You love jewelry and maybe you want to start your own business. You are hesitant to open a store – too much overhead – I agree. Then you remember that jewelry home party you attended last year and think, ‘hey, I can do that!’. And chances are you can. But whether this is the right choice for you depends on your goals.

Most of the traditional home-party models such as silpada usually involve paying the host in product and the person who manages the process (the representative) a commission. If you want to try something with very low risk, then this route could make sense. Established home-party companies such as Silpada provide the advantage of a turn-key solution with all the bells and whistles such as glossy catalogues, customer service and training materials. And very importantly a brand that has deep name-recognition. A couple disadvantages of going with a large established company include:

• There is an endless supply – your products while may be very nice and of good quality, may not be unique, since there are so many reps floating around.

• High consumer prices – while the advantage to you in terms of your commission may seem generous at 30%, your customers will be paying high prices for the product. And as  a business-person you should always concerned about providing your customers with excellent value.

• If you want to maximize your income and have more control over your business, you may find that the rules you have to play by to be inhibiting, especially when you figure out you can source the same quality products for less money therefore improving your profit potential.

There are a lot of smaller home party companies out there such as SilverPeace. Some of these companies also provide you with ‘kits’ , the left-overs of which you send back when you are finished your party. In the case of SilverPeace they provide only limited support and a marketing kit for $21 (vs. $200 which is typical formany of the other home party companies). SilverPeace does NOT supply you the jewelry kit to start. But they do have a relationship with one of the best OEM sources of wholesale silver jewelry on the internet, wholesalegemshop.com. Maybe you see where this is going. If you are in need of hand-holding and are ok with decent but limited profit potential, then stick with a large, established home-party-plan company. But if you are the kind of person who likes to be creative, you have an  entrepreneurial spirit and you enjoy risk-taking, then don’t go that route – instead start your own thing and really be your own boss – build your business and be proud.

Let’s look at the numbers. Big Home Party Company X charges you $200 to register and then gives you 30% of the sale from your party.  You do 5 parties @$1000/ party = $5,000 in sales. Your cut = $1500 less $200 fee = $1300 profit. If you walk away now, you made $1300. Not bad and you have no liabilities. Take the other model – do it yourself – 5 parties @ $1000/ party = $5,000 less your expenses: Wholesale Jewelry product costs (~$1800) less  SilverPeace marketing kit ($21) = $3179.  Essentially, when you source the jewelry yourself at wholesale costs you are able to take a markup of 2.5 to 3 times what you pay. So instead of making 30% on jewelry that belongs to someone else, you make a 70% profit by making the up-front investment on your own.

And the third option is of course to do it totally on your own, but if it was me, for the $21 and an established source I would go with Option 2.
Both options are viable and depending on your personality and your business/ life goals either one could work for you. The bottom line is this – Having some guidance is nice, so ask youself whether you want something cookie-cutter, or something free-form, or a little of both. Whatever road you go down be sure to do your research and explore all the options. And one word of advice I always hand out is don’t rely solely on what you read on the web. Pick up the phone and call a warm-blooded human being who is the expert in their field. 90% of the time you can get your question answered a lot quicker, and well, if you cannot reach a person at a particular company that will help you, that should tell you all you need to know about who to do business with.

This is just a short rant and probably not articulated all that well because I am in a rush to finish my work so I can pick up the boys from school. But if you ever want to talk to an ‘expert’ (ha ha, I have to chuckle when I write that about myself!) call me. I give free advice and some people actually find it useful .

Aaron Rome

401-709-4420

Starting a small business tips article

I recommend starting off with items that you can buy wholesale for $4-$7.  But be sure you focus on jewelry with natural gemstones that is sterling silver. If you are looking for jewelry wholesale lots just keep in mind that often times wholesale suppliers will pick from their overstock (I do this as well), and althoug the quality will be comparable with other jewelry on the site you will not know exactly what you are getting. For this reason I recommend for at least the first order to pick and choose invidual wholesale earrings and wholesale pendats for your inventory.

a. Make your site personal – tell your story, prominently display your personal contact (name, phone #, email) information on every page of the site. Put your photo on the homepage and/ or contact us page. Anything you can do to make a connection will likely be the difference between a new customer and not.

