In this interview I talked with Lynne, owner of Our Seasons Past on Etsy.
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Tell us a little about your shop and who you are.
I’m Lynne, and I own Our Seasons Past
, which is a vintage emporium of home, collectibles, fashion and jewelry
How long have you been selling on Etsy?
Three years of focusing my energy on Etsy.
Dabbling in Etsy as a hobby for several years before that.
What’s the hardest part about selling online?
For me, the hardest part of starting a business was finding the right niche.
I love vintage clothing, so I started with that.
It turned out to be a harder nut to crack than I expected.
Loving something doesn’t mean you can sell it successfully. I recommend doing the research before you launch your business.
Originally, I invested in too much clothing/jewelry inventory, and now I’m shifting my focus to collectibles and home.
Also, when I started, I didn’t know what I didn’t know.
You can’t just list your items and expect customers to find them.
You need to invest time/resources into bringing traffic to your shop. Now I’m catching up with the knowledge and skills I need.
What’s your daily routine like?
Photographing, measuring, listing, tweaking details in my shop, working on inventory and learning as much as I can to build sales.
What advice would you give to someone who wanted to start selling online?
Do targeted research on what to sell.
Finding the right niche at the intersection of customer needs/wants with your talents is very important.
Look for a need you can fill in an underserved market.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Etsy is great if you want to work at home. I really value the flexible schedule.
At 61 years old, due to a reduction in force, I lost the dream job I’d had for nearly 30 years working for a healthcare multinational.
At that age, embarking on another corporate position would not have been an easy task.
Complicating matters, my delayed sleep phase disorder was getting worse.
That’s a circadian rhythm disorder. I’m awake until very late at night, asleep during much of the day.
The most productive hours of my day begin after 10 pm, making it impossible to continue to do a 9-5 job.
Etsy to the rescue. I decided to supplement my pension with a greater focus on my Etsy hobby…shop, shop, shop at estate sales, auctions, thrift stores and yard sales.
Curate and sell the vintage treasures I find.
Luckily, while I focus on Etsy, my husband is the household manager and home healthcare worker for our beloved dogs (two of them suffered from canine cognitive disorder/sundowning, similar to dementia in people and requiring a lot of care and adjustment for the caregiver).
You can find Lynne online at:
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