The following is a transcript of a podcast episode released in June 2021. The transcript has been edited slightly for this format. You can listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Or stream it via the Spotify player above.
Tess: Hi MB! Thanks so much for joining me on the show today.
MB: Hi Tess, thank you for having me.
Tess: Of course. Let’s talk a bit about your path to vintage. Your About section mentions that you first discovered your love for it at a pretty young age. Could you talk a bit about that?
MB: Yeah sure. I grew up in the Netherlands, and my mother was quite into taking us to vintage shops and flea markets. It’s always been kind of there for me. I remember when we started going it was always like me, my mom, and my sister and a lot of older people and no one my age. Even now when I go to flea markets here it’s only me and a lot of older people, because it’s not really so popular here.
Tess: I guess I associate it with being trendy here like in the States. I don't know as much about how it is in Germany.
MB: Berlin is a different story. Berlin’s probably more like the States. But Cologne and Munich which are the two cities I’ve lived in here, it’s not as popular. Especially flea markets. Because you have to wake up early, first of all, and you have to rummage through a lot of stuff to find good stuff. I think people want it to be already curated in a shop, and then they pick it up.
Tess: And I know that you’ve also talked about how the name of your shop comes from your love for storytelling. So I was wondering if you could talk about that a little bit?
MB: I always liked making up stories from a very young age. And, the thing is when I came up with the idea for the store, I knew that I wanted it to be a little bit different. Because when I see something, like going back to when I used to go to flea markets with my mom. If I see, for example, a nice linen blouse, I come up with the story about who wore it before. I was always really interested about who could have worn it before. And I always thought that it was kind of cool that someone else had it before and that there was this story behind it.
So I wanted people to have that feeling as well when they purchase something, that there’s a story behind it even if I have to make one up. That’s why I really wanted to include that somehow because one of the reasons I really like vintage as well. Aside from the fact that I find that it's better for the environment and that it’s better quality, I also think it’s kind of cool to wear something that had a life before.
The poem thing kind of just came to me one day. When I started the store, I was unemployed and I had a lot of time on my hands. So I was listening to a lot of music and I remember listening to Drake, and he was rhyming, and I was thinking, “I think can do this.” So I thought, “Oh I know what I’ll do: For every item that sells, I’ll write a little rhyme.” It was really spontaneous.
Tess: For the listeners who might not know, can you tell us about the poems that you include with your orders?
MB: So say you bought something, I’ll write a poem about something that came to mind about the item you bought. It can be anything. Like the last thing that sold in the store was this long country-style dress. It’s a maxi dress with green and floral print. Anyway I wrote a poem about a folk band because I thought, “This is a perfect dress to wear to a folk concert maybe.” There's no rhyme or reason to it, it's just what comes to mind when I think of the item. And then I write it on a postcard, and I include it in the order and wrap it all up.
Tess: It’s very creative. So what types of vintage pieces do you get the most excited about? Is there anything that you’re always keeping an eye out for?
MB: No, I’m literally obsessed with everything. I don’t have a preference for a particular era. I think if I have a preference, it’s more for material and textiles than it is for an era. I have loads of dresses in my store, but then I also like sweatshirts from the ‘90s and vintage Levi’s and things like that. I studied fashion journalism, so I’ve always been obsessed with dressing up.
I really like vintage, and this is why I put a lot of effort into styling it, because I don’t want it to be like a costume. I want people to feel like they can wear it. Obviously since it’s vintage, it’s from a specific era but I don’t want people to feel like it has to be like a costume. You can wear and style it in a way that’s very current, and it feels fresh. That’s really important to me because I feel like sometimes people get stuck on this idea that you have to be a particular type of person to wear vintage. And I don’t think so. I think anybody can and should, in a way. There’s something for everybody and you can style it in a way that fits your style.
Tess: I really love how in your listing descriptions you always have little styling tip so that people can imagine how they might wear it.
MB: Yes, I got that idea from work. When I left school, I was working for fashion magazines and then I moved into e-commerce. So when I moved to Munich, I was working for Mytheresa. And even though it wasn’t my job to write product descriptions, I was working with our writers. And they were always like, “It’s good to tell people how to wear it.” These are things that I kind of picked up from my job.
