Etsy Seller Interview with Michael of VintagePatternFreak

How VintagePatternFreak 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?

I’m Michael, and my store Vintage Pattern Freak was born out of my hobby for collecting old knitting patterns. I can’t actually knit myself, but patterns are a great source of everyday historical fashions through the eras, and this is why I began collecting them. I have a collection of over 100,000 patterns, and currently just over 5000 are listed! Friends kept borrowing patterns from me and telling me I should make them available to other crafters, and suddenly Vintage Pattern Freak was born! I source my patterns from many places: yard sales, charity shops, and, of course, those friends who got me here are always passing on patterns they find! I only sell vintage patterns that have expired copyright protection, and it is quite time-consuming to get them ready for sale.

I begin by scanning the patterns, digitally improving their quality by enlarging them to modern sizes, erasing marks and notations, removing wrinkles and creases, and rebranding them before listing them on Etsy with up-to-date information such as what modern equivalent yarn is needed to make the garment. I started by collecting knitting patterns, but on my travels I have amassed many other craft patterns, including crochet, macramé, tatting, and toy making, to name a few. Once I’d started selling knitting patterns, it seemed like the next logical step, and now I sell many different types of craft patterns—even though I can't crochet, tat, or sew anymore than I can knit!

Favorite items

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

My favourite patterns have to be those from the 1950s, such as Ladies Women's 50s Vintage 3 Ply Split Neck Short Sleeve (Etsy) and Ladies Women's 40s Vintage 3 Ply Square Neck Fair Isle Banded (Etsy).

The patterns from the 50’s are so elegant and stylish—both men’s and women’s—and whilst they aren’t my best sellers, they consistently draw in new customers looking for something different from today's modern designs, and that often leads to sales of my other patterns.

One of my best-selling patterns is (Ladies Womens 80s Vintage Beginners Easy to Knit DK Polo (Etsy). I love this design for the sheer simplicity of it; it’s easy to knit, a great starting point for novice knitters, and can be completed in very little time. It makes the perfect gift and is much cheaper to make than many other knitted garments—you can even use leftover yarn!

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?

Oh my, that first sale was such a long time ago! But I recall getting that sale within a week of starting Etsy. Selling patterns on Etsy is a numbers game, as the patterns I sell are relatively inexpensive. I wasn’t expecting to get my first sale as quickly as I did. For the first couple of years, my sales were spaced out with days (sometimes a week) between them, but now I have sales on a daily basis, and that’s down to having a good inventory list. If you’re thinking of selling patterns on Etsy, you need to stand out in the crowd! There are literally hundreds of thousands of patterns available to buy; getting yourself on page 1 of a customer's search is very important, and one of the ways to do that is to try different titles for your listings to find what works for you and gets you seen. I don’t advertise my business other than through Etsy itself, but I do put all my listed patterns on Pinterest. That way, if someone is looking for a specific design or pattern type, I come up on searches outside of Etsy and can easily redirect potential customers back to my site.

Managing VintagePatternFreak

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 the show! And with another job during the day, most of the time I spend on my Etsy store is done during the winter months. I don’t use any other apps or tools to run my store as patterns are something my customers are already looking for when they come to me. I tried many different tools and apps at the start, but they didn’t fit with my business and made little if any noticeable difference to my sales. Some of the apps and tools can be very effective in helping you grow your Etsy business, but for me personally, growing my business was all about getting seen in the crowd first!

Handling shipping and fulfilment is easy, peesy! I sell downloadable PDF copies of my patterns, and once a sale is made, Etsy handles the rest—I don’t have to do a thing! I sell the odd hardcopy pattern from my own website, run through Etsy, but they make up less than 1% of my sales. I probably go to the post office a couple of times a year!

The future of VintagePatternFreak 

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

Obviously, growing sales is important, but when I started the shop, it was just a bit of a hobby. Now that I’ve seen how popular my pattern collection is, my ultimate goal is to get my whole collection listed. My shop is already way more successful than I expected it to be, and long term, it would be great to see it turn into a post-retirement income!

Advice for new sellers

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

Stick with it; it takes time to build an Etsy business! You need to get your products seen and build a customer base—that doesn’t happen overnight! Do your research and see what other sellers are doing to get seen, and definitely spend time on SEO; the titles given to your products are essential for customers to be able to find you. Use every last character in your title, and ask friends and family how they would describe your product. If you're planning to sell worldwide, it’s also essential to research what your product is called abroad (in the UK, they call it wool; in Canada and the US, they call it yarn!). Then start to build your business up from there. If you're selling patterns like me, it’s important to build up a large inventory. A couple of products listed in a sea of thousands won’t get you anywhere fast, but having multiple products listed will keep customers coming back time and again to see what’s new!

My top tips for success would be to have clear photos of what you’re selling, a good descriptive title for your product, and patience!