Etsy Seller Interview with Shirley of ShirleyMacArthur

How ShirleyMacArthur 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 Etsy shop is me, Shirley MacArthur. I sell my artwork prints of Hairy Highland Cows, Happy Horses, Nosey Dogs," and Nosey Cows, as well as a few others. I’ve been selling on Etsy for 10 years. As an artist, I was lucky in that I already had the products to sell—I just needed to convert my art to prints. I started off working from home when my kids were still in school, and it gave me the opportunity to grow a business whilst still being a stay-at-home mom, which for me was the biggest advantage.

I love my Etsy shop! I’ve always loved my Etsy shop because it was so easy to list my artwork prints for sale there. Etsy’s platform makes each step of adding your images, description, and postage details so clear and simple, which was really important when I first started. 

I had wanted to sell prints of all my original paintings, which I was already photographing myself, which enabled me to be ready to upload all my images for each print I listed on Etsy. I did start off with just small prints from a great professional print supplier to see which ones (if any) sold well, and then progressed onto larger box canvas prints, which ended up being the most popular. 

The packaging was a bit of a journey of trial and error. The postal service can be quite brutal, and it took a while to eventually find packaging that both looked great and protected my prints so that they arrived with my customers in perfect condition.

Favorite items

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

My Hairy Highland Cows and Happy Horses are my favorites because these were the first original paintings I started to do -- and sell! Both my Highland Cows and Happy Horses sell well, and as a Scottish artist, I’m quite proud to be able to offer a very Scottish product! I’ve recently added greeting cards to my artwork, and the Happy Horse greeting card has been a big hit, which is fantastic. Getting customer feedback and reviews is hugely important, and going by what my customers say, they sell well because my artwork makes people smile, which is just lovely.

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 seem to remember it not being long before my items were selling. It was definitely a slow buildup, but gradually my sales grew more and more. I was prepared to be very patient, and I was just absolutely delighted each time a customer made a purchase. I still am! I did spend quite a long time researching analytics and tag words, which are so important. How customers search for products, etc. At first, it was quite a lot to take in, but I kept at it, and I think it’s helped me a lot.

Managing ShirleyMacArthur

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?

Yep!  It’s only little ole me! I do everything myself. Well, just about. I do have an amazing print supplier for my larger box canvas print orders, who fulfills that order for me by printing and posting it directly to my customer. Everything else I do personally -- check orders, answer queries, package and post-prints and greeting cards, and update tracking details -- and just make sure each and every order is dealt with perfectly. As I’ve been doing this for years, I’ve gradually managed to streamline the process, and I'm of course still learning. As it is, my business is now fairly simple. I don’t use any tools or apps at all. I have recently invested in a thermal label printer, which is brilliant and I’d highly recommend it.

The future of ShirleyMacArthur

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

I’m really keen to expand my greeting cards business; they can be shipped easily and at a much lower postage cost all over the world compared to my larger prints. It's so simple to package and post, and I see that as my next goal. I’m pretty excited about my greeting cards. I’m still painting originals and adding new artwork all the time, which is still exciting. I can never predict which prints a customer will like most. Normally, my own favorites are entirely different! Perhaps calendars will be next.

Advice for new sellers

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

Do it!  Probably first, though, it’s really important to understand the structure of how your products will get to your customers. Packaging them correctly is critical to avoid losing money/profits (and disappointing customers) due to products being damaged in transit. Also, packaging can be quite expensive, as can postage costs. Understanding your costs and Etsy fees will enable any Etsy seller to price their products fairly, for both the seller and the customer.

It does take time, and you will learn along the way. Once you have the basics sorted out, it’s hugely enjoyable and fun. It’s incredibly satisfying, with a sense of achievement that can take you onward and upward, and it’s entirely up to you how much work you want to invest in it. Etsy gives you the opportunity to start a business—one that, if you had a choice of what you would like to do, you could.

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

Question: What is your average profit margin?
Answer: 50%

Question: What is your shop’s conversion rate?
Answer: 2%