Whether you are a jeweler, designer or just love your bling, selling jewelry online can be a very profitable business but how exactly do you get started?
Good question and one of the reasons why we created this guide, which covers all of the important aspects of starting to sell jewelry online to help you get started on the right foot, which will hopefully lead to a very sparkly future for your business!
Step 1: Choosing a Jewellery Niche
The very first step in starting to sell jewelry online is to choose a niche and you might be thinking “isn’t jewelry a niche?” and the answer is… no, because jewelry in itself isn’t a niche, it is more of a category in the same way that clothing or electronics aren’t niches.
There are many different niches within the jewelry category, with some examples being:
- Bridal and Wedding Jewelry
- Diamond and Gemstone Jewelry
- Men’s Jewelry
- Fashion Jewelry
- Vintage and Estate Jewelry
- Hip-hop Jewelry (very blingy!)
- Stainless Steel or Titanium Jewelry
- Enamel or Resin Jewelry
Even these are relatively broad niches within jewelry and there are many sub-niches that are more specialized but how do you decide on a niche?
Well, a lot of that comes down to you and the type of jewelry that you are interested in as it is pointless trying to sell engagement rings when you are really into hip-hop style jewelry as in many cases it is the people who love and are passionate about the jewelry they sell that becomes the most successful.
Even though it can work, focusing too heavily on a very specialized niche can cause you problems. For example, just focusing on Sterling Silver Wolf rings has a very small target audience, who you might struggle to reach and the potential for future growth is quite limited, whereas Sterling Silver animal-themed rings gives you are far wider audience while still being a niche product.
Step 2: Choose a Price Point
Once you have decided on your niche, you need to decide what type of price point you are going to be selling your jewelry at and generally, it falls into three main categories:
- Low End – usually under $1,000
- Mid Range – usually between $1,000 and £10,000
- High End – upwards of $10,000
This isn’t a fixed thing and you can look to move price points in the future but you want to think about the price point for when you are starting your business because if you are starting with a $1,000 budget, you aren’t realistically going to be selling $100,000 pieces straight away
The price point for your jewelry will also impact on some other areas of setting up your business, such as:
- Finding suppliers
- Marketing your jewelry store
Just as an example, Pandora and Harry Winston have completely different price points and as a result of this their manufacturing and marketing methods are completely different.
Step 3: Finding Manufacturers and Suppliers
Whether you are making your own jewelry to sell or looking to sell ready-made pieces, you need to develop a good network of suppliers, manufacturers and tradespeople.
But finding these suppliers can be tricky when you are just starting out but a good way to get started is to:
- Google searches for things like jewelry manufacturers, jewelry wholesalers etc
- Facebook Groups, there are many jewelry-related Facebook groups where you may be able to ask about suppliers etc
- Visit your local jewelry district, many major cities have a jewelry district and you may be able to find some local suppliers
- Jewelry trade shows, a great way to find suppliers and manufacturers are trade shows, you may need to travel to visit one though
Knowing what you are looking to sell and the price point for your jewelry can make this process considerably easier and you may find that you quickly get directed to the companies and people you need to speak to.
Step 4: Brand Your Jewelry Business
As with any fashion-related business, branding is important and when done correctly it can help your business stand out from the crowd and there are three elements you want to focus on:
1. Your Business Name
Your business’s name is its identity and is at the core of your branding but coming up with a name can be challenging.
Ideally, you want to keep your name short and easy to remember, which is something you see with many of the big names in the industry and most of them are the name of the founder of the company, so maybe something worth thinking about.
When thinking about your business name, you want to check if the following are available:
- Domain name
- Social Media accounts
And if possible, you want them all to be the same as this will give you brand continuity online.
2. Your Logo Logo
The next step is to create a logo for your business and as with your business name, you want to keep it simple and memorable.
For many jewelry businesses, it is often the case of choosing the right font and possibly a small symbol. Having a fancy logo is great but if it doesn’t communicate your business name very well, then it is not really doing what you want it to.
The two tools that are good for creating a business logo are Canva and Adobe Express.
You will want to use your logo on your website, social media accounts and for that added touch, you can also add it to your packaging, such as custom jewelry boxes and bags.
3. Your Brands Colors
This is something that many people won’t think about and you may even have raised an eyebrow at this but there are quite a few jewelry brands that have quite distinctive brand colors, such as:
- Tiffany – Blue (this color is actually trademarked)
- Cartier – Red
- Rolex – Green and Gold
Darker, richer colors can come across as more luxurious as the Cartier Red and Rolex Green both fit this but once you have decided on your brand colors, you also want to apply this to your website, socials and possibly package.
Step 5: Choosing Where to Sell Online
The next step is to start planning where you are going to sell your jewelry online and there are two main options:
- Your own online store
- Through a marketplace
We will cover these two a little bit more below but you don’t have to go with one or the other, in a lot of cases it can be beneficial to use both as this increases the number of sales channels for your business.
