hiya all you bench jocks out there. given todays dire and
unpredictable times id be interested in your feedback as to how we
weather this downturn and where the current markets are we are based
in the uk, and guess this is a question were all asking,
hiya all you bench jocks out there. given todays dire and unpredictable times id be interested in your feedback as to how we weather this downturn and where the current markets are we are based in the uk, and guess this is a question were all asking,
For starters, we have to observe privacy etiquette in regards to our
clientele. There is another posting in today’s slate of emails,
literary laced with contempt and private details, which should never
be in the public domain. I wonder how much business has been lost,
simply because client does not want to read about herself on the
Facebook, blog, or similar depositary of digital blabber. If one has
the privilege of working with important client, mentioning it in
public does not imbue jeweler with significance; it simply makes one
look like a fool.
Leonid Surpin
Dear Ray, I have been in this business for around 8 years. My first
shop was a consignment store…end result, I spent 5 days a week
selling everyone else’s stuff. I would take home maybe $10 a day.
Year two, I was an in house jeweler at a shop. Did really well and
would still be there but there were lease problems. In the mean time
a friend had a little shop she chose to close, and I ran it for her
for 6 weeks, Did better in those six weeks than the whole summer at
the coop. Then the 3rd year I was able to come up with a store front
shop for 3 months and did extremely well. Every penny made has gone
back into my inventory. Then for two years I did the open air bazaar
route, that was terrible. In the mean time I committed two years to
ebay. Spent over $2,000 to make $350. In between times I have put
things into a gallery on consignment, and now another consignment to
a large gift shop.
And then I met Etsy, twitter and facebook. Suddenly in two weeks,
there is more interest in not only what I have done, but what I am
capable of doing in the future. It is as if I have stepped into an
auditorium and they are clapping and telling me how great the future
is going to be. (Except for Anita here on Orchid, on negative I can
learn alot from.) So I guess what I learned is that the market is not
in my back yard, or someone else’s shop, but that with a few hours a
day, a lot of work, networking…networking…and listening and
learning, The world is our market. I jumped into Etsy, a bad camera,
good intentions and the will to do better. If nothing else, I am
feeling hopeful, am busy and doing something I can do. Check me out
AlaskaStixsnStones at Etsy.com. It took a few hours to set up a
storefront, less than $5 and I am out there for the world to see. I
am going to say this, if you work as hard for yourself as you have
everyone else, you can not help but be a success. I am going to
commit to Etsy for two years, just like I did ebay. Along the way I
have earned some really faithful customers, keep them happy and they
will keep coming back. Good luck, maybe you can go to the world
first, and don’t need to stumble around trying everything else.
Blessings par
best of luck on etsy, i sold one item in three years. two on artfire;
now over 30 on handmade artists (and it is a flat fee $5 per month).
john
Todays market and customers in the current economic downturn are
mostly the very wealthy and the very poor.
I’ve been in the trade for over 40 years and have survived more than
one economic downturn.
When the going gets tough, the middle class drops out and does their
best to preserve what they have left.
The very wealthy are still very wealthy and spend their money on high
end goods.
The very poor will still but things they can almost afford.
No matter the economy, women will always buy earrings and pearls.
Have fun and make lots of jewelry.
Jo Haemer
www.timothywgreen.com
Thanks John for this info. Went out on the website and looked. Looks
like a going thing to me.
Kay
hello leonid, i,m ray blundell dont know if you have fully grasped
my question but your reply seems very strong my question was not who
your individual customers are! and yes customer confidentiality is
paramount, but how we as the jewellery community weather the current
crisis thrust upon us by the finance world at large, and the high
gold prices etc.the middle roaders seem to have disapeared from the
spending market or are just scrapping gold instead of buying quality
pieces these days. the items i have had to send for scrap would
break a craftsmans heart.but you have to send them off cause no one
wants to buy them,as the young ones dont want the family heirlooms
anymore, just items that carry a celeb name of basic quality. this is
thesound i here from many of my traders all over. i do trade work and
retail on my own account, and it seems the world of quality jewellery
customers is or has changed very dramatically in the last couple of
years. so my question was for othersopinions as to how we address
this new market.
Dear John, (why do I always hear music when I write that?) I am
noticing the late response, and am going to give myself at least a
year, maybe two. I am networking, and I guess it is all about getting
more viewings. I really study the daily statistics. Now am facing
putting it out there on facebook and Tweet and Pin it. I think it
will be about 4 hours a day of work. I will look up handmade
artists. Respectfully, pat
but how we as the jewellery community weather the current crisis thrust upon us by the finance world at large, and the high gold prices etc
I am a student of history and as such I can observe that time that we
are in right now are very fascinating. I am sorry but there are no
quick and easy solutions. For jewelers to prosper, we need rich
people. The more the better, but in today’s environment when
politicians trying to save their political skins blaming everything
on “the rich”, we get predictable results, - the rich do not want to
spend. At least not publicly. That was my point about discretion. In
the larger scheme of things, nothing will change until we replace
current politicians. There is a market, albeit very limited one.
Unique stones, exemplary craftsmanship still sells. But for the
industry as a whole, the times are very tough.
Leonid Surpin
I think that we need a plan. I keep making better and better quality
jewelry, but the bread and butter of it is cheap 2 for $5 earrings
and 2 for $10 bracelets bunched in a treasure chest. Tourists love to
sort through the cans. Now i am making windchimes, and again finding
that the bread and butter of it is a simple suncatcher for a window
or car. I guess I feel like a bit of a trolup, I can conform to the
cheap market or fold.
The resession is good though, people who are doing it for fun do not
last for long. blessings pat
There is a market, albeit very limited one. Unique stones, exemplary craftsmanship still sells. But for the industry as a whole, the times are very tough.
Thank God for repairs!