We run regular reports on our monthly sales. Not because we’re interested in how many orders individual customers are placing, but because we like to know what our customers are doing in a broad, general way: what percentage of sales are silver as opposed to costume jewellery, how are Ladies Watches selling this month compared to last month - that sort of thing.

Some time ago we noticed that a percentage of repeat customers always place small orders - around the £45 figure - and that they place these orders frequently, often every week, or more than once a week.

This is a very expensive way to buy your jewellery, the reason being that each small order is charged the standard delivery rate of £9.95. On a minimum sized order, shipping adds 22% to the cost of the goods. If you place 5 orders a month, that’s an extra £49.75, and it’s an expense you don’t need to pay. Orders above £225 shipped to the UK and Ireland are delivered for free. For someone who places regular, small, weekly orders, placing one large order instead of 5 small ones would save you that 22%.

We don’t make any money on postage. We charge the customer what we are charged by DHL, so it makes no difference to us whether you place large or small orders, but it certainly could make a difference to you.

Now, it’s quite possible that for cash flow reasons, placing an order above £225 is just not feasible, but the higher value your order, the lower the proportional costs of shipping, as shipping rates do not rise in line with your order. A £100 order still incurs £9.95 in shipping costs, but that only amounts to a 10% addition to the cost of the goods. For a £200 order, it drops still further to under 5%, and above £225, it disappears completely.

The bottom line here, is that small orders cost you money, and large orders save you money.

We often get asked if we supply packaging to match the jewellery we sell. The short answer is no. All of our jewellery is sold without packaging: boxes, cases, gift pouches, etc.

The level of packaging required will vary from retailer to retailer: high street shops, for example, tend to go to much greater effort and expense when presenting jewellery than a market trader would, even though they might both be selling the same items.

It’s always easier if you can buy everything you need from a single source, but this is rarely the best approach. There’s a price for convenience, and in the current economic uncertainty, getting the best goods for the best price is more important than ever.

For quality packaging, we recommend a UK company called Packaging World. We’ve found their lines to be quite tasteful and competitively priced, and their ability to handle small as well as large order quantities would suit many of our customers. As an added bonus, they do offer free shipping across the UK.

We supply a lot of Jewellery Party businesses. Some of them are successful, and have been buying from us for years; some are just starting out on their own after having worked as a consultant for one of the big party plan companies; and others are on their last legs, on the brink of closing down their business due to poor sales and lack of interest.

All are buying the same products from us at the same prices. So why do some succeed where others fail?

There are three areas where Jewellery Party organisers go wrong. They are:

1. Over pricing
2. Sourcing only the cheapest of jewellery
3. Not changing stock often enough

Failing in any one of these areas will put a serious dampener on your profits. Failing in more than one will lead to the demise of your business. Let’s look at each of these in more detail.

1. Over Pricing

The most common mistake made by new jewellery party organisers is to charge too much for their products. Your price should never be based on what similar items sell for in a Jewellers on the high street, or in a display cabinet at Next or River Island. It should be based on the price you paid for the item, plus any additional expenses that detract from your overall profit.

For example, say you purchase 5 of the above bracelet from us. The cost price per item is £2.31, and when VAT and shipping costs are added, you’ll be looking at just over £3 per bracelet. Charging £15-£18 at your first jewellery party may seem like a good idea, and you may very well sell one to a sister-in-law or a friend from work, but you’ll never sell another to the same person.

Far better to charge a more enticing £7-£8. Yes, your profit per item will be considerably less, but you’ll be selling far more. Which is better: two items earning £12 profit each, or fifteen items earning £5 profit each? And once you start pricing your jewellery well, the same people will return to buy from you next time, and chances are they’ll bring some friends along too.

Over pricing is a fatal and all too common mistake. When your early parties are attended by family and friends who feel obligated to buy something from you, it’s easy to miss.

2. Sourcing Only Cheap Jewellery

Our necklaces range in price from as little as £1.50 to over £7. Every now and then, a new customer comes along and places an order for 30-40 items, all priced around the £1.50 mark. The number of items purchased is just enough to pass our £45 minimum order size, and they only buy one of each item. We know we’ll never hear from this person again.

It’s not that our cheap items don’t sell, they certainly do - our bracelets are amongst our best sellers, and the same customers regularly come back for more. It’s that your customers want to see quality, expensive items mixed in with the cheap and cheerful lines. By all means, buy the cheap items and sell them for a fiver each, but you need to mix up your display with different styles at different prices.

