Great Resources for Learning How to Sell Your Handmade Jewelry

Posted on 25. Oct, 2009 by in Jewelry Business Tips

Do people tell you that you should be selling your handmade jewelry? Are you interested, but don’t know how to start? There are lots of free resources on the internet that can bring you up to speed on what you need to know. Here are my top 7 great resources for learning how to sell handmade artisan jewelry.
1. The Jewelry Sweet Spot (http://www.thejewelrysweetspot.com)

A great site is dedicated entirely to jewelry designers and artisans. It offers free marketing E-Lessons to teach you how to grow your business more quickly, articles about dozens of ways to promote your business, sell more, and work more efficiently and effectively, and alerts and reviews about new products, tools, and books that can help you in your business.
2. The Jewelry Sweet Spot Blog (http://www.thejewelrysweetspot.com/wordpress)
Lots of articles here. There is a regular featured jewelry artist (I think about 2 a month). This is a great place to learn about others who have successful jewelry design businesses and see what others are making. There are also free jewelry making How-To’s and tutorials, and articles about selling at shows and online.
3. Home Jewelry Business Success Tips (http://www.home-jewelry-business-success-tips.com/)
Rena Klingenberg, Author, Publisher, and Jewelry Designer has a great site with lots of articles, tips and shortcuts about selling artisan jewelry. There are over 400 articles listed on this site. Don’t miss her interview with Eni Oken. In this interview, Eni Oken explains what she calls, “the twist”, easily the best and most concise design advice I’ve ever read.
4. Eni Oken’s Jewelry: http://www.enioken.com/
Eni Oken offers a number of great resources and tips for jewelry designers including free and pay tutorials that you are free to use in your own “for sale” jewelry. So refreshing to see a designer that is willing to share her designs instead of jealously guarding them. All she asks is that you help her promote her site as well. Pretty smart marketing really. Well worth checking out.
5. Jewelry Making at About.com (http://jewelrymaking.about.com/)
This site, maintained by Tammy Powley, offers tons of information about making and selling jewelry. It is a pretty broad site aimed at anyone and everyone, hobbyists, beginners, and jewelry designers alike. I find it a little difficult to wade through all the ads but there is a lot of information here, especially of the beginner variety.
6. Art Jewelry Magazine (http://cs.artjewelrymag.com/artcs/)
There is a great forum site here where you can interact with other designers, ask and answer questions about business, and share pictures of your work.
7. Etsy.com (http://www.etsy.com)
This has been a great business starting point for many. Etsy is an online selling site devoted to handmade items of all kinds and is a very inexpensive way to get started in selling your jewelry. There is a very active online forum where you can ask for website critiques, read about selling tips of all kinds (although mostly Etsy related), and make connections with others. The only caveat is that Etsy is quite saturated with jewelry. If your jewelry is common, it may get lost in the sea of jewelry, but if you make very distinctive, appealing jewelry, and do a lot of outside promotion through craft shows and home jewelry parties, you can do quite well on Etsy.

Christine Gierer is a self-taught jewelry designer, crafter, and Work-at-Home-Mom who enjoys reading, writing, and making handmade jewelry. CG Handmade Jewelry for the Understated Princess.(Women Who Want to Shine, not Blind)

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How To Sell Your Handmade Jewelry

Posted on 11. Feb, 2009 by in Pricing Jewelry

When your studio starts to look like a dragon’s treasure stash, it’s time to start selling your handmade jewelry! Why not? You’ve been making jewelry for some time now, and all your friends and family have hinted they have all the jewelry they need for now. You’re so addicted to the relaxation and enjoyment of creating lovely pieces of jewelry that there is no way you can, or want to, stop. It’s really time to make your hobby pay for itself and earn some cash for yourself, too. It is time to turn your jewelry making into a profitable hobby.

Assigning prices to your jewelry can be fun once you know the basics of how to do it. Use these three steps as you guideline.

  • Add the costs of the materials and tools for the pieces you want to sell.
  • Pay yourself for your time and labor. Your hourly rate need not be extravagant. To start, $10 an hour, although it may seem low, is a good place to start. You can give yourself a raise once your business is off the ground.
  • Since you work from your home, your overhead expenses may not be much, but don’t ignore them. Overhead expenses include a business phone line, costs of utilities rental fees for booths at crafting fairs and shows, and web site rental and maintenance fees if you decide to have a web site or open an e-Bay shop. The best way to estimate these costs is to allow one quarter of the sum of your other costs.

From here on, keep records of all of the above expenses, plus any extra costs, such as shipping costs on orders for supplies, office equipment and business-related software . Keep all invoices and receipts, and be sure to record your time and wage for each jewelry item.

If you’re thinking of starting your jewelry business by opening a shop outside your home, you may want to reconsider. It takes a great deal of hard work and time—not to mention money from your own pocket—before you will see any monetary rewards. Why not start small, first? You can make your community aware of your jewelry business, and quite likely build a solid customer base before you even open your shop doors! Here are a few inexpensive, but profitable venues to try.

Home Jewelry Parties: This is one of the least expensive, fun and profitable bases from which to start your home-based jewelry business. You can host the party yourself or have someone you know host it for you. Invite several people, serve refreshments and show off your jewelry to your guests. Let the guests try on the jewelry, and provide mirrors large enough to allow them to see how well a necklace fits. Have a receipt book and plenty of cash change on hand, because you’re sure to sell some of your beautiful jewelry items!

Fairs and Festivals are great places for novices in the business of making and selling jewelry to learn the ropes. With vast exposure to customers and other artisans, you’re sure to pick up a few tips for making your business a success. Customers may so impressed by your lovely work that they ask for custom-made jewelry, or contact information to share with family and friends. Other jewelry crafters are good sources of business contacts, such as how to source the best wholesale jewelry, setting up your online jewelry store, and for learning new design ideas and the most popular current trends in jewelry and other accessories. The overhead is low and the profits are usually quite satisfying, if not downright lucrative!

Online Jewelry Shops are relatively low-overhead/high exposure venues for selling jewelry without leaving your home. You can join an online shops network that specializes in jewelry and accessories, or build your own web site shop. Online auctions are immensely popular, and generate tremendous exposure! E-Bay shops are one of the most cost-effective ways of displaying your jewelry, especially since e-Bay has such a vast customer base.

Home jewelry parties, virtual shops and auctions and crafts fairs are the best ways to build your home-based jewelry business. You can try concentrating on just one, or combine two or all three venues for maximum profit. Once you learn how to sell your jewelry, you may still want to open a brick and mortar shop or boutique, but then again, you may be so hooked on the fun, excitement and excellent profits you can earn by using the above methods that you may never consider having a “real” shop again!

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