Etsy Seller Interview with Lorea of KittenMeWares

How KittenMeWares 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 shop is called Kitten Me Wares. I have always loved sassy graphic T-shirts! When I was a kid there was a T-shirt transfer shop in the local shopping mall and I was obsessed with it. You would go in and flip through these big binders of vinyl transfers. Then they would use a heat press to put the transfer on a shirt. Everything about it fascinated me.

I was an Etsy shopper for years and had bought plenty of t-shirts from other Etsy sellers,  but I‘d always assumed that since I didn’t have any way to print shirts myself I couldn’t do it. Then I saw a Youtube video about phone cases and POD went to look at a POD provider’s site, and realized that I could design shirts and someone else could print them. 

Favorite items

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

One of my favorites is the Pallas Cat bootleg shirt. It was the first bootleg shirt that I made and I was so proud of the chrome-effect lettering. It took me an entire Saturday and a lot of frustration to put it together. It’s one of the first designs that I did that started to sell, although it took a couple of months before the algorithm picked it up.

The “Be Coo” pigeon shirt is popular. 

I love the Nope Cat shirt because of the skeptical expression on his little face, and just because I think it turned out to be a striking design.

Another one I really like and think is funny, but that hasn’t sold, is the bolognese shirt.

I’m really feeling hand drawn fonts, watercolor, pencil crayon drawings and a vintage, handmade vibe. 

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 did NOT get off to a fast start. It took about three weeks to get one sale and then another month to get another sale. My first sales were stickers. Then it seemed like two months went by before I got a third sale! But objectively, most of my first shirt designs weren’t that great or they were just way too weird. The good thing is that I learned a lot from making them. But eventually, I got into the habit of sitting down with a notebook every few weeks and making a list of “crappy designs I want to delete.” Then as I made new designs I would get rid of the old ones. They’re all gone now. My traffic has increased very very gradually. So far, the most views I’ve had in a day was around 90. 

Managing KittenMeWares

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. For design, I use Canva, Kitt,l and Photopea. For research I use Alura and Everbee, and also the low-tech method of checking the autofill on the Etsy search bar. Also, it’s not glamorous, but everyone should use the US Patent and Trademark Office website. For printing and fulfillment, I go through Printify. 

The future of KittenMeWares 

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

My goal for last year was to hit 100 sales, and I made it to 93. So I hope to hit 1000 sales this year! I’d eventually like to have my screen printing setup, and possibly a DTF printer as well, but right now I don’t have any studio space. I’d like to be able to do my printing and fulfillment. I know some people say that it’s way too much work, but it’s the kind of thing that I enjoy. 

Advice for new sellers

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

I feel like I’m still a new seller! Mainly, just be consistent and keep learning. Every time I learn a new way to make a design or find a font that I think is cool, I get excited and want to try it out! There are a million aspects to doing this and every one of them has its learning curve. There’s no possible way to know what you don’t know, and every time you learn something new it opens up new possibilities.

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

Question: What is your shop’s conversion rate?
Answer: For all of last year it was 1.6%.