1. Creating Your Own Online Store
If you are selling jewelry online then you need to start your own online store as this gives you much more control over your business, this is because:
- You set the policies for your store (they still have to be legal)
- It is better to market your own store
- You can build your own customer list, which can be very valuable
Your own online store is the core of your online jewelry business and through many ecommerce platforms, you can also sell through social media.
When it comes to creating an online store, there are many different options out there and this is where sites like EcommerceGold can come in very handy as we review many of these and give our recommendations for what we think are the best ecommerce platforms.
2. Online Marketplaces
When you are just starting out, selling through online marketplaces can be a great way to get eyes on your jewelry that you may struggle to get otherwise and options for marketplaces can include:
- Etsy – one of the largest marketplaces for handmade goods, including jewelry
- Ebay – can be an option for resellers of ready-made jewelry
- Niche-Specific Marketplaces – there are some specialist marketplaces that cater just to jewelry or more luxury or specialist products
While these can be great ways to start generating sales in the early days of your business, they can be expensive in terms of fees (the cost of doing business) and they have a tendency to side with the customer when it comes to disputes.
Step 6: Showcasing Your Jewelry
Whether you are selling your jewelry on your own store or through a marketplace, you want to showcase it as well as you possibly can as this can lead to more sales and some things you want to think about are
- Product Title – A well-written title will convince someone to click on your page but make sure that it is accurate and fits with the product and information that is on the rest of the page
- Product Images – One of the most important parts of your page is your product image and you always want to use high-quality images that accurately depict your product. It is best to keep your backgrounds simple and complimentary as you want the piece to be the main focus of the image
- Product Description – This is your sales pitch, so make it count and as jewelry isn’t an essential product that people need, your description should evoke a feeling of want and desire
- Add to Cart Button – The terminology may differ from website to website but the premise is the same and you want your Add to Cart button to have a color that works with your site but also stands out from the rest of the page so that your visitor’s eyes are drawn to it
As your business develops, you will probably start to find your own unique style in terms of photography and writing, which is a good thing as it helps your business stand out from the crowd.
Step 7: Marketing Your Jewelry Store
You can have the best jewelry website in the world but if no one knows it’s there, then you won’t make any sales, which means you don’t really have a business.
This is why you need to create a marketing strategy for your store as having a plan to get your jewelry in front of the eyes of your target market is going to significantly increase the chances of your store being successful.
So what are some of the ways you can start marketing your store?
- Social Media – a great way to start generating traffic and potentially sales is via social media and there are two ways you can do this:
- Paid Ads – these are ads that you place on Facebook, Instagram or any other social media platform to put your product in front of your target audience
- Organic – this one takes a lot longer as it involves building a following but when done right, this can result in a dedicated audience who are receptive to your jewelry
- Search Engines – traffic from search engines can often be the best converting as these are people who actively looking for jewelry to buy and once again there are two ways you can do this:
- Organic Search – often called SEO or Search Engine Optimization, where you optimize your site and pages to rank high in search results
- Paid Ads – this is where you pay search engines to put an ad at the top of the search results relating to your chosen keywords
To maximize your chances you want to be doing a mix of both as paid ads can get people on your site quickly, whereas the organic option can take time depending on the time and effort you put in to building your audience or optimizing your site.
There are also other options you could consider such as Influencer marketing and/or Affiliate marketing, which can get your jewelry in front of an audience you may not have been able to access otherwise.
Once you are starting to get sales, you want to look at Email marketing as a way of potentially getting repeat customers, which can be much more cost-effective than getting a new one.
Selling Jewelry Online FAQ
It can be, just make sure that you price your jewelry correctly so that you have a decent profit margin and create a marketing strategy so that you can generate sales.
You can start an online jewelry business for less than $1,000 but it depends on the type of jewelry that you are selling and also how you structure your business.
Yes, Shopify is a good platform for selling jewelry online as they offer a good selection of features & payment options and the platform is easy to use.
Conclusion
Selling jewelry can be an amazing and very profitable business when done correctly but before you dive headfirst into this business, spend some time planning and then create a plan for what you are going to do and when as this can make the process a lot easier.
One final piece of advice would be to learn as much as you can about anything you plan on doing for your business, for example:
- Going to use Shopify for your online store? Then check out tutorials before you start building your store so that you have an idea of what you are doing
- Going to be running Facebook Ads? Then check out tutorials or take a short course to help you learn the basics
This can help you speed up the process of going from idea to generating your first sale and the great thing is that there is lots of information available online.
Hi, I'm Paul, the Owner and Founder of EcommerceGold.
I ran my own Ecommerce Business for over 7 years and now help others start their own online retail empires!