Tess: It’s cool that you have this background that has informed your approach. I was thinking that background may have also helped inform your approach to photography. I was so amazed that you’re both the model and photographer for your product photos. They’re just so stunning. What have you learned about taking great photos?
MB: I kind of taught myself. I remember I was talking to my sister, and in my opinion she’s more of an artist than me. She said, "Why don’t you just buy a tripod and just take the pictures yourself?" And I was like, “But I don’t take pictures.” And she said, “You can just learn how to take a picture. It’s not that hard.” I bought a tripod and then I started playing around with it. I watched some YouTube videos, I read the manual. They weren’t good at first. It was a lot of trial and error.
But it was out of necessity because when I started everyone was busy and I didn’t want to impose on anybody. I had to figure out how to do it myself. I became the model and photographer because it was just more practical for me. I could go with my inspiration, rather than schedule everything in.
My store is all based on what I like to see. If I’m shopping, I don’t really like things just hanging on a hanger. I want to see somebody wearing it. I like stories, so I want to look at something that makes me want to buy the clothes. I want it on a model. I want it in a cool location which fits the outfit. And now I’m also quite interested in photography. I never thought I would be good at it but now I kind of like it as well.
Tess: What a cool thing to learn about yourself, that you have this gift.
MB: That’s what I like the most about the store, I’ve learned a lot about myself. I used to be quite self-conscious. I never liked people taking my picture. I’m still a little bit self-conscious if someone else is taking it. But I think it’s taught me a lot about myself. And I think that that has been quite good. I’m not so self-conscious anymore about taking my pictures.
Tess: So, it can be especially tough to photograph vintage, because you have to make sure you show any wear or imperfections. Do you have any photography tips for vintage sellers?
MB: That’s why I take pictures of the clothes on myself. But then I also take still lives as well, so people can zoom in. I feel like you need to do a mix. It’s nice to have this aspirational and creative picture and do what you want to do. Going back to the dress that just sold, I took a photo of it on myself in this cool park. And then, in the same location, I hung it on a hanger and took very detailed, still life pictures of it. So you could see it more up close and any wears or tears.
I do a combination because a lot of times you can't exactly see so much. You can just get the idea of when someone is wearing it of how it fits and the silhouette and everything. But maybe you need to zoom in a little bit more to see the fabric and the print.
Tess: I see that lots of your reviews mention your lovely poems, but there are also a lot that just mention their wonderful experience buying from you. Could you talk a bit about your approach to customer service?
MB: Aside from the poem which I write on a postcard, I wrap everything up individually. I have stickers with my logo, and I also draw on the packaging because I also quite like drawing. So it’s kind of like it’s hand drawn so it feels like somebody made it specially for you.
My approach to customer service is doing what I like when I get a package. I like when I can tell a lot of attention has been paid to wrapping it up. I feel like it’s nice when you buy something and you feel like someone took time with it. I try to do that and make it more personal. So each package is different because I hand-draw it. It takes time, but I like doing it. And also, I’ve been doing it so long now, that it doesn’t take as long.
Tess: OK, let’s talk a bit about the Etsy Design Awards. You won the vintage category last year, which is super exciting. What was that experience like?
MB: I still can’t believe it. I keep thinking, “Are they going to come back and take it away from me?!” Because I wasn’t even going to do it. I submitted my entry maybe two days before the deadline. I’ve never really entered a competition and I don't know if it’s really my thing. It was very surreal when I got an email in September that said I was one of the finalists. I was like, “Oh, OK, sure.”
Because I really like Etsy. Even outside of the vintage part, I’ve been on it forever. Just looking at all the cool stuff that people make. I’m always really blown away. So I’m really happy to be part of that group of people that won. And it’s very cool like all this stuff that happens afterwards. It’s been really good for the store and its good press. I mean this interview is because I won.
Tess: How did you choose which product to submit for the award? I was curious about your thought process with that.
