How to sell your jewelry in the largest department store in the world!
Twenty years ago when someone started a home based jewelry business they would set
their goals to have some local boutiques sell their designs, and plan to take them to the
local fairs and maybe some home parties. In their wildest dreams, they would not
imagine to display their goods in an online department store that reportedly hosts 1-
million+ visitors a day.
Before we continue with today.s lesson, it should be noted that in recent news Ebay.s
pricing structures or buyers and especially sellers, has been seriously questioned. It is
not cheap to do business with Ebay, but at present, they do offer dynamic and pre-
interested shoppers. You will need to weigh the pros and cons for yourself and your
particular business model.
If you are not able to get out to trade shows, fairs, home parties and networking, you
may find Ebay to offer you a significant opportunity for sales.
On the other hand, Ebay is quite competitive for the jewelry business. Many artisan
jewelers, like you, are doing business at Ebay. The typical shopper on Ebay is looking
for a deal, so if you are not priced competitively, you won.t sell much.
Where to Start?
We have established that your price point on Ebay is crucial to your success. There are
some steps to follow to get your started:
1. Do some research and find out who sells jewelry most like yours and for what
price? Take special notice of Power Sellers, as they sell the most products. You
can use the advanced search feature to check out previous sales and what the
final bid was that actually bought the jewelry.
(You can get a full detailed description of how to do an advanced search and much
more in a highly recommended Ebook entitled: Jewelry Party Book by
Lori Ely. Lorrie describes in detail many selling strategies used in the handcrafted
artisan jewelry business, and beyond the initial sales, how to profit from your
business.)
2. Lori suggests avoiding a lot of extra fees by streamlining your ads at the
beginning of your campaign. Add a photo, but maybe skip the featured listing
and bolded captions until you know you can recoup your investment.
3. Don.t be discouraged if your auction doesn.t close with a sale on your first round
of auctions. It takes practice to match your market. The Jewelry Party Book
goes into more depth on what days; what times etc. seem to sell jewelry the best.
4. Recognize that selling on Ebay is trial and error, testing and re-testing until you
hit the formula that seems to work for you.
5. Ebay offers an extensive on-line help in their Learning Centre at
www·ebay·com/education
6. Now you will need an Ebay account. Set-up instructions are simple and with a
personal account, you can begin taking payments immediately with Pay Pal.
7. Take great photos of the pieces you are selling at the auction. Remember, if you
deceive people with the product, you will get returns, bad ratings on Ebay, and
generally sabotaging any success you might have in the future.
IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO UNDER-PROMISE AND OVER-DELIEVER
8. Remember the photography lesson? Maybe now is a good time to review some
of the important guidelines for photos that sell.
9. Lastly, write compelling headlines that will attract the visitor.s attention if only for
5 seconds. “Necklace” won.t be sufficient! Try: “Sterling silver necklace with
Smokey Quartz drop.”
10. Prepare to practice. If you love the action in the auction, you can have some fun
while you make money with your new home-based jewelry business.
If your product is quality and your customer service is excellent, many boutiques will
want to sell your jewelry. However, until they know they are going to profit, they often
ask for consignment terms. In our next chapter we will define the consignment business
relationship, and give you some tips on how to manage your consignment
arrangements.