Etsy Seller Interview with Junli of itsjunli

How itsjunli 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’m Junli, owner, and illustrator of the Etsy shop itsjunli, which I opened at the beginning of 2019. The shop actually exists since around April 2018; at that time, it was on another platform but later closed down or merged, which is why I’ve reconsidered staying or moving to another platform. In the end, I moved to Etsy. The reason was mostly because of the nature of my products as well as the traffic on the Etsy platform.

But how did my journey start? I’m mainly a botanical artist and paper lover who started sharing her passion on Instagram when some people in the journal community got attention for my artwork and started asking for commissions. Through interaction with these amazing people, I’ve turned ideas into doodles and later into different stationery items like art prints, stickers, washi tapes, or even notepads. Through their demand, I opened a shop and started to create each letter by hand in my little atelier, with love and care. Every package is packed as a happy mail to give the feeling of receiving a gift and spreading moments of joy to everyone's life, worldwide.

Favorite items

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

That is really hard to choose. I love a lot of products in my shop depending on their function. For example, I am a huge paper nerd, so I really enjoy the notepads because the feel of the material and the pretty designs kind of motivate me to use them (e.g., for studying).

I also really love the hexagon stamps because they were my very first form of sticker sheets I’ve designed, and I really love vintage as well as geometrics and minimalistic designs, so they have a special place in my heart:

The notepads are selling better in local stores, I think, because you can actually hold them in your hands, which gives you a much more comfortable and satisfying feeling than "just a picture" of the product. As for the sticker sheets, quite a few designs are doing very well. I am guessing that customers can relate to that feeling, by which I mean enjoying vintage, geometric, as well as minimalistic designs.

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?

Since I’ve started my shop due to the demand of the community on Instagram, I actually made my first sale before I even opened my shop. It sounds super insane, and I am so grateful for the support of the community. As for how I am attracting customers, online it would definitely still be my Instagram account @itsjunli, but since I do take part in local markets, there is some exposure through these events as well.

Managing itsjunli

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?

It’s only me; yes, it's a one-person business. In the beginning, I actually did all of the things myself, from the idea to illustrating the designs to editing, producing, quality checking, marketing, packing, and shipping, as well as all the management stuff like accounting, customer service, and so on. Since the demand got larger over the years and I have to mention that the Etsy shop is not my main job but a side hustle, I’ve started to outsource some of the products if the quality meets my expectations to reduce the time-consuming workloads as well as hold a certain quality standard. It’s still a lot of work, though, but it doesn’t really feel like work since I am enjoying it so much.

I actually don’t use any extra tools for running my store. For managing Etsy, I use the Etsy Seller app (or browser version). For photos (making and editing), I use my phone, which has a good camera and settings that do have quite a lot of potential. Sometimes I edit photos using "Procreate". I also use the app to create digital art, if not in the traditional way. For accounting, I am very old-fashioned and use Excel. For printing labels, I use sticker paper and a laser printer. It usually takes me about 1–3 days to get shipments ready. I don’t have fixed shipping days, but I do ship about twice a week.

The future of itsjunli

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

I’d like to shift the portfolio of my shop a bit more in a direction where the products reflect me as an artist, not just a paper lover. I want to try more (different) things and create digital products as well.

Advice for new sellers

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

Find something you actually enjoy creating or doing. Sometimes you won’t make sales right away, but because you enjoy what you do, you tend to be more motivated and less frustrated and stick to the process instead of giving up midway.