Etsy Seller Interview with Anita of anitaivancenko

How anitaivancenko 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 am Anita Ivancenko, owner of the Anitaivancenko Etsy store. I started my Etsy journey back in December 2011, when I was in my last year at university studying illustration. I made some prints and cards, which didn’t sell well. In fact, I received only 2 orders during 2012 and 5 during 2013. At that point, I decided that I needed another product. During these years I also had a Society6 shop, which does print on demand, and I noticed that phone cases were doing very well over there, so the next obvious step was to introduce phone cases in my Etsy shop. I found a local print-on-demand supplier, and things took off. As regular sales started to roll in, I decided to invest in my own phone case printing setup. It was great for a couple of years until case sales started to decrease. I have been introducing other products meanwhile, as I didn’t want to rely on cases alone, and good thing I did! My current best sellers are stickers and enamel pins. During the pandemic, I invested in a Cricut machine, which I use for cutting my stickers. For enamel pins, I use Kickstarter to fund new designs and then order them from a factory. I also find Kickstarter great for finding out what people like before production instead of just making random pins that nobody will buy. Recently, I also introduced cotton pouches with my designs, as I was looking for more ways to utilize my Cricut machine. They took off well and are now an important part of my shop. When developing new products, I tend to look at what I already have available. This way, I can save money in the beginning.

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 favorite items are moon phase cotton pouches

Also, while I adore all of my enamel pins, my current favorites are the tiny glow in the dark moons

My current best sellers are stickers

I love them all and can’t pick a favorite, but here is one that customers love the most!

I think stickers are selling well because they are a great way to customize different items, such as laptops, water bottles, and even skateboards. They are also much cheaper than permanent customization and can be changed easily. I have now stuck them all over my spare room studio and started to expand to other areas of the house.

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?

My first sale came after a half year of having an Etsy store, and my second took another couple of months. At that time, I didn’t know anything about SEO, and Instagram was something new. Now that I am more experienced at what I am doing, I am mostly relying on SEO and Instagram to bring in sales. I also email exclusive offers to my mailing list.

Managing anitaivancenko

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 running my shop solo. I don’t use many apps; the ones I do use are mainly for photo and video editing, and of course, social media. For photo editing, I use PS Express, and for video editing, I use InShot. For creating my work, I use Procreate on the iPad and Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator on the computer. I have recently started printing shipping labels at home, and it is a game changer! I no longer need to stand in post office lines and guess how much I will have to pay. I would really suggest investing in a label printer. Your packages will look more professional as well!

The future of anitaivancenko 

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

In the future, I intend to create more products and refocus my shop on design rather than product. I don't want to rely on specific products because I've already had bad luck with them. 

Advice for new sellers

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

My advice is to first test the waters before making large investments. Try out print on demand or outsource production before you are sure an investment is necessary. Don’t take much advice from friends and family; although they mean well, they probably are not your target customer. Price accordingly! Don’t undervalue your work and time, and treat it as business, not a hobby. and also have nice photos. If you can’t make them yourself, find someone who can help or outsource the work to professionals. In my opinion, the first visual impression is most important when shopping online. Also, have fun and don’t stress out if it is not going as well as hoped. Keep experimenting and tweaking, and results will come.