26 Steps to Start Online Jewelry Business – Complete Guide

by Kevin Cook| in Printing Business on September 29, 2021 3077 /

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Last Updated on: 6th April 2024, 02:50 pm

Do you know the value of the jewelry business continues to rise from $279 billion in 2018 to $481 billion by 2025 worldwide? This shows that the demand for jewelry is enormous.

When it comes to production, fashion jewelry is usually cheaper to outsource and easier to make. Hence, you will be using cheap materials like metals, beads, plastics, or synthetic gems to make a jewelry item. Therefore, we conclude that huge demand and less production cost in jewelry making can earn you huge profits.

How to Start Online Jewelry Business?

Your own jewelry business. This is a perfect place for people who have never started any type of business before and need step-by-step instructions.

So if you have a passion for jewelry and want to turn it into a profitable business, then you’re in the right place.

Grab a drink, get settled because this is going to be a complete guide.

We’re going to go from top to bottom from finding your manufacturers to running the financial side of your business.

And then we’ll look at effective marketing strategies.

1. Define your Brand:

What you can expect when you’re starting your own jewelry company. Define who you are as a brand.

So you’re going to want to define your brand story.

With the amount of choice that consumers have, you can’t really get away with not having a brand story.

Your brand story will make you memorable and it will build an emotional connection with your audience.

The jewelry industry can be pretty nasty where the environment and workers are exploited, so the brand story hits three main points: People, Product, Planet.

They’re good to their people, they sell superior products and they take care of the planet.

Ask yourself these questions to get you thinking about what your brand story could be.

Is there something interesting about the way that I’ve started or will start my company?

Maybe you have a story about how you realized that the world needed your products.

Ask yourself, do I stand for a specific cause?

A portion of your sales could go towards building schools, for example.

And ask yourself, can my Does product solve a problem?

Maybe you make replica diamonds that stay sparkly and shiny forever.

Ask yourself these questions and stick to one idea.

Sticking to one main message will make it very easy for your consumer to understand your values.

2. Decide what kind of jewelry you’ll sell:

After figuring out your brand story, you’ll be able to narrow down what kind of jewelry you’ll sell. Family, for example, focuses on delicate and dainty pieces. So start by thinking about the design.

Do you want to sell everyday pieces or cocktail party-style pieces?

Also, consider the material. Do you want to sell gold plated jewelry or solid gold jewelry?

You can even play with other materials like pearls, beads, and silver, which by the way, are all on an upward trend.

You can also look at Google trends to identify any upcoming styles that you might want to capitalize on to do this, just visit trends.google.com and type in a keyword to see how many people are searching for it in different parts of the world.

3. Define your target audience.

Having a good understanding of your target audience and creating messaging around what they can relate to will exponentially increase the number of sales that you make and how well your marketing campaigns perform.

So you don’t want to miss this step.

Lookup for customers in social media:

You can literally use Instagram stories to find out what your target audience’s lives are like.

So look at what they do on a day-to-day basis, what kind of homes they live in, where they spend time and what music they listen to.

You want to be as in tune with your target audience, as you are with your close friends.

That way, when it comes time to make a decision like dropping a new collection or featuring an influencer, you’ll know exactly what they want to see.

You can also look on Reddit to see what people are talking about as it relates to the jewelry industry.

Just a little peruse me and saw that people are interested in matching jewelry sets, jewelry cleaning tools, and wedding rings.

Reddit is a gold mine of honest information because people feel safe enough to express their true opinions and converse with each other.

So by doing those two things, you’ll have an idea of who your audience is as people and their feeling towards certain aspects of the jewelry industry.

4. Create your visual identity:

Unless you’re a graphic designer, I would recommend that you work with someone to do this step with you.

Your visual identity includes your logo, the fonts that you use, and your brand colors. Check out Fiverr, Freelancer,
Upwork, and Behance. These are platforms that are going to connect you to a graphic designer.

Look at past work and make sure that they understand your vibe.

Ask them to create a style guide and a logo.

A style guide is a document that outlines what your brand looks like.

Work with a designer by communicating what you’re going for, but in order to stay unique, try not to rely too heavily on visual examples.

Otherwise, you might just end up looking like every other brand.

