Etsy Seller Interview with Tammy of SpiralesDargent

How SpiralesDargent 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?

Hi, my name is Tammy, and I am the designer, maker, and business head behind Spirales d’Argent. It’s just me, so I have my work cut out to keep up! Spirales d’Argent (which is silver spirals in French) is a silver and copper wire jewelry shop. All of my jewelry is made with either silver plate, sterling silver, or fine silver and oxidized copper with semi-precious gemstones, and everything has a spiral or two in the design. I work in my sunroom off the back of my house in the heart of Devon, UK, often with my husband on the other side of the room working on his art business.

Originally I was a wedding florist, and I started to diversify into making tiaras with wire and pearls, but I wasn’t really into tiaras, so it merged into making some simple beaded necklaces and earrings that I was just selling at car boot sales and at local school events. That was back in 2008, but I soon realized that everyone who makes jewelry does it the same, so I wanted to come up with something a bit different. Wire jewelry in those days was quite a new concept, but I managed to find a book in the local bookstore that taught the basics. I took that book on vacation and worked my way through every project in the book! I soon realized I was in love with spirals.

Fast forward to 2010, when we moved to a community farm in Cornwall and I started taking my jewelry more seriously. I came up with a necklace that was just spirals, some with gemstones too. I attended local craft fairs, and people were buying my jewelry! I didn’t actually get around to opening an Etsy shop until 2015 (I did have my own website too, which got a few sales), but it wasn’t very good, so sales were sparse. In 2017, I got my act together and put a ton of work into my shop, and over the last 5 and a half years, my sales have been growing steadily, and with the introduction of new designs, it’s been going well.

Favorite items

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

My best-selling products are my plain silver spiral necklaces. I never intended it to, but after getting lots of reviews on them where customers were saying they looked like a similar necklace worn by a BBC TV presenter, they had been searching for one just like it and found mine! Although mine are nothing like hers, over the years I have had hundreds of women say the same thing. I now do several variations with different spirals.

My favorite items to make, however, are my copper wire-wrapped gemstones. They are a labor of love, and some can take a considerable amount of time to complete, but I love how organic they are. I don’t plan how I want each one to come out; I might have an idea of how I want it to be, but mostly I let the stone talk to me, which makes everyone different. They don’t sell as well as spiral necklaces, but they are growing in popularity, and I have had several go in the same order before.

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 can’t remember exactly what it was some time ago now, but as I mentioned above, I opened my shop in 2015, and by 2018 I had only done 100 sales! I’m now working towards 1700, which isn’t a lot compared to some shops, but my items are in the higher price range, so I don’t need as many sales.

I’m actually not that great at pushing my shop, mainly because the level of sales I get is fine for me to keep up with at the moment (although more would never be turned down). I might put out the odd post on my socials (I’m on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, and TikTok, but I cringe if anything involves me in front of the camera!) but I don’t have a massive following. As I’m in the higher sales bracket, I have to have Etsy offsite ads, which do bring in quite a few sales a month.

Managing SpiralesDargent

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 is just me (I do have my husband as well, who has his own Etsy shop too :) for moral support and to bash around any ideas. I use the Etsy app for quick reference, and I have used Marmalead before to help with SEO. But I don’t use any other apps; I’m a bit lazy about all the technical stuff.

I used to handwrite all my postage labels and take them to the post office (so I could support their business too), but after the strikes we had in the UK, they wanted us to purchase international labels online for a while as we couldn’t do it in the post office. I realized it was a lot easier to purchase my postage through Etsy, so I’ve been doing it ever since, which makes my time in the post office (to get proof of postage) quicker. I do feel bad, though, that I’m not letting the post office get their commissions anymore.

The future of SpiralesDargent

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

My shop has been progressing nicely, so at the moment, I would just like it to continue the way it has. I am aware I might not be able to carry on making my jewelry forever; it’s not great for your hands! When I’m busy, my hands do get a bit stiff, so I’m having to be careful, and now that I’m on the wrong side of 45, everything is going downhill fast! Ha Ha!.

Looking forward to the future, I have dabbled with other crafts and have two other shops; one is closed at the moment as my heart isn’t really into the crafts I was making (t-shirts, stickers, mugs, and other gift items). The other one is a wish bracelet shop, which I opened at the end of lockdown, so I think I missed the boat with the token "thinking of you" gifts that just ticks along but it sells well at craft shows that I still attend regularly.

I am about to open another shop soon, selling handmade soaps. Sadly, I lost my good friend and trading buddy at the end of last year. She made beautiful soaps. Her aunt gifted me all of her soap-making equipment, recipes, and remaining ingredients. So I have been teaching myself her recipes. I’m in the process of getting them assessed in my name, and I have bars curing, so I will be ready to launch soon. So look out for Rowan’s Soaps (named after my old dog, who I used to walk with my friend and her dogs).

Advice for new sellers

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

Don’t be afraid to open a shop and just see how it goes. Listen to your customer's reviews and always be polite when they contact you, no matter how narky they might get. Research your product and make sure you can actually make money doing it. I’m a bit of a spreadsheet queen; I will set one up that lists everything I will use to make a product, including packaging and postage, listing fees and transaction fees, and my time, and then I will put on that the markup I want to make on an item. It’s got to be worth it; otherwise, you won’t enjoy doing it.

And be patient for those first elusive sales; there are thousands of sellers on Etsy, so it’s not always easy to find you. In the meantime, attend craft fairs and get a feel for how customers like your products. And if they don’t sell, try something else!