Etsy Seller Interview with Shirley of Shirleychiche

How Shirleychiche 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 love affair with Etsy began in 2012, when I discovered accessible creations and artists from all over the world. Being an artisan woman, I'm always on the lookout for new sustainable and vegan fabrics for my handmade product ranges. On Etsy, I discovered "natural beeswax canvas" and "cork leather", which were to become the favorite materials in my catalog! So I started out as a buyer on Etsy in 2013, before daring to go ahead and open my own creations store with handmade cushions, stuffed animals, decorated diaries, and a few girly wallets. I love Etsy: its colors, its fluidity, its elegance, its talented designers, but above all, I love its back office! I easily navigate the site to bring product sheets to life, and this is really important when you're not a geek. For the past 10 years, I've been selling internationally thanks to Etsy, and my business owes a lot to it!

My Etsy shop and my handmade products have evolved since 2013: no more stuffed animals and children's schoolbags! I worked in order to specialize in the manual creation of personalized cork organizers as well as original paper page refills. I picture the diary filled with beautiful reflections that I would have liked to have had. I conceptualize a budget monitoring file, project pages, writing routines, burnout diary, etc. And then I am influenced by the original requests of my clients! Writing really allows us to live our lives better. I am a woman, a mother and mother-in-law of four children, an artist, an entrepreneur, a reader, and a woman who has dreams! Like everyone. I see my creations as my life mission because they can really change people's lives. Really.

Favorite items

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

When I became a professional, I made the decision to create each copy to measure. It gives me new excitement for every project! We are very far from industrial creation, or even small series! I consider myself an organization artist (lol)! As I work with each client to match their favorite fabrics, colors, hues, patterns, etc., their organizer is always unique. That's why my clients come to me: the certainty of getting something different that looks like them. My Etsy shop has three featured products and one bonus product the Classic cork organizer model, which closes with an elastic band.

And finally, the A5 Master Liège, which looks like an elegant, with new storage pockets, a zipped or huge pocket on the back of the rings

The A5 size is my favorite, and it's also the best-selling in my shop. We all love having space to write! Every year, I refine the details, I improve the outfit, and I modify the design. This year, I added to my work tools a sublimation printer to create unique fabrics, a laser engraver for beautiful decorations on the cover of the notebook, a hot stamp to give gold and silver to my creations, and more incredible machines! We evolve, and our needs do too! My bonus is the most seen product in my shop, a mini wallet with the traditional look of my art, a real complement to the organizer. A mini cork wallet, always personalized. It is certainly the most desired and favorite purchase!

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's been 10 years now! I went to find my first sale, and it was already a simple diary bought in the store, which I had covered with a decorated cover in imitation leather. We are very far from the current quality, but I regret not offering organizers that are as richly decorated as my first diaries! It makes me want to start over! But today, like 10 years ago, for someone to enter your Etsy shop, it's all about photos and only photos. Keywords will bring you tourists, and good photos will bring you customers! I'll give you an example that looks like everything I've known for 10 years: I create a lovely bag that I take pictures of from every angle, then I create an Etsy listing with well-chosen tags. The result: 25 people in a few hours. The main photo was not chosen, and when I selected a new one, the counter exploded not only on Etsy but also on Pinterest! The angle of view is subtle, and I don't always get the picture of the century, but when it happens, it's magic! Bet on photos that catch the eye—not when your product is alone on a page, but when it is a sample among other creations.

Managing Shirleychiche 

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?

Like many small entrepreneurs, I work alone from my studio, which is actually a space set up in my large bedroom. For 10 years, I have been working in 6 m2, and yet, it works! This requires good organization, and that's good; it's my field. I use the walls, the floor, the half heights, and a whole bunch of clever furniture (elevating tables, workshop shelves, etc.).

Twice a year, I do a personal audit of my Etsy shop. This allows me to create new frames for the cards, improve the keywords, check the elements indicated, change some photos (for example, the fabrics in stock or to put other views of the creations), or check the prices. I really like this calm, introspective, but also curious working time! For a week, I dedicate myself to refreshing my shop because the keywords change and evolve.

Here are the tools I work with:

Deep translator: multi-language translation Ideal for understanding and being understood.
Ubersuggest: find keywords, ideas for texts, and arguments. (I'm excited to soon use ChatGPT to support me in the creation of spec sheets!)
PicMonkey: for processing my photos
Canva: obviously, for marketing

What I don't like at all is the drop-off work at the post office. I love making beautiful wrappers, but I've been agoraphobic for a long time, and certain fits can keep me from leaving the house. I take care of myself (laughs), but it can happen that I lack regularity and that delays are to be expected. So I set my delivery times to several weeks to give myself time. Also, being honest with your customers is very important, and my little flaw is always forgiven by surprises. <3

The future of Shirleychiche  

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

2023 drives us back to basics. For me, that means acting more like an artist, rather than an entrepreneur. This means adding to sewing: painting, engraving, modelling, stamping, mixing techniques and tools to make each organizer an even more precious copy, a small work of art.

Enjoying is a value that seems difficult to keep, for a craftsman. To be more efficient and effective, to think in terms of profitability, I forgot about it. What a mistake !

The notion of pleasure is the basis of craftsmanship, in any case the basis of my personal and professional work.

My shop will therefore be filled with personal works on an organizer, incredible handmade objects, mixing creative techniques, but also interesting and useful paper refills, like my annual diaries.

Advice for new sellers

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

Loving what you make (and knowing why you make it) means using all the spaces available for the details of your creations. Etsy provides lots of customization options and details: photos, keywords, usage, category, material, etc. Don't overlook any!

Keep a roadmap nearby to control the details of your product sheets: colors, formats, user, use, dimensions, etc. A walker who does not know your product must have access to all the information. Reading the Etsy Seller Handbook is a gem!

No scruples; we increase our prices to absorb the margin of selling costs. Personally, I calculate an additional 18% for Etsy because I regularly have sales with Etsy's external advertising, and the margin is not the same on a small paper refill. Stop complaining about fees! For years, we've known the fees would be high, so let's play the game (or walk away). I have a personal store on the Internet, and the energy devoted to making it live and visible is immense. Etsy does the work for you. And finally, 0.22 ct for a sheet that will be presented for 4 months is a very good deal. But French is a complainer.

Don't waste time and energy copying someone else's products, listings, or photos; it won't work. Instead, ask yourself how to take inspiration from it to create something that comes from you and will carry your identity.

Be realistic about how perfect your sewing (or your art) is. You are proud to have sewn a beautiful pouch; does it have the qualities to be sold, and if so, for how much? My first organizers were worth 50 euros in 2013, and today they cost 150 euros.My technique has changed, the sewing and the quality of fabrics have improved, I equipped myself with a reflex for taking correct photos, I learned to sell on the Internet, etc. Prices will go up as the quality of creation increases.

If you sell a lot, you are not expensive enough. For 10 years, I have learned to prefer to work less, but better, three burnouts later, rather than creating under permanent stressful conditions.

After-sales service is a pillar of your creative business! Listening, understanding, and welcoming needs; solutions provided to your customers... You will work on the trust they have in you and your products. Have fun! This is the best solution to still being there in 10 years. One last thing: don't hesitate to evolve your creative work when you evolve yourself.