5. Sourcing Your Products:

Solid gold or 24K gold is the purest gold.

However, you can’t use this in jewelry because it’s too soft and it’ll get damaged.

So gold is mixed with other alloys like silver and copper, the higher the carrot, the higher amount of gold in the piece.

The most common types of carrots are 10, 14, and 18 karat gold.

The more golden near piece, the richer, the color, and the more expensive.

Gold vermeil is sterling silver, that’s been gold-plated.

This is a good option for businesses that want to provide an affordable piece, but keep in mind that these don’t hold well in water and they can tarnish.

So if you’re selling vermeil pieces, make sure that you have a care section on your website to avoid any customer complaints and returns.

Gold-filled jewelry, contrary to the name is not actually filled with gold.

Rather, it’s a thick layer of gold that’s bonded to another metal like brass.

Gold-filled is more expensive than vermeil, but if it’s taken care of it can last as long as solid gold and won’t tarnish.

Wearers who have sensitive skin can wear it without worries about an allergic reaction.

Silver and stainless steel are trending metals in streetwear.

These metals are affordable for businesses that are just starting out and they’re durable.

Unlike other metals like copper, brass, and aluminum, silver, and stainless steel will never turn your finger green.

6. Find a manufacturer or a supplier:

When you’re finding a manufacturer or supplier, there are three ways that you can go about this.

You can go directly to the manufacturer.

You can buy wholesale, or you can work with the local artisan.

To work directly with the manufacturer checkout, Alibaba, DH gate, and Aliexpress.

7. Type in a keyword:

Now, when we find something that catches our eye, we’re going to want to do some vetting.

Check out reviews and actually read them.

Take a look at the prices and the minimum order quantity. I recommend starting with no more than 10 pieces of each style.

You want to test the market before tying up all your funds and inventory.

The price of shipping will change depending on what your order is, so take this figure with a grain of salt.

8. Look at the response rate:

There’s nothing more frustrating than not being able to get in touch with your manufacturer.

If you have to change an order, or if you have questions about a product, also look at their on-time delivery rate.

There’s nothing more frustrating to the customer than not getting their order on time.

9. Take note of the badges:

You want to make sure that your suppliers have badges and good ones.

Click on the icons to find out more about what they mean.

Also, take a peek at their return policy.

The next step is to send them a message and let them know that you’re interested.

Take this opportunity to ask as many questions as you need, ask them about the factory working conditions, confirm lead times, and basically everything you need to know that you’re making a good decision.

Take the time to assess how responsive and attentive they are.

If they’re taking three days to respond to you, it

might not be the best fit as their service will probably reflect this in the future.

Now is also the time where you would want to negotiate minimum order quantities and price per unit.

To request a sample first and then wear it for two months to test the quality.

If it passes the test, then you can go ahead and place your full order.

So try filtering the location when you’re doing your search.

10. Finding a wholesaler:

Outside of Alibaba, use Google to find wholesalers.

Type in keywords like jewelry wholesale United States to start doing your research.

This process will require a lot of digging and preparation for it to be time-consuming.

However, this step is crucial because if you don’t do your research, now you can lose a lot of time and money having chosen the wrong manufacturer.

Be responsible by being informed about the ethics of your supply chain.

One of the most important things for Finley is that its products are made ethically and sustainably.

Ask your suppliers what certifications they have before working with them.

11. Finding a jeweler:

You can find an independent jeweler through Instagram, Google, or Upwork.

The advantage of going with an independent jeweler is that the communication is tighter, you’re supporting local, independent talent, and you can customize your pieces.

However, when you start to scale up, it makes more financial sense to go with a manufacturer.

Artisans can be pretty pricey, so you’ll have to position yourself as a luxury brand to be able to maintain a sustainable profit margin.

In summary, the top things to look for when choosing a jeweler or a manufacturer are ethics and sustainability, lead times, shipping costs, minimum order quantities, cost per unit, and quality and design of the jewelry, as well as ease of communication.

Keep in mind that a lot of businesses will go through a couple of manufacturers before finding the right one.

So if you’re dissatisfied with lead times or the communication, there’s really nothing wrong with pivoting.

12. Designing custom jewelry:

Depending on your manufacturer’s capabilities and the type of relationship that you have with them, you might be able to design some custom pieces.