b. Simple navigation – think about the flow that a customer goes through from the time they enter the site til making a purchase or completing the desired objective (fill out a form, send you an email… whatever you objective may be). The navigation should be intuitive with as few required actions (ie, clicking, reading, form-filling) as possible.

c. Proof read your copy - double check your content for grammar and syntax. Every page should make sense! Don’t use abreviations or slang. Poorly written copy is a big turn off and first impressions are huge. As it is only 1 out of 100 visitors to your site will make a purchase and this is actually a pretty converation rate (1%).

d. Don’t be boring! Your site needs to be original, fun, artistic, etc. in order to standout.

e. Make important buttons such as “Add to cart” yellow, orange or another bright color that really stands out. You don’t want people searching the page to figure out how to get something into the cart!

Steps

1. Ask: Is the design provided by the buyer or does it belong to the manufacturer? This will have a direct impact on the final price quoted by the seller. There is an initial overhead to be borne for design and mould charges and this will be added to the price tag of the first piece. If the initial order for wholesale silver jewelry is a large one, this initial charge is spread over a large volume and therefore does not increase the price per piece significantly.

1. Ask: Why is the first piece priced high? One of the main reasons is explained in (a) above and involves the initial design and mould charge. Subsequent orders for the same design will use the same mould and therefore be sold at a lower price. In many cases the buyer, would first order a single piece, then place a wholesale order after receiving the first piece. In such a case the seller would have to protect himself from a situation where the buyer buys only the first piece from him and then looks for another seller to place the final order. The seller would thus like to recover all initial overheads from the first piece itself.
2. Ask: Why does the price fall as the volume increases? Large orders of wholesale silver jewelry provide the seller with the economies of scale. Production is much easier as the design and moulds can be reused to manufacture the jewelry. Craftsmen do the production of the same design . multiple times thus reducing the chances of breakages and other losses. In cases where the wholesale silver jewelry also includes gemstones or diamonds, the seller gets a better price when bulk purchases are made. All these factors combine to enable the seller provide a better price to the buyer as the volume of the order increases.
3. Ask: Are gemstone options limited? If you buy your wholesale silver jewelry from a seller who is also the manufacturer, there is no reason why the gemstone options should be limited. However, there is a price range within which, most buyers would like their silver jewelry to remain and this might influence the gemstone selected. Wholesale sterling silver jewelry made with gemstones like aquamarine, tourmaline, ruby and sapphire would be quite expensive and have a limited market.
4. Ask: Should silver jewelry be plated? Plating on silver can be done with rhodium, white gold, yellow gold and even platinum. Plated wholesale sterling silver jewelry will look awesome when new but the plating will wear off with time and the jewelry might look quite shabby. The plating wears off in patches and in many cases the jewelry becomes a piece of junk. All silver jewelry manufacturers will provide plating at a small additional charge.
5. Ask: Is the craftsmanship always bad? This need not necessarily be true but once again the market price point influences the decision. Wholesale 925 silver jewelry is produced by a mechanized process, however it is possible to provide good handfinishing in the final production phase and improve the quality of the jewelry. This adds to the price tag and is therefore avoided in most cases.
6. Ask: What are benefits of good metal weight? Wholesale silver jewelry is normally made with a low silver weight to save costs. This causes the jewelry to bend and twist at the smallest impact. The gemstones and diamonds will also be loosely mounted and could drop off at any time. A good silver weight on the other hand adds to the long term durability of the jewelry and the final consumer need not keep spending money for frequent repairs and modifications.
7. Ask: How big is a wholesale order? As the number of manufacturers for wholesale silver jewelry decreases, those remaining in business set higher volume requirements to confirm orders. This could pose a problem for buyers as they might be left with inventory of unsold stocks.
8. Remember that many buyers of sterling silver wholesale jewelry would like to make smaller lots of jewelry to test the market and large orders might not be suitable in such cases.
9. Ask: What is the minimum order quantity by design ? This answer depends of the factory principally, but an order can start from 10 to 15 pieces for the same design. This is the minimum acceptable. Under this quantity the price by piece is too high. I explain, one worker can produce 2 pieces of one design in 1-2 days (example) and this same worker can produce 25 pieces of this same design in just 5-6 days.

