Wholesale and Retail and Dares - Oh My!

In my seemingly endless quest to find ways to make an income through jewelry, I have decided to do something that feels inherently daring to me, and investigate wholesale venues!

I have been thinking about wholesale for a very long time. I had a great catch-up call with an old friend recently, and conversation turned to her store, a wonderful herb shop in southern California called In Harmony Herbs and Spices. It’s in Ocean Beach, San Diego, for any of you who have the opportunity to visit. Jodi is amazing, so completely knowledgeable, and she works so hard to make her shop a place her customers love to visit. She has been carrying jewelry for some time, and we soon began to plan what kind of jewelry I might make for her shop. Whew! This feels a lot less daring to me. What a great way for me to keep in touch with a good friend, and ease into wholesale jewelry at the same time!

This brings up so many different questions. Are my retail prices in line with my making a profit at wholesale prices? What kinds of pieces do I begin with? Which of my pieces lend themselves to the kind of production work that would be necessary for establishing standard pieces, sizes and prices? Because the shop owner is my friend, I am even more motivated for this collaboration to work out well. I find myself asking, can I squeeze my prices a little lower to make them more affordable for both wholesale and retail buyers? Can I streamline any of my production methods to decrease time, and create lower prices that way? Wholesale really causes a person to evaluate their work and practices differently!

We settled on starting out with a few different earring designs. I plan to start wholesaling with one line, keep things flexible, adjust, and add lines as I go. Will I really dare wholesale? I sure plan to - next stop, some earring designs to go!