Where do people sell jewelry on line?

Jewelry Discussion
21

There is one point that has been overlooked in this whole discussion.
Let’s say you bought something in brick-and-mortar store, came home
and discovered something you do not like. Can you return it? The
answer is maybe. Some stores would take it back, most would not. The
point been is that legally you have no rights. The deal was done and
because you have what is know as “buyer remorse” is not enough to
break the contract. Online things are different. Because you never
actually examined the merchandise, client always can claim that item
was misrepresented and get his/her money back. This is a great
motivation for a website owner to make sure that clients are really
satisfied. There is no high pressure selling tactics, or any other
cute strategies. Website owner describes item to the best of his
ability, and if misunderstanding occurs, the client can simply return
the item. That is how it works. This degree of protection simply does
not exist in brick-and-mortar world. You are always safer buying
online, then in physical store, even if from time to time a
misunderstanding could occur. The law is on the side of a consumer in
an online transaction.

Leonid Surpin

22 
I need a 12mm long, nice sapphire cab (really....). I went to one
online vendor and saw that all the cabs had the very same picture -
a common scam even if the material is nice. Why post a pic if it's
not reale

My number one principle of buying gems online is that I will NOT buy
from a vendor who uses a generic picture for all gems of a certain
type. I will only buy if each and every gem has its own individual
picture, or rather pictures showing different views. Then the first
thing I do when I receive it, is compare the actual gem to the
pictures in the advertisement. I learned this very early on, after I
had to return a number of gems to such vendors, on a few separate
occasions. The delivered goods never matched the quality in the
photographs. It is dishonest, and a scam as John says, and it’s
generally only vendors who sell extremely poor quality goods who
operate such scams - either that or they’re too lazy to record their
products properly and as such are probably losing a fair amount of
business as a result. Anyone buying from such companies is more than
likely in for disappointment.

As John said, there are plenty of decent, honest vendors on the
internet as well as the bad ones. As for where to sell online,
wherever you decide to sell, it’s apparent that you have to put in a
lot of time and energy into constantly promoting yourself. Time and
energy which I’ve personally decided would be better spent promoting
myself and my jewellery in person - and I was one of those who
particularly wanted to have the anonymity of selling online, due to
being very shy in person. I’ve come to realise that it’s important
to have an online presence - a place you can direct people to, to see
your work - but that selling in reality (through stores), rather
than virtually seems to be a better way to go - at least for me.

I would, however, be interested to hear from anyone on the list who
has their own website, through which they successfully sell their
jewellery. I’m not talking about Etsy, Ruby Lane, 1000 Markets, etc.
There are thousands of people selling through those venues, some of
whom are extremely successful and some of whom never sell a single
piece - just like in the real world. So, are there any folks here
who are actually making a respectable living by selling their
jewellery online via their own websitee If so, did you build your own
website or did you have a website-building company build it for youe
Also, how many hours per week would you say you spend on promoting
your work/ websitee Do you also sell in person, as well as through
your websitee If so, what sort of percentage of sales are from the
website vs selling in persone

I know there are a lot of factors involved in trying to find the
successful formula, including how good a product you have (which is
obviously fundamental), your own personality, etc, etc - but perhaps
it would be nice to hear from some of the successful sellers.

Helen
UK
http://www.hillsgems.co.uk
http://helensgems.ganoksin.com/blogs/

23

leonid,

I was captive in a brick and mortar place, signs and imprinted
receipts saying " No Refunds, Exchange or Credit Only" The store
would bend over backwards to fix any problems, sometimes at a loss
(often a task left to me as the only jeweller, and the only person in
the store not afraid to spend the owners money)

Only once was $$ refunded and I had to do it while the manager hid
out of sight of the owners cameras. There are many recourses for an
unhappy customer, in that case tears on the counter worked.

