Etsy is an online marketplace for crafters from all over the world to sell their goods. Etsy is also the perfect setup for small business, and now, for people wanting to make millions. Just ask Alicia Shaffer.
Did you guys catch us in our Good Morning America debut?! Check it out below. We could not be more excited!!… http://t.co/6FrUyt3NdU
— Three Bird Nest (@ThreeBirdNest) February 20, 2015
The mom-of-three originally went to Etsy in 2011 when she wanted to be able to pay for “ dance lessons ” and her “son’s soccer,” according to ABC News .
What was her weekly goal? Shaffer said she was “hoping to make $100 a week.”
Shaffer spoke with Business Insider and added, “I was really just trying to make a couple sales a week because I had lost confidence in my ability to start a business.”
Shaffer’s sales on Etsy has far exceeded her own expectations.
There are some seriously exciting things on the on the horizon for Three Bird Nest, just believe you can and you… http://t.co/YQTq0KB38Z
— Three Bird Nest (@ThreeBirdNest) February 13, 2015
How much is the mother living in rural California making now?
Shaffer is pulling in anywhere from $70,000 to $80,000 a month. Yes, you read that right. Shaffer is making up to $80,000 monthly from her Etsy store.
The store, ThreeBirdNest, is one of the five top grossing stores on Etsy, which is a big feat because “65 percent of Etsy sellers make less than $100 from their shops all year.”
Shaffer began her store after a clothing store she and her husband ran went out of business due to the recession. She began her online Etsy store by creating homemade headbands and socks, and it started to evolve into clothing.
Shaffer made sure her Etsy store included only things that she sewed and created herself. People began to fall in love with her “boho creations,” and she soon received a boom she hadn’t expected.
Just weeks after setting up her Etsy store, Shaffer was “faced with getting 90 orders to customers before Christmas.” The immensity of it made Shaffer break down, but it was also a breakthrough for the crafter.
Shaffer said, “I was crying and didn’t know how I would get it done…That was the moment I decided to stop treating it like a hobby and start treating it like a business.”
And it has become quite a business. Despite pulling in so many sales each month, Shaffer “pays herself a salary of $55,000 a year and reinvests the rest in the business.”
What’s her advice to help you have a truly successful Etsy store?
Shaffer says having a “professional photographer and model” makes all the difference.
While you may not be able to pull in as much as Shaffer does, Etsy looks like it may just be a great way to make some money.
[Photo Courtesy of TechSum ]
