Etsy Seller Interview with MaryLou of time2split

How time2split 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?

I have three Etsy shops! time2cre8 was my first shop, one that I started because I had become fascinated with making jewelry from hundreds and thousands of tiny beads. I still make lots of beadwoven jewelry, and I also sell patterns of close to 100 of my designs. I named this shop time2cre8 because I liked the quirkiness of the name, and because I (naively) thought I’d have time to create after I retired from a corporate job. Ha.

I make everything in this shop by hand – all of the beadwork is made with a needle or a crochet hook and thread. I source beads from a variety of online and brick and mortar stores and some polymer clay and ceramic artists whose work I love. 

time2split was my second shop, and it was started because I wanted to destash some of my art supplies, some of my art (mostly ACEOs), some envelopes and stationery items I was making for fun. I named this shop time2split because I had decided to split my art supplies and other paper creations from my beadwork, to give each shop its own focus.

This shop has evolved over the years (and now has 30,000+ sales), going from selling some of my excess and a few of my creations, to selling a variety of art supplies, handmade envelopes, and some cool vintage stuff. 

I source art papers and cut them to different sizes, because a lot of artists don’t want to be bothered to cut their art papers themselves. I buy other supplies, such as tissue wrapping paper and cloth, and paper/poly bags for packaging and mailing, because I use them myself and love being able to offer a variety of things to other people, and continue making lots and lots of envelopes in all kinds of sizes from scrapbooking papers, books, and atlases. I also have lots of vintage items, such as buttons, matchbooks, magazines, books, fabrics, etc. that I offer in this shop.

SniggleStudio is the name of my third shop, and it’s filled with stationery items – animal cards that I call Captioned Critters. They use vintage illustrations of animals of all kinds, each with a caption bubble so the customers can decide what the animal is saying. I also have lots of handmade envelopes and some Alice in Wonderland (love her!) items. I design and print all of the cards in this shop, because I just love playing with images and paper!

Favorite items

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

It’s hard to pick a favorite item from any of my shops because I mostly sell things I love.

From my time2cre8 shop, this bead crochet necklace is one of my favorite pieces because it’s just happy!

From my time2split shop, I love these vintage matchbooks, which are one of my best sellers.  I received a tub of these from my collector father and decided to sell them, and they were such a hit that I now source them from all over the place so I can keep offering them to my customers.

And from my SniggleStudio shop, I have to say my favorite is my Quoth the Raven design. A longtime fan of Poe, I came across this vintage raven illustration and came up with the idea for the Captioned Critters.

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?  

My first sale in my first shop was within just a few days after I opened the shop. It was a bead crochet necklace.

I honestly don’t do much promoting of my shops. I have a very minimal Etsy ads budget, and I have Facebook pages for my shops, but I’m terrible at posting on them! I’ve always told people that I have Etsy shops, because I make so many things that I just can’t keep them all or give them all away to friends and family.

Initially, my Etsy shops paid for my creating habits, earning enough income to allow me to buy more supplies. They still do that, but they also provide some disposable income that pays for projects around the house, vacations, and other fun stuff.

I do put a good amount of thought and effort into my product listings, from trying to come up with lots of good searchable words and terms to trying to take great photos. Most of my traffic comes from Etsy searches, and I’m very lucky to have a lot of repeat customers.

Managing time2split

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 do everything for all three of my shops: cutting paper and cardstock, making envelopes (I’ve made well over 100,000 envelopes, all completely by hand), bead weaving jewelry, writing patterns, designing and printing cards, and sourcing the commercial supplies I offer. I take all the photos, write all the listings, and pack and ship all of the orders.

I don’t use many apps, except for photo editing software. I track all of my business expenses and all of my income tax info in a massive spreadsheet. Gotta love a good spreadsheet!

The future of time2split

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

I don’t really think in terms of shop goals very much, strangely enough. I love making things so much, that my main goals revolve around executing the ideas that are constantly swirling around in my brain. I get so caught up in creating, that I actually neglect some of the business responsibilities. I have lots of jewelry I’ve made that needs to be photographed and listed and lots of computer files of designs for cards and envelopes that need to be printed, photographed, and listed.

Advice for new sellers

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

Read and research!  There’s a ton of information in Etsy’s TOS and the Seller Handbook, and too many sellers dive in and set up shop without knowing how to manage the shop. There are also Facebook groups that are great resources for Etsy sellers.

Figure out a pricing model that covers cost of materials, cost of fees/advertising, and a FAIR wage for time spent making things. Don’t underprice your work!

Take the best photos you can, and work hard on SEO to get your items and shop found.

Don’t be discouraged. So many sellers set up shop and don’t have sales immediately, so they quit.  Figure out what you can do better, and work on that.

I also see a lot of sellers who make 10-12 items, set up shop with those items, and then get discouraged because they’re not getting sales. Early on, I too was discouraged, because my shop wasn’t getting many sales. But I stepped back and looked at my shop from a customer’s point of view – that meant improving my photos, and also adding more items. I equate it to walking into a brick and mortar store and finding only 10-12 items on the shelf – you’re not likely to stay long in that store and shop. When there’s a lull in sales, make more things!