Making handmade jewelry and selling it online is a great way to supplement your income.
With the growing popularity of handmade craft selling sites like Etsy, it is becoming much easier to sell your art and craft, including handmade jewelry online.
To help those of you who are just starting out, we put together a short guide to help you succeed.
Table of Contents
Where to Buy Supplies
First things first; to create homemade jewelry, you need supplies.
Here are some of the best places to buy supplies for making handmade jewelry:
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- DollarBead.com: Great for buying beads cheap.
- eBay.com: Possibly the best place to buy specific beads.
- JewelrySupply.com: Great site to buy display and storage items for those selling at craft shows.
- JesseJamesBeads.com: Fantastic place to buy color-coordinated packs for cheap.
- FireMountainGems.com: By far the best place with the biggest and best selection with great discounts.
Tips for Making & Selling Handmade Jewelry
Now that you have your supplies, it’s time to create your jewelry pieces.
Here are some tips to help you succeed.
Stand out
You need to realize that you are just one among the many thousands of handmade jewelry makers/sellers.
You have to make sure to stand out among all these sellers, whether through better and more attractive ad listings, lower prices, better quality products or whatever else.
Make Stuff Nobody Else is Making Unique Items
This may be obvious, but it seems like everybody is making the exact same designs, especially when it comes to jewelry.
If you wanna make money, you need to make pieces that nobody else is making.
Create your own style.
Make your brand.
That;s how you’re going to have the kind of sales that will make you think “Hey I may just be able to quit my day job and do this jewelry thing full time!”
Add Pictures to Your Listings
This has to be on top of your list of things to do when listing your stuff online – be it your handmade jewelry, or your used furniture you;re trying to sell on Craigslist.
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Pictures sell!
Watch Your Budget
When you’re just getting started and are all excited, it can be easy to make yourself spend a lot of money on ads and promotion.
Before you spend your hard-earned money, make sure you test out the water.
Is there actually a market for the kind of design you’re creating?
How much are people willing to pay for the pieces?
Can you profit from making them?
Once you have the answers to these questions and know that you have something special, scale it up with ads on social media and other platforms.
But until then, remember, you’re doing this to make some money on the side, not to spend your paycheck on a dream!
Be Patient
Although the presence of various e-commerce websites has made it easy for online retailers to trade their goods, it takes time for newcomers to learn the tactics that actually work on those websites.
The success of your new business could not be just the result of the great number crunching capability of those huge computers over there!
Learn what works for you and dedicate your effort to maximize the outcome (i.e. Facebook, twitter, online ads, etc.)
Get a Payment Processing Account
To accept payments, you need to sign up with PayPal or any other online payment processor.
You can then link up your bank account top your PayPal account and deposit your earnings (from the sale of your handmade jewelry) directly to your bank account.
In addition to the convenience offered, this arrangement also helps to ensure safe and secure transactions.
Offer Free Shipping
These days, shoppers are savvy.
They don’t want to pay for shipping, which is why Amazon Prime is so popular.
Price your work however you want – perhaps even consider the shipping costs when pricing your items – but be sure to offer free shipping.
Not only will that help you make more sales, it will also help you stand out from sellers who charge shipping fees.
Where to Sell Your Pieces?
Ok, you bought your supplies, you made your pieces, and you’re now ready to sell some jewelry.
Where do you go?
How do you find customers?
The good news is, there are tons of places you can sell your stuff.
From the good old Craigslist and eBay to marketplaces that are specifically created for selling handmade jewelry.
To get you started, we created this list of top 11 sites to sell your handmade jewelry.
Resources:
There are a lot of things you need to consider if you want to successfully make and sell your own handmade jewelry online.
And it would take a book to explain all these things.
Thankfully, there are a lot of great websites that have so many awesome guides and tips that will help you with everything you need to know in order to become a successful work at home jewelry maker.
Here are a few must check out resources:
- 5 Tips for Marketing and Selling Your Handcrafted Jewelry – by JewelryMakingDaily.com
- Find Small Business Loans – by Small Business Administration
- Pricing tips and guidelines for hand crafted jewelry business – by JewelryMakingJournal.com
The Bottom Line
A handmade jewelry business is a low cost business to start, yet the return can be very high.
And the best part is that you can do this on the side in your free time (at least in the beginning). Once you start getting decent sales numbers, you’ll know it’s time to scale it up and go full time.
It’s true. You definitely have to be unique, and have a passion for this. Hitting the pavement shows your passion. If you don’t like social media, hire someone who does and who can promote you. I love what I do. I love getting to know people, and what their likes are. Most of all, if I’m dressing up a woman, a young girl, or a kid with my own creation, and they love it, I win. If I can make someone feel beautiful, silly, cute, sexy, etc, It makes me happy.