MB: I remembered this jacket because I really liked this jacket and I actually wanted to keep it for myself. I also picked it because I liked the photo shoot I did for it. I thought this jacket was something you could wear every day if you wanted to, and then you could also wear it to a party. I thought it was quite versatile. I wanted to pick something that wasn’t something that only specific people could relate to. I wanted it to be something that would appeal to more people. You could totally dress this down with jeans as well. And you could dress it up.
Tess: It’s so gorgeous. I love that you picked this item that represents the style and vibe of your shop in general.
MB: Exactly. I also like a lot of print and color, and this one’s quite in-your-face.
Tess: Actually could you just describe it, for anyone who hasn’t seen it?
MB: It’s an ‘80s crop blazer. It has a bold color, long sleeves. It doesn’t have buttons. And it’s kind of purple-y, and it has this shimmer and swirly print to it as well.
Tess: For the sellers who are submitting for this year’s awards, let’s say that they’ve chosen a listing to submit. What tips do you have about prepping, or refreshing that listing to make sure it’s in the best possible shape?
MB: I always just start with the picture I think is the best picture, you know, that shows off everything you love about the item. And then I did a lot of still life photos. I zoomed in on the brand because it’s this German brand label. Then I took pictures of details of it so you could also see what made it so special.
And I used the keywords. I always start with vintage, and then I say the era. Like if it’s “vintage ‘80s.” And then “cropped shimmery jacket.” My keywords are usually what I think stands out about the item. I think that you should describe it in a way that is descriptive in terms of keywords.
Like I’ve been really into detachable collars and I like floral print. So I would type in, “floral print handmade collar with string” or something, because I’m quite specific about what I want. So when I search for it, I just search for the things I like about the collars. And I think that that’s how I write my listing descriptions. Because somebody might not know what they’re looking for in a blazer. Maybe you want a cropped blazer. And maybe someone else wants an embellished blazer. So I put those adjectives in there.
Tess: So I know that the judges also look at the rest of a seller’s shop too, not just the listing that they entered. How would you recommend sellers prepare their shops, more generally speaking?
MB: I think they should keep it on brand, whatever that is, whatever their brand is. I’m always merchandising, as I call it. As soon as I list something new, I move things around. Because I want you to go into the store, and look at it like it’s a magazine. Like it flows, and it’s pleasing to look at. I think it’s nice to make sure that there’s a theme. With me, it’s kind of easy because it’s always florals or something crazy like that. But I also like to put a shirt first, and then maybe an accessory, and then a shoe. So it’s not just clothes everywhere.
Tess: So what did winning mean for your business? What impact did it have?
MB: When I looked at my shop stats, I got a lot more visits, especially from the States. Before I used to get sales from the States once in a while, but it had been very European-centric. So the first thing I noticed was a lot more American sales, and a lot more sales right away.
And then there was the press. It was really nice because people would send nice messages about how they liked the store. I think we were in Refinery 29, and it was just crazy. I think it just helped the visibility of my store. Because the first two weeks there were a lot of sales. And then afterwards there weren’t that many sales, but there were a lot more people coming to look at the store. I think that’s more important than somebody actually buying. Because then people are more aware that you are there and then they can buy later. So I think it helped the brand awareness, or the awareness of my store.
Tess: How did you decide what to do with the prize money?
MB: When I won I wanted to put the prize money back into my store. I have a friend Anna, who’s an illustrator, and actually I should have mentioned this earlier when you asked that question about the listing. I had styled the blazer seven times or something like that. So each picture was a different styling of the blazer. Then, when I found out that the blazer was a finalist, I decided to style it seven other times so that it would look cool, and people would see that they could wear it in different ways. I styled it with jeans. I styled it with a skirt. I styled it so many different ways.
So when I won, I asked Anna if she could look at all the different stylings and pick one that she would like to draw. I made that drawing into a postcard. Also my sister-in-law did a second one. So I have two different drawings of the blazer, styled, and I made both into a postcard. So now when you order you get your poem on one of those postcards. Because I realized that when you write it on a little paper sometimes, maybe people just forget it and then they lose it. Now it’s a proper postcard, and you can put it on a fridge. Anna also wrote “Etsy Design Award Vintage Winner” at the bottom. So it’s kind of like branding again.
