What It Takes To Succeed On Etsy, From PuurBody Owner Brandi

Selling on Etsy is a great way to earn money and expand your business. Our article, Become an Etsy Rockstar covers the big questions new sellers come across, but we wanted to give you a deeper understanding of what goes into running an Etsy shop.

To do so, we talked to one of our customers, successful Etsy seller Brandi, owner of PuurBody.

OnlineLabels: Hello Brandi! Can you give us a history of your store and the products you sell?

Brandi: I started my business in 2010. At that time, I only offered soap and a handful of scents. My hope was just that ONE person would buy my soap and then I'd be happy because I'd know that I had a marketable product!

My first order happened within a couple of weeks and I was shocked but quickly realized that I wasn't going to be satisfied with just one sale. So, I expanded my offerings gradually and now make nearly 500 different products.

OL: Why did you decide to sell your products on Etsy? Do you sell on any other platform as well?

B: I hadn't heard of Etsy when I was seeking out a platform to sell my products, but my sister mentioned the name and I decided to sign up. I also sell wholesale and through my website.

OL: Why do you enjoy selling on Etsy?

B: I really enjoy being able to easily connect with so many buyers in so many different countries. It's also very low-risk, especially for new business owners, to reach a large buyer base.

"My shop basically runs itself which frees me up to do the most important part — develop, make, and ship products."

OL: What challenges did you face starting out?

B: Packaging was my biggest and most immediate problem. It took a lot of trial and error to find packaging concepts that were attractive, practical, and readily available. Branding was the next big issue and that's a continuous work in progress.

OL: What are your favorite products to sell? Are there any products you hope to start selling in the future?

B: I like selling everything! That's my biggest problem actually, reining in all the different products I like making. I'm constantly developing new things, the trick is to keep it manageable!

OL: How do you manage selling almost 500 different products?

B: Not very well sometimes, which is why I'm trying to streamline. It's hard for me to discontinue products though because I get attached and then, of course, I'm always developing new products.

OL: Why did you decide to use OnlineLabels as your label supplier?

B: I think it was a Google search. I was looking for specific sizes AND water resistant AND affordable, and OnlineLabels fit the bill. By the way, I recently underwent a revamp of my brand and before deciding on a label size, we definitely checked out which soap label sizes were available at OnlineLabels and then designed a label around that availability! It's important!

OL: What role do our labels play in your business? Which materials do you prefer and why?

B: For bath and beauty products, labels are a HUGE part of the equation! I could have the best product in the world, but nobody would ever know because nobody would buy bath products that aren't professionally and attractively labeled. I mainly use the Weatherproof Matte material because the water-resistant factor is key in products that will come into contact with water and oils and the matte finish gives my products the look I'm after.

Doing my own labels also makes it relatively easy and quick to add new products. I have a template, so after I create a new product I quickly design a new label and then list it.

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We'd like to thank Brandi for chatting with us about her store! Read interviews from other Etsy Superstars including an Etsy beauty seller and Etsy candle entrepreneur.

If you have more Etsy selling tips, discuss them with others in our Etsy seller forum. We also cover marketing on Etsy, find out how to delivering exceptional service, switching to Amazon handmade, and when to leave Etsy.