Etsy Seller Interview with Nurit of nuntchi

How nuntchi 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?

Since childhood, I’ve always had an attraction to handicrafts. My dream was to create art and be able to sell my artwork. I worked for some time in mosaic as a hobby, and since then I have only been looking for surfaces to cover with tiles. In my search, I met the sculptor Shulamit Hartal, who invented and developed a method for sculpting in metal wire mesh. My first goal was to create sculptures to cover in tiles. But little by little, I realized that there are many, many advantages to working with the metal wire mesh as is.

I fell in love with the metal wire mesh. The sculpture work is not done in the usual manner because it is done on the visible outer shell of the sculpture. The sculpture is completely hollow and therefore very lightweight. I work only on the creative element, on the outer skin that will be seen by others. No welding or soldering is necessary. The material is so flexible that I can change my desires as I go along, which makes the final piece a total surprise. By chance, I came across a brochure that offered a course to learn how to open an Etsy store. I realized that this was the way to make my dream come true. I create and sell my creations all over the world. I signed up for the course, and with the help of the teacher, I opened my shop on Etsy in 2012.

Favorite items

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

I really like to sculpt figures in motion. The first products I sold were climbing shoes. I really like doing them; I like their mobility. I made them in lots of poses, shapes, and colors, with rope and without a rope, for women and men. It is a best-selling product. People like the movement and the fact that a person who climbs often symbolizes the overcoming of difficulty and the desire to reach higher and climb up. Another sculpture that sells well is an abstract torso of a woman whose body has been cut. I think people like abstract works of art that provoke thought. In my opinion, any work of art that provokes thought is much more interesting.

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?

The first sale happened about two months after I opened the Etsy shop. I sold two climbers, and I was really satisfied. Here, my dream is starting to come true. The real challenge when you have an online store is to attract customers to the store. In the first years, it went very well. As I mentioned, I took a course that helped me open the store according to the rules so that the Etsy and Google search engines would help customers reach my store. But over the years, the competition has increased, and many shops have opened that are not really handmade as defined at the beginning. And the challenge of bringing customers to my store has increased greatly. I use all the tools Etsy gives me. Sponsored advertisements, a sales campaign, coupons sent to customers, good customer service, answers questions and solves problems as they arise. 

Managing nuntchi

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 am the only person working at this business! I have no outside help. I make the sculptures, photograph them, upload the products to my website and Etsy shop, market on social media, and send the packages as soon as orders come in. It's all a one-woman show. For shipping, I bought cardboard packaging that fits the size of most of my sculptures. I pack the sculptures well and send them in hard cardboard packaging so they don't get crushed. I almost always pack the sculptures with gift paper because the impression it makes on the buyer is important.

The future of nuntchi

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

Of course, I want to grow and increase my sales. But the market is getting tougher day by day. I want to create another collection of sculptures, and I am working on them these days.

Advice for new sellers

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

At the beginning of my journey, I took a course that guided me on how to open the Etsy store the right way. How to upload a product to Etsy, how to find suitable search terms, and how to photograph the products correctly That's why I highly recommend taking such a course. It greatly shortens the way and the study when there is someone who guides, can check the store, and can recommend what to do. A very important thing in building an online store is having good pictures of the products. This is the customer's first impression when he sees the product. That is why it is very important to specialize in the field of photography as well and learn how to do it right.