Tess: That’s a very unique use of it, I like that. What’s been the biggest success, or proudest moment that you’ve experienced since starting the business?
MB: Aside from winning that award, right? [Laughs]
Tess: It can be that!
MB: Starting the business was really something that was on my bucket list. I just did it because I really wanted to do it. I didn’t even think that anyone was going to buy something from it. You know when you have something in your head, and you’ve been saying you were going to do it forever and you still haven’t done it? So when I started it, I was just so happy that I did it. It’s something I had wanted to do for a long time and I had been putting it off. So I was already proud, just doing that. Everything that’s come after has just been a bonus.
Tess: So what are you looking forward to in the future? What’s next for Fashion for Fables?
MB: I would really like to make things now in addition to sourcing. I have a big collection of vintage fabrics that I just collect and haven’t done anything with. I have to find the time. It’s literally like starting the business again. Like I said I’m a big fan of Etsy, and especially people who make things.
And I still want it to be all vintage. Because I don’t want to use new fabrics. I personally try not to buy new things so much. And so I would like to continue doing that. But I would like to be able to create something that is kind of from scratch. So I’d like to have a section of my store where I make things from reclaimed fabrics because when I buy stuff on Etsy I’m always looking at people who do that and I think it’s so cool.
Tess: Hi Martinus, thanks for being here! Before we start talking about the Etsy Design Awards, I was wondering if you could speak a little bit about your background in woodworking. How did you get into that?
Martinus: Growing up, [my brother] Adrian and I would always be building skateboard ramps, because we grew up on an acreage. So it was just building ramps that we could take over to our neighbors because they had a paved driveway, and we would skateboard there. After high school, Adrian went straight into his carpentry apprenticeship and was doing commercial construction. I did a little film school thing in Vancouver before moving back to Alberta and starting an apprenticeship with his company as well.
At that time, my dad was semi-retired and started doing some hobby woodworking, so he had some of the entry-level tools. On evenings and weekends we started working with our old skateboards in his shops, and it just went from there.
Tess: So there’s this transition from skateboarding and building the ramps to then using skateboards that you use to create these beautiful pieces of furniture and other home furnishings. What do you like the most about working with this medium?
Martinus: I think it’s different for me and Adrian. Adrian is a lot more into the design and the precision of the joinery and building the furniture pieces. Whereas I do all the turning and stuff, so I’m a lot more interested in the grain and a bit more of the sculptural aspects of the stuff that I do on the lathe. Taking the skateboards that are already plywood and then laminating them in different ways to create different patterns, and then turning those patterns into different forms and things. That’s what I really like about it. Adrian’s main focus is the design and the precision of the furniture. We have very different approaches to it but it’s really complementary in our business.
Tess: And you mentioned “turning.” For anyone who might not know what that is, could you explain that?
Martinus: Woodturning is done on a lathe. It’s basically a machine that you mount the block of wood to, which is called your blank. And then the machine spins it, and then you use tools to shape it. So it’s sort of power carving. Most woodworking machines move the cutter, whereas a lathe moves the wood and then you hold the cutter and shape. And that’s how we make our bowls and rolling pins, and I’m working on some vases right now that will hopefully be up soon.
Tess: That does sound very sculptural like you said. As you were describing it, it reminded me of ceramics a little bit.
Martinus: Yeah, it’s like the woodworking version of ceramics. It’s a similar approach.
Tess: Have you ever done any ceramic work?
Martinus: I haven’t but Anna, Adrian’s wife who is also a third of the company now, has done a bunch and actually, we’re going to be introducing ceramics very soon. We’re getting a wheel and kiln set up in the basement right now, actually.
Tess: That’s so exciting. So, what led you, your brother Adrian, and Anna to open an Etsy shop?
Martinus: We started it when Adrian and Anna had to go to Denmark for nine months because of immigration issues, so that Anna could re-apply for her citizenship. Adrian was there without a shop and I was here still making everything. He was carving spoons while he was there because all he could get was whittling tools.
