How I started My Online Business From Home
If you are talented and love making beautiful jewelry for people to wear, you can turn a profit by selling your jewelry and designs. People who run small, home based businesses can sell both directly to the public, (retail) or to businesses (wholesale) or sell your products at shows, festival, flea markets (vendor/concessionaire). To be successful, you must first find out if there is a market for your work by asking others for their honest opinion about your designs, as well as taking them for viewing to different dealers to get honest opinions, and then obtain the necessary licenses. I personally started selling other things (hats, sunglasses etc) and slowly incorporated my jewelry designs into my displays and set ups.
1. To operate a small home based business you need to obtain a business license. Contact your county offices about a business license. Complete the necessary forms and pay the small fee. The amount will vary from county to county and state to state and is a yearly expense.
2. Contact your state offices about a seller's permit, also called a resale certificate. A resale license give you the right to sell jewelry to the public, and requires that you pay sales tax to your state. Sales tax is a percentage of the price a customer pays you for your jewelry. Most merchants simply add the sales tax to the purchase price. States set the sales tax, and some counties add a little more. Make sure you understand what percentage you will be required to pay, so that you charge your customers the right amount of money. The above two licenses also gives you the right to buy your supplies from distributors at wholesale, tax free prices.
3. Set the wholesale and retail prices of your jewelry. For each piece or set of jewelry you make, add the costs of the materials. Multiply this number by 100% to get the wholesale price (Materials x 100%=Wholesale). A wholesale price is what you charge a store owner to resell your jewelry. You do not charge sales tax when you sell at the wholesale level. Multiply your costs of materials by 150-300% to get the retail price. The retail price is the prices you would sell your products for to the general public like, shows, festivals, flea markets etc. You have to check around to see what the going price for the materials you use are to be able to set your own prices. Be comparable to other jewelry sellers.
4. Purchase a good quality, digital camera. You must have excellent photographs of your best pieces of jewelry. Design a 1-5 page brochure that includes photos of your jewelry, price lists, and your contact information.
5. If you want to sell wholesale also, choose a few of your favorite jewelry designs and make at least six pieces of each one. (Always be prepared). If you want to sell wholesale only, take these and your brochures with your wholesale price list to local shops in your area. Ask at the counter for the appropriate buyer's contact information. If you are lucky, she will be present and able to meet with you right away. Otherwise, you will most likely be given a business card. If the people in the store are encouragging, leave a brochure for the buyer and follow up with a phone call. Otherwise, mail the brochure with a cover letter and follow up with a phone call a week later.
6. Ebay is another convenient way for small businesses to make their products available to the public. Post photographs of your jewelry on Ebay to sell at the retail or wholesale level online. You can allow buyers to bid on your jewelry at auctions, or you can choose to set a price using the "Buy It Now" feature. You will need to charge sales tax only if the buyer resides in your state. Join social networks that allow you to show your products and information and also share and network. You can never stop learning and networking to perfect your craft.
7. Check out craft fairs and gift shows. A craft fair in an event in which you pay a fee, set up a tent and sell your jewelry directly to the public. (The craft fair promoter handles the seller's permits for everybody at the show, so you never need to obtain more than one for your business address.) A gift show is the same idea, except all of the buyer's are looking to buy your jewelry at wholesale prices and resell it in their stores. When you apply to shows, you may be asked to submit slides in addition to your brochure. Ask a photo developer to make slides of the best photographs of your jewelry.
This information and more available at my Social Network http://www.girl-friends.ning.com
1. To operate a small home based business you need to obtain a business license. Contact your county offices about a business license. Complete the necessary forms and pay the small fee. The amount will vary from county to county and state to state and is a yearly expense.
2. Contact your state offices about a seller's permit, also called a resale certificate. A resale license give you the right to sell jewelry to the public, and requires that you pay sales tax to your state. Sales tax is a percentage of the price a customer pays you for your jewelry. Most merchants simply add the sales tax to the purchase price. States set the sales tax, and some counties add a little more. Make sure you understand what percentage you will be required to pay, so that you charge your customers the right amount of money. The above two licenses also gives you the right to buy your supplies from distributors at wholesale, tax free prices.
3. Set the wholesale and retail prices of your jewelry. For each piece or set of jewelry you make, add the costs of the materials. Multiply this number by 100% to get the wholesale price (Materials x 100%=Wholesale). A wholesale price is what you charge a store owner to resell your jewelry. You do not charge sales tax when you sell at the wholesale level. Multiply your costs of materials by 150-300% to get the retail price. The retail price is the prices you would sell your products for to the general public like, shows, festivals, flea markets etc. You have to check around to see what the going price for the materials you use are to be able to set your own prices. Be comparable to other jewelry sellers.
4. Purchase a good quality, digital camera. You must have excellent photographs of your best pieces of jewelry. Design a 1-5 page brochure that includes photos of your jewelry, price lists, and your contact information.
5. If you want to sell wholesale also, choose a few of your favorite jewelry designs and make at least six pieces of each one. (Always be prepared). If you want to sell wholesale only, take these and your brochures with your wholesale price list to local shops in your area. Ask at the counter for the appropriate buyer's contact information. If you are lucky, she will be present and able to meet with you right away. Otherwise, you will most likely be given a business card. If the people in the store are encouragging, leave a brochure for the buyer and follow up with a phone call. Otherwise, mail the brochure with a cover letter and follow up with a phone call a week later.
6. Ebay is another convenient way for small businesses to make their products available to the public. Post photographs of your jewelry on Ebay to sell at the retail or wholesale level online. You can allow buyers to bid on your jewelry at auctions, or you can choose to set a price using the "Buy It Now" feature. You will need to charge sales tax only if the buyer resides in your state. Join social networks that allow you to show your products and information and also share and network. You can never stop learning and networking to perfect your craft.
7. Check out craft fairs and gift shows. A craft fair in an event in which you pay a fee, set up a tent and sell your jewelry directly to the public. (The craft fair promoter handles the seller's permits for everybody at the show, so you never need to obtain more than one for your business address.) A gift show is the same idea, except all of the buyer's are looking to buy your jewelry at wholesale prices and resell it in their stores. When you apply to shows, you may be asked to submit slides in addition to your brochure. Ask a photo developer to make slides of the best photographs of your jewelry.
This information and more available at my Social Network http://www.girl-friends.ning.com
Great blog! I have my own jewelry company (Amarette Custom Jewelry/ACJ) I'm working on my website which should be finished before fall. The great thing about my company is that I don't do duplicates on any piece so each piece is unique, 5% of my sales go to Kids In Distress, Women In Distress and Girls Up. Before you start a business you need to see what makes your business "unique". Once again great blog!
Do you have a website?