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How elevele 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?
Since early childhood, I have been very fond of art and handicraft. This led to my decision to study architecture, which allowed me to work in the field of furniture design for many years. Though handicraft remained my hobby, four years ago I got into felting, which became my full-time activity.
I was so compelled by felting that I started to experiment. I have felted slippers for myself, my husband, and my son, whose feet were 44 EUR, so they have turned out quite big. At the time, our kitten was still pretty small, and one day I saw him sleeping in my son’s slipper. This made me consider making a bigger “slipper” for him, which became a cat cave. My kitty was keen on lying on pillows; therefore, I have sewn a soft mat to put inside the cave. When the summer came, the kitten started to sleep in the cave. This gave me the idea to make an open cat bed. It has become an original proprietary houseleek bed.
I personally have always loved nature, which is my greatest inspiration and plays a big role in my life. This affection has had a huge influence on my work; for instance, my first cat cave looked similar to a stone. The entire collection includes interpretations of a flower, a leaf, and a hornet’s nest. I experiment with different fibres and materials to create new textures and maintain caves’ shapes unchanged. It is also worth mentioning that all caves are handmade using only wool, natural olive soap, and water.
Favorite items
What are your favorite items? What makes these so special? Why do you think these items might be selling well?
We just love the simple design, and no extra details are needed to make the basket look its best. Baskets are our most popular product. This is almost every second product we sell. I think that buyers also see the quality, even in not-so-informative photos.
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?
We opened our Etsy store in the last days of February and sold our first product about a month later. At first, we didn't have as many competitors as we do on Etsy now. We used to only sell a few cat caves a month until mid-July. All blew up when the Elevele trademark was featured in a small article about the 10 best cat beds on several very important cat owner BLOGs, and a couple weeks later in the LA Times, New York Times, and a few other newspapers supplements. I would say we started at the right time with the right things; it's quite simple, but it happens very rarely. Since then, we have continued to work on quality rather than quantity. It works, and there are still enough orders, although we have many who do not hesitate to copy our design and even try to offer us their products.
Managing elevele
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 manage the store myself. Actually, I don't use any apps, except some for work with photos. Shipping and so on, I do manually.
The future of elevele
What goals do you have for your shop in the future?
As long as everything is going out predictably enough, we won't make serious changes. It is not only one of our businesses, so we have to keep a balance between work and private life.
Advice for new sellers
What’s your advice for a new seller starting an Etsy shop?
It is difficult to say something more important than keeping quality in everything. A good product says more about itself than advertising. Also, I can't deny that social media works perfectly too. A market does everything else.
Some sellers really get inspired by hearing numbers. Feel free to share these if you like.
Question: How much is your monthly revenue?
Answer: It not too hard to count, since beginning we have sold cat beds for about 600000 EUR
