Sell Homemade Jewelry Online

Selling homemade jewelry can be a difficult and competitive business to get into, but the popularity of online shopping can make the process a little more successful. An online jewelry business will allow you to reach a broader customer base, but be forewarned that competition is stiff. You can be successful, though, as long as you have quality merchandise to offer and enough extra time to spend on making your business appealing to Internet shoppers.

Steps

Where to Sell

1. Create an account with a marketplace website. A marketplace website is any website where potential buyers can search through a wide range of items from many different sellers. Many marketplace websites sell a broad range of content, but those that specialize in homemade items or homemade jewelry may make it easier for you to draw the right client base to your online shop.
2. Prepare yourself for the fees involved. In order to make money, you have to spend money, first. Marketplace websites make most of their money by charging fees. Many online market places charge listing fees, which are fees you pay to post an item to the website, and renewal fees, or fees paid to renew a listing if it expires before being sold. Some websites also take a percentage of the money you make from each item you sell. Every marketplace website is different, though, so you must research the fees for each one before signing up.
3. Find out what methods of payment you must use. The majority of marketplace websites will accept the most common methods of payment, but this is not a guarantee. If you have a preferred method of payment, you should first find out which marketplace websites allow that method to be used.
4. Gauge how easy it will be to contact customer support. A marketplace website that provides a phone number as well as an email address is more likely to be able to help you if any problems arise. Better customer support will lead to a more pleasant selling experience.
5. Consider starting your own website once your business grows. When you start to develop your own customer base, you can switch over to your own website and most of your customers will follow you there. There are still fees involved with having your own website, but if you can generate a lot of sales, the fees will be much smaller than they would be if you continued selling through an online marketplace.
   • Allow your customers to pay you through a certified, third-party payment service. New customers are more likely to feel safer using a third-party payment group than they would be giving you their credit card information directly.
   • Go the extra mile to make your website look professional. Use webpage software or hire a web designer.
   • Note that you should only switch to your own website once you are able to invest a good deal of time into building your business. Otherwise, the cost of maintaining a website may not be worth it for the amount of sales you generate.

How to Sell

1. Know what people want. If you sell generic pieces of jewelry that can be found just about anywhere, you are less likely to attract attention as a new seller. Instead, cater to a specific interest or niche. Browse through message boards and blogs to get an idea of what people want. You can also visit online stores and marketplaces that rank search results by popularity.
2. Take good pictures. The downfall of selling jewelry online is that buyers cannot examine the piece in person. As a result, clear, informative photographs are essential. Take pictures using a high-resolution digital camera. Photograph each piece of jewelry from different angles, getting as close as possible without blurring the image and using natural light or other clear lighting. You may even want to prop the jewelry up next to coins or other items that show the size of each piece.
   • As your business grows, you can consider hiring a photography student or professional photographer to take better pictures for you.
3. Price your items for what they are worth. Pricing an item too high will discourage customers for obvious reasons, but pricing an item too low will decrease the perceived value of a piece. There are several common pricing models used by jewelry designers. First, you must determine the wholesale value. Then, determine the retail pricing that you will sell at.
   • The simplest wholesale value scale is to take the total material cost and multiply it by 3 or 3.5.
   • You can also factor labor into the wholesale cost more directly by multiplying the number of hours you worked by an hourly wage, like $35 per hour, and taking the product of that equation and adding the total cost of the material to it.
   • Determine the retail price by multiplying the wholesale price by any number between 1.4 and 2.0, depending on how high quality you feel your jewelry is.
4. Use accurate keywords. Accurate keywords will draw interested customers to your shop while making sure uninterested customers are not misled there. You should also take into consideration the types of keywords you choose.
   • When people shop via online search engines, they generally type in the most basic information possible. For instance, someone looking for a heart-shaped pendant is likely to search for "heart necklace" or "heart pendant." When choosing titles and keywords, avoid using overly specific terms that are unlikely to show up on a search engine hit.
   • At the same time, you should avoid being too vague. A necklace titled "silver aquamarine heart necklace" will pick up more hits than one titled "heart necklace," since anyone interested in "silver," "aquamarine," "heart," or "necklace" will have a chance at making it to your online shop.
5. Make use of social media. Advertise you products on as many social media websites as possible. Actively seek out friends and followers, and continually post links to new listings in your online store.
6. Advertise where potential buyers might be. Instead of advertising in forums that are geared toward jewelry makers, advertise in forums that are a little more neutral. Create a blog and connect to other bloggers with an interest in fashion and design. Join message board communities and leave a link to your online store in your signature, as long as the rules of the board allow it.
7. Look into pay-per-click advertisements. You only pay for these advertisements when someone clicks on the ad and is redirected to your store. Essentially, you are advertising your online shop and only paying for the people who notice your ad.
8. Advertise in the real world. Your homemade jewelry business may stay online, but that does not mean your marketing campaign should. While the majority of your advertising should be done online, you can also print flyers or business cards to spread out around your local area. Include information about how to visit your online jewelry listings, as well as information and pictures of some of the jewelry you sell.

Tips

• Start selling in small amounts. Plenty of people can sell a piece of homemade jewelry here or there, but not everyone can make a business of it. Before you invest too much time and money, see what it's like to sell a few pieces. You can still maintain your online jewelry business as a hobby, but it is best to do so by sticking with marketplace websites rather than investing in your own domain name.

Sources and Citations

See also

• Use Sewing Skills to Financial Advantage
• Sell Art
• Get Commissioned As an Artist
• Sell Your Crafts at Home Parties
• Get Jewelry Appraised
• Sell Gold Jewelry
• Sell Antique Jewelry
• Pawn Jewelry
• Start a Crafts Business
• Make Profitable Crafts

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