Antler Addiction - Josh Kraft

Overview

Antler Addiction started in 2021 as a small project, after collecting naturally shed deer antlers on our family ranch during the COVID-19 pandemic. What began as a hobby grew into a business — utilizing unnoticed antlers for purposeful, sustainable products like pet chews and home décor.

Challenges

The journey has never been free from obstacles, like having to learn how to photograph, price, advertise, and dispatch products effectively. As we grew, we faced other challenges: navigating international wildlife regulations, maintaining star seller designation, and more.

Accomplishments

Contributions

Helped maintain Etsy's Star Seller badge every month for 4+ years:
- 4.8+ average rating
- 95% of customer messages answered within 24 hours
- Fewer than 3 support cases per month
Assisted with Shopify store setup:
- Theme and layout configuration
- Product and listing import
- App/Extension integrations
Helped complete trademark filing for Antler Addiction, covering antlers, apparel, and other categories
Expanded antler sourcing network across Alberta:
- Built relationships with sellers in Lethbridge, Canmore, Red Deer, Edmonton, Grand Prairie, and other locations

Personal

Personally fulfilled over 200 orders, for which I:
- Handled packing, labeling, shipping, customs documents, and all customer communication
Completed hundreds of E-declarations for U.S. FWS compliance
Customized the Shopify frontend:
- Included logo in customized sticky smart header via Liquid code
- Replaced default cart icon with custom design
- Designed and implemented a custom "About" page, among others
Created a pinterest page that accumulated over 500,000 pin clicks and drove organic growth through social media, driving a 400% growth in sales from social media
Designed and constructed an 8' x 4' modular photography stand to simplify photography work, decreasing time to list new items by over 50%

What I Learned

Through this, I developed skills in e-commerce, professional communication, teamwork, and more. Improving store layouts and shipping logic, learning how to drive traffic through social platforms and SEO, and staying accountable each and every day - all while managing a full course load as a student, has been an incredibly fulfilling pursuit.