The above necklace sells for £5.35, looks completely different to our cheaper lines, and could easily be sold on for £15+.

3. Not Changing Stock Often Enough

Sterling Silver Jewellery is timeless. Whether it’s a ring, a pendant, or a pair of earrings, last years fashions will look just as good this year. The same cannot be said for Costume Jewellery. We estimate that costume jewellery has an in-fashion life span of about 4-6 months, which is why we bring in new lines so frequently and never restock sold out items. What was popular last year, simply will not sell this year. What sells well in the summer will not sell in the winter.

You need to change and update your stock frequently. Just because a particular range sold well the last time you gave a party in Guildford, does not mean they will sell well this time. If you try to sell the same items to the same people again and again, your party attendances will get smaller and smaller.

Time after time we hear from customers who bought items from us months ago, asking us when we will be getting more of a necklace or bracelet. The answer is, we won’t, and neither should you. As a jewellery party organiser, you should be telling your customers what’s fashionable, not expecting them to tell you. You should be setting the trends, not hawking last years fashions.

There is nothing wrong with the jewellery party industry - it’s still going strong, despite all the doom and gloom we hear about the economy. If your party attendances are dwindling; if your customers are simply not buying, or are only buying the cheapest items; if your hostesses from months ago are not inviting you back; chances are it’s your fault.

Look to your pricing, and look to your stock. Are you over priced? Are you buying only cheap items? Are you bringing in fresh designs and colours?

Other useful links:

How to make that party a success
How to get the most from your Jewellery displays
Sourcing that Jewellery Party Stock

eBay is a Mecca for small jewellery retailers. The modest size and relatively light weight of most pieces of jewellery make it perfect for online selling and shipment through the mail. Wholesalers have been quick to realise this, using eBay as a means of reaching new customers who have bypassed the bricks and mortar warehouses.

The added security of a customer focused site such as eBay, coupled with easy payment options like PayPal, make it an ideal and simple method of sourcing stock from all over the world. But it’s not all sunshine and roses. Like any business, there are pitfalls to trap the unwary, and less than honest characters waiting to prey on newcomers.

Over the past year, we’ve had a strong eBay presence ourselves, though in recent months, all of our focus has shifted to more direct online sales via this website. We learned through trial and error what works and what doesn’t; what to watch out for; and what signifies a great big red flag when it comes to buying wholesale jewellery from anonymous, faceless, eBay sellers. Here a few of those things to watch out for:

1. Refunds
Does the seller offer a full refund in the event you are unhappy with your goods or they fail to arrive? Professional business people take responsibility for their businesses, and for the happiness of their customers. They WANT you to be happy so you’ll come back and spend more money, and so that you’ll tell all your friends to do the same. If an eBay seller has a no refund policy, or attempts to pass the buck for undelivered packages to the Royal Mail, stay away from them.

When a CD fails to arrive from Amazon, they send you another, no questions asked. If you buy something in a high street shop and find it damaged when you get home, they replace it. There is no reason for eBay sellers to behave any differently. You should treat a negative refund policy as the first indication that this seller should be avoided.

2. Items similar to those pictured
When your goods arrive, you have every right to expect them to be EXACTLY the goods that were pictured in the eBay auction or shop. If you bought a pair of red shoes to go with your red dress, you’d be understandably upset if the seller sent you a pair of blue hiking boots. Wholesale jewellery should be no different.

Read the item description carefully, and make sure that tucked away in a forgotten corner there is not a line such as “The goods you receive will be similar to the goods pictured.” Many unscrupulous or lazy sellers do not photograph all their stock, and are not always aware of stock levels for individual lines. This means that when you order a batch of 20 necklaces that looked attractive, you end up with 20 necklaces that don’t look quite so attractive when they arrive. And with a no refund policy as well as the fine print hidden in the corner, you’re pretty much stuck with them.

3. Private Listings
We’ve all seen them, and probably wondered what their purpose was. With private listings, you never get to see who the other bidders are on an item you are bidding on. eBay simply tells you: “private listing - bidders’ identities protected.” Now, I can see a reason for this if you are bidding on embarrassing sex toys, or books with titles such as “How to get a girlfriend when you’re a 40 year old virgin“, but for wholesale jewellery, private listings are simply ridiculous, and a huge indicator that something unpleasant might be going on.

eBay’s transparency is one of its greatest strengths. You can see what other buyers have to say about a seller, what else they’ve sold, and who else is bidding on the rings or pendants you want. This means that if Shill Bidding is taking place, you can probably work it out based on monitoring a seller’s auctions and bidder IDs.