Related wikiHows

• How to Repair Silver Jewelry
• How to Choose Jewelry
• How to Make Gold Accessories Last Longer
• How to Effectively Price Your Jewelry Designs
• How to Accessorize With Jewelry
• How to Repair Silver Jewelry

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Order Wholesale Silver Jewelry. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

1. Why do you want to do this?
Is this something that you want to do for stricly for the money? For the thrill of starting something from scratch? Because you need to make extra money to pay your bills? Etc. The answer to this question will create the context you need to think through your plan. For example, if you want to start a jewelry business because you absolutely have to have extra money to survive – that consideration will limit your choices greatly because you will need to make decisions that lead you to a quick profit.
2. Market & Products
What do you plan on selling and why? Think about whether the jewelry or other products you intend to sell are right for your intended market. Diamond jewelry is probably not the right product for a flea market! Some good ‘off-line’ venues that I have used include:

• Craft fairs and outdoor festivals — generally in the summer time. You can usually get a table at these events for $20-$50 for the day. You will want to have a good selection of inventory; if you do you can usually gross anywhere between $150-$400 (based on my experience). If you hav. Your sales will be directly related to your quantity of inventory.Winter bazaars, church sales, holiday festivals — Oct-December. Check the local paper. Many churches have these annual events and tables are pretty inexpensive. These events are nice because people come to spend $ on gifts.
• Home-based jewelry parties. You can host an event yourself, or have a friend host it and give her some free stuff as compensation. I like to have a good friend or relative host – that way I am pretty sure they will follow through. Ask your friend to invite her friends, relatives, etc. for the party. You provide some light snacks and bring all your stuff. Again, people come to buy and you have no competition! If you get people to one of these you will make out pretty well, and you don’t need to have as large a selection. I have made up to $1500 in an hour and half! Typically, I’d gross $300-$500 in a pretty short time.
• Flea markets– usually in summer and holiday season. These can be boom or bust. It depends on whether, traffic, etc. Generally people at these want to spend very little, so the low-end stuff sells best. Good place to experiment since the tables are usually only $20 or so. I know people that go to the same flea markets every week and do very well with lots of repeat customers.
  Store/ mall-cart. This is a much bigger leap since the overhead is so high compared to the above venues. I have done neither so cannot offer any good advice in except to plan really well and consider all the costs involved.

3. Where will you get your inventory?
This is the place you will need the best research. Unless you are selling in large volume, you will probably want to get a markup of about 3 times (what you paid for inventory). The lower the price you pay for your goods, the lower the price you can offer your customers/ the more profit you will make. You will always save more when you buy in bulk, so look for a supplier you can form a long-term relationship with who can give you good deals, service and selection. Buying a large quantity now may seem like a big expense now, but the result is you make more profit on every single item you sell.

• The more you spend the more you save. Find a few good suppliers and see what sells well and who is willing to work with you. Find suppliers who provide good service and are committed to your success.
  Buy off ebay- many people buy stuff at good prices then just re-sell
• Search the web for other silver jewelry wholesalers.
• Buy from me! I have a wholesale website with very good deals and always have closeout lots. Once in a while someone calls wanting to ‘haggle’. Well, call me old-fashioned, but I like to be straight-up and help everyone, especially the little guy. I offer the same low price for a $75 order as I do for a $1000 order. Check around and you will see that our prices are very low, value is very high and there are few wholesalers who offer no-hassle pricing and ordering as this site does.
• Search the web for manufacturers. Most are in Asia. And you will get the best deals this way – but you are going to have to spend $3000+ to get the best prices and give yourself 6 months to find the right vendors, get your inventory and develop a relationship. It seems simple, but trust me, the cultural differences alone will add 3 months to the process! Unless you need 20+ designs of each design you order, or actually want to get a mixed batch of random left-overs that you will not see in advance, this is not a great option for most small businesses.