In a case of outright fraud there are many legal weasles looking for
work. Easier to find a building than track a URL and phone number.
Same laws still apply.

jeffD
Demand Designs
Analog/Digital Modelling & Goldsmithing
http://www.gmavt.net/~jdemand

24

I thoroughly enjoy reading these debates on this forum, but sometimes
I think we let our ego overrun our perspective on things. I have
always been in a brick & morter setting, but with an online presence,
mostly for fun, but it has drummed up quite a following for me.
Social networking does work. I get customers who are passing through
and just had to get dirrections to see my work in person. Many ask me
why I don’t make it easier for them to purchase, as in a website.
Many want to be able to purchase later, after they get back from
their vacation, maybe waiting on another paycheck, whatever. :o)
Maybe they are just being nice.

I didn’t want an online store for years, because I also sell my work
via galleries, and I didn’t want to compete directly with them
online. This violates the contract with them. They get 100% mark-up
usually, but if they get me my initial price, then I feel like
whatever they earn on top of that is worth it to me.

But, sales have dropped in the art gallery niche. So, I have had to
rethink the whole online thing. I have opted not to sell via etsy or
artfire or any of the others, because I see these folks as walking
promotional advertisements for the whole site. They leave links
everywhere. This is 100% good for etsy, and only 10% good for the
individual walking around like Mary Kay or Avon salesmen. So, I am
moving into the online sales world with my own site. That way when I
leave a link, it is just to my shop. Selfish, I know :o)

Now, there are terrible people everywhere, online, gem shows, and in
brick shops. Unless someone is willing to compile actual verifiable
evidence that online is proportionally riskier to buy from, then we
can only assume. Customers coming in for repairs, estimates, and
cleaning, may just be saying junk to pass the time and stroke the
jewelers’ egos, who knows. I am not yet selling online, but I don’t
think it puts me in any more of a shady category than having a store
puts me in the commercially produced category. I don’t mess with
diamonds or extremely expensive gems, but most of my customers
wonder in after visiting the gem-set-in-gold shop next door. and,
they always have snide things to say about them. They probably say
the same about me when they visit the other. I just smile and try to
make their visit enjoyable, while they are in my shop.

I think that there are several categories of jewelers using
Ganoksin, and we all speak from our own fruit variety within the
basket here. rare gem setters into plain old settings and shanks,
small scale sculptors who use gems and metals, costume jewelry
designers, and many others. We all can’t be putting one down over
the other. Some customers would rather spend the same price as a
diamond on the sculptural or artistic piece, than to buy a diamond
that is without a story just to have bling on their ring. Then, some
come in and wonder why anyone would ever spend as much on one of my
works, when they could have a diamond or ruby. It’s a big world, and
there are enough differences in tastes so that we can all do well.

I am going to give the web a shot, on my own terms. I always
guarantee my work, but I have only had one problem in years of the
trade. I fixed it even though it was dropped from 40 feet, lol. I
should take these impacts into consideration when designing :o)

If anyone brings one of my works into your shop for repair and they
say I wouldn’t fix it, they are not being honest. And, forgive me
the huge problem my designs will cause for you, lol. Just complain
that the designer must have been insane and knock their block off
with the cost of the repair or resize, :o) because they always had
to option of bringing or sending it back to me for much less. You
have my permission to tell them that I am crazy.

But, they are not being honest if they say I wouldn’t do it. I’m
crazy, not mean :o)

25

As a bench jeweler, I just can’t let this one pass. The
bricks-n-sticks store shoveled tons of time and money into
establishing itself while the internet virtual salesman spent next to
nothing in time or money for most of the on-line venues, using the
host for most of his needs. Nothing wrong with that. I’m a cheapskate
myself.

BUT, the results of customer abuse are very different on the two
venues. The brick store is frequented by a very small (comparatively
speaking) circle of customers whose composition changes only very
slowly, and which have a strong interconnectedness through family,
work, church, and school. According to an old survey, a negative
experience generates over 50 negative contacts within this web. Even
if the original offended customer moves, or quits complaining, it
still spreads like a ripple and lingers in the back of peoples minds

  • cropping up as a bad memory when someone new asks about local
    jewelers. Bad press is long-lasting, crippling, and usually unable
    to be refuted. you can’t ‘delete’ or ‘add comments’. Traditional
    jewelers often go very far out of their ways to make everybody happy,
    therefore. Not saying they are saints - but if in the business for
    long they do get protective of reputation.