Anna had her own jewelry shop on Etsy before, so she opened ours at that point. We started selling some jewelry and those spoons through it. And then once they got back, we went full bore into it and started developing our product line and more furniture. That was eight or nine years ago that we started.
Tess: How did you all come up with the idea to recycle skateboards?
Martinus: Anybody who’s working with recycled skateboards now, probably started because they saw one of Haroshi’s sculptures. Haroshi is a Japanese artist who does these incredible, massive, and intricate sculptures using recycled skateboards. He’s definitely the godfather of the medium.
So after seeing his work and being interested in woodworking and being skateboarders, we decided to start using our own boards, and asking our friends for their old boards, and building relationships with our local skate shops to collect theirs. We started experimenting and learning other woodworking techniques and seeing what we could do with it.
Tess: How did you figure out how to recycle a skateboard? Was there information about this online?
Martinus: No, definitely not. It was just a lot of reading, and learning about woodworking techniques. Skateboards are definitely a challenging piece of wood to work with compared to other things, so a lot of the traditional rules don’t really apply to it. For us, it was just experimenting with a ton of different techniques and processes. Building the table tops, we’ve refined that so many times. Like the first table that we built was a full solid skateboard the whole way through, and it took 150 boards. But that’s not really sustainable for our supply level.
I think the first project where we figured out that you can potentially do anything with the material was our baseball bats. Because that was when we learned how to cut the boards up, how you can laminate them, and learned the limitations of the material. We’re always refining the process.
Tess: I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about the process. Maybe you could give us a quick version of how the process of recycling the skateboards works?
Martinus: Even before we have them, it’s pretty labor-intensive. During the summer, we’ll average maybe 10 to 15 boards a week between the three skate shops that I go to regularly in Calgary. Everyone that works at those shops knows to save the boards for us.
Once we have the broken boards, the grip tape has to come off. The easiest way to peel the grip tape is to just leave them out in the sun for 20 minutes on a 25-degree Celsius day. The grip tape will peel off of most boards really easily just because of that direct sunlight, and it’s black so it heats up evenly.
After the grip tape is off, the residue from the grip tape, the graphics, and the clear coat all need to come off. I scrape both sides of the board with a paint scraper. Then with an angle grinder with a flat disc, so it’s super aggressive. Then I get most of it clean and then sand them again with a 60-grit [sanding disc] so everything is ready for glue. Then we cut them out. It’s about an hour of labor per board to get it from used-up skateboard to cut pieces in the bins that are ready to become something else.
Tess: What’s your favorite item to make or favorite type of item to work on?
Martinus: For me, it’s the recycled skateboard bowls, the bigger ones that we do. I just did a batch that have this sort of bubbly shape on the outside that I really like. Adrian’s favorite is just whatever the new commission is that he’s racking his brain with 24 hours a day to figure out the steps to make it. To bend the plywood to have it meet at the right point to do the continuous grains. Adrian’s favorite thing is just whatever is the hardest thing that he’s working on at the moment.
Anna has been doing a lot of our wall art. She’s been doing these new patterns that we’re cutting on the laser that she’s really enjoying. So I think that’s what everyone’s favorites are, at the moment anyway.
Tess: What do you like about making the bowls?
Martinus: You never really know what they’re going to look like until they’re basically done. Even when you get the finish on them, that’s the point that you really see all of the detailing of it, how it’s going to come out. Even as you’re forming it and shaping it, [you don't know] until you have that finish on it to give the contrast between the different layers. It’s really fun.
And with the artwork too, you’ll be laying out these really intricate patterns and not knowing what it’s going to look like because your base for the art work is always larger. So until the shapes are actually cut out and you create those boundaries on it, it changes all the time. And then when you put finish on it, that adds a whole other dimension to it too. So until the artwork and the bowls are finished, you’re just like, “I hope this looks good.”
Tess: OK, let’s talk about the Etsy Design Awards. You won the grand prize last year, which is a pretty big deal. What was that experience like?
