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How TheWhiteSageWay 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?
The White Sage Way started out as a spiritual greeting card company. I made a range of cards that incorporated crystal cabochons, and my casual interest in crystals intensified! At the same time, I moved to a lovely town in Sussex where there was a crystal shop. That was it, really. I became addicted. I couldn’t walk past this shop without feeling drawn in! I soon started to accumulate a rather large collection of crystals. I noticed visitors were often drawn to them and would ask what the crystal lore meaning was for each. I would often gift them to friends and notice how pleased they were with these beautiful yet relatively inexpensive stones. A hop, skip, and a jump later, I became a crystal seller (well, in reality, it was a tonne of work later, but you get the picture).
Favorite items
What are your favorite items? What makes these so special? Why do you think these items might be selling well?
It’s hard to say what my favourite item in the shop is—there are too many! I’m a great lover of aura finishes, so I am often drawn to those items. I love all things Dragon, so the Aura Rose Quartz Dragon is a favourite. You can see them here, but they come in many different stones and are very popular in jade.
These do sell well, and I think that is because there is an interest in all things mystical—dragons, mermaids, gnomes, fairies, etc. We all need a little mystical in our lives. But I also go a little crazy over some of the big one-off pieces. One of my favourites at the moment is an Ocean Jasper Owl—it’s a beauty! I’m really fond of woodland creatures—owls, rabbits, hares, etc.
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?
Like many sellers, I think my first sale was to a friend! And my second and third! I struggled with SEO (and still do) and am always learning and trying to improve things. I post on Instagram daily and am trying to get the hang of TikTok! Crystals are now a highly competitive market, with lots of new shops appearing in the past couple of years, but being established and having a solid 5-star review history really helps. I have lots of returning customers, something that can only happen over time. There are both of those elements: first attracting new customers, then keeping those customers by making sure they get excellent customer service and great-quality products. I have very high standards for what makes it into my shop, and that really helps. That is only possible because, over many years, I developed strong relationships with stone suppliers and carvers.
Managing TheWhiteSageWay
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’s just me running my shop, which is fine most of the time, but November and December can be frantic! Apart from the Etsy app and social media apps, Canva is my most important app. I use the free version, and it does everything I need. Sometime soon, I’m planning on finding a good Canva course to learn more about what it can do. I’d be happy to pay for the pro version if I knew it could do things that were useful to me. I tried Marmalead, but I never found the time to really get to grips with it. I do know that I need to make more time for SEO! I used Mailchimp to maintain a mailing list for a monthly newsletter for a while, but I found the whole newsletter process too time-consuming! And Trunk to manage stock between Etsy and my website. I’m yet to re-open my website, but I will probably continue with that when I do. For shipping, I like to support Royal Mail and my local Post Office, so use a combination of those services—use them or lose them.
The future of TheWhiteSageWay
What goals do you have for your shop in the future?
I’m just back from 9 months off, so right now, my goals are recovering my traction! It’s got off to a good start, with established customers returning happily. There is much chat on etsy support groups about Vacation Mode ruining your shop, so I was definitely concerned, but sometimes we need a break and to rest, so that was my priority. Time will tell if I regret it, but summer is my quietest time, with customers busy with young children on school holidays and with less disposable income—and that was before the cost of living crisis! Plus, as many an Etsy seller will tell you, when the sun shines, people don’t sit indoors online shopping... But all this means that this is a good time to re-open; I have time to rebuild for the autumn/Christmas market.
I’m currently in the process of joining another selling site; I’ll keep the details under wraps until it’s all sorted, but that’s taking quite a lot of time at the moment. Fingers crossed!
Advice for new sellers
What’s your advice for a new seller starting an Etsy shop?
I see lots of new sellers on Etsy support forums asking the same question: How do I make sales? What’s the secret? There’s an idea that experienced sellers can give them the formula. There is a formula, but sadly, it is to get better at everything, which takes time. Know that you are at the beginning of your selling journey. Improve your SEO, improve your photos, improve your descriptions, and improve everything you do. When I look back at my old product photography, which at the time I thought was pretty good, I cringe at how poor it is and wonder if I made any sales. But you just keep going, and you keep getting better. There will be mistakes and time wasted; it’s all part of the process.
Experience only comes with time; there aren’t shortcuts, despite all those TikTok videos that offer instant success. And remember that progress isn’t linear; you can have good months followed by bad months and good years followed by bad years. You have to stay creative; look at your shop regularly and ask if it looks as good as you want it to. Make sure you complete all seller information, and I think it helps to have a photo of yourself so people can imagine who they are talking to. Offer the best service that you can in terms of making times and dispatch times; that helps in the Etsy rankings. But remember that it’s your business, so make sure that what you offer works for you so you don’t end up stressed to the high heavens.
