondary outlet to sell my items, as I have had quite a few wholesale inquiries this year. Felt Avenue has grown to a point where it makes sense for me to have a dedicated website where I can offer products to those that don’t shop on Etsy.
Advice for new sellers
What’s your advice for a new seller starting an Etsy shop?
Be sure to include as much information as you can, in the first two sentences. When a customer is on a mobile device, the first two sentences are all they are going to see.
Be sure to have clear, high-quality photos.
Read the Etsy Seller Handbook. Don’t skim through it. Actually read it.
You’re going to find that sometimes the item YOU like the most isn’t going to be a great seller. And that’s ok. Deactivate it, save it. Try it again in a few months, it may just take off.
You’re going to have that one item that you’re not crazy about, that could be a bestselling item. You’re going to be tired of making it. Instead of dreading that you have to make “that item,” think of the smile that will come to your customer’s face when they open the package.
Organize, organize, organize. Help your future self.
You can’t make everyone happy. That was a hard one for me to accept, as I’m a people-pleaser. But trust me, you can’t, and that’s okay.
And finally, don’t be discouraged if success doesn’t happen overnight. Sit down and formulate a new strategy, but don’t give up.
Some sellers really get inspired by hearing numbers. Feel free to share these if you like.
Question: How much is your monthly revenue?
Answer: I average about 1500.00 monthly, after shipping and fees,
Question: What is your average profit margin?
Answer: It depends on the product, but about 37% on average.
Question: What is your shop’s conversion rate?
Answer: 6.9%
