Etsy Seller Interview with D. Prentice of EbonyShaeDesigns

How EbonyShaeDesigns 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?

Ebony Shae Designs sells sewing patterns for kids 3D felt masks, finger puppets, and the occasional toy. My love affair with masks began as a teenager, and as a young married woman, I made leather masquerade masks as a hobby, and I also began one of the world's largest collectives of mask makers where like-minded artisans could come together.

Then along came children. Fortunately, kids love dressing up and playing make-believe. So I made a few felt masks for the kids. Friends and relatives started making requests for their own. I hate making the same thing over and over, and at the time, cash was short, so having a huge inventory was never going to be an option. Hence the idea of making and selling patterns was born: I make something once or twice, and that’s it. It kept selling for years after that.

Making finger puppet patterns is deeply personal and a little piece of history that keeps repeating itself. My mother used to make and sell packets of finger puppets to Australian craft stores as a stay-at-home mom. While talking about it one day, I just couldn't resist trying her hand at making some. Now, I feel like a little piece of my mother is with me every time I sit at the sewing table to draft or create a new puppet.

Favorite items

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

My favorite for years has been the cheetah mask pattern, but it is closely followed by the robot toy and the old Mac Donald finger puppets. I love them because they appeal to me most in terms of aesthetics. They sell okay, and as soon as I fixed my photos and SEO, they performed more like I thought they should. The wolf, lion, and elephant masks have always been my best sellers. The Elephant has been downloaded nearly 1,000 times on its own since it went live in July 2012.

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 opened my store way back on September 29, 2011. It took almost a month to make my first sale. I started the store with only 3 sewing patterns. I knew this was not the best way to start, but I just wanted to share what I had created so badly!

My main marketing strategy is Pinterest, and I strongly encourage anyone in the DIY arena to hook into this as a free way to advertise their store. It has taken years to build, but every pin on there continues to draw people to my store. I currently average about 1 million monthly views and have 3.7k odd followers. It is a wonderful way to help people even if they aren’t exactly looking for what you are selling, and those that click through to your store are already seriously considering a purchase. I also run ad campaigns in the lead-up to Halloween on there, and with a very small budget, they are rather successful at bringing in new customers.

Managing EbonyShaeDesigns

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?

It is only me, which is always tricky when trying to get a photo of yourself in a mask. I progressively moved to simplify my business; all my items are now instant downloads. So there are no shipping or fulfillment issues.

I also used to keep spreadsheets and information on monthly sales; now Etsy actually makes it possible for you to download this information, so I no longer do this. Having saved replies for the standard questions is also a must.

I use Tailwind to schedule Pinterest pins daily. I was also using it for Instagram and Facebook, but have since pared back to just Pinterest as the extra time on images for Instagram and Facebook just wasn’t converting to dollars.

I use Inkscape (free) to digitize patterns, but I hand draw everything to begin with. Then I use Adobe to create PDFs out of the images.

The future of EbonyShaeDesigns

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

In all honesty, my store is mostly "set and forget’ at the moment. After years and years of hustle and trying to sneak every available second for it, getting up at 4.30 am to get work done, I now spend 10 minutes on Pinterest each morning (which is a lovely way to ‘work’) and just answer questions when they come in.

I occasionally think I might add some of the patterns I have already drafted, but I am not pushing to make everything bigger and better like I used to. Ebony Shae Designs brings a humble but steady stream of income for our family, and that is wonderful. I don’t quite make the same amount I did when I was pushing myself and trying to get patterns out every fortnight, but the time and sanity are worth it.

Advice for new sellers

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

I know it is really popular to create things that follow a fad or a trend. Over the years, I too have done this, but I have to say that in the DIY arena, there are some things that are universally popular and stay that way. E.g., I created the unicorn mask when unicorns were trending and a penguin mask when they were trending; the same is true with the fox mask; the fox mask has stayed popular, but the unicorn mask never was a big seller, and you won’t even find the penguin in the store anymore.

If you can find things that have appealed over the years, it can mean your business does not always have to stay a ‘hustle’, but can find a more relaxed flow. (Having said that, some of us will always thrive on being a little too busy, and that is also a fine way to be.)

If you are in the DIY arena, the free advice from Simple Pin Media is gold, and I encourage anyone looking at starting their business to check them out.

Check out Marmalead SEO to get your keywords up to scratch. I paid for them for about a year to get things on track. I also hooked back in when Etsy significantly changed its algorithm and during COVID, as it massively changed the search algorithm where masks were concerned!

Finally, over the years, the online sales marketplace has changed a lot. Once upon a time, everyone was lovely. For the last 5-7 years, I have averaged 1 out of every 100–200 customers as what I call a ‘doozy’.  They suck your time and oftentimes try to scam you. If a customer gets your heart rate up, if they are messaging every minute or two, if they make you feel bad or like you can’t do the right thing, Walk away.  Don’t respond for a day, or even two. Talk to someone you trust, or jump on the Etsy forums for some advice. Don’t feel like, as a sole business owner, you have to wear the emotional angst of people who might steal your joy.

This is a rollercoaster with good days and bad ones. Do you see 6700 sales? I can guarantee I’ve had around 600 fewer customers than average. But I can also tell you the names of some of the loveliest people I will probably never have the chance to meet. Customers who check on me when there are floods and fires here in Australia, customers who make me cry with the wonderful things they have made or the photos and stories they share Customers who come back year after year until their kids grow out of the dressing-up phase Collect them.  Have a folder, a wall, or anything to remind you of them, and pull it out when you get a ‘doozy’.  Those pearls and those gems are what make this totally wonderful.

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

Question: What is your shop’s conversion rate?
Answer: I find it hard to get past 1.6% (averaged over the past year). At Halloween, it gets up to 2.5%.