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Jewelry as a form of revenue should not be overlooked by any
serious-online-entrepreneur. Why? Read on...
We are often asked why we got into the jewelry industry. Easy
answer to that one... "Do you know a poor Goldsmith"?
Seriously though, the onset of e-commerce revolutionized the
trading of precious stones, gold, and most of the other raw
materials that are combined to produce jewelry. To a large
extent pricing was previously controlled by diamond merchants
like De Beers and retailing by jewelry chain stores charging
top-dollar for a mediocre product. Online trading changed all
that. Mining companies found that they could deal with
manufacturers directly and luxury jewelry became more
accessible. What didn't change was the consumers' perception of
the value of high-end jewelry.
Unless your into silicone chips, there is no other item we can
think of that offers the kind of turnover in relation to the
size of the item*, as jewelry. This means it is easy to handle,
you don't need huge storage facilities or complex packaging
systems. If you want to, you can set up a multi-national empire
in a one bedroom apartment.
If you "buy clever" (which we hope you will, after reading this)
you will be able to store a months inventory in a small to
medium sized safe. Added to that, very little can go wrong with
say, a diamond ring after it is sold and warranty claims are
therefore minimal.
So what do we mean by "buy clever"? Well, as a rule of thumb,
your buying price for any item should be no more than a tenth of
the market price. e.g. After researching the market you find
that the average sale price for a 10K gold ring is $100.00. You
then need to find a source that sells something similar for
$10.00. Can it be done? Yes. Are there sources online that offer
a 900% lift? Yes. Where do I find them? Sorry but we can't
divulge that information, it's down to you to do the research
but I assure you they are there and can be found online.
The above points, added to the quite phenomenal profit margins
attached to jewelry, make this product group a very interesting
and viable proposition.
In the meantime, here is a snippet of information to consider. A
relatively expensive item of jewelry for a small local jeweler
would be in the region of $20,000.00, the production cost for
that very same item is around €500.00. Now we are not saying
that you are likely to earn $19,500.00 on single items but this
does illustrate the potential.
*The "en tremblant" flower brooch by Bulgari, 1958, which
achieved $1.1 million (1998) in auction at Christies, is an
extreme but good example, further examples can be found on the
Christie's web site.
About the author:
Steve Blanchard established Jewelrysearch in 1991. Jewelrysearch
is a market research company specializing in the Jewelry
industry. Visit their web site http://watches-n-jewelry.com for
more information on the Jewelry industry and in particular
online jewelry stores.
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