Shill bidding is when the seller or someone linked to the seller bids on their own auctions to push the price up. A good indication that shill bidding is happening is when a single bidder bids on many auctions from the same seller, always pushing the price up to a respectable amount, but NEVER winning. With private listings, you have no way of spotting shill bidding.

So, when you see wholesale batches of jewellery being sold under a private auction, ask yourself why? And stay away.

4. Packaging
When buying batches of jewellery made from sterling silver, baltic amber, or CZs, it’s important that each item is packaged individually. If not, the silver and stones can easily scratch or damage each other during transit. The Royal Mail are not noted for their careful handling of packages, so make sure before you buy that you know how the seller intends to pack the items, otherwise you could be in for a nasty surprise when they drop through your letter box.

We’ve fallen prey to all of the above, as do many eBay buyers without ever realising. Remember, eBay sellers are running businesses, and in many cases these businesses are just as profitable as their high street equivalents. There is no reason for you to be treated any differently by an ebay seller, than you would expect to be treated by a high street shop. Your sale is not complete until your goods have arrived and you are completely happy with them. You should accept no less.

What is the difference between an Apple Store and a Currys Superstore? Visiting one is a pleasure and visiting the other is a chore. Buying an iPod in an Apple Store is as much about the buying experience as it is about the iPod, whereas buying a TV or a stereo in Currys is hard work.

Yet the Apple Store sells less than 10% of the stock on offer at a similarly sized Currys, and they only sell one brand. There’s no big secret here - it’s all about the display, and how that display creates an experience that makes people want to buy.

As a jewellery seller, you too can create a more enticing buying experience. It doesn’t matter if you own a small shop, or sell in people’s homes in the evening out of plastic bags - by showing your goods at their best, and making it as easy as possible for people to try them on, you encourage them to buy.

Trickery doesn’t come into it - you’re not fooling people into buying something they don’t want. What you are doing is removing some of the barriers that may prevent them from buying in the first place. The other day I was browsing some jewellery auctions on eBay, and something struck me about many of the auctions I visited: I was unable to work out if I actually liked any of the jewellery on offer. Now, chances were that much of that jewellery was good stock, in fashionable or contemporary designs, but the quality of the displays and images were such that I simply could not decide.

And this does not only happen in the online world. Not long ago, walking through one of Ireland’s larger indoor markets, I was drawn to a small stall tucked away in a corner. The stall owner was selling Ikita jewellery, and every single necklace was sitting in a large pile on a flat table - tightly wrapped in plastic. Despite the popularity of Ikita, no one was stopping; and no one was stopping because most people didn’t even realise he was selling jewellery. With a proper display, and a little effort, this could have been the most popular stall in the market. Instead, the owner packed up and went home early, probably never to return - no doubt telling his friends that Irish women just weren’t interested in jewellery.

So how do you display your goods to their best advantage?

There are two things to know when it comes to setting up your display: Firstly, you need some props, and secondly, you must give yourself enough time. If you’re planning a jewellery party that kicks off at 8pm, get there by 7, and spend that extra hour laying out your stock so it looks as attractive as possible.

A whole industry exists to make this easier for you. Whether you’re selling necklaces, bracelets, earrings, or rings, careful use of props can present them in such a way that will remove indecisiveness from your buyers. Be sure to take everything out of its plastic wrapping, and get that same wrapping out of sight, preferably under a chair somewhere. Necklaces should be displayed on proper necklace stands that allow people to picture them around their own necks.

Bracelet displays should show each piece from many different angles, giving buyers the opportunity to see how they hang from a wrist, as well as how they compare to other styles. Do remember to make it easy for your customers to try on each item.

Earring displays are often forgotten, but it is very important for people to be able to see how they hang. Unlike bracelets and necklaces, they are rarely tried on, so your display must present a good picture of how they would look when worn.

Displaying rings is relatively straight forward, and because they are so small, setting up a large and varied display is not difficult.

The props shown in the photos above can be built up over time, and the decision as to which should be used for a particular display is something that will get easier as you gain more experience. I would suggest however, that you not overdo it - start small, and work up. Very large, cluttered displays, are almost as bad as no display at all.

Over time, we’ve built up a lot of contacts in the jewellery business, as we sourced stock, packaging, and displays from various suppliers. If you’re looking to purchase display props similar to those above, we’d recommend a Birmingham based company called Talbots. Their website is small and does not carry a full stock list, but their catalogue is comprehensive and contains all the information you might need before deciding which props are for you.

