Bird on a half-hard wire

Building a better website

2012-02-09T10:00:00.047-05:00

Making jewelry is my part-time hobby and sanity-saver. Last year, it became even more part-time because my cyberpunk romantic thriller Stellarnet Rebel was published by Carina Press, a subsidiary of Harlequin Enterprises, and I'm currently working on the sequel.

What's this have to do with selling jewelry? Well, my publisher provides professional webinars to assist its authors, and I noticed that some of this information would be useful to jewelry makers, too!

So with the permission of Jenny Bullough, manager of digital content at Harlequin, here are some tips for creating a better website -- taken from my webinar notes and modified to apply to jewelry selling. Additional information is from my personal experience and the input of the Triangle Jewelry Makers.

First of all, YES YOU NEED A WEBSITE, regardless of where else you might appear or where your work is sold. It doesn't need to be an online store, but it needs to be the nexus of all of your shops, blog, upcoming events, promotions, social media, etc.

A website of your very own is under your control. An Etsy shop is subject to Etsy. A Facebook page is subject to Facebook. Your website is yours.

And it needs to look presentable. Which should be obvious, but in a nutshell, PROFESSIONAL LOOKING WEBSITE = TRUST.

Not sure what makes a good web design? Check out: WEB PAGES THAT SUCK for some guidelines.

But before you sit down to build a website, MAKE A PLAN. List everything that would need to be there -- theme, logo, navigation, social media, jewelry categories, points of purchase, etc. Ask yourself what your customers are going to be looking for. The main thing, of course, is they'll need to know what you make and how to buy it.

Part of the value added to what you sell is that it was handmade by a real person. So don't forget to include a BIO, artist statement, photo of yourself, or other personal info.

REGISTER A URL. For jewelry sellers, this will probably be your name, your name and the word "jewelry," or your FBN/DBA. As I've mentioned before, try to keep it simple.

REGISTER YOUR EMAIL AND SOCIAL MEDIA to match the url as much as possible, to eliminate customer confusion. If someone hears about you from a friend, or meets you at an event, or stops by your booth at an art show, and they search for you on the internet, they need to be able to find you. Being consistent ensures you are not only easy to find, but that you will be at the top of search engines and it will be obvious to customers that they've got the right person.

Now, onto the specifics about the website itself...

Your HOME PAGE should readily identify who you are, what you do, your logo, tagline, style, site navigation, and your newest pieces for sale.

The screen they see before they have to scroll or click for any reason should contain the header, site navigation, and links to social media -- at the very least. New material and the latest information should also be front and center, so that return visitors will know right away that there's something new to explore.

The HEADER GRAPHIC is the image at the top of your website. It should not dominate the page, forcing visitors to scroll down before they see anything else. The header should reflect your style and overall theme. Don't have a theme? Then it's time to make some decisions. See my next post about branding...

The website should be EASY TO NAVIGATE. If visitors have to go searching for the cart button or the contact link, or if they can't find the information they're looking for, you've lost their trust and you're going to lose them.

Your site should be CLEAN AND UNCLUTTERED. This aids in navigation, but it also allows for faster download. Some of your customers might be on a dial up connection, a slower computer, or a smartphone. No auto-play music, sounds, animations, flash, etc., that might slow the download time or crash someone's browser.

NOT an example of "clean and uncluttered."

Always use DARK TEXT ON LIGHT BACKGROUND. It doesn't have to be B&W, but use dark colors on lighter colors. It's called contrast, and is easier on the eyes.

Use a READABLE FONT. There's a temptation to make it small (to squeeze in more information), but not all of your customers have great vision. And you might be tempted to use fancy swirly pretty fonts. Go right ahead and use them... in your logo or header. But the rest of your text should be simple. When's the last time you read a book or magazine article in Medieval Uncial or Gothic Calligraphy?

NO 3RD PARTY ADS. It might sound like a good idea to put Google ads or something on your site to generate revenue, or use a "free" web service that puts ads on your site... but this can backfire. Ads like this are often targeted to users based on keywords within your site. So, you could end up with several jewelry websites luring your customers away. Or customers might incorrectly associate you with other businesses. Or you could end up with ads that your customers find offensive.

TEST THE WEBSITE in different browsers. Don't assume that if it looks ok in Internet Explorer it will also look fine in Firefox. Also, check the website's functionality. Do the shopping carts work properly? Is the shipping being calculated correctly? Do the links work? Enlist the help of friends, or go down to the local library to try it from their browser. (Notice I didn't say try it from work. Your workplace might not mind, but I don't want to get you in trouble!)

Finally, KEEP THE SITE UPDATED. If your last post was three months ago, the public will assume you've lost interest and they will too. Stay fresh. If you're not adding new items, rotate the items you have so new ones appear on the home page. If you don't have time to write new content, consider adding a widget that will automatically show your latest tweets or Etsy listings.

Good luck!

Jen Hilton makes one-of-a-kind jewelry sold through her website JLHJewelry.com. She is the founder of the Triangle Jewelry Makers and is featured in the books "Steampunk Style Jewelry: Victorian, Fantasy, and Mechanical Necklaces, Bracelets, and Earrings" and "1000 Steampunk Creations: Neo-Victorian Fashion, Gear, and Art" available at Amazon and other booksellers.

Choosing an art show, event or festival

2012-02-02T13:36:00.223-05:00

You've decided to sell your handmade jewelry. Perhaps you've set up an Etsy store, built a website, or put a few pieces in a local shop. But why sit around, waiting for something to sell? Why not do an art show, festival or some other event, where you can get out and meet customers face-to-face, talk to them about your work, hear feedback, meet other artists?
And SELL things! Well...

Just because you've got a vendor booth, doesn't mean you'll vend anything.

I don't want to discourage anyone, but it's true. As a jewelry designer myself, the founder of the Triangle Jewelry Makers with a membership of more than fifty local jewelry artists, and as someone with many artist friends, I've got a lot of stories about The Shows That Went Wrong. Usually, it goes something like this...

You paid a $200 vendor fee and there were 30,000 attendees at the festival, but you only had $200 in sales. (And, no, that's NOT "breaking even" because there's still the expense of the materials you used to make the jewelry you sold, the time you spent making it, the income and social security taxes you'll have to pay, the time you spent being at the event, the gas money to get there, the signage, etc.)

OR... you bought a new 10x10 tent, folding tables and matching table covers, and spent all day in the 100-degree heat. Your jewelry and displays are all dusty because you were located in the corner of a dirt parking lot and the wind was blowing. And worst of all, you sold nothing. But, hey, you gave out a lot of business cards!

Not all vendor opportunities are created equal.

Not all shows are well-advertised.

Not all festivals are popular.

Not all audiences are a good fit with what you're selling.

Sometimes when we're vendor noobs, we're eager to get into any show we can. And that's not a bad thing. It helps to gain experience at a few small events before applying to a large one, or one that is juried. You'll learn how to streamline your set-up and take-down processes, figure out what displays attract the most attention, get the hang of your Square credit card reader, and be able to take photos to submit with applications to other events.

Participating in an art show, event or festival is also very validating. It's encouraging to see people's faces light up when they look at your work -- even if they don't buy a single thing. It makes you feel like a "real" artist, in a way that Etsy doesn't.

Another good reason to do a festival is networking. You might not sell much, but you're meeting people and making connections -- with both the attendees, the event coordinators and your fellow vendors -- and that can really pay off later. You might make a friend for life, be invited to show in a gallery, get picked up for a consignment opportunity, score a custom commission, or receive an invitation to an even bigger and better event.

But if you've had a string of Bad Shows, or you just don't know where to start, here are a few tips.

1) Try small, personal venues. I have better sales at small events where I am the only seller, or one of a few. I've made as much profit, or more, than at large events such as parades and festivals with 20,000+ attendees and tons of vendors (and a high booth fee). And I spend a lot less time spent setting up, taking down, and sitting there. Venues might include:

* A gallery or featured artist showing.

* Setting up in front of a restaurant/cafe/pub/theater/etc during a holiday, such as Christmas or Valentines.

* Private jewelry parties in someone's home or office.

* Unusual events where you might not normally think of vending -- such as dance recitals, fundraisers, athletic competitions, animal shows, cultural performances, etc. The key to doing these sorts of events is that your jewelry should tie in, somehow. Horse jewelry at horse shows, Celtic jewelry at Irish dance recitals, etc.

2) Select a show, event or festival which has a vendor/attendee ratio of about 1:200. That would be about 7-8 vendors for an event with an attendance of 1,500. Or 50-60 vendors for an event of 10,000. There's nothing magical about this ratio, and it's not set in stone. But it's a general observation made by my friend Christi, the Gem Gypsy, and it seems to bear out in my own experience.

Think of it like this: An increase in potential customers, along with a decrease in the number of vendors vying for attention, should mean more sales for you.

Other factors certainly apply -- how the jewelry is displayed, how well it fits the audience, and also ...

3) You are probably going to sell more at an event where people pay to enter, and less at one that's free. Don't know why, but it's a phenomenon many jewelry sellers experience. Possibly because people who can afford admission are generally going to have more money to spend, and be willing to spend it. Or possibly because paid entry events are more of a "happening" for which attendees want souvenirs. Or both. Or some other third reason? Don't know, but keep it in mind.

4) You'll probably sell more at a juried or exclusive art show, or a special event to which you've been invited, than one open to anyone who applies. Juried and special events are understood to be "artsy," and will attract people seeking quality goods and who are willing to pay for them.

At events without any vendor vetting, there's often too much competition from flea market type sellers with cheap mass-produced goods. You'll be stuck between the knock-off purses and the made-in-China sunglasses, and people won't realize that you're an artist.

Do you have any more tips for choosing a good venue? Ask us your questions and share your experiences with us!

Jen Hilton makes one-of-a-kind jewelry sold through her website JLHJewelry.com. She is the founder of the Triangle Jewelry Makers and is featured in the books "Steampunk Style Jewelry: Victorian, Fantasy, and Mechanical Necklaces, Bracelets, and Earrings" and "1000 Steampunk Creations: Neo-Victorian Fashion, Gear, and Art" available at Amazon and other booksellers.

Etiquette tips for buyers and sellers

2012-01-28T15:22:00.023-05:00

This excellent article by Stacey Merrill shares etiquette tips for both buyers and sellers at art fairs. These words of wisdom and experience apply to any event where you might be selling your jewelry -- or buying something handmade from others.

