Etsy Seller Interview with Andrej of KanjiTRICHECK

How KanjiTRICHECK 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 Etsy shop, KanjiTRICHECK, is a reflection of my life-long passion for Japanese culture and love for drawing. Like many others, I was captivated by the fascination for anime and manga from an early age. It all started with drawing my favourite characters as a child, which gradually blossomed into a passion that I nurture to this day. Drawing and my love for anime awakened the artist in me. Over the years, my enthusiasm for Japanese culture, its unique stories, and immersive worlds continued to grow. I discovered that I was not alone and came across countless like-minded individuals who were equally interested in this fascinating culture and everything it embodies.

I founded KanjiTRICHECK on April 13, 2021, as an extension of this passion. It's my mission to share the worlds that shaped me with everyone and to give everyone the opportunity to dive into this fantastic culture. The shop is a tribute to all the weebs, anime, and manga fans, and anyone who tried to fire a Kamehameha-wave or a Rasengan as a child. It offers a range of streetwear clothing and decor items, each inspired by the unique stories and worlds within Japanese culture. The designs are created by me, either hand-drawn or designed using software like Photoshop, a skill I owe to my professional design background and Bachelor's degree in Design.

Favorite items

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

One of the unique and newest products in my shop is the Yokai Canvas Artwork with a Double Exposure Effect. The Artwork changes its appearance depending on the colour of the light shining on it. It's a truly unique and fascinating effect that must be seen live. Another favourite product of mine is the Oversized Spider Lily Shirt. It's inspired by the legend of the underworld's river of forgetfulness, lined with blood-red spider lilies, which bloom to spark the deceased's beautiful memories one last time before they cross the river.

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?

It took me 13 days to make my first sale after opening my shop. To attract customers to my Etsy store, I mostly just use SEO and let the quality of the products and the satisfaction of my customers speak for themselves. So for the most part, it's organic traffic, which I convert into purchases through special offers. However, there are many other ways to attract potential customers, but I prefer to use them for my own website rather than a marketplace. However, for those who just want to promote their Etsy Shop, here are a few traction channels you should check out: blogs, social ads, SEO and SEM, content marketing, email marketing, affiliate programmes, and community building.

Managing KanjiTRICHECK

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 run the shop alone and have three production partners who help me with the production and shipping of my items. I use some tools and tricks to run the store as efficiently and productively as possible on my own. In addition to Adobe Creative Cloud for designing, I use Notion, Artificial intelligence, and Robotic Process Automation. Notion is a powerful and flexible productivity tool with a building block system. You can build your own interface as it best suits your needs. Task management, notes, Kanban views, databases, project and content planning, etc. are possible with it. I use it daily for my work. In addition to that, I have automated many of my workflows with Robotic Process Automation (RPA) using PowerAutomate and UiPath. If you have basic programming knowledge, you can build your own little workers that do tasks for you. The time savings are enormous, and you can devote yourself to other things. It's perfect for a one-man business. It gets even better when you connect an AI like ChatGPT to it.

The future of KanjiTRICHECK 

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

My future goal for KanjiTRICHECK is to expand the shop with more unique products that cannot be found anywhere else. I aim to offer over 1000 items catering to various themes, with the vision of becoming THE shop for Japanese Streetwear. I'm not interested in selling mass-produced items from Alibaba (which you often find in similar shops), but rather unique streetwear and decor inspired by Japanese culture.

Advice for new sellers

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

Look to successful brands and products for inspiration, not necessarily just other Etsy Shops. Pay attention to how big companies present themselves online and how they build their brands and communities. Let your shop be influenced by several sources to maintain high quality. Data is crucial to delivering what your customers want. Test ideas against each other, interpret what the data is telling you, and consistently improve your shop and products based on feedback. Learn to outsource tasks or gain skills that will enable you to outsource as your shop grows. This will free up time for you to drive the growth of your shop.

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

Question: How much is your monthly revenue?
Answer: My monthly revenue is approximately 2,700 euros, excluding the earnings from shipping.

Question: What is your shop’s conversion rate?
Answer: The shop's conversion rate is currently at 1.3%.