Etsy Seller Interview with Katerina of littlewaydesignco

How littlewaydesignco 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 actually began selling on Etsy in 2012 with a different shop name and products. I started off selling branding sets for Etsy sellers back when design resources were not as readily available as they are now. I did that for about five years, and then, after honing my self-taught designer skills, I decided to jump into designing items that honoured my Catholic faith. So, I started selling primarily apparel and instant downloads. For minimum risk and investment, I started my apparel with print-on-demand and it has not disappointed. Now, I sell much more than apparel, and I partner with local printers for my greeting cards and stickers. I create my products as rough pencil sketches, then I take them to Adobe Illustrator or Procreate based on what is needed.

Favorite items

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

My favourite products are our Bible tabs, because they’re so beautiful and sturdy. There was also a lot of work to bring to reality. I could not find suppliers for a long time, so when I finally did, it was a dream come true, and they have become our best seller!

I also love our thank-you cards. They have also been a dream of mine, because I love going to Target and picking a new design for myself. To be able to design these from scratch and see them become an actual product that I love is also a dream come true.

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 about a month and a half. Back when the Instagram algorithm was much easier for small businesses and it was easier to get in front of new pairs of eyes, I drew most of my buyers from social media. I spent a lot of time upfront fine-tuning my tags, product titles, and pictures to rank better on the Etsy searches. Now, we rank so highly for searches relating to our products that I really don’t do much to attract buyers or have a need to pay for ads. It is totally organic for us now, which is great thanks to the many tools that Etsy has developed lately, like automatic thank-you coupons and so on.

Managing littlewaydesignco

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 shop by myself with the help of my husband. We fulfil and ship about two-thirds of our products from home. The remaining third is our apparel, which is fulfilled by our print-on-demand partner. They get our orders automatically, and they fulfil them as well with their tools that connect to Etsy.

The future of littlewaydesignco 

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

Our sales are 30% higher than they were last year, so my goal is to continue to see success by keeping our listings looking fresh.

Advice for new sellers

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

1. Make sure you’re pricing your products correctly. Calculate your product costs and multiply them by four. Including labour and parts. I have learned that people will pay higher prices on Etsy because they know they’re supporting independent artisans. I know I do that as a shopper on Etsy!
2. Be patient. Patience is the name of the game, but also make sure you’re doing everything you can to help yourself so that hard work and patience can pay off. What are those things?
3. Do a quick Etsy search for your products and study your competitors. This is hard, yet so worth it.
4. What are they doing well? What could you do better to stand out? How can you improve your listings? Product titles? Pricing? 
5. Be really meticulous in your critiques and write them down.
6. Could you answer questions potential buyers may have about videos or graphics?
7. Most buyers don’t read product details, so the easier it is for buyers to hit that “Add to Cart” button and completely check out, the better. Unlike your own website, which I do have as well, Etsy is very good at bringing organic traffic to your store. You just have to be patient, and work is much less extensive than work you have to put on your own platform. 

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

Question: How much is your monthly revenue?
Answer: Average of $2,000 per month for Etsy alone.

Question: What is your average profit margin?
Answer: 60%

Question: What is your shop’s conversion rate?
Answer: 3%