In comparison, some computer savvy acquaintances of mine who wanted
to show me how to get an on-line presence set up accounts and whole
’shops’ in a days time with almost no expense invested. This is a
wonderful thing, my cheapskate self thinks. Then one of them, in my
presence, checked on some stuff he was selling and found a problem.
A bad feedback from a customer who was unhappy with quality. He first
answered back rudely (my opinion), then went to some alternate sites
and offered some snide smears using different identities, and then
sat back with his coffee and told me that the idiot was out of luck.
They were someplace far away and had no recourse. When I mentioned
that with PayPal, etc., there was supposed to be recourse he
grinned, disagreed, and showed me enough to make me feel very
foolish. I said something about how you couldn’t keep doing that
forever without it coming undone, and he showed me two other
shops/identities he had. If one started taking too much flak, he just
shut down and did business out of another - and began another
back-up. No expenses worth mentioning, and bad press was someone else
he no longer was. I got an earful of how easy it was, how profitable,
etc. In a little while he got around to inviting me to ‘join’ the
enterprise as he needed an actual craftsman for some things. I
politely declined, left, and I hope you notice I don’t even call
these people friends, much less someone I do business with.

Internet doesn’t have to mean bad, but it does allow someone who is
bad to hurt others without much fear of backlash. Until we can
somehow monitor and regulate, this debate is going to continue. And
having discovered a little too much, I may find on the
internet, but will probably stick to more old-fashioned buying and
selling patterns. Besides, I love the people I interact with as much
as I love the work, and would be very sad to lose personal contact
with them.

Yvonne

26

There is a wonderful opportunity to gain additional insight into and
on the world of online commerce.

Any Orchidians who are planning to attend the SNAG conference in
Philadelphia-- or will be in the area on May 20th-- can take
advantage of the Professional Development Seminar which takes place
on the day before the conference proper. The cost is only $15 at the
door and $10 for those who pre-registrate. You don’t need to attend
the conference to attend the PDS. For more info see
snagmetalsmith.org. Go to “Events” and click on “Professional
Development Seminar”.

This year we are devoting two hours to this vital topic.

Improving Website Performance & Design.

Make your website really work for you. Marla Johnson Norris from
Aristotle Design (AristotleWebDesign.com) will share tips on
building new websites, modifying existing ones to better engage web
visitors, and to rank higher in search engines. Learn how to develop
design elements that build your web audience and lead visitors to
online purchasing.

Using Social Networking and Virtual Communities to Drive Business.

Social Networking and online communities are quickly becoming one of
the most useful tools in the virtual marketplace. Marla Johnson
Norris will show you how to cut through the clutter using these free
venues to create buzz about your work. During this session, she will
cover a wide variety of networking opportunities that are readily
and inexpensively available from articles and blogs to consumer
sites such as ETSY.com and trunkt.com to community sharing sites such
as Flickr, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn.

The rest of the afternoon will feature a frank discussion on how
galleries and the online marketplace interact.

The Evolving Role of the Gallery in a Virtual World of Commerce.

How do galleries see their role in a world that is rapidly moving
from the “brick and mortar” store- front to the glowing computer
monitor? What unique services can and do galleries provide? How will
artists sell their work comfortably in both worlds? During the
second half of our afternoon, these issues will be examined from the
perspectives of the gallery, the artist, and the collector.

Our group discussion includes:
Karen Lorene, Facere Jewelry Art Gallery
Patti Bleicher, Gallery Loupe;
Whitney Couch, Object Fetish
Sienna Patti, Sienna Gallery; Beth Ann Gerstein,
The Society of Arts and Crafts
Ruth Snyderman, Works/ Snyderman Gallery.

Take care and hope to see you there.
Andy Cooperman