For vendors...

The suggestions include such things as having prices clearly marked, being available to answer questions instead of on the phone or chatting with a friend, keeping your table clean and neat, and being helpful but not hovering.

For buyers...

This is something I wish was issued at the entrance of every event! Some of the requests include: Please don't block someone's booth or foot traffic, don't criticize the art/price in front of the artist for all to hear, and keep an eye on children (of ALL ages) and pets.

Read the entire article here

Based on my own informal survey of the Triangle Jewelry Makers, we would also add (or emphasize) the following.

Buyers, please...

* Don't hang out in my booth just to get out of the weather. I love for you to enjoy the shade or the warmth from my space heater, while you are looking at my jewelry. However, if you don't plan to buy anything and are blocking my wares from being seen by others, have the consideration to move along.

* Don't tell me I should charge more for my pieces. I know that you think it's a compliment, or you're just trying to be helpful, but what you're really saying is that I'm an idiot. Many factors go into the pricing of handmade work. My prices are based on careful consideration of the venue, the current market, the vendor fee, the cost of my materials, my level of ability, and even my psychological comfort zone. If I'm so cheap, then buy lots of my stuff and enjoy it!

* Don't tell me something is priced too high. No, it's not just like the one you saw at Wal Mart for $4.99. It might look the same to you, but the one in the store is made in a foreign country where people are paid less, and the materials used are base metal (such as nickel or lead), plastic and simulated gems -- not silver, glass and semi-precious stones.

* Don't try to barter me down on my prices. That's another way of saying my time and talent are not worth paying for. If you honestly love my work but cannot afford it, simply say, "As soon as I get a job again, I want to buy one of your lovely pieces. Do you have a website?" or even ask, "Do you have something similar but at a lower price?"

* If you come back to buy something and it's gone, don't whine about it. Sellers hear "I wanted that!" countless times. If you wanted it so badly, why didn't you buy it when you had the chance? Better to ask, "Do you have something similar?" or "Could you make another?" than to throw a hissy fit. I'm here to sell things, not read your mind. That's the psychic fair.

* Don't say "I could make one just like it" because while it might be true, there's this thing called copyright and it applies to jewelry, too. Along the same lines, don't ask for step-by-step instructions how to make one the artist's pieces for yourself. We are here to sell jewelry, and some of us also make our living by teaching our techniques. We're not going to give that away for free.

* Do ask to try on the jewelry or look at it more closely, but don't come through and touch, move, knock over, and/or relocate every one of my pieces, and leave fingerprints, sticky substances, dripping umbrellas and drink cups all over my jewelry and my displays. As I often tell my children, "Unless you're going to buy it, look with your eyes and not your hands."

Sellers, please...

* Don't have cups, papers, half-eaten sammiches and other junk on the tables with your jewelry.

* You can't expect me to pay a premium for things you've thrown in a basket. That's called the bargain bin. If you are charging $12 or more for something, put it on a card, hang it on a display, box it in a gift box, or set it on a necklace bust.

* Do some research and think carefully when you price your work. It may only be your hobby, but sellers who price things just to "cover the cost of materials" undervalue handmade goods for everyone. On the other hand, just because you teach classes or appeared in an art book doesn't mean you can ask $100 for a washer on a chain. It makes you look like a pompous hipster snob.

* Don't charge exorbitant prices because a particular style, item or color is currently popular. Eventually, people are going to figure out that you're gouging them, and you're going to look like a jerk. Yes, you want to make a living and value your work, but keep in mind that the average income in the U.S. is only $27,000 a year so consider your audience when pricing.

* Don't tell me stories about your child/dog/husband/surgery or any other subject unrelated to the things you're selling. It's not friendly, it's inappropriate. And I don't want to overhear these stories while I'm browsing, either. If you are sharing a booth with a friend, cut the personal chatter until I move along.

What are some tips you'd suggest to buyers or sellers of handmade jewelry?

Jen Hilton makes one-of-a-kind jewelry sold through her website JLHJewelry.com. She is the founder of the Triangle Jewelry Makers and is featured in the books "Steampunk Style Jewelry: Victorian, Fantasy, and Mechanical Necklaces, Bracelets, and Earrings" and "1000 Steampunk Creations: Neo-Victorian Fashion, Gear, and Art" available at Amazon and other booksellers.

Tips for a successful consignment

2011-09-29T08:34:00.000-04:00

Guest blog by Vicky Brown of Shore Debris

I have been making jewelry most of my life, but didn’t start selling for profit until almost 2 ½ years ago.

I began selling on consignment because I liked the idea of my jewelry being available for shoppers to see, touch, and buy in person. It also gives buyers more opportunities to interact with my jewelry than just my appearances at craft shows.

Sometimes I find consignment opportunities, sometimes they find me.

I find shops through word of mouth – a good friend or family member says, “Hey, you might want to check this shop out. I think your jewelry will go good there.” And then I go check and see for myself.

This “checking out” phase involves going into the store, looking at all of the inventory, and buying something small if I can find something that either I can use or give away as a gift. I like to see the sales process because I am picky and do not want to have my jewelry associated with a rude or nonchalant climate. On subsequent visit, I have inventory in a bag that I believe will compliment what is already in the shop and ask to speak to the owner (or purchasing manager depending on the size of the store).

Having a consignment shop contact me has occurred only though Etsy. Etsy has a search feature for “local” so you can search for crafters in your city or state. I've been contacted this way by new stores getting ready to open, but they don’t have capital for more inventory so they're wanting to find consignors. Sometimes I'm contacted by stores that don’t really have a plan and are just fishing to see what they can get from me. These deals have never worked out as well for me - “no-plan” type businesses don't make for successful ventures.

I currently sell jewelry on consignment in four places: a florist shop, a doctor's office, a salon, and a thrift shop.

I am lucky; my consignment contract with a florist’s shop is wonderful. Florist shops are great for jewelry makers. A lot of the customers are men buying something for a wife or girlfriend, and if they can do all of their shopping in one place, many will.

I have tiny displays in both my chiropractor’s office and my grandmother-in-law’s hair salon. The chiropractor’s office is good for me. I have a standing appointment once a month and come in to collect money and completely change out the display on the same day as those appointments. The office only sells to their patients, so it is not a huge moneymaker, but I’m not sure I can say any other doctor’s office has ever handed me money when I arrive.

Venues like these are small, but also a good place to get your feet wet for consignment. If you have a regular appointment at a salon, what would it hurt to ask proposing you have a display of earrings at the register? The worst they will say is, "No." If you are like me and have hair that hasn't seen a professional in almost 10 years, think about family members who have long-standing relationships with stylists or other small establishments you frequent.

I have tried a shop that was marketed to me as a unique vintage and handmade market before it opened. It has become yet another thrift shop in my small town. I will be pulling my handmade jewelry out of here. Lesson learned. When I think of “vintage,” I think of treasures from the past – classic styles that are more than 20 years old and kept in good to excellent condition. To some people, "vintage" means anything that is not brand new - whether trash or not. Now I know to ask a few more questions about the owner’s interpretation of the word “vintage” before committing.

The split

The flower shop agreement is 20/80 split (with 20% going to the florist) and she pays on the 1st and 15th of each month for all items sold since the last check. She requests that all crafters mark their items at the full retail price. My jewelry is already priced at retail of 2 x the wholesale price, so I didn’t change anything from shows to online prices to this shop.

The Thrift Shop agreement was 25/75. They recently raised the consignment percentage to 30% and only pay after the 5th of each month for all of the previous month’s sales.

The chiropractor’s office charges me nothing, but this is a special arrangement. They did it for me when I was starting my business because they saw me as a military veteran who was in pain. I personally feel like I am taking advantage of them, but they won’t take money from me even when I have tried to give them 20% of the sales.

The salon has turned into a 50/50 split because it has become a wholesale relationship. Each year, she buys five pieces or so from me at my wholesale price. Although I make less money, I like being paid up front much better than waiting for sales down the road.

I personally would not consider a consignment agreement above 30%. The way I feel about it, you are doing the business a favor - at no up front cost to the business, you are expanding the business' inventory through your own costs. I feel like when stores wish to charge 40-60% the selling price, they are attempting to take advantage of you. They want wholesale prices at no risk to themselves.

I would also not consider a place that charges a fee for you to consign and/or requires you to work in the stores a certain percentage of the month. Some of these arrangements, although advertised to me locally as consignment, are really approaching on co-ops.

My personal belief is that "booth fee" type arrangements are not good. The owner spends time advertising space in the store to vendors, but once he/she has their overall rent taken care of by consignors, he/she doesn't worry about advertising goods for sale. If these were successful ventures, there would be a waiting list to get goods in the store not an ever present ad of space available for rent.

But, overall, I am very happy with my consignment experiences. I can leave home for any reason, temporarily shut down my website, and not do any craft shows during that period of time. Then, when I come back, I have checks waiting from sales in these shops.

Tips for success: Participation, Rotation, and Pull Out

By participating, I mean to get involved in your consignment shops. Every consignment shop owner I know complains about people dropping off inventory and not being heard from again for months despite phone calls regarding checks from sales, rotating inventory, and possible custom orders.

I visit any local shop where I have items on consignment a minimum of two times per month - and usually it is closer to five times or more per month. I now have such a good relationship with the flower shop that she can take custom orders and give timelines and pricing estimates to the customers all because she already knows what skills I possess, what materials I always keep on hand, and the kinds of materials to which I have easy access. Approximately one third of my sales are through custom work like this, so if you do custom work, establishing this type of relationship can be very beneficial.

Rotation is my key to continued sales. Be prepared to rotate inventory regularly. You must either have enough inventory on hand to rotate or be prepared to make more while your items are on display in the shop. A lot of consignors make the mistake of telling the shop that they’ll bring in more once everything has sold. Standing on the sidelines, I have watched some seller’s items get boxed up and placed in the back room because they refused to rotate after even six months of sitting on a shelf.

Some things just won’t sell and not always because they are bad items. It might just be wrong market, wrong time of year, wrong price, not displayed to its potential, and numerous other factors. A lot of small stores rely on repeat business, so their customers come in just to “see what’s new.” By rotating your stock regularly, you provide those customers with new options. I “rotate” by marking some items on sale, replacing items with a completely new piece, and/or puting new inventory in holes left by sold jewelry.

