How TinyImaginarium 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?

Hello! I am Swee Cheng, and I am known as Cheng to my family and friends. I am the creator and owner of Tiny Imaginarium. Tiny Imaginarium is a small handmade jewellery business I started in 2016. I was taking a break from working full-time in the corporate world when a friend asked if I was interested in crafting some nudibranchs (sea slugs) for sale. I looked into different materials that I could potentially use and decided to explore polymer clay as a medium. Polymer clay excited me, and I began creating tiny, dainty jewellery for myself. Some of my designs caught my friends' attention, and they encouraged me to set up an Etsy shop.

I was (and still am) obsessed with scuba diving and marine life, so I decided to channel some of that energy into Tiny Imaginarium. I saw this as an opportunity to share my love of the ocean and worked on designs that incorporated marine life. These marine-themed jewellery pieces are my best sellers and what has kept me going. These days, most of my creations are mainly made with resin. Every design starts with a sculpt in polymer clay. Once I am satisfied with the design, I proceed to make silicone moulds and start experimenting with resin, colours, and finishing. This process of creating a new design can sometimes take weeks or months before it is available for purchase. More often than not, many designs end up in the trash, and the process starts all over again.

Favorite items

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

I might be biased, but I have many favourites! Some of them are my one-of-a kind creations, such as tiny seahorses in glass cloches or bell jars, tiny snails in various settings, and tiny shark cement figurines. These are usually sold very soon after they are available for sale. I have many favourite earring designs too. They are the orca, hammerhead shark, manta ray, sheep nudibranch, and weedy sea dragon earrings. These sell really well, as the design is unique.

Hammerhead shark earrings, hammerhead jewelry, shark jewelry, ocean lover, scuba gifts, shark studs, marine biologist, beach lover
Manta ray earrings, manta ray, sting ray, ocean creatures, sea life, midnight manta, galaxy manta, beach lover, scuba diver
Weedy sea dragon stud earrings, sea dragon, sea horse, marine animal, Australian wildlife, seadragon, handmade accessories, resin earrings

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?

My first sale was on day 1! It was a friend who was my first customer, and another sale came a few days later from a complete stranger. The thrill of knowing someone who doesn’t know me bought one of my creations will stay with me forever.

I share new designs or projects I am working on on Tiny Imaginarium’s social media pages (Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest). I also make sure to work on my SEO and use all the tags available on Etsy. Most importantly, I make sure to deliver the best quality product and provide the best customer service to ensure an overall satisfying shopping experience. I am happy and proud to say that I have many returning customers.

Managing TinyImaginarium

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 am the sole boss and employee. I design, create, photograph, list, ship, etc. I cannot draw, so all design ideas are sculpted with polymer clay. This sometimes takes many tries before I get it right. Once the design is complete, I take photos and videos for the listing and also for social media. I use Adobe Photoshop to edit all my photos.

Most of what is available to purchase is ready-made, and an order usually gets handed over to my shipper within 1 to 2 days. I am located in Malaysia, but my customers are located all around the world, with the majority of them in the USA. The cost of international shipping can be a big turnoff, so I am currently working with a local company that can provide an economical and reliable international shipping solution with door-to-door tracking.

The future of TinyImaginarium

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

I hope that I can continue to entice shoppers with constant new design ideas and unique purchases that they cannot find elsewhere. It is also my hope to offer more than jewellery and figurines, but what that will be is yet to be worked out.

Advice for new sellers

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

When I first started, I had no knowledge of what goes into making your listing searchable. I had joined seller forums and watched a lot of Youtube tutorials on how to get more people to your Etsy shop. Make sure you have great photos, clear, concise listings, and product descriptions, and work on your SEO.

Alura Team
Alura Team

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