Etsy Seller Interview with Tom of HeyMates

How HeyMates 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?

We're a small family-owned startup, run by my wife and me. Our journey on Etsy began with a focus on crafting products for our own family. Our key driving force is our passion, combined with a strong commitment to success. To ensure our business thrives, we prioritise key elements like brand identity and customer satisfaction. In the early stages, we considered factors such as packaging, delivery, return costs, and fostering innovation. Our unique selling point lies in the fact that we design every single pair of socks ourselves, which allows us to continually innovate and improve our product line.

Our next step involved establishing core principles that not only matter to us but also benefit our customers. We place a high priority on sourcing our materials from suppliers with short distances only within Europe, reducing our carbon footprint. We also ensure fair compensation for the labour involved in producing our products, which, in turn, guarantees the highest quality in the market.

Favorite items

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

Two to three products always fly over the rest. You will notice that in the early stages by taking a look at KPIs like traffic, total sales, CpC, and ROAS. One of our best products are the “Wild Mountain Child” socks. But also during the Christmas season, our “Silent Night” socks are super successful. Why are they our best sellers? For wild mountain children, we already noticed when drawing that these socks will be special and parents will like them. In addition, we were able to make a beautiful picture for them. The combination of a very good product and perfect pictures makes it a very successful story for our mountain socks. The other socks, “Silent Night," are very successful because we found a beautiful way of adapting a seasonal product in the most powerful season of Christmas.

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 no longer than one or two days. It seems that Etsy has a powerful algorithm in order to give new products a fair chance to be on the first page of searches. On the other side, we started early with Etsy ads and spent lots of money on them. In the end, it is worth it for us because the product is still profitable, but sales are much higher than without marketing.

Managing HeyMates

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?

Yes, only me and my wife manage our shop. We work with a fulfilment partner and an ERP software in order to manage a fulfilment partner, our own website, and different marketplaces in one system. But once the setup is done, it can be handled even with only one or two people. You just need to be willing to learn and improve your skills.

The future of HeyMates 

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

Stay always above 4–8 stars and continuously increase sales through new innovations and lovely customers.

Advice for new sellers

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

Test and learn. Improve and do it again and again.

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

Question: How much is your monthly revenue?
Answer: Between 5-10.000 per month

Question: What is your average profit margin?
Answer: 15-25%

Question: What is your shop’s conversion rate?
Answer: 5%