What is the markup from wholesale to retail in the world of costume jewellery? We get asked this question in a round about way quite often, so often in fact that we’ve added a recommended retail price to all of our jewellery – simply click on any image to open the popup dialog for that item to view the RRP range.

We recommend that your retail price be between 2.5 and 3.5 times the wholesale price + VAT. This would give a necklace wholesaling at £5 a list price in your shop of £15 – £21. That price assumes you are VAT registered.

Why the wide price range?

Different retailers selling in different places to different customers. A High Street shop might charge the higher price while a market trader might sell at the lower price. A jewellery party planner might charge a price somewhere in the middle. You should resist the temptation to charge more then this, as while you may sell a small number of items at the inflated price, it’s simply not sustainable. The markups for fashion jewellery are well understood by most jewellery retailers, and if you venture outside these bounds – higher or lower – you are likely to find yourself in difficulty.