Etsy Seller Interview with Catherina of catherinaturk

How catherinaturk 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?

My name is Catherina, and I come from Germany—the beautiful city of Hamburg, to be exact. I have been drawing, painting, and building things since I was a child, and then later in life I decided to go to art school in London, from where I graduated with an MA in Fine Art. In my years at art school, I built a lot of rather large, temporary installation pieces from found materials like wood and string, and very often, drawings of birds were part of the pieces. My main inspiration has always been the natural world and all the creatures in it, so it was natural for me to integrate them into my art. Gradually, I started to focus on the birds and animals and found my ideal medium in watercolour painting, as it is so subtle and soft. When I heard about Etsy in 2010, I was very excited about it and thought it would be interesting to try and sell my paintings there. I started by only selling original work, and as the resonance was really encouraging, I started selling museum-quality fine art prints as well.

Favorite items

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

My favourite item must be this bird.

The little guy has been my bestseller for years, and I think there is something about him that makes people happy. They tell me that they connect to him and that he makes them smile, which is a wonderful compliment for me.

Another favourite of mine is the little dove here.

Maybe it is because doves are not loved very much in either London or Hamburg because there are so many of them, but when you take the time to look at them closely, you realise how beautiful and lovely they are. I have sold the little dove a few times, but I think she still needs to be discovered! Generally, I can say that I feel close to all of my paintings, as there is a lot of me in each of them. Sometimes I am not able to part with an original work for years, as it is so close to me.

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 can’t quite remember how long it took to make my first sale, but I think it was only a few weeks or so. Having said that, it is important to keep in mind that in 2010, Etsy was still fairly new with a lot fewer sellers, so it was much easier to be seen on the platform if you had a good product than it is now. I am really not a digital native, but even with basic knowledge and, of course, a lot of motivation, it was possible to run a successful shop once one had gained good exposure, and all that without social media and outside marketing. As I have been on Etsy for some years, I have a lot of wonderful return customers, but I do find it harder to gain visibility for new customers amongst all the millions of products. I still don`t do any outside marketing or much social media, but it is something that is very high on my to-do list! Apart from that, I sell my work at exhibitions and fairs locally here in Hamburg.

Managing catherinaturk

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?

Yes, it is only me doing everything from the painting to the shipping and customer service! The only thing I don’t do myself is the manufacture of the prints, as the print quality I want to offer is something that only professionals can master with huge and incredibly expensive equipment. But of course, each print also goes through my hands and is signed and packaged by me. The only tool I use is e-rank, which I have just discovered as a great way to improve my SEO through researching keywords and understanding marketplace trends. I am lucky because my work is fairly easy to ship worldwide, as I can package it flatly and very safely, and once I have collected a few orders, I take them to the local post office to ship. Within Germany, I send orders by "Deutsche Post" registered letter, and orders in the rest of Europe and overseas are shipped registered with DHL.

The future of catherinaturk 

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

My Etsy shop has been my main source of income for, I would say, about five years, and I would like to continue growing it, as it is an incredible opportunity for artists like me to reach a worldwide audience. It is a challenge for me to get into the whole topic of social media, but it is also exciting to see what possibilities there are in terms of gaining new customers and being creative with it. Apart from my Etsy shop, a fashion designer friend and I are planning to open a small brick-and-mortar shop in Hamburg, which will also be a new place to meet people and get inspired for new projects and collaborations.

Advice for new sellers

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

As I said above, Etsy is quite huge by now, and it is not easy to find your niche. Don`t feel discouraged if things take time, but be aware that running a successful Etsy shop is something that will take a lot of your time and a lot of effort. Etsy offers brilliant resources for sellers, and I can only recommend using them all in order to get the full picture of how it all works. And what I find most important is to always be kind!