Not on the High Street, Jewel Street etc...

I have been reading the thread regarding selling through Etsy etc.. and then realised that the thread is a little dated (2013!) I was just wondering if anyone be willing to share rough details of the sales that they make through these sites vs the costs of using them and maybe what percentage of their orders come from these sites. I am considering (in the not to distant future) joining Not on the High Street as I like the set up, site search facilities and the amount of detail that can be listed about products. I also like the suggestion that the membership fee of £200 for the year includes business support, advice and meet ups but I wondered if anyone who has had experience with this site could tell me more. I am curious about JewelStreet.com but when I contacted them to ask about costs of selling with them and whether they worked by percentage or up front costs they said they wished to see my website before entering a dialogue. (My website and my first full collection are under construction so I will get back to them at a later date). I had also asked JewelStreet about discrepancies in the description of pieces which I felt were misleading but they did not clarify the answers to my questions which, if I were a customer or designer using their platform I would take issue with. I am also aware of Wolf and Badger, Etsy, Folksy, Ebay and Amazon and wondered if many of you sell through these channels as well as the more traditional craft fair/gallery approach. I also wondered how many of you are selling internationally through these sites. Are there any other online sales platforms that I have missed?

I sell quite a bit on Etsy but Im in a slightly different market as I make horsehair jewellery.
I like Etsy as you only pay 20 cents to list each item for 3 months and then a % on sales.
It can take ages to get started on there though.
If you look on any Etsy shop you can see the number of sales they have made.
My platforms are Etsy, FB and my website which is linked to my FB page.
I haven't worked it out precisely but at a guess I would say probably around 15-20% of my sales came via Etsy last year and this has risen steadily over the last 2 years.

I have Etsy - it has been a great way to keep thing flowing. I stopped doing regular fairs as they were too time consuming for just me. Facebook and Etsy work well together. I imagine it all does, if you can coordinate all the social networks.

Noths would be lovely, maybe one day.

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Originally Posted by enigma

I like Etsy as you only pay 20 cents to list each item for 3 months and then a % on sales.

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Are you billed in US$ or are charges automatically converted to the currency of the shop? Just wondering if people not in the possession of US$ bank account get charged an additional currency conversion fee by their banks?

Its automatically converted Susie so no additional conversion fees :)

So Etsy is worthwhile because it's low overhead costs mean that you can take time to build a following without a large initial outlay but that is offset against the very large number of sellers making it difficult to find your products without additional marketing (facebook for example). I wouldn't agree that you are in a different market but I would say that your jewellery has a quite unique selling point and I notice from your website that you make to order. I would imagine that for your products adverts/advertorials/ in horse magazines, banners on show jumping/riding lesson type websites with links would probably be the best kind of marketing to do and that word of mouth has bumped up your Etsy orders. Is there anything similar to NOTHS in Portugal?

Your work is so different from traditional jewellery offerings and so beautifully crafted I have no doubt that you'd be swamped with orders if you did go the NOTHS route. Because of the quirkiness factor I would also suggest Wolf and Badger to you. They are allegedly not accepting more designers at the moment but I suspect that your work would pass their high curation standards because it is quite unique but very wearable.

I use Etsy and my own website, and I'd say around 20% of my sales come through the Etsy site. It is very difficult to get found there as a jeweller, as there are so many!

I was thinking about applying for Jewelstreet but you've put me off them a bit now Ceri!

Hi Ceri

Everything I make is made to order, I don't carry any stock items at all.
99% of what I make is made using the customers own horse hair so there would be little point for me having stock items.
I never advertise other than running a google ads to stay on the first page of searches and occasionally boosting a post on FB as that gives me more than enough work ( Im generally running at least 8 weeks behind orders).
Which is good as it keeps marketing costs down.

Hi Lauren,

I didn't mean to put you off JewelStreet. I am sure that had I followed up my query regarding descriptions and specifications by contacting the owners of the relevant boutiques I would probably have been able to ascertain whether the pearls used in a particular piece were cultured or natural (the description read carbon neutral pearls) or if a piece described as 18ct gold and silver was mainly plate. I guess I was just a little disappointed with the curation of the site because they make a big thing about wanting to enlighten the customer about the product and yet some boutiques are leaving very pertinent information off the specifications (gem size, materials etc..) I suspect that if you went for it and JewelStreet thinks your products will suit they will be forthcoming about the costs involved and as your website is already up and running (and looks fab). I didn't apply because I wanted approximate costs first! I think that your roller derby jewellery would go down a storm in the US and therefore selling through JewelStreet or NOTHS might make sense.

Wow! 8 weeks! It's good to know that if you produce niche, quality items people will buy.

