Episode 187 | Top Etsy Seller Reveals Secrets for $200,000/Year on Etsy

Ready to skyrocket your income on Etsy? In this episode, I’m sitting down with my student Candice Schlautmann, a top seller on Etsy who explains how she became so successful and was able to make $200K/year on Etsy.

In this week’s episode we discuss:

[00:42] How Candice got started on Etsy

[01:22] Candice’s First Year on Etsy

[03:50] What helped Candice gain traction on Etsy

[05:17]  Candice’s $3,500 Sale

[06:17] Is Etsy Better Than Shopify?

[07:28]  How Candice made $200K With No Employees

[08:48] Candice’s Biggest Sales Month

[09:49] How Many Listings Do You Need?

[11:39] How To Target Profitable Customers

[13:07]  The Secret To Success on Etsy

[14:13] What Etsy has done for Candice’s life

[15:24] Etsy Is Not Saturated

[17:17] Caroline’s Favorite Thing about Selling on Etsy

[18:29] Best Advice For New Etsy Sellers

[19:55] – Where to Find Candice Online

How Candice got started on Etsy

Candice graduated in 2013 with a degree in graphic design and went straight into the corporate world. After that, she was a corporate in-house designer for 5-7 years and then did some ad agency work.

For the agency, they did some B2B but it’s definitely been a shift to go from corporate to owning her own business. 

Candice’s First Year on Etsy

Candice started on Etsy in March 2021 and it was a very slow start because she didn’t have any experience with selling and marketing herself. During her first year on Etsy, she just put out things that she liked to see what worked and what didn’t. Her revenue for her first year was around $22,000.

She opened in March and it took her a couple months to get that first sale. Once that happened, then she figured out what people were looking for and started building more listings off of that. At the end of the year, she was thrilled that she had even gotten to that point. 

In 2022, she decided to really focus on growing on Etsy and ended up making around $112,000 in revenue.In 2023, she made close to $200,000.

The reason Candice opened up her shop is because COVID was still going strong and she had an infant and wanted to do something that was flexible with her schedule.

Candice knew that she needed to make Etsy work because she didn’t want to be out and about with an infant during COVID. Failure was not an option for her. 

What helped Candice gain traction on Etsy

Although it was a slow start to building her business on Etsy, she made sure to never give up. She got excited by each sale and built momentum off of that. Things aren’t always going to be great. You’re going to have upset customers at times so it’s important to not take it as a personal rejection because it is just business. Even though it can be challenging at times, being able to push her emotions aside really helped her thrive on Etsy.

Candice’s $3,500 Sale

Recently, a large corporation placed a $3,500 sale in Candice’s shop to award their highest performing franchises. Without Etsy, Candice wouldn’t have been able to make that sale. 

Is Etsy Better Than Shopify?

Candice has experience designing websites so she understands the marketing challenges that come with having your own website. Etsy does a lot of the legwork for Candice so dealing with the extra fees is really worth it for her. 

How Candice made $200K With No Employees

Candice currently doesn’t have any employees but is planning to make her first hire very soon. Her products are print on demand which means she pays a vendor to make the item for her. Not having to produce the item and ship it saves Candice a lot of time. 

When Candice makes her first hire, she will be bringing on someone to help with the administrative and customer service side of the business. 

 Candice’s Biggest Sales Month

Her biggest sales month was almost $30,000. She is now looking to scale to $100,000,000 in revenue over the next couple years and plans to add some new products like stationary to make that dream a reality. Eventually, she wants to see her products in retail stores. 

How Many Listings Do You Need?

People typically think you need to have thousands of listings on Etsy to be successful but Candice only has 28 listings. It is really all about the quality of the listings, not the quantity. 

How To Target Profitable Customers

One thing that Candice thinks contributed to her success is really working on elevating her branding. 

The Secret To Success on Etsy 

If you want to grow your Etsy, you need help. There are always things to learn to help you improve your shop so that’s where the Ultimate Etsy Course comes in. If you’re comfortable you can just keep doing what you’re doing, but if you want to take your business to the next level then you need support. 

What Etsy has done for Candice’s life

Etsy has allowed Candice to be able to stay home and be more present with her kids. She now has a much more flexible schedule and is able to take more time off and vacation with her family. 

Etsy Is Not Saturated

There are tons of sellers on Etsy and thousands of items on Etsy, but not every seller or product is great. There is room for more great sellers on Etsy. You really just need to find a customer to serve. 

Caroline’s Favorite Thing about Selling on Etsy

Her favorite thing is the creative freedom that she has. When she was doing work for clients previously, it was more about what they wanted whereas on Etsy she is able to make things more her style as long as the customers are purchasing.

Best Advice For New Etsy Sellers 

Candice encourages new Etsy sellers to just keep going because persistence pays off. Keep going and you will see success. If you put in the work, then you will see the results. Once you hit 1,000 sales, then it starts to snowball. 

Where to Find Candice Online

Visit Candice’s shop Fresh Letter Studio and follow her on Instagram.