So I’m definitely not a jewelry designer, but even I was able to communicate my design ideas and bring them to life for Finley.

Clearly communicate your ideas, you can design custom pieces, and if you’re not well versed in illustrators, sketch your designs out and use reference photos.

13. Set up your online presence:

Sign up for a domain name and a professional email using GoDaddy.

You can get started for as little as $3 a month for the first year.

Also, be sure to claim your social media handles.

If your handle is already taken, you can reach out and ask if they’ll sell it to you.

However, the perfect social media handle and URL is not going to make or break your business, so don’t get too caught up in this.

14. Make Your Website:

Now it’s time to make your website Start by choosing a theme, go to themes.shopify.com and search by industry.

There’s literally a section just for jewelry, so you can find one that matches
your brand look and feel.

15. Add your products:

Include product shots on a white background and shots of a model wearing your jewelry.

As long as the photos are well lit and visually pleasing, you don’t really need to drop a ton of money on a photo shoot.

If your jewelry comes in different variations, like silver, gold, and Rose gold, you’ll want to make sure that you have pictures for all the variations.

Having clear photos that showcase the product at different angles will help you make the sale.

In-depth product descriptions, also encourage shoppers to make a purchase.

Your website navigation should include a new, shop, about, collections, and contact section.

You’ll also want to make sure that you have clear shipping and return policy page linked in the footer.

If you’re launching with a ton of different styles, include a search box with an auto-complete function that avoids frustration and your customers leaving your site.

Your homepage should communicate a clear value proposition.

So Finley, for example, uses a section that speaks to its ethics and its sustainability.

Your homepage should also feature collections, new items, and bestsellers.

16. Easy Navigation:

Have buttons strategically placed for people to browse and add to their cart.

Accept payments easily with Shopify.

With Shopify Payments, you’re automatically set up to accept all major payment methods, as soon as you create your store.

Your card rate is based on your Shopify plan and you can change plans whenever you want.

17. Organizing your financials:

One of the first things you want to do is register your business with the government.

The advantages of this include limiting your personal liability and setting yourself up to potentially pay less tax.

Just Google registered business and the appropriate website will appear to register within your country.

18. Open a separate Bank Account(Optional):

Next, do you want to open up a separate bank account for your business?

This will organize you and separate your personal finances from your business finances.

When you’re starting out, make sure that you choosing an account with the lowest fees.

Keep track of your business expenses by using a separate credit card, this will make your life and your accounts life a lot easier during tax time.

Speaking of which, working with an accountant that specialized in small businesses will help save you time and money in the long run, and investing in an online software like QuickBooks

It will make your life a lot easier when it comes to bookkeeping.

19. Packaging and shipping:

When choosing your packaging, consider how the consumer will open the box and what that experience will be like.

This is especially important with mid to high-end jewelry.

The perception of its value can be taken down 10 notches with inexpensive-looking packaging.

The more simplified and fewer steps your packaging has, the easier it will be to fulfill a large number of orders.

You could cut down on costs by choosing boxes that can accommodate several items.

So for example, we put earrings and necklaces in one box and the presentation looks beautiful.

Multifunctional packaging also reduces your environmental footprint.

Grounded packaging is an eco-friendly alternative and it’s slightly more expensive, but I do recommend choosing a mailer that can accommodate up to three boxes, so you don’t have to send separate packages if a customer makes a bigger order.

However, if your mailer is oversized, then you’re going to have to consistently pay for a larger mailer on smaller orders.

20. Reduce Packaging Waste:

A focus on reducing packaging waste is especially rampant in the fashion industry.

So keep in mind that customers will appreciate a less is more experience that still feels chic and polished.

Avoid styrofoam peanuts, and include biodegradable and recyclable packaging.

21. Monitor your packaging supply:

If you get an influx of orders with not enough boxes, you’ll have to wait until your boxes get customized and shipped over to you, which can upset customers.

Now let’s talk shipping.

You can charge the customer for full shipping.

You can split the amount of shipping by lowering your product prices.

Or you can offer free shipping over a certain dollar amount.

Setting up shipping in your Shopify store is super easy.

