Etsy Seller Interview with Carmella of CarmellasJewelry

How CarmellasJewelry 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’ve always loved jewellery and have always played around with creating my own designs for it with beads, leather cord, hemp, etc. Some coworkers of mine introduced me to Etsy back in 2011 and encouraged me to open my own shop and sell some of what I was creating. I purchased most of my supplies from other Etsy shops and also from local craft shops. Whenever I saw a brick-and-mortar jewellery supply shop, it’d suck me in, and I’d wish I could buy all the beads, silver wire, etc. The same coworkers introduced me to Fire Mountain Gems, an online retailer of jewellery supplies, and through their site I discovered Precious Metal Clay. My oldest daughter was one at the time, and I created my first fingerprint charm using her index finger. With metal clay, I was able to capture the tiny ridges and shape of her itty-bitty finger and then fire it with a torch until it became a solid silver charm. From then on, I was hooked on metal clay. I started selling heart fingerprint charms with two people’s prints forming the heart, which sold well with couples. Between 2011 and 2017, I had steady orders, but only enough to justify my shop as a part-time income. As the wife of an active-duty military member, our family moves to a new part of the country every 4 years, so even though I have a Master’s in Library Science, it became more and more difficult to find a new position with every new move. In 2017, I was let go from a non-profit job and decided to put all my time and energy into my Etsy shop. By the following year, I’d doubled any income I’d ever had at an office job. My shop has only grown since then, and I absolutely love that I get to do what I love while also earning a respectable income for my family.

Favorite items

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

My absolute favourite items to create are my fingerprint, handwriting, and footprint keepsakes. Since opening my shop in 2011, I’ve started adding hundreds of customizable designs for families mourning the loss of a loved one, welcoming the birth of a baby, or gifting a handwritten message captured in silver. In the summer of 2022, I invested in a fibre laser engraver and can now personalise even more options for my customers.

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?

When I opened my shop, I had wonderfully supportive coworkers (shoutout to SAM, Inc. in DuBois, PA!) and they got me started by buying lots of my early designs. My family also helped boost my stats early on, but it took a few months before I started getting orders from strangers around the country. Once my shop was more established, I started advertising on Facebook and Instagram. Posting regularly has really helped over the years, but most of my traffic comes from being found on Etsy. It’s tricky to keep up with the changes on the platform, but I do my best to ensure my listings have videos, good tags, clear and understandable titles, etc.

Managing CarmellasJewelry

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 love gadgets, and I couldn’t do what I do without technology. Customers send me images of their fingerprints and handwritten messages. Often times, the fingerprint is smudged or blurry, or the handwritten note is on a card or in a letter, and the customer would like the words rearranged or parts of the message not to be included on the piece. In these cases, I use my iPad and Apple Pencil to restore and edit the images. In 2022, I invested in a fibre laser engraver so I could offer even more personalisation to my customers. I use the shipping methods offered through Etsy and print all my labels wirelessly on a label printer. My shop has grown so much that I now have a "shipping station" in my studio where I keep all the items I need to package and ship each finished piece. I use recyclable paper envelopes and recyclable crinkle paper to protect the jewelry.

Though my shop is a one-woman operation, my 9-year-old daughter helps me out whenever she gets a chance (after school, on holidays, etc.). She’s like a second set of hands when I’m really busy creating jewelry. I’ve loved that I can work a full-time job without having to be out of the house, and I get to spend this time with my kids while they’re still young.

The future of CarmellasJewelry 

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

I hope to continue to grow and offer my personalised items to more people throughout the world. Knowing how meaningful and cherished my fingerprint and handwriting jewellery is, I hope to create more awareness of the memorial keepsakes I offer. I’ve been creating brochures and reaching out to local funeral homes in order to spread the word about the designs and options I offer. If I grow enough, I hope to someday open a brick-and-mortar location where I can hire local jewellery artists to assist me in fulfilling orders.

Advice for new sellers

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

Persistence and perseverance! It takes time, and most likely, it won’t happen overnight. I spent five years treating my shop like a part-time hobby and not like a true business, but when I decided I wanted (and needed) this to be my day job, I dedicated as much time as possible to creating new listings, marketing on social media, and editing existing listings and photos. Once I made my mind up about having my shop be my only form of income, I treated it like a full-time job until the revenue reflected the amount of work I was putting into it. It took about six months to get to that point. Now that I’ve been "full time" for over five years, I’ve more than doubled my income from any previous "office" job I had in the past. It’s not always sunny days, though; some weeks or months are slower than others, especially since the increased traffic on Etsy decreased once pandemic restrictions were lifted and more so with higher inflation. I often compare it to a roller coaster, but when I’m having slow weeks, I use my extra time to create new designs, film process videos, market more on social media, and look for ways to grow rather than getting down about slower sales. I’m grateful for every day I get to do what I do, but it’s hard work. If you’re willing to dedicate the time and energy, it can be extremely rewarding!

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

Question: How much is your monthly revenue?
Answer: It averages around $10K in the months between January and October, but in November and December, it can double that amount.

Question: What is your average profit margin?
Answer: My expenses usually average 35%, which is probably higher than ideal, but I don’t want to raise prices on my products.

Question: What is your shop’s conversion rate?
Answer: It was over 3% during 2020 and 2021 but has fallen to about 2.2% since 2022.