Etsy Seller Interview with Pavel of GaffDesign

How GaffDesign 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 Pavel and I run the Gaffdesign Etsy shop. By trade, I am a wood carver and an artist. So I started with the simplest wooden night lamps, hoping to apply my knowledge of working with wood in a way that would allow my products to fit into any interior. I visited interior exhibitions, kept up with the latest in design, and added metal details to my collection. At one of these events, another craftsman told me about Etsy. I opened a store on Etsy and began to study the lighting of other masters. And I understood that my shop could be more flexible in its proposals. I am making all the details of the lighting from metal and wood myself, and I am painting them too. Therefore, I began to accept custom orders when the buyer needed a different length of the base, a different number of pendants, or even an individual wood color. Now I offer various lighting options that can be combined.

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 track lights. I took the path of rethinking such lighting because usually track lights are made to be as invisible as possible in the interior and with a precise industrial style. I decided that wooden track lights could fit better into the interior, creating more comfort. And it could be done with wooden parts or completely wooden spots. And, as of now, I can provide my customers with any track length and any number of heads to help the track fit perfectly into any space. This is a very popular product.

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?

Fortunately, I was very lucky from the very beginning because I didn’t know much about Etsy yet. I just listed some lights for the first time, and the next day one of them was sold. And then another one, and another one. Now I am using Etsy ads to attract more buyers. Unfortunately, I do not use any other tools, although I understand that this is necessary.

Managing GaffDesign

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?

My assistant helps me run the shop and send packages. As for the production, I mostly do everything myself. I am developing lighting in such a way that I have a kit of preliminary ready-made parts that could be quickly assembled together into a finished product. The "co-authors" of some lamps are my customers. Sometimes I make the same individual orders several times and then add this successful design to my store. I am extremely pleased with the delivery services. I use express delivery within 10 days to the USA when it is possible, or standard delivery by Ukrpost. Both of these deliveries have very good customer support.

The future of GaffDesign

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

Of course, sell even more! I am currently working on creating completely new collections with materials that are new to me. I also plan to create one collection in collaboration with a ceramist.

Advice for new sellers

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

I would advise them to constantly change and develop, while also going their own way. Always think about who and for what purpose should buy your product; what are the expectations of the buyer? And they always do their best to give the best service to the customers.