Selling Jewelry Supplies
on eBay

© by Rena Klingenberg; all rights reserved

Have you been considering selling jewelry supplies on eBay or other online auction sites?

Jewelry supply auctions can be an excellent side-business if you have the time to list, monitor, and ship auction lots. Many jewelry artists and jewelry-making hobbyists regularly browse through eBay and other auction sites in search of irresistible bargains and unique components they can use in their creations.

Here are just a few of the reasons why you may want to consider auctioning off beads and other jewelry making supplies:

• If you make unique beads, cabochons, silver clay components, kits, inventive jewelry tools, or other jewelry supplies -
  Auctions can be a good way for you to gain exposure to a wider clientele. They can also become one of your regular sales channels. If you offer unusual items and always have auctions running, you'll pick up a regular following of customers who are always eager to see - and bid on - your new work.

• If you buy jewelry supplies in volume at wholesale prices -
  When you receive your bulk orders, you can take out the quantity of supplies you need for your own jewelry making, and divide the rest into auction lots. If you purchase cheaply enough, you can do a brisk business by auctioning off the remaining quantity at prices that are just under retail. Meanwhile, the supplies you keep for yourself are essentially free. This is a great deal for you as well as your auction customers.

• If you want to unload some jewelry supplies you're not using -
  Sometimes as you go through your jewelry supply collection, you realize you're probably not ever going to use some of the things you've bought. Perhaps you're drifting more into lampwork glass beads and away from seed beads, or you're using more precious metals instead of base metals. Online auctions can be a great way to do some "spring cleaning" in your jewelry studio. You can clear out your unused stuff and make some money to spend on different stuff!

• If you want to earn some money by combining online auctions and jewelry -
  If you set up the right kind of auctions, beads and jewelry supplies tend to be much more lucrative items than finished jewelry.

Of course, success is not usually instantaneous when you start selling on eBay and other auction sites. It takes a little persistence to become noticed by your prospective customers and develop a following.

One of the keys to success is to always have some auctions going so people can find you and return for more of your items. And it can be helpful if you offer some low-priced auction lots, starting at 99 cents, just to get the bidding going!

It's also helpful to incorporate the other elements of successful online auctions:

• sharp, colorful photos that load quickly
  
• attractive auction templates
  
• keyword-filled auction titles and descriptions
  
• opening bids set low enough to attract interest
  
• appropriate auction categories that connect you to your most likely customers
  
• reasonable shipping charges, plus combined shipping on multiple purchases
  
• supplies that can be used for upcoming holiday projects (e.g., offer red, white and blue beads in June and promote them as a Fourth of July mix).

At the bottom of each of your listings, use an auction gallery that shows your other current auctions.

To encourage customers to return and buy from you again and again, you'll also need to provide prompt, courteous service and packaging that's not a turn-off.

A few years ago, I did a very brisk business in selling jewelry supplies on eBay. Most of my auctions received multiple bids, and many closed at prices beyond my expectations!

Here's the success secret that worked very well for me.

In my experience, the auction lots where I created a useful collection of related items got more bids and closed at higher prices than auction lots that were all one thing.

For example, instead of listing an auction lot of a simple strand of lapis nevada oval beads, why not create an auction lot of a color-coordinated "designer collection" of beads?

In this case, you could group some of those lapis nevada oval beads with rose quartz rondells and serpentine cubes. These three stones work really well together, and this auction allows the winning jewelry artist to have a lot more creative fun than he or she would with a strand of all the same kind of bead.

Combo auction lots like this tend to be more valuable and useful to bidders. In a single auction and for one shipping price, they can get a variety of items instead of just one.

Another advantage of making combined auction lots is that your auction listings will contain more keywords that are being searched for by a much bigger group of bidders. For example, our designer bead collection auction above could be found by bidders searching for rose quartz beads, bidders searching for serpentine beads, and bidders searching for lapis nevada beads.

That's a significantly larger group than just bidders searching for lapis nevada beads. And a good portion of bidders from all three keyword searches will be watching and considering your designer bead collection auction.

Now here's where it gets really good:

Not only do you have a higher demand for your combo auction lots - you also don't really have any competition for the exact auction lot you're offering. Other sellers might offer rose quartz rondells, or serpentine cubes, or lapis nevada ovals, but not all three together in one temptingly color-coordinated auction lot. If a bidder wants this bead combination, your auction is the only one available to bid on.

So according to Economics 101,

high demand + low supply = higher closing price.

You can make tempting kits or package deals of other jewelry supply auction lots. Here are a few ideas:

• a dozen lobster clasps plus crimp beads and beading wire
  
• a couple packages of polymer clay or silver clay plus some basic clay tools
  
• an assortment of cabochons plus some settings for them
  
• a handful of fetish beads plus some turquoise mini-nuggets
  
• a collection of hematite beads in a huge variety of shapes and sizes
  
• a collection of pearls of all shapes and sizes - coin, round, rice, potato, etc.
  
• earwires plus headpins and spacer beads.

To bidders, these combination auction lots are much more appealing and valuable. If you're a regular seller of jewelry supply combo auction lots, you'll quickly gain a following of eBay buyers who always check your current auctions to see what neat new combinations you have available.

Become a registered eBay member so you can start buying and selling there.