Etsy Seller Interview with Michael of artgrandiose

How artgrandiose got started

Introduce your Etsy shop and tell us your story. How did you begin and decide on what to sell on Etsy, and how do you create your products?

I was in the advertising sector and working as an art director at an agency. Working as a white collar worker brings stress to your own environment and your daily life as well. So I quit and decided to open my own shop and become a trader. What to trade Of course, the ones I've made for the sector for years Then I realised it is very hard to satisfy people; yes, I was a white collar worker with all the boredom, but running your own business was more stressful. Then I wanted to leave the whole burden to a place that was secure, professional, friendly, and easygoing. And that was definitely ETSY.

Favorite items

What are your favorite items? What makes these so special? Why do you think these items might be selling well?

There is an inverse correlation between my favourites and my customers' demands. Here is one of my favorites. There is a great example of woodblock technique in this artwork. It was really hard to reproduce it. I love that artwork enough to hang it in my living room, but so far I have not gotten a good sales result on this one.

And this one has been my bestseller for maybe more than one year. When I saw this poster in one of my friends' places, I begged him to give it to me, and he didn't. Finally,  I offered him a good price for this artwork, and again, he refused. Then I decided to reproduce it. And here is my bestseller: The colours, composition, and harmony of the Japanese characters are just stunning. This artwork is shining!

Getting sales on Etsy

How long did it take for you to earn your first sale and how do you currently attract customers to your Etsy shop?

I really didn't wait so long. It takes like one week or 10 days max. Now I attract my customers with my perfect reproducing skills and my good curations. They visit my shop, and they definitely find something for their walls. Especially my gallery walls and wall collages are very popular among ETSY people.

Managing artgrandiose

How do you manage your shop? Are you running solo or do you have any team members? What tools or services do you use to run your shop and how do you handle fulfillment?

I was with my assistant Melissa in the beginning, but now I'm alone. I think one person can manage the ETSY from the 3rd or 4th month on. I use Alura to check the tags and see my league. This shop only sells digital arts, so there is no shipping, but I have another shop in order to satisfy my customers who have no access to print houses. I rarely ship manually with the cargo firms, like UPS, DHL, etc. And I also work with Printify by using their print-on-demand system.

The future of artgrandiose

What goals do you have for your shop in the future?

I like stability. I'm well satisfied with my current situation. I could get even more sales, but I don't want to be greedy. I could put thousands of items in my shop, but I do not do that. I find a resemblance between the arcade tapes and the digital art shops. On the arcade tapes, it was written 10,000 games, but the games were all the same; maybe 50 of them were different. They did so today.

Advice for new sellers

What’s your advice for a new seller starting an Etsy shop?

The new sellers should be patient. If they trust their product, one day someone will notice it, and the next day a group of people will notice it, and finally a large audience will notice it. Of course, you have to be in ETSY traffic in order to make people find you. You should use some tools like Alura in order to find the proper tags for your products. And I recommend you advertise your most trusted products on ETSY by spending at least $10 a day. But keep in mind, as I told you above, that it doesn't mean that your favourite is going to hit the market; you have to find people's needs and demands. You can find those needs by using tools such as Alura, which is my favourite.

Some sellers really get inspired by hearing numbers. Feel free to share these if you like.

Question: How much is your monthly revenue?
Answer: $2.5K

Question: What is your average profit margin?
Answer: 80%

Question: What is your shop’s conversion rate?
Answer: It depends on the season but in general 1.5