How Three Girls Shop 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?

In 2012, we turned a love for tie dye hair ties into a family business. Our business has grown over the years to include favors for bachelorettes, weddings, birthdays, baby showers, etc. 

We started out tie dyeing our own fold over elastic, and with a lot of trial and error, we had it mastered and began making tie dye hair ties.  We expanded the tie dye colors we offered, and we have about 75 different tie dye colors options.  

As we grew, we started to make favor cards for our tie dye sets, and it quickly transitioned us into a favor and gift business.

We also sell our hair ties wholesale to brick and mortar shops, and do custom favors for  wedding planners, which they use as a thank you for their customers.

Favorite items

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

Our Wedding, Bachelorette, Birthday, and Baby Shower Favors are our best items, as well as our Tie Dye Hair Ties and Elastic.  It’s really hard to just pick a few as we have so many options.  But our best sellers, I would say, are our Bridesmaid Proposals, and Girls' Birthday Favors. During wedding season, our Bachelorette Favors are very popular.

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?  

It was about a month after we started adding items to our shop that we received our first sale. We were so excited, and it gave us the motivation to keep going!

We rely mostly on search/tags to find our listings on Etsy. Keywords/tags are crucial to your items coming up on Etsy, as well as photographs. It’s worth the time to take a great photo, and always update them as things change.  

We do use some Pinterest Ads also, which seem to work well for us. I think you have to find what works best for your items and stick with that.

Managing Three Girls Shop

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?

Our shop is run by myself and my two daughters. Both are in college, so they help part-time. We use Etsy shipping for Etsy, and also ShipStation. We also use the Etsy integrated apps for researching, and updating our items.  We do have Instagram, Facebook, and LinkTree accounts.  

For me, social media is just one of those things I don’t always have time for, but I do try to update them as I can. I haven’t found that they really drive much traffic to our shop for what we sell.

We run sales from time to time, and we include a postcard-sized thank you with a free hair tie in each order.  I think it’s a nice way of  thanking our customers for choosing to shop with our small business.

The future of Three Girls Shop

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

I would say to continue to add new favor items and expand what we offer. I try to add new items yearly and update prints and patterns, as trends and wedding colors change year to year.

Advice for new sellers

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

I would say my best advice is to not give up. If owning your own small business is something you are passionate about and you love what you are doing, just keep going. There will always be ups and down, doubt and frustrations from time to time. If you are persistent you will succeed.

Research what is working and tweak what is not. Networking on Etsy groups can also help in getting your items seen when you’re new. 

Check out what others are doing, what items are they selling and how well are they selling.  Erank is great for analyzing listings and can help you with keywords/tags and doing some research before posting something new.

Customer service is key.  Respond to customers as quickly as you can, use the Etsy app so you can always reply to a question a customer has.

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

‍How much is your monthly revenue?

$16,000

What is your average profit margin?

70%

What is your shop’s conversion rate?

It varies depending on the time of year but approximately 6%.

Alura Team
Alura Team

Alura is your all-in-one platform for selling on Etsy. With more $500.000+ gross sales over four years selling on Etsy, Alura is built by experienced sellers for sellers. Start with a free account and explore all the features you need to start, run, and grow your Etsy shop.