Martinus: It’s definitely very exciting because we’ve never won any of the design awards that we’ve entered yet. So to win the biggest one that we entered was pretty wild. It felt really good and validating. The Stackton was definitely the best thing that we’d made at that point. Especially having done multiple iterations of it before and then having sold a couple on Etsy before the event. We were feeling really proud of that piece and felt like it was the best thing that we could enter. And then for it to have won was just really validating of all the effort that they take to make.
Tess: Do you remember the moment that you all found out that you won?
Martinus: Yeah, it was after the deadline according to the rules that they were supposed to announce the winners. So, at that point we were like, “I guess we didn’t win. So carry on, let’s get ready for the holidays here.” Because that’s what we do in October. And then we got an invite to a Zoom meeting from Etsy and we were just like, “OK, I wonder what this is about.”
All three of us got on that call and they basically told us right away that we had won the grand prize, which was just totally amazing. Anna started crying and we were just like, “OK, what now?” Because we had to get the credenza to New York within the week to get it shot. So, as soon as we won, we just went into overdrive work mode to get that credenza out and get ready for the announcement. Because we knew that pretty much anytime there’s press on us from Etsy that we’re going to get slammed. So we just went into complete overdrive from our normal Christmas overdrive.
Tess: Speaking of the credenza, I know we talked a little about your process earlier, but I wanted to talk specifically about the Stackton credenza because it’s such a beautiful piece. I was just wondering if you could talk about how you developed this product?
Martinus: We made the first Stackton in 2018. It’s a little bit of a different design but still the credenza with the tamboured doors, but it had a lot more angular features. And so, we had done the one and we were happy with it but it was just too big and clunky. We ended up keeping that one and that one is still at the shop house.
Then in 2020, we were like, “All right, we have some time for some spec pieces, so let’s do the Stackton redesign.” We wanted to make that design a little bit more accessible, because the first one was 80 inches long which is just unreasonable. So we redesigned it down to 60 inches which is a lot more usable and accessible for more rooms.
But I think the main thing with the Stackton is, it’s one of our first pieces that we used the skateboards for something other than the top wearing surface. I think that using them as the doors really takes the skateboards into a different space than just having the really colorful and intense tabletop, which is what we had been doing before. So using the skateboard as a tambour is the selling point of that piece, for sure.
It’s sort of inspired by what stacks of vinyl look like when they’re on the shelves like that, so it has those vertical colorful lines. Our naming process for our stuff is very willy-nilly. We were just like, “Stacks, records, Stackton, done.” To have that piece recognized so much—a piece that we had to build for ourselves and put out on spec—was just amazing.
Tess: Yeah, that does seem really exciting to come up with this new way of using the skateboards that you hadn’t tried before. When I was looking at the listing for the Stackton credenza, I really loved the process video you made for it. Do you have any tips for using listing videos?
Martinus: Yeah: Do it! It definitely helps. I do all the videos that we use on our Instagram and Etsy. If you have a phone and a tripod it’s super easy to just set it up and do a quick little video or do a couple just panning shots of a finished product. You’re able to express yourself through that a bit more and communicate with the buyers through that too.
It’s a great way to show them how it’s made, and why it costs how much it does. It really adds another dimension to your products to help sell them. And then the fact that it’s a five to ten second video helps constrain it to being able to show just that little snapshot of it that people want to learn more about. So it’s not like a half hour tutorial video. It can really help get that information out there quickly.
Tess: Going back to the Etsy Design Awards, what did winning mean for your business? What impact did it have?
Martinus: For us, especially because we’re such gear heads with all this woodworking equipment, we basically kick-started our long-term three-year plan as soon as we found out. We were planning to get more power into our other shop, and the following year we were going to upgrade the power here so we can get some three-phase equipment. But the prize money and then the influx of traffic that we were expecting meant we were doing our three-year plan in the next month.
We did a ton of shop renovations and upgraded a bunch of equipment to be able to meet the demand that we were going to expect. We did see an influx of orders for Stacktons, and if we had tried to do them with what we had before, we would have still been making them. We did eleven this year so far, whereas we did five in the whole year before. It was just investing in the wide belt sander that knocks a day of labor off almost every Stackton.
Tess: It sounds like there wasn’t much discussion over what to do with the prize money.