Lastly, if you get a bad feeling at all, pull your stuff out of the shop. Always trust your instincts in this regard – and if you are already “participating” in your shop, you will know when something doesn’t seem right. My not so good feelings have come from suddenly having no e-mail or phone contact (disconnected lines and canceled cable services). Good businesses will be contacting their business associates (includes you as a consigner) prior to making large changes or immediately after the fact if it was an emergency change – not a couple of weeks down the road.

Another time, I walked into a shop and bought something for 75 cents. I was told that they don’t have to charge tax on items that cost less than $1. That was a red flag, and I realized I needed to pull my stuff out of the store immediately. I don’t want to be anywhere near a store that could be doing something illegal, even if it is just ignorance of tax laws rather than malicious intent.

Consignment agreements

Sign your contract before any inventory is handed over, but do not sign that contract without reading it in its entirety. All of my contracts start the same with the first line(s) stating who you are and who the shop is. The second section is a line that says almost verbatim, “All articles given from consignor to {shop} become property of {shop} until sold or returned to consignor at end of contract.” I do not sign a contract without this line. This line is what gets your items covered under the store’s insurance policy. If the store says they aren’t responsible for loss (theft or destruction) of your items, I personally would not sign that contract. They should have an insurance policy on all inventory including items from consignors.

The rest of your contract should cover how and when payments are made, how you and the shop will conduct drop off and inventory of your items, how you must tag your products, how much notice is needed to remove your items from the store, etc, etc. Most of my contracts are only one page long and none are longer than two pages. If something doesn’t look perfect on the contract, a good store will have no problem with you taking it to a friend to review and giving you a night to sleep on it.

Good luck!

Vicky

Shore Debris
Purple Fuzzy Feet

Notes from the NC Pagan Pride Day

2011-09-25T14:08:00.009-04:00

Last weekend, I shared a booth with my friend Jill Liles of Liv'ngood Jewelry, as one half of the duo "Brigid's Jewels." It cost us $95 for a 10x10 foot vendor space at the Central NC Pagan Pride Festival. That was for both Saturday and Sunday, from 10am-6pm. It was the first outdoor vendor booth I'd done in about five years.

For the entire weekend, I had $368.50 in sales, and $23.30 of that was NC sales tax. I spent about $25 on food and drinks, probably about $5 for gas back and forth both days. My estimated materials cost for the items sold was $100.

So, I made $170, or less than $10/hour, counting the hours of set up, take down, and sitting there for two days. Counting the hours I spent making the jewelry I sold, and the amount of money I'll have to pay for social security tax and other taxes on my small biz income, it's probably closer to $3 an hour.

Still, not bad for an event that was dark and wet all day Saturday, and which had an attendance of about 2,000 (compared to, say, the 20,000 or more who attend the Raleigh St Patrick's Day Festival or the International Festival). And I did better than other vendors I spoke with.

The interesting thing, to me, was that most of the money I made did not come from jewelry. It came from the "lures." These are low-priced, eye-catching items placed at the end of the table, at the front of the booth, to stop people and attract their attention.

One of my lures was my Gnome Terrarium, at $8.00 each (that's with sales tax). I sold several, and I think by the end of the weekend Jill was sick of hearing the squeals of "Look at the gnomes!"

Another lure was a tray of rocks, minerals, herbs, and semi-precious stones, with small drawstring bags, so customers could create their own amulet or love charm. Each stone was labeled with its "properties" (based on a bit of internet research), and ranged from about $.50 to $1.00. By the end of the weekend, the bags were gone and the stones almost sold out.

The stones and gnomes had little to do with my jewelry -- which is mostly steampunk, spacepunk, cosplay, SF, found items and relics -- but I knew I needed to have something that would appeal to the audience.

Jill took a page from my book, and on Sunday she rearranged her side of the booth so that her earrings (typically a less-expensive and more-popular jewelry item) were at the front of the booth, and her display board of bottlecap magnets was at the end of her table. And they did lure in more customers! Everyone loved the magnets.

The festival was fun. I had a good time, met several people, and gave away a lot of biz cards. Hopefully that latter will pay off later, though I honestly can't recall EVER having an online sale from someone who took my card at a show.

Something to keep in mind -- and the Central NC PPD was no exception -- shows that are free to attend typically do not draw the type of crowds that are going to spend money. My average sale over the weekend was about $5. This is one of the reasons why I don't usually do outdoor, non-juried festivals.

The vendor-to-attendee ratio also makes a big difference in how much you will sell. Obviously, the more customers and the fewer vendors vying for their attention, the more you stand to make. This event was about 2,100 attendees to 58 vendors listed on the website.

But the moral of the story is that your lures and low-priced items can save your butt at an otherwise financially-disappointing event.

Jen Hilton makes one-of-a-kind jewelry sold through her website JLHJewelry.com. She is the founder of the Triangle Jewelry Makers and is featured in the books "Steampunk Style Jewelry: Victorian, Fantasy, and Mechanical Necklaces, Bracelets, and Earrings" and "1000 Steampunk Creations: Neo-Victorian Fashion, Gear, and Art" available at Amazon and other booksellers.

"Why does it cost so much?"

2011-09-25T12:51:00.022-04:00

If you do shows, events, festivals, or even if you just sell to friends, at some point you will probably get a question like, "Why does your jewelry cost so much?"

It doesn't matter if you're selling a hand-forged, solid sterling silver, acid-etched cuff for $300 or a ceramic pendant on a cotton cord for $10. You are eventually going to hear the question. And judging by my experiences, and the experiences of my friends in the Triangle Jewelry Makers, you're going to hear it more than once.

Your initial reaction might be to lower all of your prices, question your skills, or become critical of your work. Don't do that. Because there will also come a time when you will hear, "You don't charge enough." It's all a matter of perspective.

You may feel compelled to reply with a defensive justification. "I spent five hours working on this...! You'd understand if you knew anything about making jewelry...! When you buy jewelry in the store, it's cheap because some 14-year-old in China got paid ten-cents to make it, and it probably contains lead...!"

Um... don't do that, either. As tempting as it is.

Understand that patrons don't always think before they say things. They might not even realize that the maker of the jewelry is sitting right there and overhearing them. They see a price tag, and they have a gut reaction -- they imagine how many groceries they could buy with $40, or the doctor bill they need to pay, or the gas they could put in their car. How in the world could a bracelet be as important as these things?

Many people may not realize that your jewelry is handmade, by YOU, even if you are at an arts and crafts festival where everything else is made by hand, and even if you have a big shiny sign saying "Handmade Jewelry by ME." They might be assuming that you are only reselling the same items they see all the time at KMart for half the price.

Which is another point to consider -- a lot of people don't know the difference between a handmade piece of jewelry and something mass-produced. Would you know the difference between a hand-sewn quilt and one from Target? A loaf of homemade banana bread and one from Whole Foods? A German-engineered 8-cylinder engine and a transmission from a 1976 Pinto? At a glance? Really?

As a jewelry maker, and a lover of sparkly things, are you taking for granted your ability to spot the difference between sterling silver and pewter, gold plate and base metal, faceted garnets and plastic, well-made wire loops and ones that are destined to fall apart? Remember that most people do not possess these skills.

It also helps to remember that not everyone has extra money to spend, and that fact has nothing at all to do with your skills or the value of your jewelry. The median household income in the US is $50K. In North Carolina, it's even lower, $44K. That's for an entire household, possibly containing children and elderly relatives. The per capita income -- that is, the average income earned by each individual in the US -- is only $27K. (Source) In North Carolina, it's $20K. (Source)

So, when someone says, "Why does it cost so much?" what they are really asking is, "Why should I spend my hard-earned money on your jewelry?"

Answer the second question, not the first, when you reply. Depending on who you are and what you'd like to say about yourself, responses might include:

- "I put a great deal time and creativity into my jewelry, every piece is handmade and unique. No one else in the world will have one like it."

- "It's made in the USA, and I use beads and charms that are made by local artisans."

- "I've taken several jewelry classes at Pullen Art Center, Ornamentea and the local university, and every piece is made with not only beauty but durability in mind."

- "I am happy to make one for you in red or purple. I also take custom orders, and can re-size any item for you right here while you wait."

- "This is made of sterling silver, and these are iolite gemstone briolettes. There's no plastic, lead or nickel in my pieces."

And if they still don't get it, just let it go. They're not your target audience. But if you find you are being asked that question A LOT, you might want to re-examine your choice of marketing venue, or expand your range of price points.

Jen Hilton makes one-of-a-kind jewelry sold through her website JLHJewelry.com. She is the founder of the Triangle Jewelry Makers and is featured in the books "Steampunk Style Jewelry: Victorian, Fantasy, and Mechanical Necklaces, Bracelets, and Earrings" and "1000 Steampunk Creations: Neo-Victorian Fashion, Gear, and Art" available at Amazon and other booksellers.

Naming your handmade jewelry business

2011-09-10T21:30:00.014-04:00

As I've written before, selling handmade jewelry does not require you to invent a business name. Painters sign paintings with their own names. Authors use a byline -- sometimes a pseudonym, for marketing or social reasons -- but the name is still a name, not "Quill Pen Inc."

In a similar manner, a jewelry maker doesn't necessarily need to be "My Beautiful Jewels" instead of Mary Jones.

However, there are several reasons why people choose to sell their jewelry under a fictitious business name. These might include:

1) Handmade items are not the only thing you sell, and so you need a retail business name.

2) Jewelry is not the only thing you do, so you want a name which encompasses everything you offer.

3) Your name is very common, already in use elsewhere, and/or not available for email and url.

4) You are doing business, selling at events, etc., with one or more friends or family.

5) You want to protect your privacy. (Though, keep in mind, it will become difficult to maintain a great degree of privacy if you are going to be on the internet, standing behind a sales table, filing public records such as a business license, and conducting any ongoing commerce with the public.)

6) You want to open a business checking account, have a business phone number, etc.

7) It's fun.

If you've decided to operate under a fictitious business name, here are some things to consider. Some may seem at odds with each other -- "be easy to spell" vs "be unique" -- you will need to determine how to balance these considerations against your own personal goals.

Does your business name reflect your business?

If you call yourself "Earthy Enchantments" are potential customers going to understand that you're selling handmade jewelry? Or are they going to think you're selling massage oils, occult tools, or garden plants?

