Etsy Seller Interview with Brigitte of Minis1to12

How Minis1to12 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?

My name is Brigitte Hetzel, and I live in Germany. In my shop, there are dollhouse miniatures in M 1:12. I came to make dollhouse miniatures through a television advertisement for building a dollhouse from parts of a weekly magazine in 100 issues. When the house was finished, the decorations and everything that made a house comfortable were still missing.

I started making these things. The cushions for the sofa and beds, pictures for the walls, books for the large living room cupboard, jewellery for the jewellery box in the bedroom, leather suitcases and bags, newspapers, food for the kitchen, sausages, cakes, tarts, bread, and many, many little things more A friend told me that such things can be sold very well on the Internet, and I tried auctions. That went very well.

In 2012, I opened my Etsy shop. The offer grew very quickly. When I see something interesting in 1:1, I think about how I can make it smaller. Since I make everything by hand myself, my capacities are limited. I often close my shop for a short time to restock my supplies. Unfortunately, I haven't found anyone to work with yet. Things are tiny, and it takes a lot of attention to detail and patience to make them all.

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, and the ones that have sold the most, are my miniature books with linen covers and printed inside pages. The large selection of books attracts worldwide interest. The books are printed on the inside, bound with real bookbinding linen, and look really old with golden edges and old covers. Many paperback books are also on offer. The offering includes around 250 books and many magazines and newspapers. For example, there is a book about the Titanic and a newspaper about it with interior printing, printed on real newspaper.

There are books for children and adults in German and English. There are also many old mail-order catalogues, mostly in English. These are popular in the USA and Canada.

Of course, there is much more in my shop. My pride and joy are my miniature file folders that have a mini rivet as a handle hole and an inside index and pages for turning the pages. I buy the rivets in the USA, and the finished folders are often delivered there. My shop is the only one that offers folders of this type.

I have also sold a huge number of my small stick umbrellas. I now have countless patterns for the umbrellas. They are made of paper and aluminium wire, and the handles are painted with nail polish in a matching colour.

There are Advent calendars with 24 opening doors that are ordered in the summer for Christmas.

My Etsy shop contains around 400 items.

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 sold the first items relatively quickly after opening the shop. Since I was still working at the time, I couldn't make very many items and took things slowly. I have been retired since 2016, and since then, sales have increased year after year. I have many regular customers who immediately buy a new "old" book as soon as I list it.

Managing Minis1to12

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 make the minis, handle the sales and invoices, and pick them myself. My husband takes care of the packaging and shipping.

The future of Minis1to12 

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

I hope that making the minis will keep you healthy for a few more years. If I don't find anyone who can take over the production of my minis, then the shop will eventually close and there will no longer be any mini books from my workshop. ☹️

Advice for new sellers

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

If someone wants to start an Etsy shop, the first consideration should be: what can I make that other sellers don't? You have to find a gap in the market or items that others also sell, but then do better than the competition. I have some items in my listings that no one else has.