The Burlap Bag

Based off your scent names, you clearly have fun with this (I’m looking at you, King of Farts). Is one of you the primary namer or is that a shared responsibility?

We both love to laugh and thrive off of anything weird. The more people are compelled to smell it, the better! Unicorn Puke, Grandpa, Cuddles, etc. The names are usually a joint effort – but Lauren takes credit for “Crazy Cat Lady” since it’s named after her. (maybe Josiah will take credit for King of Farts – ha!)

What’s been the biggest challenge of making the Burlap Bag stand out, especially here in Austin?

We quickly realized that the candle industry is HUGE! To stand out, we’d have to be different. We decided to go on what actually came natural to us by creating quirky names and having fun with it. Our retail shop, The Burlap Bag, opened before we even made candles, but now they are such a vital part! The candles really set our shop apart too, since it’s where we try out new scents and names. People know they can come to our shop to smell all the smells.

From your Etsy Craft Parties to selling goods from 90+ artists, I see that community is a big part of the Burlap Bag—did your retail store grow from community, or vice versa?

The Burlap Bag opened up a few months after we graduated from college. We wanted to support artists and show customers all our favorite handmade items. Almost 40% of our 90 artists in the shop are local and we love getting to know all of them – many turn into great friends! We love hosting free events at the shop – workshops, Etsy craft parties, artist spotlights, and holiday parties! It’s so fun to gather everyone together and celebrate quality made goods or learn a new skill.

How has ShipStation helped you with your business?

ShipStation has helped us out SO MUCH! Orders used to be mumble-jumbled all over the place. Etsy, Paypal, Squarespace, wholesale orders, sending a promo item out to a potential client, etc. Lauren does all of the emails and ecommerce stuff, while Josiah does the shipping. Before ShipStation, Lauren had to try to remember everything she needed to tell Josiah that needed to be shipped out, while Josiah was scrambling to figure out what was priority. ShipStation has simplified that process by putting everything in one place. No more craziness, just log on to ShipStation and see what needs to get done!

What’s your favorite ShipStation feature?

BATCH SHIPPING! When we do a big promo sale, processing all the orders used to take forever/nightmare land. Now the whole label part can be done in 5 minutes, and that includes printing out packing slips. We also love the custom packing slip option, how you can easily see what a customer has bought in the past, and that it remembers addresses you frequently ship to. ShipStation has been a total lifesaver and is worth every penny!