When someone sees your business name on the internet, a vendor list, or an advertisement, what is it going to tell them? It might be their only point of connection with you. It will need to convey a lot of information and intrigue them into clicking through or coming to find you.

Is it unique?

Anyone on the Internet knows the frustration of discovering that their name is already someone else's email or Twitter account. So being unique is not only a marketing tool but a necessity.

Make sure you Google your potential business name before using it. You don't want to be mistaken for someone else (in my case, that "someone else" is a nude model who shares my name). And check a url registrar or Betterwhois.com to see if your name would be available as a website.

I've been making jewelry for a long time, and there are some pretty common words in the biz -- "sparkle," "jewels," "adornment," "glitter," "treasures," etc. If you're going to use one of these, consider pairing it up with something unusual.

If you're planning to build a social media platform (and you should, if you want to increase your success), also check with Facebook, Twitter, and the email and blog services you plan to use, to make sure your chosen business name will be available.

Is it easy to remember? Easy to spell?

This might be difficult if you are also trying to be unique, memorable and intriguing. The best I can suggest is to avoid the temptation to be obscure, clever or verbose.

PaulasPreciousPerfectPins.com is a mouthful and a typing handful. Unless you're selling steampunk jewelry under a neo-Victorian persona, avoid
PaulasPerspicuousParaphrenalia.com or you are just going to tick people off. Seriously.

PaulasPins.com is much easier and comes right to the point. /pun

Come up with something that is easy to say and easy to remember--or easy to guess, so that person who stopped by your booth at the craft show can find you online later in case they lose your business card. They probably won't find you if they Google "paula pins" and you are PawluzPinz.etsy.com.

Avoid boxing yourself in

What if Paula chose PaulasPenguinPins.com because she started out making penguin pins, but two years later is making lions and daisies? Then she'll find herself doing the naming game all over again--and changing her business cards, url, email, etc.

Trends change, customer feedback will shape your direction, and your interests and abilities will morph over time. Don't assume that you will always be making birthstone bracelets or silly monkey jewelry. Select a name that will allow you to grow.

Jen Hilton makes one-of-a-kind jewelry sold through her website JLHJewelry.com. She is the founder of the Triangle Jewelry Makers and is featured in the books "Steampunk Style Jewelry: Victorian, Fantasy, and Mechanical Necklaces, Bracelets, and Earrings" and "1000 Steampunk Creations: Neo-Victorian Fashion, Gear, and Art" available at Amazon and other booksellers.

My journey to jewelry

2011-08-21T12:16:00.002-04:00

I've been making jewelry all my life. One of my earliest memories is stringing a plastic bead necklace when I was about 3-1/2 years old. I put it on and played out the scene from Disney's "Cinderella" where the step-sisters rip Cinderella's dress apart. I broke that little plastic necklace and lost all of the beads, but I never lost my fascination with jewelry.

When I was young, I spent a lot of time going through my mother's jewelry box, even though it didn't contain much more than mood rings and cheap trinkets. She kept personal treasures in that jewelry box -- a tiny cloth doll from her great-grandmother, gifts from my father, a box of my own baby teeth -- and I realized that this was about more than sparkle and shine.

Jewelry is a treasure because it is a memory, a piece of the story of our lives.

In elementary school, I made rings and bracelets out of pieces of wire or knotted thread. In junior high and high school, I used my dad's pliers to fix broken jewelry. In my teens, I started selling jewelry to friends and gift shops. I made earrings with semi-precious stones purchased at a local gem show. I also made necklaces of little fabric pouches embellished with stones. Even before I knew much about the history of jewelry, I understood that jewelry was a kind of magic. In college I began learning about stone lore and geology, mythology and anthropology, symbolism and psychology, ancient art and history. I don't have an art degree, I have a degree in Psychology with an emphasis on Comparative Religious Studies.

Over the years, I continued to make jewelry for myself and for friends. Mostly basic stuff, a bead or pendant on a cord, a knotted hemp bracelet. Then, for my wedding in 1999, I designed my own necklace and put it together with wire, using beads, semiprecious stones and silver connectors. I also made my own wedding cake and my own bouquet.

When I was pregnant with my first child in 2000, I quit my job as a newspaper editor/columnist and began spending more time on jewelry. But it's not my full-time occupation. I'm also an author. I homeschool my children, and do charity work. But jewelry remains one of the loves of my life.

Jen Hilton makes one-of-a-kind jewelry sold through her website JLHJewelry.com. She is the founder of the Triangle Jewelry Makers and is featured in the books "Steampunk Style Jewelry: Victorian, Fantasy, and Mechanical Necklaces, Bracelets, and Earrings" and "1000 Steampunk Creations: Neo-Victorian Fashion, Gear, and Art" available at Amazon and other booksellers.

Photographing your jewelry

2011-07-28T13:10:00.006-04:00

If you are selling online, there's just no way around it. You need photographs. There are a ton of tutorials, tips and resources for taking good pictures, just search Google or YouTube. In Raleigh, Ornamentea offers classes on photographing your work. But here's a quick overview of how to improve your online pictures -- and hopefully, your online sales, as well!

Light

Having a lot of light is important. Jewelry looks better with sparkle. More light = less blur. Natural light = true color. Standard light bulbs, while they might seem bright enough to us, can make jewelry look yellow (if incandescent) or blue (if fluorescent) in photographs.

Some people use light boxes. The idea behind this is to put your jewelry in the center of several reflective surfaces. Again, more light = better pictures. Not necessarily glaring sunlight, which can have it's own problems, just light from more angles. You can buy a light box, or make your own. Search Google or YouTube for "DIY photography light box."

Macro lens

"Macro" is a special setting on some cameras, which allows you to put the lens very close to the object. "Telephoto" means you can take a closeup from very far away. "Macro" means you can take a closeup from... closeup.

If you are not using the macro setting, you are going to get blurry pictures when you get too close. But if you don't get close, potential buyers are not going to see the beauty and detail of your work. Macro is the only way I know of to get the sharp detail you need to sell jewelry online.

Not all digital cameras come with a macro setting. If you are buying a camera you plan to use for photographing your jewelry, make sure it has a macro setting -- typically indicated by a symbol that looks like a little flower.

White backdrop

I've seen beautiful photos shot on black, patterned or colored backgrounds, and with a variety of props such as necklace displays, leaves, and other items. But if you're having trouble with these, try shooting against a white background. White reflects light, offers truer color, and also makes it easier to "touch up" your photos with your editing software. When you've achieved sharp, bright pictures with a white background, then begin introducing other elements.

Offer several different views of each item

Etsy does this as standard procedure for listings, but it's a good idea in any online selling situation. Try shooting from different angles. Have shots with props and without. Use white and dark backdrops. Have a closeup picture of the details and also a picture of the entire piece.

Digital editing program

This might be something such as Adobe Photoshop, Corel PaintShop Pro, Photoscape, Picasa 3 or GIMP. Some cost money, some are free. A photo editor is necessary because -- in spite of all your best efforts -- you're probably not going to get the perfect picture out of your camera. It will still need some cropping, brightness/contrast adjustment, color balancing, and maybe something like a speck of dust or hair removed from the background.

How I take my photos

I take all of the photos for JLHjewelry using a Fujifilm digital camera with a macro setting. I typically use a combination of indirect natural light and fill-in flash. I do not have a light box or a tripod. I photograph all of my pieces against a piece of plain white paper. I finish the photos with GIMP, the GNU Image Manipulation Program, which is free to download.

Jen Hilton makes one-of-a-kind jewelry sold through her website JLHJewelry.com. She is the founder of the Triangle Jewelry Makers and is featured in the books "Steampunk Style Jewelry: Victorian, Fantasy, and Mechanical Necklaces, Bracelets, and Earrings" and "1000 Steampunk Creations: Neo-Victorian Fashion, Gear, and Art" available at Amazon and other booksellers.

Good shows and bad

2011-06-09T10:03:00.012-04:00

I've known Jill Liles of Liv'nGood Jewelry for three years. She is one of the co-organizers and chainmaille guru of the Triangle Jewelry Makers. Check out the "Grow your business" section of her blog about using twitter, google analytics, and more.

Q: What kind of jewelry do you make?

Chainmaille, steampunk, semi-precious stone beading, whatever catches my eye.

Q: How long have you been making and selling jewelry?

Making for 3.5 years, selling for 2.5 years. I filled up my jewelry box, my mom's, and my sisters. It was either give up the hobby or start selling the stuff.

Q: Is this a full-time biz or a hobby?

Let's go with "hobby plus." I do try to make money at it, but I have a "real" job too that pays the bills.

Q: How many events do you do a year?

Probably 10 or so. That sounds like a lot more than it feels. Usually April-May my weekends are full and then again in Oct-November. I won't do a show in Jun-Aug (too hot) or Dec-Jan (too cold).

Q: What was your first show or event?

The Fuquay-Varina Celebration of the Arts and it was f****g hot!! It was June 4 and 104 degrees. I was in a side street off the main drag between two brick buildings that bounced the heat back and forth like a pizza oven. And I didn't sell diddly.

Q: What are the best and worst shows you've ever done?

Boylan Heights Art Walk in 2009 is still my #1 show from a sales perspective. I did about double my usual sales at that one event. It's a long established art show, so the people coming are looking for art and don't mind paying for it either.

The worst is a toss up between that first Fuquay show above, my last show in Fuquay where I was situated between a politician and a masseuse, and the show at Duke Homestead where I sold nothing, zip, nada.

Q: How do you feel when you have a bad experience at a show?

It's tough but I try to go into every show thinking I'm just there to give out biz cards, any sales are "gravy." That makes the duds easier. But so far (knocking on wood) I've at least made back my entry fee at every show I've done (at least the Duke Homestead show was a freebie for me).

Q: What is your set up? How long does it take you to set up? Do you have help or do it alone?

I do it all alone now. My husband helped the first few shows, but then I got it down. It takes me about 45 minutes to an hour if I'm doing the tent and all. Shows where it's just tables and displays are a little faster. But, I'm a "futzer." I'll move pieces around the whole time if I don't like how it looks. My basic set up is three tables in a U shape, with me sitting at the back behind them.

Q: Have you sold through consignment or galleries?

