selling handmade jewellery

I've already posted this question in another forum too, however I am very eager to get some advice from you guys out there. You know what they say about planting more seeds and all...

I have tried selling Jewellery at craft fairs and it has not been as successful as I'd anticipated. There's an awful lot of competition, however I'm reasonably confident about the quality and standard of my pieces in which I specialise in sterling silver.

Has anyone any other ideas of places that you can sell handmade jewellery? Mine is fairly mainstream, not hugely outside the box. Is a site also a good idea???

Hi,

Etsy seems to be the place most people try selling their handmade goods first. I tried it for a short while but didn’t like the format so I use eBay instead and it has been good so far.

Do as much research as you can about Etsy. I’ve never tried a craft fair but I get the impression that selling on Etsy will be just as difficult for the same reasons.

I also had success selling in a local handmade emporium but didn’t renew my lease because it took the threat of small claims court before they finally paid me for my sales. It is a shame they were so unreliable because this would be my most preferred method of selling. All you have to do is make your goods and put them on display in their store, they do all the customer stuff that I don’t enjoy doing.

I have my own website and also sell via Etsy. There are sooooo many jewellers on Etsy it's really hard to be seen. They prioritise people who have a lot of items listed and a lot of previous sales in the search results. However, it's worth doing even if it's only so you can put a link to an online store on your business cards that you can give out to people.

I'd also suggest a facebook page and instagram account if you don't already have them, updated regularly with interesting photos of nice things you've made, gift ideas for special occasions from your collection or stuff that has inspired your designs. They're a good way of reminding potential buyers that you still exist if they haven't seen you recently at a craft fair or been actively shopping for your jewellery.

You can link instagram posts to individual sales pages now. I would imagine it's a feature in the business account. I haven't investigated it yet.

If you have a Facebook page, you can list items in your shop, which takes you to your own website. As Facebook is linked with Instagram, you can then tag your photos in Instagram which go straight to your Facebook shop. I've had a few sales that way too.

Once you start to sell you need to ensure you comply with all sorts of laws .... hallmarking, many consumer laws, nickel and lead regs, insurance, health and safety....income tax, VAT and probably lots more

Do you know any good insurance companies to cover jewellery items as sale or return on someone's premises?

I refer you to the reply I gave some moments ago