Daily Mail & 3BN Founder on Being Top Etsy Seller

Daily Mail talks to Alicia about being a top Etsy seller. Read it here.

Meet Etsy's richest seller: Mom-of-three sells 3,000 items a day and earns $65,000 a month from handmade socks and scarves

  • Alicia Shaffer's shop is second best-selling handmade Etsy product store
  • Began Three Bird Nest in 2011 with just a couple of headbands
  • Store has 58 headband designs, plus clothes, accessories and home decor
  • Has no background in fashion and learned everything by 'trial and error'

By ANNETA KONSTANTINIDES FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 00:26 EST, 10 February 2015 | UPDATED: 10:15 EST, 10 February 2015

A mother-of-three earns $65,000 a month from selling handmade headbands, socks and scarves on Etsy.

In just three years Alicia Shaffer has become one of the most successful sellers on the online marketplace with her store Three Bird Nest and now sells 3,000 items per day.

But it was all sprung from the need for a couple of headbands.

In 2011 Shaffer, who lives in Livermore, California, decided to make some hair pieces for her women's clothing boutique.

Her creations were so popular the mother-of-three decided to start selling them on the online craft site.

'I opened an Etsy shop, figuring I'd help pay for dance lessons or offset the boutique's sales,' Shaffer told The Organic Bloom.

Shaffer initially thought the high number of orders was due to the upcoming holiday season. But as Christmas passed and people kept buying, she widened her products to include scarves and leg warmers.

Just 18 months later Shaffer sold her boutique so she could focus solely on Three Bird Nest, now the second best-selling handmade product shop on the site, according to the Huffington Post.

But people may be surprised to find out that Shaffer has no background in fashion.

Although she has worked with leather for years, the crafter has figured out everything else through 'trial and error.'

On Three Bird Nest's separate online shop, Shaffer writes that she simply loves figuring out how to make different fabrics work well with each other.

On her site Shaffer writes that she creates for the woman whose 'a mom, a student, a daughter, a bride, a woman going on a first date'

'I love textiles, fabric, fashion, designs, and seeing how different colors and fabrics pair together,' she said. 'You will find me with my little sketch book and notebook anywhere I go so that I don't miss a moment to write down my next idea.'

The Etsy shop currently offers a wide variety of products, including more than 58 different headband designs that range from $16 to $37, as well as boot socks, scarves, hats, gloves, leg warmers, purses and accessories.

And the official website store has a larger selection of women's clothing, baby apparel and home decor.

But one thing fans won't find in the store is the color red - Shaffer's not a fan. 

On her site the businesswoman writes that she creates for a woman who is 'sophisticated, yet fun' and 'loves fashion, but not being trendy'. 

'She's a mom, a student, a daughter, a bride, a woman going on a first date.'

Shaffer believes that to be successful one must 'eat, sleep and breathe' their brand, and says she keeps going because of the love and passion her customers have for her items.

'No matter how busy we get each time my Etsy app cha-chings I smile,' she said. 'I have had businesses that failed in the past, which is why this success is so much sweeter to me.'

'I will not give up on seeing this brand grow.'

And she's getting some help at home. Shaffer's husband retired early from his job as a fire chief to help run the house, she told Yahoo!

But it's her three children that ultimately are the fuel behind the mother's brand - they inspired it's very name.

On her arm is a tattoo of three bird in a nest, one to represent each of her kids.   

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2946905/Alicia-Shaffer-Etsy-s-richest-seller-handmade-headbands-socks-scarves.html#ixzz3SzOFAP00

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