There's one store in Cary that has bought a few of my pieces wholesale, and I was in the Craftland Market at Scrap Exchange last fall. I forced myself to go into all the little cutesy shops in Apex and ask if they sold jewelry, hated every second of it and got nothing out of it, so I've never tried that route again.

Q: What's your experience with internet selling?

I have my own website (but few sales there so far). I also have stores on the big two (Etsy and Artfire) and have had a few sales on each. The handmade sites are flooded with jewelry makers, so it's tough to stand out.

If you're just starting with the online stuff, I recommend setting up a free storefront on Artfire. Unlike Etsy, there are no listing fees, so this is an inexpensive way to figure out what you'll need to know about every piece you try to sell (good photos from all angles, price, shipping, tags, description, etc).

My philosophy is to promote myself and my site, not anyone else. So you won't see me advertising my Etsy or Artfire sites on my business cards. When it comes to online presence, you really should get your own domain and website. You can buy your domain name for $10 a year, and set up a basic free site using Blogger, WordPress or a similar service. Even if it only contains your links to an Etsy or Artfire store, having your own domain will pay off in the long run. It is the web address you should use on your business cards, show applications, etc.

If you take the next step and decide to build an online store, test every single aspect of it as if you had never seen a computer before. I skipped that step on my own site and it was months before I realized that not only was there no way to contact me through the site, but the security settings weren't connecting. So even if you did want to buy something, you couldn't. And since there was no contact form.... I had a big time "doh" moment there!

Thanks, Jill!
~ Jen

Jen Hilton makes one-of-a-kind jewelry sold through her website JLHJewelry.com. She is the founder of the Triangle Jewelry Makers and is featured in the books "Steampunk Style Jewelry: Victorian, Fantasy, and Mechanical Necklaces, Bracelets, and Earrings" and "1000 Steampunk Creations: Neo-Victorian Fashion, Gear, and Art" available at Amazon and other booksellers.

Displaying your jewelry

2011-03-25T16:30:00.023-04:00

Earth Traditions booth by Christi Cramer.

Your festival booth, craft table or store display is your billboard. It is what people see before they ever get close enough to see your earrings, bracelets, rings and necklaces. It's very important to have a clean, attractive set-up. At a glance, potential buyers should say "Ooh!" and not "Ew!"

If you are just starting out, the thought of filling that first 10x10 space can be overwhelming. Even the prospect of filling a table at a craft show can send a new maker-turned-seller into a fit of panic. Here are some tips.

* Message. Think hard about your jewelry display and ask yourself what you want it to tell your customers. Hanging necklaces across the booth on a string might say "flea market" or "inexpensive." Black velvet might look professional, but black velvet covered with dust and pet hair says "unprofessional." Using a broken toy box as a display says "whimsical" and "unusual" to some people. "Cheap" and "weird" to others. Be aware that every aspect of your display is sending a message to your customers.

* Keep it simple. If you are buying busts and bracelet bars, be consistent. All white, all black, all wood, that sort of thing. If you are going for eclectic or unusual, you should still have a basic theme or guiding principle which ties it all together -- "the color pink," "ocean," "Victorian," "retro," etc. Bonus points if your displays, signs, logo, business cards and website all coordinate.

Get your jewelry up
and off of the table...

* Height. I've seen many jewelry sellers who, very neatly and in very nice patterns, lay their wares out over a pretty cloth. I've also seen street vendors in Tijuana do the same thing. You really should get your jewelry up off of the table. Putting it closer to the eyes not only makes it easier to see but elevates the perception of value, as well. It can be as simple as sticking a few boxes under a cloth, to raise it up. If you don't want to invest in busts, stands and necklace bars, you might make a tall, free-standing display out of accordion doors, or take some old picture frames and turn them into lovely jewelry displays.

... like this!

* Avoid clutter. In their rush to "fill" the space, some sellers make tons and tons of jewelry, and shove it all out there on cheap metal racks stuffed with necklaces or baskets full of bracelets. "You can't sell it if it's not out," I've heard them say. And you won't sell it if your booth is a mess. Again, this is where elevation pays off because it maximizes space. Get the earrings out of a bowl and up into the air.

* Clean, neat and tidy. Along similar lines as avoiding clutter, don't leave your half-eaten lunch or drippy Starbucks cup on the table with your jewelry. Step out from behind your table periodically and wipe down the glass of your display cases with paper towels and spray. Check to make sure that things are arranged in a pleasing way and that someone hasn't tangled up your necklaces or left a candy wrapper in your ring tray.

* Light. Whether you are outside or indoors, jewelry should sparkle and shine. Supplementary lights are a plus. There are many different options, from expensive display lights and magnifying lamps to cheap battery-operated clip-on bulbs and strings of tiny fairy lights.

* Mirrors are an essential part of your display if you are selling jewelry. People want to see the necklace or earrings ON themselves. Mirrors also help reflect more LIGHT and can attract attention. I have table top mirrors and hand mirrors. I also use mirrors underneath some jewelry items, to enhance their sparkle and draw the eye.

My friend Linda Searcy, wearing
her own creations and a handmade
name tag while selling jewelry.

* Identify yourself. Have a sign telling people who you are, preferably visible from a distance. Wear a name tag or lanyard identifying you as the artist. Welcome visitors and introduce yourself. This is especially important if you are selling handmade jewelry. Unless you are at an art show (and even then), many people will assume you are just a seller, not the designer and creator. I have a picture frame with a brief description of who I am and what I do, just in case I get busy and can't talk to everyone. Consider having an "artists statement" available on a sign or giveaway postcards. Business cards should be located within easy reach of wherever a customer is standing.

* The lure. This can take many forms, but basically it's something designed to attract attention. It might be a $1,500 prizewinning necklace on a marble bust under a spotlight. Even if you think "no one will ever buy this," that's not the point. They will ooh and aww and then buy something less expensive. The lure might also take the form of a bowl of complimentary candy or a free drawing -- which can also be a great way to build your mailing list, just make sure to give people the choice to opt out because spam will drive customers away. At family-friendly events where I know many children will be present, I put crayons and free coloring pages at the end of a table. This attracts attention and helps keep little booger fingers busy so mom can shop and I don't have to rearrange everything again in 10 minutes.

Other considerations

When I was doing a lot of outdoor shows, I invested in glass cases in order to reduce dust and theft. I packaged my jewelry in clearview boxes with see-through lids, so that the jewelry was visible but protected. This also made them easy to transport, set up, and pack away at the end of the day. Speed and ease of set up, take down, and storage are important considerations when choosing your displays.

For my cohorts in and around Raleigh, I suggest a visit to A & B Fixtures on Capital Boulevard. They have many different display options for jewelry sellers.

Check out my guest interviews to see how other jewelry sellers are doing things!

Jen Hilton makes one-of-a-kind jewelry sold through her website JLHJewelry.com. She is the founder of the Triangle Jewelry Makers and is featured in the books "Steampunk Style Jewelry: Victorian, Fantasy, and Mechanical Necklaces, Bracelets, and Earrings" and "1000 Steampunk Creations: Neo-Victorian Fashion, Gear, and Art" available at Amazon and other booksellers.

Do what you love

2011-02-19T22:33:00.005-05:00

This is an interview with Vicky Brown of Shore Debris. She is a jewelry maker who also sells beads and findings through her shop Purple Fuzzy Feet. I met her a year ago after she joined Triangle Jewelry Makers (formerly the Raleigh Jewelry Meetup Group). Find her on Facebook.

Q: What kind of jewelry do you make?

Right now my concentration is wire-wrapped sea shells, starfish, beach stones, sea glass, etc., that I have collected (or someone in my family has collected) on North Carolina, Florida, or Cuba beaches. I do buy some shells, but that's because there are beautiful ones in the Pacific and I don't have any family living in Thailand or the Philippines. I like to be able to tell you exactly where each shell comes from. You should really see my husband's eyes when I try to explain to him what my numbering system on my bags of shells mean.

Q: How long have you been making jewelry?

I think I was in 4th grade when I got my original bead loom. It has always been a hobby in the background. My friends and family got jewelry for Christmas, birthdays, or for no reason at all. I moved beyond hobbyist after I had a knee replacement in December of 2008. I had a period of non-weight bearing and no active motion of my leg after the surgery for eight weeks (picture wonderful contraption from hip to ankle holding leg out straight). By week two, I was lucid enough to be bored out of my mind. Lucky for me, I have a laptop with wireless internet and began to buy jewelry kits, beads, wire, books, magazines, etc. I would be salivating waiting for each new shipment and spent close to eight hours a day making jewelry. This intense period was great for me. I finally perfected simple items like wrapped loops. Prior to then, I would destroy three headpins just to get one wrapped loop that I liked. And I was able to considerably build up my inventory.

Q: How long have you been selling jewelry?

I officially opened up business in June 2009. My mother and grandmother began doing craft shows when I was in college, and I thought this would all be very easy to turn a profit. Keyword: "thought."

Q: What made you decide to start selling?

It was mainly a career change. I had just ended my contract with the Marine Corps and took one life lesson with me: Life is too short to be miserable. You need to be doing what you love in order to be happy. I love making jewelry so it was an almost natural transition.

Q: What was your first show?

My very first show was the Fort Bragg Fair, an 18-day-long carnival-like fair in May 2009. There had been an ad in the paper calling for crafters to put their wares before more than 1 million guests over 18 days for the low price of $350. I was one of four crafters who answered the ad. We were in a large 40' x 60' tent and were given three 6' long tables in a 10' x 10' space. The other spaces were given to vendors from a local flea market.

This was the absolute worst craft show I have ever experienced. Anytime I am having a bad craft show day, I remember it is not near as bad as this one. At this show, I experienced unsupervised children who broke my items (including two who jumped on my table on day two when it started raining and destroyed both my mirror and an expensive wall hanging). I had five items stolen, including one person who was caught by the security and forced to come back and pay for it. I had a flea market vendor buy something from me for $1, immediately put it on her table, and tried to sell it 15 minutes later for $20. I even had a man try to hit on me (although I was too dense to realize it when it happened).

These things do not happen at my other shows. And not everything about this show ended up terrible. One of the crafters turned me on to etsy for selling my jewelry. I had quite a few laughs with the woman next to me who was painting faces. She even had it worse than me. She paid $350 for her booth to paint faces. There were three other face painters at the fair who were painting faces for tips only.] She had a wonderful southern accent and when the guy I mentioned above brought me an unopened bottle of Smirnoff (Me - a person who cannot handle any alcohol and is unable to open twist off beer tops with bare hands), she had the most wonderful comment, "Nah honey, he was sure lookin' to buy, but you ain' selling wha' he's lookin' to buy" Little experiences like that let me laugh off the whole big event.