Just click the settings button in the bottom left-hand corner of your dashboard, click shipping, and start by setting up your packages area, but the weight and the dimensions of your shipment without the weight of the products, because the weight of the products is calculated on the product level.

Then you choose your carrier options.

You also have the option to set a default package that’s used to calculate the shipping rates.

Let’s go up into shipping profiles to manage rates.

Your products will already be there and will be updated as new ones get added.

Set that the details of where you’re shipping from to get accurate rates, and then you can set types of services available and customize the costs.

22. Build your team:

If you’re just starting your business, you’ll likely be a solopreneur or have a partner.

But as you grow, you’re going, gonna want to be thoughtful and be careful about who you let into your energy field as a business.

Steve Jobs said that the number one rule of building your team is to choose people that are self-managing.

They understand the problem and they go figure out how to solve it.

Look for this quality when choosing your first few hires and your freelancers.

As you start to grow, your core group will include a manufacturer or a jeweler, an accountant, a graphic designer or web designer, a content creator, a photographer, and a videographer, a marketer, a salesperson, and a lawyer.

The perfect mix of character types that have been proven to make a business explode is as follows.

So in your C-suite, you’re going to want to have one leader, one culture tapping expert, an industry nerd, a creative, and an analyst.

23. Market your business:

Once you’re all set up and running, most of your energy should be dedicated to marketing your business in your first few years of operating.

So let me walk you through what my day-to-day was like when working with Finley.

The main thought that I kept in the back of my mind is how can I make Finley money?

With that, I focused on marketing tactics that I saw was working for us.

24. Email Marketing & Influencer Partnerships:

This included influencer partnerships, email marketing, and ads.

And I would recommend you do the same, only really focused on one to three tactics instead of spreading yourself thin.

And we were able to tap into each other’s email lists.

From there, we would continue to nurture those new relationships through email, which got us new customers consistently.

If you’re curious about how you can build your email list, make sure to check out this video right here for step-by-step instructions.

We also reached out to local influencers and offer their products in exchange for a post to their feed.

We saw a 3-X return on investment, so that was a tactic that we continue to utilize.

When choosing which influencers to work with, check out a tool called dovetale.

It’s an extremely robust platform to help you find influencers based on specific keywords, locations, niches, and audiences.

You can even send influencers messages straight from dovetale,

which will save you a ton of time.

I have no personal affiliation with dovetail, but I just wanted to share this tool because you can find the exact type of influencer that you’re looking for really quickly, instead of scouring through Instagram.

That relationship can be as simple as just reaching out, introducing yourself, sending them a product and monitoring what kind of return on marketing investment each influencer has, that you’re working with.

25. Marketing Through Ads:

Now, let’s talk about ads.

The ad agency that we worked with is called acquire the agency and they are phenomenal.

However, if you’re just starting out work with a freelancer who has a proven track record of a high return on marketing investment.

Freelancers will be more cost-effective taking less commission and charging lower hourly rates.

If the budget doesn’t permit you to hire a specialist, though, we do have an entire video dedicated on how you can get started with Facebook ads.

Now for the juicy part, here’s a little thinking outside the box marketing tactic that you could apply to your business.

It was a great way to introduce a new brand to the market.

And it got press coverage from publications like glamour magazine.

Launching a shocking campaign that accommodates an eye-catching headline is a great way to get written up and to expand your reach.

26. Pricing your products:

Once you have a good idea of how much money you’re spending in marketing, how much each individual product costs, how much money you’re spending on hiring out talent, and the cost of operating your business.

You’ll have a better idea of how much you should price your products to still remain profitable.

Final Words:

So in my experience, I’ve noticed that pricing jewelry higher than you would normally think actually pays off in the end.

It’s funny how the mind works.

People actually want to pay more for jewelry because they feel like they’re getting something of value.

So you might start to raise eyebrows when you’re only charging $20 for a gold-plated necklace.

Even if that does still leave room for healthy profit margins.

Your efforts to run your business become more scalable with higher pricing because you’ll be hustling equally as hard to make the same amount of sales.

And when you price your products higher, you’ll be gaining more capital to grow your business.

This should give you a solid foundation to get your jewelry business started.

If you’re planning on starting a business or you already have one rolling, let me know in the comments down below