How ExqApparel 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 was introduced to Etsy back in 2017. My journey started with selling handmade leather phone cases, which was an instant success. I was amazed at how fast sales were coming in and the amount of money people were willing to pay for handmade leather phone cases. I sold over $7,000 worth of phone cases in the month of February. Because of how busy I was, I had to let go of Etsy. My second Etsy trial was with my baby clothing brand, which has very chic, elegant, and expensive handmade baby clothing. It was a failure, so after letting it run for 2 years, I closed up shop on Etsy. Then, me and my friends were sitting by the fire, talking about how apparel sales are booming on Etsy. On a whim, I went ahead and invested $15,000 in heat presses, vinyl cutters, and inventory in general. We started selling. One of my friends is our graphics designer, Eddie. He creates, photoshops and illustrates most of our designs. We have several wholesale manufacturers that we are in arrangement with. We source our apparel from them.

Favorite items

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

Both Rachel and Belle, in our team, were obsessed with Empowering Women themed designs, so Eddie went ahead and created several listings on Empowering Women. It was almost an instant hit. Our sales in the second month of our business started averaging 15-20 sales a day.

Empowered Women, Girl Power Sweatshirt

I believe this is one of our most selling designs. This listing also made us realize that it was not the listing pictures, product descriptions that made the sale. It was the value the design brought to the listing. What is the message being conveyed? Most of our sales revolve around statement designs, empowering designs.

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?

On our first day, we had a sale. We try to create 10–50 listings a day, and I believe that helps with visibility. SEO is a huge part of attracting customers as well, using Erank to gather data on which keywords are being used, etc.

Managing ExqApparel

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?

We are a team of four.
Rachel-Customer Service/Shop Management
Belle - Sales / Listing Management
Eddie-Graphics Designer/Design Creator
Abraham, Head of Operations

We do not really use any tools. I have gotten in touch with Etsy to help sellers extract the new sales information in a word or table format so that it was easier for us to manage orders over 100, but they have not really been helpful. Fulfilling orders is one thing; fulfilling them with 100% accuracy is another, especially when you are dealing with 100+ orders daily. I am personally a control freak and I do not tolerate mistakes. Therefore, every order is written in word format in a table: Name/Design/Size/Apparel Kind & Color/Vinyl Color. This word document is triple checked to ensure everything matches what Etsy has in the New Sales section, therefore eliminating any mistakes that may be caused by the person typing in the information. Then we get four copies. One person subtracts inventory (because all of the inventory apps on Etsy and all do not sync correctly, and we don't have room for error), and two people prepare the apparel by placing the corresponding design on the apparel that matches the size, color, and all. The other person triple presses the apparel.

The future of ExqApparel

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

300 sales a day.

Advice for new sellers

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

Make sure your SEO game is on point. Deliver godly customer service; it's your bread and butter.

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

Question: How much is your monthly revenue?
Answer: $25,000-$100,000

Question: What is your average profit margin?
Answer: 30-35%

Question: What is your shop’s conversion rate?
Answer: 3.0-4.4%

Alura Team
Alura Team

Alura is your all-in-one platform for selling on Etsy. With more $500.000+ gross sales over four years selling on Etsy, Alura is built by experienced sellers for sellers. Start with a free account and explore all the features you need to start, run, and grow your Etsy shop.