Bad craft shows always have lessons learned. Here, I learned: Never, ever do a carnival show to sell jewelry. 90% of carnival goers are 16 or younger and definitely not my market. (And lesson 2: Stay away from Army bases.)

Q: What is the best show you've ever done, and why?

My favorite show would have to be the Western Wake Farmers' Market. It occurs only once per year (the farmers' market is year round, but crafts are only invited one saturday per year). This is a cheap show - last year only $35 for a 10' x 10' space and there is a small jurying process. The set up is first come/first serve on the day of the event. The organizers file each person into a parking spot as you arrive and your booth set up is directly behind your vehicle. In the end, it looks like someone spend time laying out the booth orders (unlike other shows where 2 people just don't show up and you end up with awkward spaces). It is one of those small shows in the absolute perfect location. Most of the people there expect great quality and are willing to pay for that quality. They also seem to enjoy the farmers' market that is walking distance from their homes and arrive prepared to shop.

Q: How many shows do you do a year?

I did 19 in 2009 and 9 in 2010. My plan for this year is to stick to hopefully 4 or 5 only.

Q: Is this a full-time biz or a hobby?

I would call it a part-time business. At the end of 2009, I decided I did not particularly enjoy the life of starving artist (reminded me too much of college and ramen is as bad now as it was then). I looked for a part time job to ensure I had grocery money every week, so I work at my job up to 24 hours a week and spend 20-30 hours per week on my jewelry business.

Q: I heard that you did a show back in December and it didn't go so well? What happened?

It ran very smoothly, and organizers were very, very nice and extremely well organized. Holiday music the whole time at a pretty nice level, booth sitters available, etc, etc.

Problems: there was more "as seen on TV" stuff than crafts. And some of the vendors were horrible - like the stereotypical flea market heckler. I was next to a woman who would tell people they have to try her cookies while knocking over my display and trying to get to them in my booth (when she would turn around to grab a cookie, they would run the other direction and about 1/2 would give me a pitying glance on their way out). The guy on the other side was selling signed sports photos and magazine covers - he had a tall display that the 1st day he had hung the pictures on the outside of his display so that they looked like they were part of my booth. I had quite a few people complain that they couldn't shop in my booth if I was a Carolina fan and ask how do Carolina sports photos go with shells, etc, etc. I am so not into sports that I didn't know what team the pictures portrayed until after the complaints.

Not all of the vendors were that bad and chasing people away. The girl across from me had done the show four times and said that one day in previous years was better than all four days this year. She thought the main problem was that the show used to be before Thanksgiving and that moving it 2 weeks later made it seem like people were already done or almost done their Christmas shopping (besides the fact that some shoppers stated they had been there 2 weeks earlier looking for us and were disappointed to find the doors locked).

I sold almost 80 items priced at $5 and 2 items that cost more than $10. Nobody was looking at anything priced over $25. I had a couple of friends show up - who love craft shows and can stay all day at good ones... they went though the entire place in < 1 hour which is very bad for a show in a large convention center. In the end for this show, I broke even with my expenses, material costs, etc, but it is disheartening when you realize how many hours you spent at the show and how many hours you spent in labor but have nothing to show for that time.

Q: How do you feel when you have a bad experience at a show?

I see bad shows as a learning experience for me. So far, I've learned carnivals, small churches where I am not a member, elementary school benefits, and venues that allow non-handmade items are some places I don't sell well.

My theories:

1. Kids are not my market and are the main carnival goers.

2. Church benefits tend to have shoppers that want to support their members, so tend to shop with their members only and would feel bad buying from an outsider.

3. Elementary school mothers are not generally my market. Generally, mothers with young kids are tight on money, feel bad spending money on themselves instead of their kids, or are worried their child might break something in your booth so don't want to approach you.

4. If a person is willing to pay $30 for a lint roller or $45 for a mop (neither handmade), they feel $7.50 for a pair earrings is just too expensive (and have no problem telling you that as they stand in front of you with lint roller and mop in hand). Therefore, stick to handmade-only venues.

My big changes in shows this year is that I'm cutting my show budget in half and spending the other half of the money printing wholesale brochures. Over the last year, my wholesale and consignment items show a 40% greater profit at the end everything over my craft shows and the expenses they entail.

Q: What is your set up?

My booth includes one 6-foot table, two 3-foot tables, a DVD shelf (that I steal out of my living room the day before a show), and/or an easel. The minimum amount of time I need to set up (including the 10' x 10' foot easy-up tent) is 45 minutes. I prefer to take 1-1/2 hours to sort of putz and go slow, so I regularly show up as one of the first vendors at an event to give me my putz-around time.

I've cut white sheets and made custom table drapes that fit like a box over my tables and go to the ground. I use various batik fabrics for color on top and try to put as much height differences with boxes/crates/etc around my tables. It looks a bit different every time, and I enjoy making a picturesque display almost as much as making the jewelry.

Q: Do you have any advice for beginning jewelry sellers?

Do what you love and don't worry about everyone else. There will always be someone underselling you; and everytime you think you find a brand new, interesting idea that no one else is doing, you'll find the same theme somewhere else online. I thought wire-wrapped sea shells were the coolest thing, and people kept telling me what an original idea it was. It was quite a shock to my ego when I got my etsy account and six months later searched for "wire wrapped sea shell pendant" and saw how many items popped up. But I love what I do and don't let the peripheral stuff bother me.

Thanks, Vicky!
~ Jen

Jen Hilton makes one-of-a-kind jewelry sold through her website JLHJewelry.com. She is the founder of the Triangle Jewelry Makers and is featured in the books "Steampunk Style Jewelry: Victorian, Fantasy, and Mechanical Necklaces, Bracelets, and Earrings" and "1000 Steampunk Creations: Neo-Victorian Fashion, Gear, and Art" available at Amazon and other booksellers.

Sales & Use Tax ID numbers

2011-01-20T11:00:00.030-05:00

This information applies to people selling handmade jewelry within North Carolina. I am not a tax professional. This information was obtained from the NCDOR website, and from conversations with NCDOR employees prior to January 2011. All information is subject to change. It is your responsibility to make sure you are operating within all current and applicable tax laws with regards to your situation. For more information, call the North Carolina Department of Revenue (NCDOR) toll free at 1-877-252-3052.

If you sell handmade jewelry within the state of North Carolina, by law you should have a sales and use tax ID number, and collect and remit sales tax.

It doesn't matter how much you sell, or if you sell for profit, fun or charity. It doesn't matter whether you sell via the internet, craft shows, friends and co-workers, or the flea market. Even if you don't make enough money to claim it on your Federal income tax, you are still required by law to collect and remit sales tax on all sales of tangible property transacted within the state.

"But what if I only sell a few things a year, to my friends?"

If making jewelry is only a past-time, you are not claiming any profit or losses on your income tax, and if you sell only a couple of pieces a year to friends, you might be thinking, "Who's going to know the difference?" There are many casual hobbyists who gift or wear their handmade jewelry and very rarely sell. Selling might only occur when a friend says, "That's beautiful, can I pay you to make one for me?" Labor is not taxable. So, if your friend buys the beads and pays you to make the item, sales tax is not due.

But, I've met several people who stretch that "it's only a hobby" excuse a bit thin. It may have begun as a hobby, but if you are selling at the flea market, if you are selling more than a couple of pieces a year, if you are on Etsy... heck, if you're here reading this blog about selling your jewelry ... you're in business, as far as the North Carolina Department of Revenue is concerned, and you should be collecting sales tax.

Willful failure to remit sales tax is a misdemeanor, under state law. It might be a "hobby" as far as the IRS is concerned and you're only breaking even in your profits and losses. But as far as the NCDOR is concerned, you should be collecting and remitting the sales tax on every sale of tangible property within the state.

Keep in mind, Sales Tax and Income Tax are two different things. YOU pay Income Tax, which is based on your earnings. The BUYER pays Sales Tax, based on the cost of the item -- you just collect it and pass it along to the NCDOR.

How to get a tax ID number

Unlike a business license or home occupation use permit, obtaining a tax ID number is free. To obtain one, submit a completed Business Registration Application, Form NC-BR.

Form NC-BR and other business forms are available online here.

You do not need a business name or a business license (the latter may be required by your county or city municipality, but the NCDOR won't ask for it). You'll just need your legal name, social security number, phone number, address and a guess-timate of your projected sales.

File every quarter

Once you have your tax ID number, you must file every quarter, whether you have sales or not, for as long as you remain in business -- which is defined as having at least one sales tax transaction every 18 filing periods.

Your filing period will probably be quarterly (every 3 months). Businesses only file monthly if they collect sales taxes exceeding $100 every month (that's sales tax of more than $100, not gross receipts of more than $100). That won't apply to you unless you're selling thousands of dollars of jewelry within the state each year.

Put a reminder on your calendar for every January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1, so you won't forget to file. Filing takes only a few minutes, and you may file and submit sales and use taxes online. If you have not had any sales within that quarter, select "zero tax due."

Don't pay sales tax on materials

A benefit of having the state tax ID number is that it allows you to purchase jewelry-making components without paying NC sales tax. NCDOR wants to collect sales tax on the finished item, on the assumption that it will generally have a higher value than the sum of its parts and thus garner a higher amount of tax revenue.

In order to use this benefit, you must provide your NC suppliers with a Certficate of Exemption E-595E. Most craft and bead stores will accept these, but some will not -- and they are not required to accept them. If you want to purchase materials from someone who will not give you a tax exemption, you'll have to pay the sales tax and write that off as a cost of doing business.

The only tax exempt items are components -- things such as beads, string and wire -- which will become part of the finished jewelry. Tools -- pliers, ring mandrels, butane torches -- are not tax exempt. If you happen to buy tax-exempt tools along with your components, you will have to pay the Use Tax on those tools.

Use Tax

Use Tax is paid at the same rate as Sales Tax, but it's applied to items used within NC, not items sold within NC. For example, if you buy a pair of round-nosed jewelry pliers or a ring mandrel on eBay, it is shipped to you from Colorado, and you are not charged any sales tax, you will owe Use Tax to the state of NC.

