Selling costume jewelry has been our shiny road to profits. It can be yours too.

When the economy took a down turn a few years ago we found ourselves looking for a way to replace our slump in income. We gave selling costume jewelry a try and fortunately have never had to look back. We discovered that getting into the costume jewelry business was easy and virtually recession proof. Here are some basics guidelines for those who may be interested in taking advantage of this lucrative line of retail business.

Costume jewelry, also known as fashion jewelry, runs the gamut from simple silver pieces to large cocktail rings. Selling costume jewelry can be profitable, as it is not only bought and worn by female consumers of all ages, but also purchased by males to give as gifts. The costume jewelry business is flexible, as there are many ways you can start and grow your venture, and it can be operated on a full or part-time basis.

The first step is to target a niche, or specialization, for your jewelry business. Doing this will enable you to focus on buying only one type of costume jewelry and distinguish yourself from your competitors. For example, you could specialize in selling vintage costume jewelry or vintage replicas, trendy affordable costume jewelry for teens and young women, artisan and handmade costume jewelry or designer costume jewelry brands.

The next step you should take is to obtain the permits required in your state and city to operate a retail business. Depending on where you live, this may include a sales tax permit, resale license or assumed name certificate. Your local small business development center or Small Business Administration office can let you know what business documentation you need.



 

In this photo my wife is filling  consignment
orders.  Taken one year before we opened
 our brick and mortar store.
                                  

Once you have your seller’s permit you will need wholesale costume jewelry to sell, if you will not be making your own. Before spending money on any jewelry, ensure you can make at least a 30 percent profit from it, after accounting for labor costs. There are several ways you can source your inventory, depending on your niche. If your specialty is vintage costume jewelry, shop at estate and garage sales, browse online auction sites, sell jewelry on consignment and place print and online classified ads. If you're selling new pieces, you will likely need to open wholesale accounts with manufacturers and distributors of costume jewelry, or buy liquidated -- meaning deeply discounted -- inventory from other retailers.

　　

When you have the jewelry that you intend to sell in hand you will need to secure at least one venue from which to sell your costume jewelry. Options include leasing or buying a brick-and-mortar store, renting a mall cart or kiosk, becoming a flea or antique market dealer, throwing home jewelry parties, opening an online store or selling via Internet auction websites. If you plan to make your own costume jewelry, consider all of the aforementioned options, with the exception of antique markets. You could also try selling at your local farmers market, if they accept non-food vendors, or a marketplace for handmade items, such as Etsy. We got our start by going to local events and setting up a table with our merchandise on display. We also visited local retail stores, spas and salons and arranged consignment deals with the owners. This worked out very well for us.



Find a storage area for your inventory of costume jewelry, if you will not be opening a physical retail location. A clean spare closet or airtight storage containers would be suitable, as long as they are placed in a dark, odor-free and pet-free area.

Within two years of following the steps above the profits were so good that we were able to open a brick and mortar store. We named it Jewelry Box Treasures. We are currently looking for a reasonably priced retail space for our second store.

One of the most cost effective ways you can advertise your new business  will be is to take advantage of YouTube.  The most difficult part of making  a YouTube video will be taking the individual photos of your products.  It is a time consuming process. Fortunately you will only have to do it once.

Of course every business is expected to have an official website.  Even if you don't want a website sooner or later you will have to build one.  If for no other reason than you will get tired of people asking you "Do you have a website?"  To keep start-up and operating overhead at a minimum we used a free website hosting service.  We went with http://www.wix.com/  .  Making web pages on  Wix is simple.  First you pick a template then drag and drop your photos.  You can connect your photos to your Paypal account, so making sales and collecting payments is easy. Because we have such a high number of individual pieces for sale we had to build two sites to accommodate everything.