Fun is the operative word that drives Amy Cappello in her online store, Splendor in the Trash. Amy collects the kitschy, the blingy, the crafty and above all, what she calls the smushy kinds of things people love for that homey, comfy feeling. She sells her collections on Etsy, a global marketplace for handmade and vintage items.
Over coffee this morning, Amy listed the top ten methods she's used to build a following on her relatively new Etsy shop. Where does she find shop items? Is she making any money?
Since starting her online shop in July---so far, so fun.
Like many Etsy shopkeepers, Amy's passion started with a love of
design. She worked as a graphic designer, and while raising her kids, started shopping garage sales. What started as a necessity to rework her finds soon became a passion. In the grand scheme, Amy would like to open a national brand of stores featuring products exclusively made out of recycled items. For now, she's focused on a business that neatly
ties together many of her passions in one online spot.
Here are Amy's rules for fun and profit:
Customer service is key
Online
shoppers are so conscious about quality and service, Amy said. She thinks
creatively on how to go the extra mile and is rewarded in the
personal relationships she develops with customers, many turning into
online friendships. When a client in Australia mentioned there was no
trick-or-treating down under, Amy tucked some Halloween candy into her
order. The client was delighted.
Packaging
Amy's
insights about online shoppers: they like to be appreciated, and yes,
they're most often women and overworked, so Amy makes it fun to receive
an order by wrapping it like a gift. She uses colored tissue paper
from the dollar store, twine for ribbon and ties a Cracker Jack toy in
the bow. For the gift tag, Amy likes to use an old playing card from
the stash she found inside a lunch box at a house sale.
Don't sell anything you can get at Target
or
Nordstrom or Pottery Barn for that matter. It will just sit there
until you take it off the site. Instead, offer items that may not be
available in other parts of the world, Amy advised. While 60% of her
items come from estate and house sales in the Chicago area, she
exercises her passion wherever she travels. "Some people like to hang
out at the pool on vacation, I like I like to attend local flea markets wherever I happen to be." At a Columbia, SC, flea
market, she found these dashboard talismans for the car. She said she
didn't know if they were serious or kitsch, but buyers found something
to like about them.
When selling vintage, disclose any imperfection
Get
a magnifying glass and examine your items carefully. Then, put any
imperfections, stains, scratches and small tears in the online
description. Amy said she learned this the hard way when she sold a
French beaded bag she thought was in perfect condition. Her customer
was upset that a few seed beads were missing.
When shopping estate sales, Amy usually makes a mad dash for the
linens section first. Later, at home, she examines her buys carefully for
vintage flaws before listing them.
Know your camera
As most online sellers know, the photograph
is everything. When Amy first started her shop, her camera expertise
maxed out at two skills--point and shoot. Since then, she's become
proficient with the settings on her digital camera. Along with this,
she adds, know how to stage items to capture the appeal of their era
and style.
Write clever copy
Amy
admits it's easy to fall into a short hand style of describing the
items for sale, but a little more energy in the title and copy makes it
a lot more fun to shop.
Shipping: educate yourself
While
you're learning the ins and outs of the shipping process, prepare
yourself for mistakes. Be willing to absorb any underestimated costs.
Don't pass your mistakes onto the customer. Amy lost a pretty penny
when sending a sale to Paris, but she kept a good customer.
Get out and know what's hip and trendy
Amy's favorite source for this is ABC Carpet and Home in NYC. Another great source is The Curious Sofa in Prairie Village, KS, and the handmade trade shows in Chicago and NYC. She also browses catalogs and magazines and likes back issues of Mary Engelbreit Home Companion.
Have a reasonable pricing philosophy
Amy's
basis for pricing: what would I pay for that? She said she doesn't do
much comparative pricing, relying instead on a close knowledge of her
customers and the threshold of what she herself would spend for an
item. Adding to her philosophy:
Don't expect to be a millionaire overnight
Slow
and steady is the way to go, she said. Be consistent in quality and
service. As a seller on eBay, Amy said she could make more money
there, but she wouldn't have as much fun as she does in the Etsy
community. Developing relationships with the buyers and sellers, conceptualizing a repurpose for vintage finds, delighting in finding
the right something for the right person---these are what drives her to
success.
Down the line, she'd like to turn Splendor in the Trash into a marketplace for the repurposed. Along with her passion for collecting is a love of conceptualizing new uses for old items.
Filed under: Sellers
Tags: Amy Capppello, Chicago etsy sellers, eBay, estate sale flipping, etsy, flea market flipping, garage sale flipping, Splendor in the Trash
Diana, great review/interview/post. I'll be checking Amy's site out. Speaking of packaging, I ordered handmade jewelry from Etsy one time not too long ago as a gift and was so disappointed when I received it. I could tell that the woman took no pride in her work as the pieces were literally stuck into a cheap plastic bag and mailed. I even emailed her a note with my order stating it was for a gift. I guess my expectations were too high.
Martha Stewart once did a show that took place in a ribbon and trim store in Manhattan. Might have been Tinsel Trading Company (www.tinseltrading.com) because it was all about gift wrapping.
I agree in thinking Amy's got it right in her presentation with simple, handy and fun packaging. LOL - is there such a thing as too high expecatations?