Etsy Seller Interview with Tori of LunasLetterGarden

How LunasLetterGarden 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?

Hi there, I'm Tori aka Luna, and I am the owner and creator of LunasLetterGarden, where I create handmade Personalized Deco Stickers and Resin Art.

Where do I start? I used to be a florist for over 15 years, and I loved every second of it. Then the dreaded COVID hit, and I unfortunately lost my job. 

I had a Cricut and I’d make art and crafts in my spare time for friends and family, making their names with my vinyl sheets for their kids' water bottles and resin coasters as little gift ideas, and I always dabbled with Etsy here and there, but I never took it seriously.

I decided to reopen my shop in March 2020, just selling some resin pieces I'd made and some fancy deco stickers. Everyone kept saying " you should sell these". I never thought anything of it or thought I could make it work to be honest, but I watched a few tutorials and did keyword research as I had nothing else to do and it just took off immediately and I made 300 pounds the first month and 1k in the second month and did not stop for a while. I couldn't believe it, and I was a bit unprepared. I think it's because of COVID. Everyone was locked in at home, so people were shopping more. I got lucky by opening a shop when I did. The timing was right. I was so inspired by how popular my stickers were, I created many more items, and here I am today, 3 years later. This is now my full-time job, which is incredible.

I source my vinyl and resin supplies from a great company, which I have used from the start.

Quality is the most important thing to me, as I want my customers to receive the best of the best, so I am very fussy about where I get my materials from.

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 are my handcrafted resin letter ornaments and resin coasters. I saw a pin one day of these beautiful letters all sparkly and gold filled with flowers. So I had to make them! I’ve been a resin artist for years and I know flowers like the back of my hand, so it just made sense to combine my two favorite things!

They have been so popular from the first day I listed them and I just feel so chuffed that someone has my art which I created and loves it :D I really love making them, but I get quite fussy, which drives me mad! I get excited every time I hear that cha ching. People are really into the cottage natural home decor aesthetic at the moment. I have found that anything I create with real flowers is really popular.

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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 remember my first sale. It was about a week after I opened. I was so excited I heard a cha-ching and jumped up to check it. My first customer was lovely. I remember she bought one of my dreamcatchers I'd made and even messaged me once she received it, saying how much she loved it, which gave me my first 5 star review. I was chuffed! and it inspired me to keep going, so I did.

I find SEO really hard and it changes all the time, but I have found youtube videos and blogs very helpful in learning about Etsy. I am terrible with social media, so I have tried many times to use Facebook, Instagram, etc., but I feel it never worked for me. I attract my customers through Etsy search with my keywords and I sometimes advertise with Etsy, but it depends on the week.

Managing LunasLetterGarden

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 run my shop on my own, but I really need some help. Some days it can get very overwhelming and stressful and there is glitter and mess everywhere. My husband gets annoyed as he goes to work with glitter on him very often :) I tell him he looks pretty :D It can be either really quiet where I worry or extremely busy and this can literally change over night, so I need to be prepared, especially at Christmas. My first Christmas was so busy! I was not prepared at all and shipping was delayed due to COVID, but it was amazing! It's very hard to prepare when the items you sell are made to order, but I try my best to be on top of it at busy times.

People love customization. My Vinyl Stickers are the bestsellers in my shop, especially during Easter, summer, and Christmas. I can get 100’s of orders a day for people to decorate their Christmas or wedding wine glasses and stockings. And these are all handmade by me, so as you can imagine, I work myself non-stop and it is like a conveyor belt some days, but I love it! I make sure I stick to my shipping times, but I do change these around depending on how busy I am at the time. I make sure I am telling customers about any delays that can occur just as a courtesy.

I use the program E Rank to help me with little things like keyword research and trending items for that month. It gives you ideas on new products to create and what shoppers are interested in, as it changes so much. For example, retro is really in at the moment, so I made a retro sticker and it's really popular. I use Photoshop and Cricut Design Software to create my stickers with fonts I source from designers that I obtain a license to use and sell commercially.

I use Etsy shipping labels, which is very easy as most items are small enough to fit in a normal sized envelope. I got myself a little label printer off Amazon, which I love, but I used to print all the labels and stick them on the envelope with glue one by one. When I think back to that time, it took me hours. What was I thinking? I use track and trace with Royal Mail for my resin art as these aren't easily replaceable if lost, so I don't want to risk it.

The future of LunasLetterGarden

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

I really am looking to change into more personalized handcrafted home decor products. I enjoy making these so much, and I just love people's excitement when they love their order. I would love to one day be able to get a glowforge, which is a laser cutter, and expand into wooden signage. Maybe one day 

Advice for new sellers

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

Research your product and the market. Find out who you are selling your product to. This will help you attract the right audience who wants to buy your products.

Keyword research is important! For example, try to use keywords that have less competition and longer phrases. Never use one-word keywords; you're wasting all that keyword space. Think outside the box. So if you're selling a candle, for example, instead of typing "candle" as a keyword, what type of candle is it? Whom would it be for? So you could say "candle for a gift"or "candle gift set."

Don't worry about your competition! Just be yourself! If people love your photos and what you are offering, they will choose your product.

Don’t lower your prices to compete. If a customer loves your item, they are happy to pay a little extra for a quality product.

Customer service is very important. I've turned upset customers into happy ones just by fixing the issue. You will get some bad reviews and some horrible customers. Sometimes, for no reason, they leave you a 1 star review, which you have no idea why, but try not to take it personally and try your best to fix the issue calmly and professionally. Sometimes it can't be fixed by just being nice, and you just have to let it go and move on knowing you did the best you could do for that customer. As a new seller, I was devastated when I got my first bad review as it was out of my control due to shipping delays.

Photography is the most important thing, and I still struggle with lighting as I am not a photographer and don't have fancy equipment, but you can easily take a great picture with your phone using a white piece of paper as a background and props like shells scattered around. Do it outside in the natural light; it's the best light you have!

Everything takes time! Rome wasn't built in a day, so to speak! If it's not working and you have no sales, re-evaluate why? Is it my keywords or photos? I just revamped it all. Look at other shops and see what they are doing. Don’t copy them, but get ideas and make it your own.

I am learning every day! It's hard work, but I put the time in to learn about all these things. I would take some time to research, watch videos on YouTube, read blogs, and etsy tutorials so I could and can be better. If I open an Etsy shop and can make it work, so can you!

I love my shop. It's the best thing I decided to do. My customers are amazing, and I love chatting away with them, and I get a lot of repeat customers. I'm so grateful and blessed that I am able to craft and make customized art pieces for people to enjoy.

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

Question: How much is your monthly revenue?

Answer: Varies between £800 to £2500 per month 

Question: What is your average profit margin?

Answer: I'm actually not sure it's not a lot unfortunately but I pay the bills

Question: What is your shop’s conversion rate?

Answer: 4.7% All Time