Etsy Seller Interview with Erika of INKSCRPT

How INKSCRPT 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 Erika, and I’m a Toronto-based illustrator and calligrapher, as well as the owner and founder of INKSCRPT. You might know me for my minimalistic line art style on various mediums such as acrylic glass, digital, and engravings that have been featured on various media platforms such as Indigo Canada, CityTV’s The Social, CBC Toronto, and Buzzfeed.

While working at my 9–5 full-time job, I mentioned to a coworker how I did the calligraphy for a friend’s wedding. She asked me if she could pay me to do the calligraphy for her vow books, and then after receiving it, she loved it so much that she urged me to start selling my services. It was from her that I learned about Etsy and began selling custom-hand-lettered vowbooks as my first product on Etsy.

I no longer offer these vow books on Etsy, but my products still mostly revolve around custom artwork, most notably my acrylic line art portraits and custom engraved vases. I create my Etsy products by working closely with my customers to tailor the illustrations and calligraphy to their needs, and I source the majority of my materials from fellow local small businesses in Canada.

Favorite items

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

My favorite items are acrylic line art portraits. These were watershed moments for both my company and myself as a creator/artist because they opened my eyes to the possibilities of applying my line of art illustrations and art style to different surfaces and bringing a unique, one-of-a-kind art product to the market. I love to experiment when it comes to art, so having an illustration on a unique surface such as acrylic glass was an exciting discovery and experiment for me.

These items are my best-selling items. They have been featured on news outlets such as Buzzfeed and on live national television via CityTV’s The Social (a Canadian television network). Brands such as Pixi Beauty have also purchased these in bulk from my Etsy shop. I believe it is the unique, personalized, and timeless aspect of these portraits that make them so attractive to customers. I am a huge proponent of storytelling when it comes to artwork and feel that these custom acrylic glass portraits provide a classic, nostalgic touch to gift-giving and displaying memories in the form of illustration.

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 am extremely grateful and lucky to have a strong support system. It took me less than 24 hours to make my first Etsy sale, as family, friends, and coworkers were the first to show their support for my Etsy shop. Word of mouth is the biggest driver for my Etsy shop and other media platforms, and I consistently post content on my social media platforms that showcase my Etsy products. However, it also helps to use Etsy and Instagram ads to drive more traffic to my shop, especially for the lower-traffic products.

Managing INKSCRPT

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?

Like many Etsy shop owners, my shop is managed by a team of me, myself, and I! I have gone through so many learning curves and still continue to learn and grow every day in the art of business ownership and Etsy shop running. My favorite tools to use to run my store would be the Etsy shipping feature and Canada Post’s small business dashboard. I also love the feature on Etsy that allows you to highlight your top 4 products on your page (especially if I have a new product I’d like to highlight) and reorganize the order of your products. I find that it helps when you change the ordering of your products to make some items more visible and easier to find than others, especially if you’re launching something new.

The future of INKSCRPT

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

My current goal is to continue growing my sales for my current products, especially my newer ones such as the custom engraved dog tags and custom engraved vases. At the moment, I have no plans to launch new products, but I have had some people express interest in purchasing art prints. Who knows! The possibilities when it comes to art are endless.

Advice for new sellers

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

Number one is patience—be patient with yourself and with your business. There will be slow moments and busy seasons. Sales don’t happen overnight and come up over time with a lot of hard work and putting yourself out there. This leads to my second piece of advice: put yourself out there. All of my news features and most of my sales have come about through word of mouth and through me putting myself out there by posting content on my social media and just talking to people about my Etsy shop. I know it does not come easy to people. Myself, I’m quite private, so it was a huge learning curve for me to put my work out there and talk about it. But you will begin to realize that level of visibility is important because how else would people know about your shop if you didn’t talk about it?

Lastly, try to be courageous. Don’t be afraid to be creative and to tune your head out of the emerging trends out there and the status quo. Of course, it is important to align your business and strategies with modern times, but make sure you make them your own. Being authentic is difficult, as it’s easy to be afraid of what others may think. I still get hesitant to talk about my business and work and try certain things because of this. But all it takes is a little courage because, hey, we all started as beginners! :) Best of luck to you if you are a new seller starting an Etsy shop, and don’t be shy to contact me and connect!

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

Question: What is your average profit margin?
Answer: ~70%. This is because I take into account factors such as costs of materials, time it takes to create it, the market average (for similar items, e.g., handpainted portraits), shipping costs, Etsy fees, etc.