Northwest Jewelry

Here’s a few things I do:

1)  Narrow my niche.  I sell only genuine diamond and gemstone jewelry.  I very rarely sell lab/created jewelry and if I do, it is so stated.  I NEVER buy this jewelry on purpose, but I’ve been scammed a couple of times and when I get it home and test it, I have on a few occasions found I’ve bought created gemstone jewelry.  Not that there’s anything wrong created/lab gemstones, but I’m trying to narrow my niche and my personal preference is genuine gemstones.

2)  Be an expert.  I almost have my Graduate Gemlogist degree from GIA.  In fact, I really need to get busy–I only have a few more tests and I’m done, but I’m procrastinating!  In any case, I know enough to be dangerous and can test everything I buy.  If I don’t know the answer, I can usually find it.

3)  Find good wholesalers to buy from.  There are a few items in my inventory that I bought when I first got into the business.  I marked them up accordingly and they’ve never sold.  The problem was, I didn’t buy them well enough, and my customers expect a very good deal. 

4)  Price them according to your business model.  Many retail jewelry stores mark their inventory up 100% to 500%!  There’s no way I could sell with those margins, unless I got the deal of the century on a certain piece!  My business model dicates buying very reasonably, marking up minimally, and selling VERY reasonably. 

I’ve been in business for 3-1/2 years and my sales have increased every year.  I’m still not where I want to be, but am hoping these steps, and others I’ll discover on the way, will help me get there!