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Originally Posted by Ceri

Hi Lauren,

I didn't mean to put you off JewelStreet. I am sure that had I followed up my query regarding descriptions and specifications by contacting the owners of the relevant boutiques I would probably have been able to ascertain whether the pearls used in a particular piece were cultured or natural (the description read carbon neutral pearls) or if a piece described as 18ct gold and silver was mainly plate. I guess I was just a little disappointed with the curation of the site because they make a big thing about wanting to enlighten the customer about the product and yet some boutiques are leaving very pertinent information off the specifications (gem size, materials etc..) I suspect that if you went for it and JewelStreet thinks your products will suit they will be forthcoming about the costs involved and as your website is already up and running (and looks fab). I didn't apply because I wanted approximate costs first! I think that your roller derby jewellery would go down a storm in the US and therefore selling through JewelStreet or NOTHS might make sense.

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Aw, thanks Ceri. I need to re-do all my photography on a white background, as that is the JewelStreet style, then I might give applying a go.

I do sell a lot of my roller derby jewellery to the US on Etsy. I think Etsy is more well known in the US than it is over here though.

Jewelstreet has unfathomable criteria for acceptance. It seems to accept fake pearls and plated over real pearls and precious metal, and also favour those who fudge defining what they are selling re pearls and metal. (Yes I was turned down some years ago, but since they now have mostly expensive fakes I won't be applying again - known by the company you keep etc)
I'm told by those who do use it that Etsy is not what it was. No longer all handmade for example,

Etsy changed their policies so that "outwork" became acceptable a while ago - which of course translates directly to "mass produced in sweat shops". The signal-to-noise ratio is quite bad now.

Still, at least their policies match their handling of the situation now.

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Originally Posted by ps_bond

Etsy changed their policies so that "outwork" became acceptable a while ago - which of course translates directly to "mass produced in sweat shops". The signal-to-noise ratio is quite bad now.

Still, at least their policies match their handling of the situation now.

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Yes, it is quite difficult as a jeweller on there! I had a message from someone a while ago informing me that there must be an error in an item listing - the price! Apparently she thought the necklace should be much cheaper, as so much 'silver' on Etsy sells for peanuts. So frustrating.

Thats not always the mass produced stuff either though, I notice some seem to be hobbyists selling for peanuts too.

It's incredibly difficult to get accepted by Noths. I was very lucky to have been asked when they were still in their infancy. They turn down 80% of people who apply.

Jewelstreet, I believe are now only interested in high end jewellery, since they were given an injection of capital by venture capitalists.

Etsy is mostly for hobbyists but some people do very well on there.

Its quite easy to get accepted by Amazon Handmade but although I was accepted, Noths will not allow us to list things, so I don't know whether its any good.

For myself, 75% of my sales come from Noths, 20% from my own website and 5% (at the moment, as I've only just started listing things) is from Etsy. I've also been accepted by Hardtofind in Australia but I haven't had time to list anything yet.

My advice, if you want to be accepted on Noths is to get really good professional lifestyle photography done and to have a range of jewellery that is very different to anything else that is already on the site. They also love personalised and design lead jewellery. They also do special days when you can take your stuff in and I think thats worth doing.

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Originally Posted by caroleallen

It's incredibly difficult to get accepted by Noths. I was very lucky to have been asked when they were still in their infancy. They turn down 80% of people who apply.

Jewelstreet, I believe are now only interested in high end jewellery, since they were given an injection of capital by venture capitalists.

Etsy is mostly for hobbyists but some people do very well on there.

Its quite easy to get accepted by Amazon Handmade but although I was accepted, Noths will not allow us to list things, so I don't know whether its any good.

For myself, 75% of my sales come from Noths, 20% from my own website and 5% (at the moment, as I've only just started listing things) is from Etsy. I've also been accepted by Hardtofind in Australia but I haven't had time to list anything yet.

My advice, if you want to be accepted on Noths is to get really good professional lifestyle photography done and to have a range of jewellery that is very different to anything else that is already on the site. They also love personalised and design lead jewellery. They also do special days when you can take your stuff in and I think thats worth doing.

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I've signed up for one of their pitching days in October Carole - the idea is terrifying me!

Suspect I'm not what they're after, as I don't really do personalised jewellery, but figured I'd give it a go.

Lots of luck Lauren. Your stuff is lovely and your photography is good. It doesn't have to be personalised.

I've been shot down by noths twice now and it's most likely my photographs! I will get them done professionally next time I think!


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Thanks everyone for your feedback. I really appreciate it.

Just as an update to this thread as I appreciate it's knocking on a bit, but as an alternative marketplace venue, The Guild of Jewellery Designers Odissa site, is gaining quite a bit of momentum now in the search engines and could work out as a useful additional sales channel for designer/makers. The commission on sales is a respectable 10% dropping to 6% depending on which plan you subscribe to. As with any marketplace or dedicated website though, the amount of sales you get are down to your own marketing efforts. Odissa is slightly different in as much as each 'shop' is tailored, to a certain degree, to look like a dedicated website and shop owners have the option to forward their own domain name to it.

I keep meaning to look into these more. Jewelstreet have contacted me a few times, but really not sure. Etsy has always worked fairly well for me (I ran my own seperate online shop against a copy on etsy and etsy trounced it). Will check out the Odissa site too, another on my 'have been meaning to' list! Have been quiet due to family stuff, but hopefully back to normal again, at least for a bit!

I keep thinking about this one Alan but I think my photography need a bit of work 1st