Etsy Seller Interview with Dave of Artfromthebikeshed

How Artfromthebikeshed 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?

Riding a bike through the beautiful countryside is what I love to do. Through my art, I can share my passion with others. Whether it’s the thrill of descent, the detail of flower-filled hedgerows I pedal past, the glimpse of a deer at the edge of a woodland, or the perfect sunset, I try to capture those fleeting moments in my art. I opened my Etsy shop, ArtfromtheBikeshed, in February 2014 as a way to sell my linocut prints. I had been making fairly simple linocuts and sharing them on Twitter for a few months. I occasionally received encouraging comments and even the odd request to buy a print, but at the time I had neither the intention nor the means to sell them. After a while, I discovered Etsy and saw that people were marketing and selling similar stuff. So that was it; I decided to go through the process of setting up a shop on Etsy.

What should I call my shop? I soon decided on a quite literal shop name. I create my art in the same place where I keep my bikes and tandems; my art is inspired by my love of bicycles and cycling, so the name actually suggested itself: ArtfromtheBikeshed. I changed my Twitter name to match and created Instagram and Facebook accounts in the name as well. The shop icon and header remain images of two of my earliest linocuts, both of which are still available. Living in France, I had the additional bureaucratic burden of registering as an "artist," because that is mandatory if you sell original art here, as are the social contributions, or "cotisations," that are paid every year on earnings, as well as income tax.

I soon produced eight different linocut prints, the recommended minimum to put on an Etsy shop, and opened. I sold my first print within a week of opening and heard the first ‘cha-ching’ of many to follow. What a great sound! I am a self-taught artist, and I have learned about the best papers and inks to use through experience and research. Selling through Etsy has funded my artistic development. My initial prints were produced on an antique book ‘nipping’ press, which limited the size I could produce. I continued to design and make linocuts, sharing my work process and art through the various social media channels, As sales slowly built, I invested in a beautiful Gunnings etching press, which allowed me to create larger prints. I had no particular target for income and certainly no business plan. My general aim was that sales would pay for my art materials expenses, but over the years it has far exceeded these meager expectations.

For the first six years, I limited my shop to selling linocut prints, but with the first COVID lockdown in 2020, I decided to diversify. That’s when I started to experiment with soft pastels, and now I offer original pastel paintings for sale too. My inspiration still mainly comes from cycling, and soft pastels allow me to express myself in a more dynamic, colorful, and ‘immediate’ way. As unique original artworks, these paintings are more expensive, and I've got lots of larger works that I am not yet ready to sell. Still, I manage to sell those I’m happy to let go of in my Etsy shop. I have looked at alternative art gallery-type platforms to sell larger, more expensive pastel paintings, but nothing has made me want to change from Etsy. I find it reliable, and easy to use, and the charges are acceptable to me (and far less than on alternative sites I’ve explored).

I’ve recently added small edition (maximum of 25) fine art prints of selected original pastel paintings in response to customer demand. These are the only items that I don’t produce myself. I photograph my paintings and send the file to an award-winning print shop, which produces the prints and sends them to me. The prints are expensive, so I only order one or two at a time, but the quality is amazing, and the feedback has been excellent.

Favorite items

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

The nature of my art is that every item I list in my shop has a special connection or meaning for me. Either the image was created in response to a direct experience or moment, or a design was created that pushed my limits, so it’s impossible to pick a "favorite." Here are a few that have particular meanings for me. I created this small and simple linocut design as Valentine’s gift for my wife. It’s been very popular with other tandem riders. 80% of the edition has been sold over the last couple of years.

This fine art print of a pastel painting was the first I sold and is around halfway through the edition. I love to paint dramatic skies, and this was painted after a particularly special sunrise ride.

I created a souvenir linocut for a long-distance cycling event. The event runs every 4 years, and the previous print I made for the event sold out quickly. Creating something special for the second time was a challenge and involved many hours of sketching and design. I’m quite proud of the final design.

In response to the war in Ukraine, I spent a month creating sunflower pastel paintings of differing sizes and prices. I still have a shop section called "Sunflowers for Ukraine'. The proceeds of each sunflower sale (after shipping and Etsy charges) are donated to the Red Cross in France for Ukrainian refugees. The amount to be donated is detailed in each listing, and I send the buyer a copy of the donation receipt as soon as it’s made. I have donated more than €1000 to La Croix-Rouge, courtesy of the people who bought sunflower paintings. I still have a few on offer, including this one. I think it would be a really good idea if Etsy could waive charges for charitable giving like this so that the whole purchase price gets donated.

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 was made within a week of opening, and traffic to my shop seems to directly correlate with my production of new artwork. I share new art and WIPs (works in progress) through my social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. I don’t have huge following and generally, only post once or twice per day on Twitter and less frequently on the other networks. I find that new work gets looked at the most; occasionally, I get direct requests to buy items that aren’t yet listed, but for simplicity’s sake, I direct that traffic through my Etsy.

Managing Artfromthebikeshed

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 manage the shop using my iPad. I’m not keen on using IT; I’d prefer to be making art or riding my bike. I know that I need to update some of my ‘about’ info and improve some of the photos there, but when it comes to admin, I can usually find something else to do. I always have a backlog of new items I need to list, but at the very least I need to mount, frame, and photograph the items in good light first, and these things take time.

My orders come in sporadically, usually a couple each week. I package and ship the items within a day or two, and ride the items to the post office on a cargo bike. Occasionally, I produce souvenir linocut print editions for certain cycling events. These can lead to increased sales over a few weeks, and for those occasions, I make sure that all I have to do is focus on fulfilling the orders and making daily trips to the post office.

I bulk buy my packaging materials from a manufacturer so I always have the right size packaging on hand. Packaging and postal costs are quite expensive and may be off-putting to customers if they're added at the Etsy checkout, so I calculate average costs and include shipping in the purchase price. I offer free shipping within France, Europe, and the USA, with a small surcharge for the rest of the world. Since offering free shipping to the USA, I have noticed that it represents around 50% of my business.

The future of Artfromthebikeshed 

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

My Etsy shop has already far exceeded my expectations. It covers all my art material costs; it’s paid for a few new bikes and holidays, so I hope it continues to do that. I like to look at my overall turnover figures and would like to pass £100k in turnover during 2024, which would represent 10 years of trading. Obviously, from the gross turnover figure, the deductions are significant (Etsy charges, material costs, shipping costs, income tax, and social charges in France).

Advice for new sellers

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

I’d advise anyone to open an Etsy shop. It’s a great platform, and the charges are realistic and competitive. Over the last couple of years, the awareness of Etsy has grown, probably in response to increased global marketing. I think it’s important to be making something you love and can continue to find inspiration for because it’s a long haul. It’s equally important to build a social media network to share your story and your work. I have quite a few returning customers who I engage with online and who feel like friends. I feel it’s a huge privilege when someone buys my art. I love that my art has been shipped all over the world, and every time I hear that Etsy ‘cha-ching," I get a buzz.