Buying and selling jewelry! Where do I even start with this topic? It feels like I’m a five-year-old at a theme park. It is almost overwhelming! When put on paper, however, the ins and outs for success in the jewelry industry are not that complicated! Through hard work and determination, and after having read our recommendations, I genuinely believe you will have a better understanding of where to start; from today!
Do Your Homework First: Statistics And Insights Of The Jewelry Industry
Before getting into details about selling and buying jewelry, whether that be online or through a conventional brick-and-mortar store, take a look at the magnitude of the market you are trying to penetrate.
As of 2018, the jewelry industry, together with watches and other fashion accessories like bags – held a 30% market share of the global online purchases. The numbers have seen an increase during the pandemic.
The gold market in the United States is mostly focused on 14k gold, while customers in Europe typically purchase 18k. The demand for 9k gold is mostly found in France.
It is estimated that a whopping 29 million people worldwide purchase jewelry on a daily basis.
During the pandemic, 81% of jewelry purchases were made online, as consumers tried to avoid jewelry stores due to health-related concerns.
The average annual watch and jewelry spending of a household in the United States is $615.
Women make up 56 percent of jewelry purchases, while males account for 44 percent.
Tiffany & Co. was purchased in 2020 by the world’s biggest luxury conglomerate, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton for a whopping $16 Billion. Other giant Luxury Mansions of this magnitude are Cartier, Chopard, Harry Winston, Chanel, Mikimoto, Van Cleef & Arpels, Graff Diamonds.
The whole global jewelry market is estimated at 250 Billion, and fashion jewelry (aka costume jewelry) accounts for 10 to 12% of that total.
As for vintage jewelry, timeless designs from Art Deco, Victorian, Art Nouveau, Georgian, and Edwardian Eras are in huge demand. During the last 10 years, these pieces have seen a 70 up to 100% increase in value.
Tips To Sell Jewelry With Ease
There are several ways you can leverage to start selling jewelry online and work your way to the forefront of the jewelry industry chain. To achieve success, you will need to create an online presence, a huge following that is interested in your products or services, that appreciates your work, and hopefully buys from you. So what to do?
Sell Jewelry Through Your Website
Get in contact with a digital marketing agency. Let them know of your goals, and describe in detail what you expect to generate from the website. This will ensure that the website they will design for you, its structure and design, are perfectly aligned with what you and your future visitors expect to face.
A website must be functional and have a decent design. That includes having a suitable aesthetic that complies with the jewelry industry, an integrated e-commerce page to list your products for sale, and most importantly, a blog page to write about the topics you and your audience care about the most. The latter will help you grab the attention of visitors who are searching for your products on Google and other popular search engines. Other ways you can leverage to bring more visitors to your site can be: running paid advertisements, partnering with other brands in your niche, as well as bringing visitors to your site from social media.
No one said it is easy, but with the jewelry industry blossoming online, having a website is of utmost importance.
Take Action In Social Media
People are on social media to find their hobbies and learn about the things they care about the most. If you love what you do, and with little work and determination, you can easily become an authority in the jewelry industry. To sell jewelry on social media, you should create an audience first. An audience that is interested in this niche. To do so, you can start researching the most prominent hashtags, post constantly, and invest in photography. Make sure to take pictures that pay justice to your jewelry pieces, write clear and creative descriptions, and again, post regularly. Rome was not built in a day!
Take Advantage Of Auction Sites
Christie’s, Sotheby’s, FortunaAuction, are only some of the online auction sites that are particularly known for selling, among others, watches and jewelry. If you are a collector of fine jewelry and want to free up some space from your collection, these sites would be more than happy to evaluate your pieces and give an agreeable starting price. What type of jewelry can you sell on online auctions? For sure, vintage and antique jewelry. Anything that comes from the Art Deco Era, Antique Lockets, Original Cloisonne Jewelry, etc. One last note: In order to increase your chances of selling your jewelry pieces, especially online, consider assessing the value and originality of your pieces through a jewelry appraisal.
List On Online Marketplaces
As aforementioned, 81% of jewelry consumers worldwide relied on online shopping to fill up their jewelry boxes. In addition to having your branded online presence like an Instagram account or a running website, in the meantime, you can list your jewelry stock for sale on online marketplaces.
What online sites are best for selling jewelry?
That depends on the type of jewelry you are selling, quantity, quality, your target audience, and your location. The information below will help you create a better understanding of the sites where you can sell jewelry online easier.
For Fashion Jewelry/ Costume Jewelry – eBay and Amazon: If you’re a more “mass-production” brand that is focused on fashion jewelry, this will appeal to a wider audience and work well on major markets like eBay and Amazon. These buyers are less aware of jewelry making and are more concerned with price and logistics.
For Handmade Jewelry/ Unique Jewelry – Etsy, Amazon Handmade, Bonanza, etc: Smaller markets (such as Etsy, Amazon Handmade, Bonanza, Catawiki, and Dawanda) are more relevant if you sell boutique / handmade / one-of-a-kind jewelry because they provide a specific offering to their targeted consumers.
For Fine Jewelry: Sotheby’s, Christie’s, etc. – In addition to timepieces, art, antiques, furniture, and other collectibles, these reputable and world-renowned sites allow you to expose fine jewelry in front of an audience that is highly interested.
For Selling Jewelry In The US: Make the most of your proximity to clients. If you live in the United States, you have the opportunity to sell at Sears and Walmart, which exclusively accept US-based businesses. This drastically reduces competition and increases profitability.
For Selling Jewelry In The UK: If you are in the United Kingdom, go to Amazon.co.uk or eBay.co.uk. The willingness to buy from a local jeweler can raise sales conversion by up to five times!
For Selling Jewelry In Other Countries: If you’re in India, there’s Flipcart.com, TMall for China, Dawanda.de for Germany, MercadoLibre for Argentina, and other South American nations, Marmelada for Israel, and so on. If possible, you can as well list your products and services in other languages besides English. Languages like Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, will help you penetrate to new markets, which are naturally protected. To further reach local markets try to list your items for sale on Facebook Groups as well as Facebook Marketplace. With the recent updates from the tech giant, selling locally has never been that easy.
Tips To Buy Jewelry With Ease
The other side of the coin in this industry, buying jewelry online, is more complicated and necessitates a better understanding of materials and suppliers. In fact, if you have already mastered these two key components, all you need in an audience and good short and long-term strategies to market your products.
Prior to buying jewelry online, make sure you know the seller. That won’t be that big of a deal if you are looking for a simple and inexpensive pendant to add to your collection, but will cause much trouble if you have ordered an entire pallet of gold jewelry to start your online venture. Therefore, if you are looking for online jewelry suppliers, private label jewelry manufacturers, or wholesale jewelry, make sure to first read the vendor’s feedback and pay attention to their reviews online. If possible, reach out to previous customers of the manufacturer or jewelry supplier you are willing to do business with, and ask if they would recommend them as legible and transparent business associates.
Editor’s Final Thoughts
Through a multi-channel strategy, you can reduce the likelihood of positioning your business in the wrong position. Start with 2-3 channels and gradually expand as you gain experience. Combine marketplaces for a rapid start, use social marketing for keeping in contact, and take advantage of a branded eCommerce website for long-term business growth. If you are looking for jewelry suppliers, keep in mind that quality will sell the product, and make your clients return for more. Regardless of the jewelry price range, you are selling/buying, it is important to always have a quality product that is worth selling.