4. Is an online business right for you? … or …
I make a living through my website. My business is successful because I:

• Have an efficient system to manage business operations
• Provide excellent service
• Have several great, inexpensive source for products – suppliers that I know well and trust 100%
• Purchase a high volume of jewelry each month (enabling lower margin on each item)
• Spent time researching/ testing products and marketing strategies and learning about ecommerce
• As I said, everyone’s situation may be different, but this is what works for me. I started about 6+ years ago part time, and within about 6 months had a full time internet business. I never expected it to work out this way, but it’s still going strong. Now it is much easier to get started from the technical side — the major auction sites offer good services for beginners and there are products out there to manage your business. You can even start a fully-functional ecommerce website without knowing any html! See links below for details. It is the “systems” that are the key factor for me. I have a system for inventory, a system to communicate with customers and a system to manage the fullfillment and customer service process. Most of my systems are computerized but I always take the time to get to know my customers in person when I have the opportunity.

5. … Is an offline business right for you?
Many folks are intimated at first by the whole ecommerce thing. The truth is an off-line business can be just as successful. Unless you have a lot of capital you want to start off (and continue!) with low overhead. So, you don’t need to go out and buy a store front! You can start by buying a small amount of intentory and testing the waters.

• Try selling to friends and co-workers
• Host a jewelry party (or better – have a friend host it) and invite a lot of people. I once made $1500 in an hour an a half! Typically, I would make about $400 or so in a couple hours.
• Rent a table at a craft show (summer fair or church bazaar around holiday time). Tables are usually only $20-$40 for the day.
• Get a spot a flea market
• Put stuff out at your or your friends garage sales. It really works!
• My advice is until you really know your market and have a handle on your revenue stream, start small. This way you are not going to lose much, if any, money.

6. Business licenses, TaxID numbers, merchant accounts, etc.
Check with your state to see what is required to do business. My experience is that it is very simple. You can get a TaxID, which takes about 1 hour and you can do it by phone, and this enables you to buy inventory without paying sales tax. But keep in mind that most vendors will be out of your state and wiill probably not charge sales tax anyway. In this case most vendors may not even need a TaxID. In terms of taxes, you can file under your TaxID or your social security number. If using your social security number and keeping the business under your own name, I do not THINK you need a TaxID, as long as you claim all your income appopriately. If you plan to have a business checking account you will need a TaxID number.

As far as I know you do not need any special license to sell retail. But you should contact your state tax office to get all the paperwork you will need to remit sales tax to the state. You are required to collect sales tax on retail purchases (most internet companies only charge sales tax to customers that live in the same state as the business). And at the end of the year, you have to pay this tax to the state.

As your business grows, its a good idea to take credit cards, especially for online businesses. Nowadays this is pretty easy. I get about 20 offers a day via email to setup merchant accounts and accept credit cards online. Do a search on google.com and you will find hundreds of places to do this for you! The cost is about $25/ month + $200-$300 setup fee. Another option is to use only a PayPal account. The account is free to setup. Get a paypal account regardless of what you do because its essential!! I’d say 50% or more of online shoppers now, and 80% of ebay customers have paypal accounts.

* I am NOT an accountant! This information is just based on my experience and may not be accurate.

7. Why am I telling you all this?
I could have used the advice when I got started! There is also plenty of market-share out there to share and I enjoy helping people get started in their own businesses. My other selfish motive is that since I am a wholesaler, it is in my best interest to help my customers succeed and would be happy to provide you with the inventory for your business. Even though my business has grown substantially since I started out, I still feel truly grateful to every one of my customers who enable me to succeed and allow me to pursue the lifestyle I choose. I am not interested in making a quick buck and I often tell people if I think there needs do not match with what I can provide – I only want to sell to people if I can help them be successful. I have shopped around a lot and will tell you that the products I carry are absolutely the nicest you will find in their price-points. And short of going to Bali or Kathmandu yourself I can provide you the lowest prices. In fact, I am so confident in my products and level of service that I provide a list of my competitors – other wholesale silver jewelry suppliers to make it easy for you to comparison-shop. If you find something better suited for your needs elsewhere, I truly wish you success.

8. These are the sites that I use frequently These are all sites that I use everyday!