Where do most of you sell your handmade jewelry online?

[Terence Chang]

I am new to jewelry making.

I am just wondering where jewelry designer sell their art works? In the retail store or online store? I know people selling their jewelry on etsy, but I heard that many people don't make any sales over there.

I am also wondering how do you balance your time between jewelry making and jewelry marketing.

Thanks!

[Lynn Bennett]

I am lucky, I sell to my clients in my hair salon. I figure they are with me for up to 2 hours depending on the service they receive, so I keep a selection of my items on my workstation for them to look at. I often say to them that I have just the thing for their outfit and set it out for them and it usually goes home with them. I also have several websites, but in person seems the best. I am working on having several trunk shows at my friends homes this summer.

[Lynn Bennett]

Oh yes, never enough time to do everything I want....market or making jewelry

[Terence Chang]

Hair Salon? That's good idea. Home direct sell are also a great way to make sales.

[Lynn Bennett]

Many upscale salons have a boutique or sales area and may be willing to display your items. Also offer to have a trunk sale in the salon for the customers.

[Terence Chang]

Thanks for the tips. That's good idea.

Personally, making jewelry is more difficult than doing programming. :-) I sell many things online and now are thinking to sell handmade jewelry. Just not sure if I should start making my own jewelry.

The learning curve seem to be much bigger than I thought as a MAN. :-)

My new question will be this. Would you rather focus on making jewelry and have someone to sell your jewelry than making jewelry and sell your jewelry on your own?

[ManicButterfly]

Hi Terence-Where I sell my jewelry-my daughter is 25 and takes my designs to her friends now and then, who like to spend money on jewelry (of course). Otherwise I do my selling online on my own website www.manicbutterflyjewels.com. I also list on www.shopit.com, along with pages on myspace, facebook, and numerous 'link exchange' sites. I've heard both good and bad about Etsy, so I'm still debating on whether or not to sell there.

As far as your new question, I prefer both creating and selling my jewelry myself-I've actually learned quite a bit about website design since I started making jewelry (although I'm far from being any kind of an expert at web design). If there were any 'boutique' type stores closer to me-it's kind of rural where I live-I wouldn't mind selling through that type of venue also. If you're going to do the advertising yourself, selling online does require quite a time commitment, so it is sometimes hard to balance both the designing and the marketing side.

Suzanne

[Michelle]

Hi Terence,
I also sell my jewelry from my website, hair salons, craft shows and home parties. I'm trying to put together an OPEN HOUSE for my jewelry and maybe cookout or something? Still working on the details.

I bounce back and forth between making my jewelry and working on marketing. If I'm creatively blocked creating a new piece, I work on the site and vise versa.

I REALLY like this Network because it is filled with talented and friendly jeweler's. So, as a new jewelry designer, I'm sure we can help you with any questions, tips and/or tricks you may have in the future.

Good luck and have fun creating.
Michelle

[Dionne Samone]

Etsy is wonderful!! View my article about where you can sell your jewelry online. It is posted on my network, Creative Butterfly. http://creativebutterfly.ning.com

I would love for all of you to join! Heres the link to the article:
http://creativebutterfly.ning.com/profiles/blog/show?id=2069529%3AB...

[Cherished Trinkets]

With regards to online my sales on Etsy are probaly better than my own website, because there are so many people looking on there! However most of my sales come from word of mouth.... promoting myslef on myspace, facebook and on my blog. It's important to try and make yourself seen every where!

Janine xx

[Higher Chakra Creations]

I think this is a great idea. I have figured out that I am much better in the studio designing and creating, than as a sales and marketing person.

[Higher Chakra Creations]

I also am on ETSY... I have two shops there... one has my jewelry, and I have had some sales, but really jewelry is a hard thing to sell on there due to the fact of how many jewelry sellers there are. But I opened my supply shop in Feb, and it has since turned into a mostly fulltime job for me now. Since the supplies are handmade, this is still making things in my studio, which keeps me in there a lot, and it hones my metal skills, since I am bending, hammering and torching metal daily. It has paid of trmendously in my jewelry as well, since I now do not have to worry about being able to afford the metal I need, or gemstones. And has given me enough confidence in my art to try things I didn't have the guts to before... design wise.

I do want to eventually shift the balance to less supplies and more finished jewelry, but I have ideas to make that happen. I have jewelry in one local boutique, have sold wholesale to a couple of others, and plan to find more places, since those seem to bring good seasonal sales anyway. I also want to find some galleries to sell my higher end pieces at, since ETSY seems to be good for sales in the 25-60$ range, same with boutiques, but some of my pieces I want to make are going to be much higher than that.

[BJ Rounds]

I used to be on Etsy but it was too time consuming and not really a user-friendly venue and too much low priced competition. I am now an exclusive seller for Ruby Lane, an online shopping venue where I have had some success, but not alot. It takes time for customers to notice your line of jewelry. I promote somewhat on a wide variety of social networking sites also. I'm not a very good 'in person' seller because I can't handle bickering about the price or insulting comments as are often heard at an arts and crafts fair. You know the kind of comments: "Oh, I just saw a similar piece at the booth down there for less than this one costs." My comment would probably be ~ "then go buy it there, but make sure the quality and craftsmanship is as good as my handcrafted jewelry."