Careful use of props and elegant displays can have a major impact on sales, but it doesn’t stop there. Once the sale is made, you have a final opportunity to impress your customer and make them want to come back for more. This opportunity lies in how you pack your goods.

Do you normally drop those sterling silver necklaces into a paper bag and move on to the next customer? Why not box the necklace instead? There are a whole range of packaging options available to you, with different boxes and bags designed specifically for rings, necklaces, and bracelets, in many different styles and colours. And they do not cost an arm and a leg either. Again, these items can all be purchased from the supplier mentioned above - one more reason to get your hands on that catalogue.

The question you should ask yourself, is how do you want your customers to look at you and your business? Do you want them to see you as a Currys Superstore - cheap, drab, and crowded - somewhere they really don’t want to go? Or do you want them to picture you as an Apple Store - elegant, tasteful, and a pleasure to visit.

Getting that display ‘just right‘ is not as easy as it sounds. Whether it’s the clashing colours of your bright necklaces, or the ocean of sterling silver casting a bit of a dampener on your tiny collection of cubic zirconia rings, it’s difficult to present your stock at its best without hours of work.

And it’s even more difficult when you have to do it every morning, only to pack it all away again at the end of the day. For many of us, the retail side of the business is not a cosy little high street shop or a corner of a fashionable shopping centre, and we don’t all have the luxury of hiring a 17 year and paying them a minimum wage to pack and unpack for us.

Back in our retail days - not that long ago - we made setting up our stock in as presentable a manner as possible into a fine art. And one of the most important tools in our arsenal was the humble paint brush.

Now, it’s true that you could spend cart loads of money buying professional equipment to polish your rings and pendants to gleaming perfection, but we learned early on that a basic paint brush purchased from B&Q would do the job just fine. Tiffany’s may disagree, but then their prices are just a little higher than ours, so I’m prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt.

It was our Sterling Silver necklaces that caused most of the problems. All that packing and unpacking, not to mention the strange locations we found ourselves setting up in over the years, made the dust and dirt pile up. Take the heart shaped pendant pictured below for example.

Sterling silver necklaces of this type were amongst our top sellers for some time. Every morning we’d be faced with the daunting task of unpacking, opening, and setting up a few hundred of these, and every morning we had to de-dust them before the public descended upon us. The paint brush is the perfect tool for this. A couple of quick swipes with a two inch brush and they’re ready to face the world.

It’s worth remembering that many of the professional tools used by jewelers for centuries are merely variations of existing tools used in everyday life, and like an artist who is just starting out, you don’t need to be spending vast amounts of money on expensive brushes and canvases when the cheaper varieties will get the job done just fine.

If you’ve checked out our catalogue, you’ll know that we sell a wide range of Baltic Amber rings, pendants and earrings. For many years now, they’ve been amongst our top sellers - both retail and wholesale. And we’re not the only ones. It seems that every jewellery website and eBay seller is hawking ‘Baltic Amber‘ these days, and at first glance it all looks pretty much the same.

It’s yellow or green and it’s set in sterling silver, so it must be real. Right?

I’m afraid not. There is an awful lot of imitation Amber out there attempting to pass itself off as the real thing. Otherwise known as synthetic or faux Amber, it can be incredibly hard to spot. When all you have to go on is a picture on a website, how do you tell the difference?

The answer is quite simple. Just ask! Most sellers, though they may not admit to selling fake amber in writing on their web-site, will be honest about it if you simply send them an email and ask. They don’t want a charge back from your credit card company any more than you want to be lumbered with dodgy goods. The problem is, many people do not know enough to ask, and only find out a few months later when a particularly knowledgeable customer calls them on it - pointing out their mistake at the most embarrassing moment possible.

Here at Nirvana, we only sell 100% genuine Baltic Amber, and have never stocked the synthetic variety.

When buying jewellery of any description from photos on a web-site or eBay, your motto should be: “If it looks too good to be true, then it probably is.” Bargains can be had, for sure. But how does the price stack up against the competition? Manufacturer’s prices for amber rings are reasonably consistent, so if you’re seeing rock bottom, bargain prices, that’s the time to start asking questions.

And if anyone offers you pristine pieces of Amber with perfectly preserved mosquitos, positioned dead centre and looking only a week or two old, chances are they ARE only a week or two old, and not the 30-50 million years you’ve been told.