Etsy Seller Interview with Erin of PayneAndComfort

How PayneAndComfort 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’m Erin Payne, and in 2015 I opened an Etsy shop called Payne and Comfort, which would eventually become a therapeutic hot and cold pack company. I was working a retail job at the time in addition to some costume design work at a local theater. After realizing the theater lifestyle wasn’t a good fit for me, I shifted gears and started thinking of other functional ways I could use my sewing ability and work on my own schedule. Hand warmers seemed like something I could easily make in bulk, so after some product testing, I settled on a style and bought a small selection of flannel fabric and a 25-lb box of flaxseed. I had a friend model the samples for photographs, and I got them listed on Etsy. In my first few weeks, I had 10 or so orders, and that was enough motivation for me to want to expand to different product styles. I went from just hand warmers to eye pillows and neck wraps, and that’s when Payne & Comfort was truly born as a hot/cold pack company.

Self-care is definitely something that began trending around the time I started my business, and I realized my own self-care was not something I prioritized. Creating a product made specifically for comfort helped change that mindset. Encouraging my customers to prioritize self-care and rest with a hot or cold pack made me feel better about doing it myself.

In the beginning, I’d buy supplies from craft stores like JoAnn Fabrics, but I now have manufacturer relationships with several wholesale fabric companies and purchase fabric by the bolt. I also buy flaxseed in bulk—several tons per year—which is a huge jump from the 25-lb box I started with. I went from printing my own tags to creating them in Canva and having them professionally printed. All products are handmade and packaged by me, with help from an occasional contractor to sew during busy seasons.

Favorite items

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

The Monthly Bean is my favorite item and a best-seller. I created these specifically for relief from period pain and cramps. The bean shape hugs the lower tummy, and because it’s a larger size, the weight adds extra comfort. I think they sell well because they’re a unique shape I haven’t seen from any other shops, plus a portion of the proceeds are donated to women’s charities. Over the years, I’ve been able to donate nearly $10,000 to various women’s charities like Planned Parenthood, Period.org, and The Loveland Foundation, among others.

I also favor spooky-themed fabrics since I’ve always been a huge fan of Halloween. They don’t sell as well as the florals, but I continue to offer them to customers who share a similar appreciation of the occult. I try to select more contemporary, nature-inspired prints in general rather than the traditional quilting fabrics you often see in hot and cold packs. I did a lot of research, in the beginning, to make sure my products and photos would stand out on Etsy and be something different.

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 had my first few sales within 3 days to family and friends who had seen me post on social media, but about a week later I had my first sale to a stranger! I sold to another five customers who found me through Etsy within the first two weeks.

Social media played (and continues to play) a huge role in marketing my business. Before the algorithm changes, Instagram was where I found the majority of my customers. I have a business Facebook page and one on Pinterest as well, and I am currently trying to get better at using TikTok for business. My product packaging also includes my Instagram handle, and every order is sent with a postcard encouraging customers to "share their comfort" on social media and tag me. I regularly try to get my products featured in gift guides and will occasionally do product-for-exposure trades with influencers who reach out and have an audience I think will appreciate my brand. I also encourage new email subscriber sign-ups by offering a 10% off coupon for first orders, and I send at least one email a month with new product announcements or sales.

Managing PayneAndComfort

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 manage my shop entirely on my own, mostly using a made-to-order model. I make and fulfill orders as they come in and have separate stations in my studio for cutting fabric, sewing, packaging, and shipping. I ship via USPS and utilize their free package pick-up feature to avoid multiple trips to the post office. I found that since most of my products are over 1 pound, it’s more cost-effective to use their Priority Flat Rate Shipping boxes and envelopes. This makes it easy to know exactly how much shipping different items will cost. I ship Etsy orders directly through Etsy, but I will sometimes use PirateShip.com to ship non-Etsy orders as they offer better prices than the USPS website. A few years into my business, I invested in a Dymo 4XL shipping label printer, which saves a ton of time by not having to cut and tape the labels.

For packaging design and printing, I use Canva Pro and then download the files to have them printed through UPrinting.com. I purchase product tags, business cards, postcards, and occasional signage from them when I do craft markets.

For photos and marketing, I edit using the Lightroom app and schedule Instagram posts through Later. And for the dreaded bookkeeping task, I use a combination of the Etsy Seller Spreadsheet from Paper and Spark as well as Quickbooks Self-Employed to make it easier to sort business and personal purchases as it links directly with my bank account.

The future of PayneAndComfort

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

I now have multiple selling platforms, including Etsy, my own website, and wholesale via Faire.com. I’m seeing that business has definitely slowed down in the last few months for a lot of shop owners, including myself, so right now the goal is to explore more marketing strategies like TikTok and influencer partnerships to get my brand seen by a bigger audience. I also have some ideas for new products and will prioritize developing those this year.

Advice for new sellers

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

My biggest piece of advice is to find your niche and offer something unique. Etsy is so oversaturated with sellers now that you have to bring something different to the table in order to stand out. I researched lots of other similar shops in the beginning and tried to find a gap in the market. As I mentioned earlier, my fabric selection and unique shapes on some of my products really set Payne and Comfort apart from other hot/cold pack sellers. I also use a lot of lifestyle photos and photos with a model to show how the product can be used, rather than just the typical white-background product shot.

SEO also plays a big role on Etsy. Use all of the tags and keywords you can think of to make it easy for customers to find you. Etsy shows in its statistics which keywords people use the most to find your shop, so a couple of times a year I’ll go in and update the tags with the most frequently used words. It helps to reply to messages quickly and ship orders on time now that Etsy has a "Star Seller" rating. I also recommend joining Facebook groups for Etsy sellers or finding local maker groups so you have a good place to ask questions to people who may have been in similar situations.