Etsy Seller Interview with Jeanette of GraceNGiftsCo

How GraceNGiftsCo 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 started my Etsy shop in 2018 to sell felt fabrics from Japan and make some extra income as a single mom. I quit my full-time job in 2020 to grow and focus on my Etsy shops. But in 2021, due to COVID, the cost of the felt and shipping are constantly increasing to a point where I can no longer afford to import them and have to close my shop. In the same year, my mom suffered a stroke followed by dementia, and I have to take care of her and am not able to go out to work. I was devastated.

I was looking for a souvenir for a friend, and since I'm a crafty person and have loads of craft supplies, I thought I'd make her one instead of buying one, so I made her a mini version of her favorite drink on a keyring. She loves it and was asking if I could make some more for her so that she could gift them to her co-workers for Christmas. And soon her coworkers are asking the same. I thought if they wanted it, maybe others would want it too. I decided to reopen my Etsy shop to sell these custom keyrings and changed the shop name to GraceNGiftsCo., as I believe this is God making a way for me where there seems to be no way.

Favorite items

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

My best sellers, which are also my personal favorites, are the Caramel Frapp Keychain and Taro Boba Milk Tea Keychain.

‍

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 took about 3 weeks for me to sell my first keychain, as I was consistently listing new products in the first few months, and new listings receive a temporary boost in search results on Etsy. But as I handmade all the items, I wasn't able to constantly make new items due to limited time and resources. So to attract more customers, I utilize Etsy's automated discount code system, where Etsy will automatically send these discount codes to shoppers who either just purchased something from my shop, have added my items to their cart but have not checked out, or have favorited my items.

Managing GraceNGiftsCo

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 run my shop by myself, usually after my mom and my girl are asleep. I ship via Singapore Post. As I'm not located in the US, I'm not eligible to use Etsy's shipping labels. I use Photoshop and Canva to edit my photos, and Excel sheets to keep track of my sales, orders, shipping fees, etc.

The future of GraceNGiftsCo 

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

Currently, I'm only selling keychains and car clips, but in the future, I hope to create and add more varieties of gift items such as bookmarks, trinket trays, candle holders, etc.

Advice for new sellers

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

We all want to make our things, list them, and expect them to just sell. But it doesn't always work that way.
We need to have both quality products and products that people are actually looking for.
We also need to make sure we have high-quality, attractive photos that stand out from those of our competitors.
Keep track of your accounts; you want to make sure you are making profits and not just sales.
List new items regularly to get a temporary boost in search results.
Use Etsy’s ads to get more views; monitor the ads performance and adjust accordingly.
Do lots of research: competitions, trends, keywords, Etsy's latest changes, etc.
I use the free version of eRank for keyword research and join as many Etsy Facebook groups as I can to stay updated with Etsy's latest news, updates, and changes, as well as advice from other Etsy sellers.
And last but not least, use trial and error. We can do all the research, but there is no one-size-fits-all strategy. We would still need to keep tweaking and making adjustments to our listings (titles, descriptions, tags, and prices) to increase our target sales and conversion rates, etc.

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

Question: How much is your monthly revenue?
Answer: $2-$3K

Question: What is your average profit margin?
Answer: 30%

Question: What is your shop’s conversion rate?
Answer: 2.5%