The Use Tax for business-related items should be filed quarterly on Form E-500, the same form you use to file the sales taxes you collected. It is not filed with your state income taxes. The Use Tax filed on your state income taxes will be the Use Tax you are paying for non-business related purchases -- such as children's books on Amazon or Netflix services.

Your out-of-state sales are exempt from NC sales tax

Sales made to residents living outside of NC are NOT taxed if they are shipped to your customers by "common carrier" (UPS, FedEx or the post office). Sales taxes are only collected and filed on sales transacted within North Carolina. If the customer buys it from you face-to-face at a craft show, sales tax should be collected at the point of sale. If they buy it from you via the internet and you are shipping it to them at a NC address, sales tax should be collected.

You are not required to collect or file Sales Tax for any other state. So, for example, if you sell something to someone in California, you would not collect NC Sales Tax, nor would you collect California Sales Tax. It is the buyer's responsibility to file the California Use Tax.

Charity sales are (usually) not exempt

If you are selling jewelry for charity, or at a charity event, you must still collect and file sales tax, even if all proceeds are going to charity. I am aware that there are charitable organizations and fund-raisers which may not be in compliance. I am not a legal counsel, and I cannot speak to the practices of every individual non-profit in the state, I'm just telling you what it says at the NCDOR.

See Section 17 of the NCDOR. Sales and Use Technical Bulletins, specifically EXEMPT SALES, TAXABLE SALES AND PURCHASES BY NONPROFIT ENTITIES and RETAIL SALES BY CLUBS, LODGES, ASSOCIATIONS, ETC.

Flea market sellers not exempt

The NCDOR website says "Flea market vendors must obtain a Certificate of Registration (fill out form NC-BR and get a tax ID number) and it must be posted at their location." If you are selling handmade jewelry (not your used, unwanted jeans and old VCR tapes!) at a flea market or yard sale without collecting sales tax, I recommend you contact the NCDOR for more information.

For additional information

NCDOR FAQ about sales and use taxes

NCDOR "Taxpayer Self-Help" page

A small biz overview of Sales and Use Taxes

Jen Hilton makes one-of-a-kind jewelry sold through her website JLHJewelry.com. She is the founder of the Triangle Jewelry Makers and is featured in the books "Steampunk Style Jewelry: Victorian, Fantasy, and Mechanical Necklaces, Bracelets, and Earrings" and "1000 Steampunk Creations: Neo-Victorian Fashion, Gear, and Art" available at Amazon and other booksellers.

Attract visitors to your website

2011-01-05T21:46:00.020-05:00

I'm often asked how I sell jewelry through my own website JLHjewelry.com, without using Etsy or eBay, and rarely doing craft shows or public events. Here's how I got there.

Patience

I've been selling jewelry online since the year 2000. I have customers who've been buying jewelry from me for a long time. I'm told longevity also counts on the internet when it comes to search engine ranking.

I did sell through eBay and craft shows when I first started out. Etsy didn't exist. By the time it did, I was selling well enough on my own there was no point in creating, maintaining and paying for an Etsy store.

It took me about three years to watch my website rise in the search engine rankings and to build my clientele and reputation. Improving my skills, inventing beautiful jewelry, understanding my audience, and growing as an artist are all part of an ongoing process. Have patience. It will not happen overnight.

Social networking

Many of my sales come from people who I reach through social networking sites. I have a business page on Facebook, which is linked to my Twitter account. My website itself is also designed so that it may be added to a blog reader or RSS feed.

Cool stuff

Of course, if you want to sell jewelry, it should be beautiful and well made. Jewelry often looks better in person than in pictures, so it also helps to have the best photos possible and to provide thorough descriptions.

I suspect another reason I do reasonably well with my own website is that I have unique items. Over the years, I've made sci-fi jewelry, cosplay costuming replicas and period-inspired jewelry, steampunk, recycled relics, tiny fairy bubble wand necklaces, custom rosaries, childbirth-related items for midwives and doulas, birthstone bracelets, sock monkey stuff, gnome terrariums and other niche creations.

These sorts of items consistently sell much better than my other jewelry. For me, the more unusual the piece, the more likely it will sell. But it can't be too weird... I always try to balance my creativity with good design sense, quality ingredients, and the preferences of my clientele.

Having something special will bring people to your site and get you noticed on search engines. I occasionally come across my own website on accident while Googling some of my favorite subjects.

So, two lessons here. 1) Always strive to improve upon your artistry and quality. 2) Offer something original, and/or something which will resonate with a small, specific audience.

Good website

Alright, this one should be obvious, but you'd be surprised. My website isn't the greatest, but it doesn't suck. It's finished -- no "under construction" pages or broken links. It's easy to navigate, it has a search box, and there's a shopping cart for ease of checkout. This goes a LONG way.

Keywords

This is sort of related to "cool stuff" and "good website." What some search engines do is search through the words on your website. So make sure you use text to your advantage. "Necklace. 18 inches. Red stone." Should be, "Handmade sterling silver necklace features red cinnabar dragon pendant on 18 inch chain. Free shipping. One of a kind (OOAK)." This gives you more of a chance to hook people who are searching the net.

Project Wonderful

I imagine there are other services which are similar to Project Wonderful, but this is the one I've used in the past so this is the one I'm going to mention. For super cheap, you can advertise your jewelry on websites carefully selected to target your potential customers.

Charity donations

Another way I've attracted attention and developed a positive reputation is by making donations to fundraisers and charities. People like to support those who share their interests and support their causes.

I've designed jewelry for organizations, matching a color or theme. For instance, I've done pink jewelry for breast cancer awareness fundraisers and designed items with pewter animal charms for non-profit animal rescue programs.

I donate jewelry to fund-raisers. There are many charities and organizations which hold raffles or give away prizes. And they are happy to promote me in their event programs, newsletters, web links and directory listings.

Fame

My work appeared in the book, Steampunk Style Jewelry. And, because of the book, I was featured in Make Jewellery Magazine. I am still not as famous as Johnny Depp, according to my 10-year-old daughter. But the exposure has certainly helped.

Other ways to increase exposure are to teach classes, submit photos and projects to magazines and websites, land an interview in the local newspaper or your favorite jewelry blog, or enter jewelry design contests.

Jen Hilton makes one-of-a-kind jewelry sold through her website JLHJewelry.com. She is the founder of the Triangle Jewelry Makers and is featured in the books "Steampunk Style Jewelry: Victorian, Fantasy, and Mechanical Necklaces, Bracelets, and Earrings" and "1000 Steampunk Creations: Neo-Victorian Fashion, Gear, and Art" available at Amazon and other booksellers.

Observations over the years...

2010-12-15T00:53:00.004-05:00

How women buy jewelry:

"Look at that! That's really nice. It's all handmade. Isn't that amazing? Oh, this one here. It has a little cat charm that looks just like my Mr. Squiggles. It's so cute. And look at this one! My sister would love that. She loves blue. But, oh, look there. That's like the bracelet I had when I was in college, and it broke on the night I was studying for exams with my friend Suzanne, and I never found all the pieces, and you know later that night I ended up going over to my cousin's for a party and I met Max. I should get this one. Can I try it on? Hm... I don't know, maybe, yeah I should get it. No, I guess I'll wait. It doesn't really match anything I wear now. OK. Thank you. Oh, look at this pendant. That's really interesting. How do think they made that? My Aunt Emily used to wear things like that. My mom would love this. Yes, that looks good on you. I don't know, they're all nice. Do you have one like this, but red? Do you have it in brown? Oh, really? OK. Maybe I'll come back and get it after I've looked at all the other booths."

How men buy jewelry:

"I want to spend about $50. Is that $50? Great. I'll take it. You got a box?"

More on copyrights

2010-09-29T12:39:00.016-04:00

This is additional information, expanding on my previous post about copyright infringement, to address several questions I've been asked about copyrighted jewelry designs.

You may not copy and sell the projects in magazines, books and classes, or designs you find online.

"But, I made it with my own hands."

Yes, but you are not the original creator. You cannot sell a jewelry design without permission from the designer, any more than you could type up copies of "Twilight" or make your own recording of Lady Gaga's song "Love Game" to sell on Amazon. You would be typing up the story with your own hands, or singing the song yourself, but it's not yours to sell.

Click here for a basic overview of copyright and fair use

"Why would they put their designs in there, with instructions, if they didn't want people to make them?"

They DO want people to make them ... for their own personal use. That means you can wear them or give them away. And it means you can learn from the experience and apply the techniques to your own designs. But as soon as you start selling reproductions of the original, that is copyright infringement and illegal.

"It's not really a legal copyright unless they've filed for it."

Incorrect. Anything created is immediately copyrighted to the creator. An artistic work is under copyright protection the moment it is "fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device" (Source: U.S. Copyright Office). Meaning, no longer in the creator's mind, but real and complete. In paper, digital, or beaded form.

Registration is voluntary, and required if you wish to bring a lawsuit for infringement of a U.S. work. But registration need not take place in order for the item to be copyrighted in the first place.

"If I buy a bead or a pendant that's made by someone else, and use it in my jewelry, does that mean my jewelry can't be sold because that bead or pendant is copyrighted?"

No. Does the paint manufacturer own your painting? It's not copyright infringement unless you're making copies of the beads themselves and selling them as your own, without the originator's permission.

Out of courtesy, most jewelry designers I know will credit the makers of their components. For instance, I use components created by Elaine Ray and beads made by Wendy Puckett. When I list these items for sale, I always send pictures of the finished pieces to the artists and mention them in my item descriptions.

"How is a copyright different from a patent or a trademark?"

A patent protects inventions or discoveries, such as a device or machine, or a type of medicine. A trademark protects words, phrases, symbols, logos or designs identifying the source of the goods or services of one party and distinguishing them from those of others.

"What does copyright protect?"

Copyright, a form of intellectual property law, protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, architecture, and jewelry. Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed.

"But I love this design! It would go really well with the other jewelry in my shop. I really want to make it."

I understand. I, too, have seen the work of other artists and said, "Why didn't I think of that?" or "That looks like just something I would make." And nothing is stopping you from making one for yourself. You just can't sell them. With that said, however, there are a few things you could do.

