How HooksandCanvasIE 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 began crocheting in 2017 as a hobby while I was doing a master's degree in archaeology, and I very quickly fell in love with it. I've always been interested in art and craft, and throughout my college years I spent a lot of time drawing, painting, and trying out different crafts. Crocheting was the one that really stuck. Once I got pretty good at it, I decided to try and crochet a little version of a friend's dog. I couldn't find a pattern that looked right, so I made it up as I went instead. She really liked it, and then another friend asked for one too. The second time, I wrote down notes as I went in case someone else asked for one, so I could then just follow my own pattern. Then, someone online saw a photo I posted and asked for the pattern, so I typed it up, added in some photos, and gave it to them to test.
In 2019, I decided to open an Etsy shop, and I added it as a listing, as well as a couple of other patterns I'd worked on and had tested with my followers on Instagram. I've received a lot of requests for different dog breeds, so I'm making my way through a list, and eventually, I hope to have as many different breeds as possible, as well as some other animals!
Favorite items
What are your favorite items? What makes these so special? Why do you think these items might be selling well?
My favourite items are my crochet patterns of dog breeds; these also sell the best. In particular, my corgi pattern earned a bestseller badge not long after I listed it, and it's kept it ever since. It's been the number one best-selling pattern I have in my shop for over two years now. I like the distinctive-looking breeds, and it seems that buyers do too, as the corgi, pug, and yorkshire terrier all sell quite well.
Sometimes when a buyer leaves a review, they include a photo of the little dog they've made using the pattern alongside their actual dog, and I love seeing the comparison and similarities.
I enjoy designing them. Some are harder to design than others, especially when there is colour changing involved, like with the corgi, but the challenge is good. There is a lot of trial and error, crossing out notes, and unravelling, but the end result is always worth the effort.
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 came 11 days after I opened my shop. I opened in April 2019, and during that year I made 25 sales in total. My shop really only started to take off in 2021. In 2021, I made 10 times the number of sales that I'd made in 2020, and in 2022, they increased again by about 4 times. They've levelled off a bit now in 2023 and have been more consistent, with sales coming in on a daily basis at a reliable rate. I do notice that each time I release a new pattern, sales get a boost, so my goal for 2024 is to release new patterns at a more consistent rate than I have this year.
About 60% of my visits come from within Etsy, and about 35% come from direct traffic and social media. Quite a lot of visits come from Pinterest, where both myself and others have made pins linking to various listings of mine. My corgi pattern is also featured in a blog post of the top 10 dog patterns on an amigurumi website, and so I get visits from that on a weekly basis too. The other 5% comes from offsite ads, which I opted into on Etsy. I haven't used the other Etsy ads before.
Managing HooksandCanvasIE
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's only me for the most part. The only thing I outsource is the testing of my patterns. As I sell digital PDFs, there is no shipping or fulfilment involved. It takes about a month or two of my free time to design a pattern (since I work full time as a GIS Scientist in an office, I only have evenings and weekends), and then I usually find between three and five people to test it, and I give them three weeks to do so. Once a pattern is fully tested and ready to be listed, I pick out the keywords that I think would be suitable for the tags, and I model the title and description after the other patterns that I already have in my shop. Once a pattern is listed, when someone buys it, they immediately receive a link to download it. The only other thing that I spend time on after that is answering messages, but I don't receive many. I would say that once out of every 50 orders or so, someone will message asking how they can download the file. I would also say that once out of every 100 to 200 orders, someone will message asking for help with reading the pattern. I list them as intermediate, but sometimes a beginner will buy one and need help, which I don't mind either. I enjoy teaching people, so it's nice when someone learns something new by completing one of my patterns.
The future of HooksandCanvasIE
What goals do you have for your shop in the future?
One main goal is to improve my listing photos. At the moment, they're not great, and I think some more professional-looking photos would be a great help. Another goal is to increase the number of listings I have. At the moment, I only have 18, and I would love to increase that to 50 over the next couple of years.
Advice for new sellers
What’s your advice for a new seller starting an Etsy shop?
My main piece of advice would be to have patience and not get disheartened or give up if you don't get immediate results. My first two years on Etsy saw me go weeks without making any sales, and it was only during my third year that I started making sales on a daily basis. I would also advise that you sell something that you enjoy making while also being mindful of what's going to be sold. Many markets are oversaturated, and Etsy is no different. Find a niche, design a brand for yourself, and try to stand out by showing off your uniqueness. Your Etsy shop is something that you need to spend time on and give a lot of thought to.
Some sellers really get inspired by hearing numbers. Feel free to share these if you like.
Question: What is your average profit margin?
Answer: 76.8%
Question: What is your shop’s conversion rate?
Answer: 5.1%
