Shop of the Week: DearGoldenVintage

Kicking off my series of shops that have inspired me is DearGoldenVintage, an Etsy shop that is run by a lovely lady named Lauren from Ann Arbor, Michigan. This shop is only as old as my daughter, (just 6 months) but has already made well over 800 sales! I'd call that a success, wouldn't you? Her presentation is beautiful, photographs are crisp and the items are to die for! ♥

How did the idea for your business come about? I have always collected vintage clothing and pretty much all things vintage, whatever did not fit or I did not want anymore I passed on to friends. My husband was the one who saw me looking at vintage on Etsy and made an off-hand remark about how I could “totally do that” (meaning, have a shop), and it was as if I never considered it before then. Two days later, I had a shop stocked from items right out of my closet!

What inspires you, what keeps you going? Everything, all the time! Movies, music memories. Currently I am personally looking for wiggle dresses and skirts, I saw Revolutionary Road and just gushed over the clothing and although I have many full skirted 1950s dresses I don’t have a lot of tight ones and I am looking for those now!

To what do you attribute your success? So many factors, I think to be a success you have to work very hard, I work hard to find great items and I love all the things I sell in the shop. I have a serious passion for clothes which helps it seem NOT like work and thereby allowing me TO work so hard.

Advice you can share with fellow Etsians aspiring for success in our marketplace? Hmmm, I am fairly new as a seller so I am no expert, but a few things I find crucial are posting new items regularly, keep your store fresh. Take great photos that are very clear, don’t make people guess what you are selling, crisp & clear photos are key. And also, have fun, meet other sellers and just enjoy it. I work as hard on my shop as I do at my day job, but I love every minute of the Etsy work because I am really passionate about fashion and vintage fashion specifically!

How do you go about marketing your business? I have some ads on a couple of blogs/sites, I keep a blog myself and I use Twitter.

Check out the DearGoldenVintage shop on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6553810