| Selling Jewelry And Diamonds Online?? |
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kdub1777
Full Member
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| Selling Jewelry And Diamonds Online?? |
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I have recently had contact with a local (large) jewelry store owner in my town. He runs a very succesful store and has a great reputation in the jewelry industry. I have made a good living selling designer items online and on Ebay, Overstock. To get down to it, he is self proclaimed computer illiterate and wants me to sell his jewelry online. The problem is, I have absolutely no experience in the jewelry or diamond industry. I don't even own a watch. Is there a market for certified jewelry and diamonds online?? We would work a deal out where we would split profits on sales over the wholesale price he can get the jewelry for. I would have no inventory or costs out of my own pocket. I would invest only my time and knowledge. This would be a lot like drop shipping. I sell his items, let him know what has been sold, he ships them, we split the profits.
My questions are, would this be profitable?? Is there room in the market for a wholesale certified jewlery salesman? What might the markup be on wholesale jewelry sold online? If anyone has any experience at all with jewelry or diamonds please give your thoughts.
Thank you
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Sun Apr 02, 2006 9:14 pm |
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JBendar
Senior Member
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Location: Woodbridge, New Jersey
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| Re: Selling Jewelry And Diamonds Online?? |
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quote:
Originally posted by kdub1777
I have recently had contact with a local (large) jewelry store owner in my town. He runs a very succesful store and has a great reputation in the jewelry industry. I have made a good living selling designer items online and on Ebay, Overstock. To get down to it, he is self proclaimed computer illiterate and wants me to sell his jewelry online. The problem is, I have absolutely no experience in the jewelry or diamond industry. I don't even own a watch. Is there a market for certified jewelry and diamonds online?? We would work a deal out where we would split profits on sales over the wholesale price he can get the jewelry for. I would have no inventory or costs out of my own pocket. I would invest only my time and knowledge. This would be a lot like drop shipping. I sell his items, let him know what has been sold, he ships them, we split the profits.
My questions are, would this be profitable?? Is there room in the market for a wholesale certified jewlery salesman? What might the markup be on wholesale jewelry sold online? If anyone has any experience at all with jewelry or diamonds please give your thoughts.
Thank you
There are two problems in this scenario. The first problem is why would a successful business owner want to sell products online? In addition the problem arises that you don't have expertise in the jewelry business. If this jewelry store owner wanted online exposure, it would be best to go with a professional web designer. There is something in this situation that doesn't seem right. It would be best to stick to the items you are experienced in selling on Ebay, and leave the jewelry business to the individuals who have the expertise in this area. This is my take on your plan.
JBendar 
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Mon Apr 03, 2006 3:24 am |
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kdub1777
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Cash: $ 10.82
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Well, who wouldn't want to branch out and expand their business. What better way than to offer your items to millions of people who wouldn't have gotten the chance to see them other wise. And why spend money on a web designer that does not know business? The owner of the store has personally seen a couple of my business ventures that have been succesful. He acknowledges my business savvy and drive. I started out selling on Ebay and have branched out to real estate, building, development and design work. I think he wants a new look on what his business can do. I think he wants a fresh look at some new ideas. Why not join together and see how succesful we can make it online.
This was my first stop after talking to him on the phone. I have 0 experience with the jewelry industry, but I did not have any experience in real estate development when I began either.
I see only two main problems with us succeeding.
1)Setting myself apart from online competitors.
2) Gaining the trust of customers.
I am here to feel out the situation, and receive feedback from members that might have experience. I need to gain a little understanding on the upsides and downsides of selling jewelry online. As far as I can tell, there can be a tremendous upside. Just ask Warren Buffet:
http://shop.borsheims.com/Borsheims/
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Mon Apr 03, 2006 4:07 am |
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Stock Mama
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There is a market for certified diamonds and other gemstone jewelry on eBay. There is also a lot of fraud in this category. I've seen a lot of listings from various Asian sellers for "genuine turquoise" statuary that wasn't any such thing (or at best reconstituted stone), "genuine" lapis jewelry that was clearly dyed howlite, and other major TOS violations. eBay has some pretty strict rules about how you can advertise diamonds and other gems (for example, people sometimes try to use "diamond" in their title when selling cubic zirconia and other artificial diamond-like stones, which dilutes the listings when you're trying to sell the real thing). They have their rules and FTC rules posted.
Best thing to do if you really want to do this is register with eBay and spend several weeks or longer learning about the system before you try listing anything. Get on the discussion boards and ask questions. You'll find discussions around fine gems and jewelry. Follow auctions of the type you'd be doing to see what sells, how often, and for what price. Learn about how to list items, what starting price to use, whether you want to use a reserve price, etc.
I can't stress how important it is to get educated about eBay before starting. I remember seeing a post from a woman who was in a rage because she'd listed a genuine diamond ring with a starting price of 1 cent (to avoid high listing fees, I suppose), and it had sold for less than $20. She wanted to know if she could write to the winning bidder and demand more money. Of course she couldn't, not by eBay rules, unless the buyer agreed to cancel the sale. If she'd wanted more for the ring, she needed to start the auction at her lowest acceptable price.
EDIT: Oops, I missed the fact that you've already used eBay quite successfully. You probably know much of this already. Do use the discussion boards, though, because there are people there who know the fine jewelry industry very well. You'll find not only jewelry, but loose gems for sale. I've not bought any myself because I don't know enough about investing in gems to know if I'm getting something for a good price or not.
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Thu Apr 06, 2006 6:17 pm |
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kdub1777
Full Member
Cash: $ 10.82
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Joined: 07 Dec 2004
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Thank you for the great post Stock Mama. I have sold a lot on Ebay before but am not familiar with the diamond and jewelry aspect of it. You are correct, I need to get familiar with the rules set by Ebay for diamonds and how they sell. Everything on Ebay sells differently. That will be a key to our success.
I have never been into the message boards too much or posted there at Ebay but I will start.
Thank you
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Fri Apr 07, 2006 12:09 am |
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Offshore-Wealth.com
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Location: FREEDOMLAND
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| Offshore-Wealth.com |
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Interesting,
Yes, you can make good money on eBay, but it all depends on what prices you are going to be working at. If you jewelry friend wants to move more product, then you need to know what your cost factor will be. Jewelry has a 100% plus mark up, but in my opinion, you will never sell diamonds site unseen as that is not the way most buy diamonds.
If I was you I would start with name brand items which people can identify with and are purchasing on price alone. You have to have a good digital camera and you should make some money with watches as example. I use to sell watches and did quite well, so you never know until you try.
Good luck, Mike
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http://ENVIROPURELIGHT.com
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Fri Apr 07, 2006 9:57 pm |
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El Presidente
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Location: Colorado
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| Not an expert but... |
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I would definitely talk to the store owner and get a little clarification on what is expectations are. "Computer illiterate" people can have some strange ideas on what computers can do. If he is not expecting to move a lot of merchandise and it would not take a lot of your time to set up operations, why not. Although since he has a "brick and mortar" store it could be quite the chore keeping his inventory updated on the website. You could sell something online and then find out it was sold earlier that day.
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Sat Apr 22, 2006 8:07 am |
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asheef
Contributing Member
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Joined: 11 May 2006
Location: kerala
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| diamond purchase |
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If you like to know about diamond or diamond purchase you can read from readyarticles article directory.
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Sun May 14, 2006 11:34 am |
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