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You are here: Experts > Hobbies > Arts/Crafts Business > Arts/Crafts Business > How to do Jewelry research market
Expert: Shasta McLaughlin - 10/27/2009
Question
I am new in this topic, I would like to start a small business by selling Imported Jewelry(handmade/craft) from Indonesian's manufacturer in USA.
Please help me to answer my questions:
How do I make jewelry market research?
what's the best way to sell as retail or wholesale?
and how to calculate retail or wholesale price
Thanks in advance.
Answer
Dia,
Marketing experts say the best way to know if there is a market for something is to use a program like wordtracker https://www.wordtracker.com/trial/ to search for your keywords. What this does is tell you how many people are searching for the product and how many people are providing the answer. When you find a product that lots of people are looking for and not many people are providing the answer/solution then you have found what is called a niche market. A niche market is obviously the best way to have a successful business.
The answers you get from wordtracker only apply to the Internet because they can't know how many people are searching for the product at art and craft shows, in retail stores, etc. but the results are probably proportionate to the results you would get in the world outside the Internet.
Another way to measure your competition would be to attend art and craft shows in your area and look at how many jewelry vendors there are and how many jewelry buyers there are in attendance. While you're there look at things that are making certain booths more profitable than others such as display, price, signage, quality, and customer service. Make a note of anything you notice that makes one booth better than another. Make notes of things that make you pass up some booths.
I found a very good post about the demographics of jewelry buyers on Google answers (http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=339097). What the demographics tell you is who is buying jewelry, what age groups, what income and education levels, how much money they spend on jewelry in a year, etc. This information might help you choose a group of jewelry buyers to serve.
Even if there is competition among that category if you choose a specific group of people to serve and then solve a problem that they have, for example: poor quality, poor customer service, too high or too low of a price, service located too far away, etc. you will get some sales. Market your product directly to this group don't waste money trying to sell it to everyone.
There are many buyers of jewelry but each one has highly individualized tastes so the key is to find a kind of jewelry to sell that has a lot of buyers but not a lot of people are selling that kind.
Ebay and etsy are both places to try out your jewelry market without incurring too many costs. Knowing what sold on ebay may give you an idea of what the market is for your items. If items similar to yours are selling for prices that will make your business profitable then you know there is a market for them.
Again do some research on every word (or group of words) that describes them that you can think of using wordtracker. Do a quick Google search on your keywords.
Call your local chamber of commerce, small business administration, and SCORE (www.score.org) and ask for suggestions on how to know if there is a market for your items. I'm pretty sure they will have a few suggestions. The small business administration and chamber of commerce should also be able to help you comply with any tax laws in your area.
Another way to test the market is to attend a few inexpensive (but well attended trade shows) to see for yourself what kind of interest there is.
Having a website is an inexpensive way to show your items all year round. It is like having a salesman on staff 24/7. My website costs me less than $100/year. The first year it only made that much back but with some help from an expert Internet marketer this year will make approximately 10 times that. The thing about it is that at only $100/year you don't have to sell a lot of merchandise to cover costs and begin to make a profit. You can also use it to make sales between shows and to let customers know about your upcoming shows.
You can also try taking your items to stores that sell that type of thing and ask if they would be interested in carrying your items. Ask what doesn't appeal to them if they say no then consider if it is something that is worth it to change.
No matter what else you do if you have a website every time you make a sale at craft shows, on ebay, etsy or through a boutique (if their contract permits it) include your web address with the merchandise.
Setting a price is as much an art as a science. You can see more about it at:
http://extravaganzacrafts.com/Blogs/265/how-to-price-my-art-or-craft-show-produc...
I don't think there is a better way to sell when comparing retail to wholesale it may depend on what price you get your merchandise for and what price you can get when selling it. Many businesses find they make more money if they do both.
Since you don't plan on making your own pieces there are many things to consider including what places will allow you to sell items you didn't make yourself, how much you can mark up products to sell them wholesale and retail. Many art and craft shows will not allow you to sell merchandise that you bought from someone else.
Good luck,
Shasta
For more information on selling your crafts see my blog at http://extravaganzacrafts.com/Blogs.
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