Etsy Seller Interview with Kate of LittleOwlsHut

How LittleOwlsHut 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 Kate. LittleOwlsHut Crochet Patterns is owned and managed by me. LittleOwlsHut is a group of designers from around the world selling crochet patterns under one brand name. How it all started All my childhood, I was busy practicing different types of crafts (knitting, sewing, tatting, crocheting, macramé, and so on). It was my favorite past time to create something from scratch. 12 years ago, a friend of mine asked me to help her make some products to sell at a Christmas fair. A few months later, we had a lot of different crochet products available for sale at the Christmas market. During the holiday season, people started asking if we had patterns to make the same items. I did not have any written patterns for the toys, but one lady convinced me to write one just for her.

That is how pattern writing began. The first pattern was for a Christmas tree. The lady loved it, made a lot of Christmas trees, and told her friends where she got the pattern. People began to ask if I could sell the pattern for the Christmas tree. By the end of December, I had my first 100 USD in sales of one Christmas tree pattern! I have never thought that people would buy something like this because there are a lot of amazing patterns available in crochet magazines. I managed to write only 10 patterns because I was busy with a little child and another job, so to fill the Etsy shop with more products, I invited more designers to sell patterns in my shop.

Favorite items

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

I have more than 300 patterns in my shop, and it is hard to choose only a few of my favorites. According to my customers, the Big Rabbit Dude Keks by Svetlana Pertseva is their all-time favorite. He is big and easy to make.

My personal favorite is The Charming Witch by Galina Astashova.It is not the easiest doll to make because the pattern requires multiple skills like crochet, sewing, and felting. This is a good pattern for a person to master crochet skills and learn a lot of tips and tricks.

Also, I like making gifts for my friends for every Chinese New Year, so my 2022 favorite is Bunny Rabbit.

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 customer found me very quickly. As soon as the lady who got her first pattern from me told about the pattern to her friends, I got a steady stream of customers asking me to sell them the same pattern. I made my first 100 USD from selling patterns in 2 weeks. Currently, I have Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook accounts where I share new patterns and finished projects of other crafters made using patterns from my shop. In addition, the age-old method of "word of mouth" plays a significant role in spreading the word about LittleOwlsHut. Crafters post finished projects on the internet and kindly provide a link to my shop or just mention that it was made using a pattern from LittleOwlsHut.

Managing LittleOwlsHut

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’m the only one who manages the main LittleOwlsHut shop, including answering questions, uploading new products, and creating discounts and promotions. A few designers are participating in creating the patterns themselves. Some crafters help test and proofread patterns before they get published in the shop. LittleOwlsHut owns a few more shops on Etsy where patterns are sold in different languages. One shop manager (interpreter) who can speak that particular language can answer questions, translate patterns to other languages, and upload new items to Etsy.

Here is a few examples of other LittleOwlsHut shops:
LittleOwlsHut Deutsch 
LittleOwlsHut Polish 

The best app for seeing all the sales from multiple shops on Etsy in one place is Putler. I've been using this app for years, and it saves me a lot of time.

The future of LittleOwlsHut 

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

To publish more crochet patterns that are easy to follow and understand, provide great customer service to my clients, and translate more patterns into other languages so people all over the world can discover and practice the amazing, meditative craft of crochet.

Advice for new sellers

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

Have at least five products before you start promoting your shop on social media. If your shop has a wide range of products, you will have a better chance of attracting customers.Take good pictures and make videos! It is the pictures that attract attention to your shop. Give a discount for a few days on your new product in the shop to attract sales.

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

Question: What is your average profit margin?
Answer: 30%

Question: What is your shop’s conversion rate?
Answer: 2.2%