Etsy Seller Interview with James of LostApostle

How  LostApostle 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 James, and along with my wife, I own and run the jewelry business Lost Apostle. Nadya and I started Lost Apostle in 2007 from a market stall in London’s Spitalfields Market and opened our Etsy shop in 2011 when we moved to Canada. To be honest, I’d never heard of Etsy when Nadya first suggested the idea; I was about to dress up in a ridiculous velvet suit and go looking for customers the hard way before (thankfully) we decided to give Etsy a shot. I spent a few weeks taking the best photos I could with our very limited set-up, learned as much as possible (from the forums and online tutorials) about how to build a successful Etsy shop, and went to bed after finally launching without too many expectations. I woke up the next morning and had our first sale in the bag. couldn’t believe it. This thing might actually work.

Sales came in pretty regularly from the get-go, and as it became increasingly apparent that Etsy was a great opportunity, we spent more and more time learning about SEO, improving our photography, and spending time in the forums to learn as much as possible about developing our shop. It wasn’t long before Etsy became our main revenue stream, and it continues to be so to this day. Today we have over 500 original pieces of jewelry in our shop; back in 2011, we had around 40 or 50. So as our business on Etsy has grown, so has our collection. Each piece is made using the lost wax process, a casting method that’s been around for 6,000 years and one that allows us to produce on a scale large enough to supply both our retail and wholesale businesses. As a trained silversmith, I also work with sterling silver, and we sell a collection of that work in our other Etsy shop, Lost Apostle Luxe.

Favorite items

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

We have lots of pieces that we consider favorites, but our anatomical heart pendant has probably been the most significant piece we’ve made. I designed it years before we opened our Etsy shop, and it sold well at my market stall, but it really took off when we started selling online (it was the first piece we sold).Within a few months, it had gone viral, became very popular in our shop, and remains one of our bestsellers today. We also love skulls and recently launched a line in sterling silver that took over two years to develop (I can get a bit obsessive about details, truth be told). It’s the piece I wear, and they’ll fight over it when I’m gone.

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?

We drive a lot of traffic to our Etsy shop through our social media channels (we have nearly 30,000 followers on both Facebook and Instagram) as well as paid advertising both on Etsy (definitely worthwhile) and off-site. We include appealing and engaging promotional material with every order we ship, along with discounts for future purchases, and also extend our customer base through all the expos and conventions that we attend. Fortunately for us, our product has a fairly wide appeal, so we can generally fit into most retail situations, from tattoo shows to comic cons to punk rock flea markets. It’s a busy schedule.

Managing LostApostle

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?

Things are pretty straightforward here; it’s me and Nadya, and up until very recently we had an employee taking care of shipping and customer service. A recent move to a different province (we moved from Quebec to Ontario at the beginning of the year) means we’ll be looking for some help again very soon, but with so much else going on at the moment, we find ourselves working long hours and wearing many hats these days. All of our shipping is handled very efficiently by Etsy, who has a good relationship with Canada Post and offers discounts on shipping labels, and all orders are shipped within 24 hours of receipt. We don’t use any Etsy apps—not because we don’t find them useful, but simply because we’re pretty old school in that department. We’re like sponges though—if we learn of something that’ll help our store, we’ll adopt it very quickly. The more efficiency we can install in our business, the better, and ultimately, the happier our customers will be as a result.

The future of LostApostle 

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

We’re adding new designs to our shop all the time, and we grow our business in an organic, manageable way. It’s not a small undertaking (both physically and financially) to maintain an inventory large enough to service both a retail and wholesale business, and so management of product development, advertising budgets, and the like needs to be carefully considered. We partner with several blogs, magazines, and agencies that all direct traffic to our shop. We always look to grow the exposure our little corner of the internet receives, and we are always looking for ways to improve. It’s important to look ahead rather than be content with where you’re sitting. As we’ve found out, things online can and do change very quickly. If we don’t stay ahead of the curve, we at least try our best to.

Advice for new sellers

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

Play to your strengths. Be genuine, be honest, and sell what you love; don’t force it. Courtesy and politeness go a long way. Make friends in the forums. Take great photos, then bin them and take better ones. Photography is everything online, particularly in a competitive market like jewelry. Write good, detailed descriptions; don’t leave the customer guessing. Learn about SEO; learn about Etsy ads; learn about tags. Oh, and get copyrights. Really, get them. They don’t cost that much, the process is not difficult (although the time it takes the copyright office to process your application can take months, so bear that in mind), and your work will be protected both on Etsy and to a certain extent beyond. worth their weight in gold. And get a vice. If your shop gets busy enough, you’ll need one. At least.