Martinus: Well, it’s all of our money, so all the money goes straight back into the business. That’s the best advice that we could give: If there are tools that you could get that are going to make your process easier, figure out ways to make it happen because it’ll definitely help later on.
Tess: That’s a good point. Speaking of advice, if you were going to give another Etsy seller advice on choosing a product to submit for this year’s awards, what would you say?
Martinus: Make sure you’re submitting your best work, and that it’s unique. It doesn’t need to be a groundbreaking, new, insane design. Our credenza is still a credenza, but make sure it’s got something special that makes it stand out. Also make sure that your shop is looking good. For us, having price points from $25 to that $5,000 price point on the credenza, it definitely can help you to look like a good representation for Etsy that they want to award you with that grand prize. It’s not just the one project I think. You want to be a good ambassador for the brand.
Tess: Yeah, I do want to talk more about making your shop look good in a second, but before that I was wondering: After you select the item, do you have any tips for prepping or refreshing the listing for the item to make sure it’s in the best possible shape?
Martinus: Yeah, multiple photos. You get ten, so make sure you use them all. We actually had a good arrangement with one of the best photographers here in Calgary. He wanted to do some woodworking so we traded some shop time for photo time with him. We got a couple photos of the credenza shot professionally by him so that we have those photos in the shop, in a home, in the studio setting, and getting those detailed shots too. Having a lot of variety in your photos that show your project in the best light possible, is definitely good. And then the listing video as well.
Tess: Like you said earlier, the judges also look at the rest of your shop, not just the listing. How would you recommend sellers prepare their shops?
Martinus: Just being good about getting back to inquiries. And being on top of your shipping, so that you have that good [star] rating. Offering a variety of products is always good. So if you’re only making $500 original pieces of art, maybe add some prints or stickers or pins. Diversifying the shop and having those different price points I think is really important. Different price points can help you get those sales and reviews, and to just get traffic to your shop. I think that definitely helps you stand out and helps with the algorithms and things.
Having those good customer reviews is so important. That was another thing too, we had sold two [Stackton credenzas] through Etsy before the Etsy Design Awards and we were really good with the communication. Especially with the furniture because it’s such an intense shipping process, especially going over the border. You have multiple emails and calls with shipping companies and all that stuff to get the furniture to the clients. So customers leaving good reviews about the communication and sharing the photos of it in its home, I think also really helps with that submission if your entry is an item that you’ve sold before. Those glowing reviews of it can just help so much.
Tess: You mentioned earlier that Anna had put a lot of effort into the customer service aspects.
Martinus: Oh yeah, Anna’s the reason that we won for sure. Yeah, 100% of the credit for this award goes to Anna, just so that that’s clear. Because she does such an amazing job of running the shop. It's very important. Because she had her jewelry line and once we started working more together, she developed our skateboard jewelry line. And she does a lot of the product work and a ton of shop work too, so she’s just fully invested in keeping the shop running as well as it can be. Getting back to those customer conversations right away is huge. For commission inquiries, we try to get back within the hour.
Tess: So what’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced while running your own business?
Martinus: Finding balance, 100%. We are absolute workaholics, especially because our shops are at our houses. We all lived in the house that the shop was attached to for five years, up until last summer when I moved out. So we don’t shut off really. We’re always thinking about work and what’s next. We have no barriers. I think that's our biggest problem.
Tess: What’s been the biggest success or proudest moment you’ve experienced since starting the business?
Martinus: Definitely the Etsy Design Award. They don’t get much bigger than that, winning international awards. They’re very reassuring that maybe you’re doing it right. And with all of us working together, we don’t really have big conflicts. Anything that we do is resolved so quickly, because we’re good at communicating and keeping this thing going. We love what we do, so it works really well.
Tess: What’s next for the business?
Martinus: Anna’s going to be starting the ceramic stuff, which is really exciting. She’ll be firing up the kiln here within the next month or two. We have some really exciting commissions coming up. And we’re actually to the point now with winning this and having our process so refined that we’re going to start donating ten dollars for every board that we recycle to charities. So that’s also something that we’re really excited about.
Words by Etsy Staff