Contact the artist. Acknowledge that the idea is copyright to them and express your respect for that. Offer to link back to their website in your listings and give them credit. Just don't be angry if they say no. Many artists work long and hard to develop their techniques, and they are trying to sell jewelry themselves. They may not appreciate what they see as someone trying to undermine their life's work. On the other hand, they might be tired of making that particular item and don't care if you continue to do so. So, ask. Very gently.

Apply the technique to jewelry of your own design. In other words, don't make an exact copy. You are creative, right? Then you should be able to come up with some new and unusual twist on the technique or idea you admire, and make it your own. Then it will no longer be a copy.

Jen Hilton makes one-of-a-kind jewelry sold through her website JLHJewelry.com. She is the founder of the Triangle Jewelry Makers and is featured in the books "Steampunk Style Jewelry: Victorian, Fantasy, and Mechanical Necklaces, Bracelets, and Earrings" and "1000 Steampunk Creations: Neo-Victorian Fashion, Gear, and Art" available at Amazon and other booksellers.

Selling at large shows and events

2010-07-28T16:33:00.018-04:00

I've known Christi Cramer, aka the "Gem Gypsy," owner of Earth Traditions, for 10 years. She was my first jewelry selling mentor. Christi is also a licensed gemologist and consultant. Find her on Facebook or email.

Q: How long have you been selling jewelry? What was your first event?

Earth Traditions has been in business since July 1999. Our first festival was "The Brightleaf Festival" the first Saturday of October 1999 in Wendell. My first official Celtic Festival was the Savannah Irish Festival in February 2001.

Q: How many shows/events do you do a year?

This year is the first I have done them full time. I have done seven so far and expect to do six or seven more before the end of this year. I would like to average two per month next year.

Q: What's the largest show/event you've ever done?

Attendance-wise, about 35,000 people. This would include some of the larger Highland Games/Celtic Festivals -- generally 2-day events, generally 10x20 foot booth, almost always outdoors.

Q: What's your basic set up when you do a show/event?

A 10x10 booth is: One easy-up tent, four tables, table coverings, two signs, two chairs, mats if necessary, weights for tents if necessary, five glass cases for the jewelry, two spinners (one for jewelry, one for window clings) and, of course, the merchandise.

A 10x20 is: Two tents, six tables, sometimes a TV table, table coverings, two signs, two chairs, mats, weights, usually six glass cases, three spinners and lots more merchandise!

Q: I've met a lot of jewelry makers who are intimidated by the thought of selling at a big venue. Do you have any tips for them?

EVERYONE is intimidated -- ESPECIALLY if you've never done any festivals or if you're doing a particular festival for the first time. One thing to remember is everyone is in the same boat and in it together. Here's a few more suggestions:

* Be nice to your neighbors, be nice to your potential customers, which is pretty much everyone who comes to the festival, including your fellow vendors & festival staff.

* Keep in mind that the festival staff is usually made up of volunteers who don't get paid to do this -- be PATIENT.

* Make notes for the next time around on things like display tactics, merchandise, what you forgot, etc.

* Get out of your booth if you can during the festival and talk to fellow vendors, look at displays, observe the crowd, observe the layout of the festival. You may want a different spot if you do that festival again. Sometimes, even when the sales aren't good, the info and contacts I've gleaned from an event may be worth it!

Q: In your case, not everything you sell is handmade, or handmade by you yourself. Do you think it helps to have "retail" merchandise as well as handmade items, when selling at a large festival or event?

Technically, I am a commercial vendor, but 90% of the items I carry are either handmade by myself or other artists because I admire creativity and the unique, and I like variety. And I really don't think I have enough of my own items to fill a booth, but I'm getting there. Most artists don't want to carry anything except what they make, and I don't blame them. You're there to do what YOU want to do. Commercial vendors also generally pay higher booth rental.

Q: I've heard the phrase, "The more you have, the more you sell." Do you think this is true?

Absolutely. People like a variety of items to pick from, even if the items are all similar, having different sizes, colors, and slightly different styles and a range of prices are a distinct advantage. In my experience customers do like CHOICE. When selling handmade pieces, they do like the idea that pieces are "one of a kind" especially, if they are buying from the artist who made it.

Q: How much jewelry inventory would a person need in order to fill a 10x10 booth for a one-day festival? A weekend festival?

As much as you can possible have. If you feel like you don't have much, fill in with really nice displays, information about the pieces, pictures ... and sell, sell, sell!

How much you have for sale needs to be in direct correlation to your expenses: Cost of goods sold, booth rental, food, travel (gas & hotel stay). My general rule of thumb is to have for sale, at least three times (retail) what my booth rental, food and travel costs are. In other words, if your booth costs you $100, your food $50, your gas $25 and your hotel stay $125 ($300 total) you need to have at least $900 for sale in your booth (based on a 2X+ mark-up on your costs). This gives the customers choice, and if you have more items than this, then YOU have a chance at higher profits. So, yes, as much merchandise as you possibly can display!

Q: Some jewelry makers balk at the idea of spending $200-$600 for a booth space at a show or festival. Is there any way to know, ahead of time, if it's worth paying that much? How will they know they're prepared for an event that size?

We have a saying in the event business: "You pays your money, you takes your chances." You just never know for sure. You are at the mercy of Mother Nature (since most festivals are outdoors) and the advertising of the event committee. The absolute best thing is to be able to talk to other vendors that have done an event before, and talk to more than one, better to get a consensus of three or four if you can. Visiting or helping a fellow vendor at a festival before you choose to do it is another good way. There are also a lot of Festival Networks that help with statistics such as attendance, number of vendors, juried events, etc. Sometimes, unfortunately, you just have to take the plunge and hold your breath. Studying the demographics of the area the festival is taking place is also not a bad idea. For example, a festival in or near a larger city is usually better than one held out in the middle of nowhere.

Q: Any other topics or suggestions about doing large event, that were not covered above?

Event selling is one topic that needs it's own blog. There is so much information on marketing your business that the very fundamental skill of actual selling is almost forgotten. Here are some tips:

* Be on your feet. Greet people. Be engaged with your potentials.

* Be yourself, be genuine, be a person first.

* Talk passionately about your craft.

* Get items in peoples hands to try things on.

* Make yourself and the visit to your booth something people will remember.

* Give out business cards, websites, other tangible info.

* Follow-up! Send thank-you emails or notes.

* Sell yourself! You'll find your profits and friends more numerous!

Also make every festival a LEARNING experience for yourself. Write down the good and bad. Learn, learn, learn! Business owners who don't learn, don't grow. Those who do learn, move ahead!

Thanks, Christi!
~ Jen

Jen Hilton makes one-of-a-kind jewelry sold through her website JLHJewelry.com. She is the founder of the Triangle Jewelry Makers and is featured in the books "Steampunk Style Jewelry: Victorian, Fantasy, and Mechanical Necklaces, Bracelets, and Earrings" and "1000 Steampunk Creations: Neo-Victorian Fashion, Gear, and Art" available at Amazon and other booksellers.

Copyright infringement

2010-07-09T10:15:00.015-04:00

According to the U.S. Copyright Office, copyright is a form of protection grounded in the U.S. Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Your work is under copyright protection the moment it is created in tangible form.

Here's what I believe. I believe that all art and all information belong to all people. I believe that the point of all our endeavors is to ennoble each other, and when we share our gifts, we edify all humanity. To say, "This is mine, you can't have it" about an idea, an image, a piece of information, to me is wrong.

But to copy someone else's work without giving them their due acknowledgment, and taking the credit (and money) for yourself, that's also wrong. And illegal. So, don't do it. This includes selling jewelry that was made by following class, magazine or book instructions. Which is why I never copy anyone else's step-by-step project when making jewelry to sell.

Melanie Brooks of Earthenwood Studio explains copyright and expresses the frustration of an infringed artist (quoted with permission):

"When you make something new, the finished item has a copyright attached to it, inherently. It is your property, it belongs to you. When someone sees it, and makes something exactly like it and sells it, teaches it to others, or otherwise distributes it for commercial gain, that violates your copyright. This is theft, it is copyright infringement. To prove this, you may have to legally register your copyright, in order for a court to recognize it, but you do not need to have that legal document for a creation or design to be yours.

"I think that people do not realize these things about copyrights for the most part. I think people often buy craft magazines, or see neat crafty stuff on the internet, and think it is free for them to take as they please. It is not. Even when there are tutorials and classes to teach how to make something, the original creator holds the rights to the copyrights on those items, unless otherwise noted.

"What that means is that you can make the items you learned for yourself, and for gifts, and for fun, but once you start to make them for profit, you are infringing on the copyright. You are essentially making money on someone else's hard work, research, and creativity, and that is just not right. Even if its just part time or once and a while. It is incredibly difficult to make a living as an artist, and when I see my full time artist friends (and myself) struggle because another artist or company is producing or teaching their hard earned work for profit, it is very discouraging."

I try very hard to avoid copying other artists, not only because of the laws, and the artists' feelings, but because I would not be expressing my own truth, I would not be sharing my own spirit, if I simply replicated what others have done before me.

We are all pieces of each other, and everything we think, say, do or create are pieces we've taken from others, somewhere along the line, consciously or subconsciously, and assembled in a new way. But blatant COPYING is something else entirely. Think of it this way: J.K. Rowling didn't invent boggarts, giants, wizards, centaurs or transfiguration. But she reassembled the pieces and breathed her soul into it, so, voila, she's rich as God's stockbroker and gets to sue you if you even think the word "Hogwarts" too loud.

Truly artistic work is infused with the spirit of its creator, their hopes, dreams, losses, tears -- their soul. And through their work, their soul touches others -- reaches into those deep, hidden core places we didn't know we had until the artist showed us. Copyright infringement is a form of identity theft, and copying someone else's art is soul theft.

Jen Hilton makes one-of-a-kind jewelry sold through her website JLHJewelry.com. She is the founder of the Triangle Jewelry Makers and is featured in the books "Steampunk Style Jewelry: Victorian, Fantasy, and Mechanical Necklaces, Bracelets, and Earrings" and "1000 Steampunk Creations: Neo-Victorian Fashion, Gear, and Art" available at Amazon and other booksellers.

Tips on pricing your handmade jewelry

2010-07-08T22:11:00.016-04:00

When talking to other handmade jewelry artists, it seems that pricing one's work is as painful as keeping records, paying taxes or filling out forms. Maybe even more so, because it involves the psychological and sometimes very emotional element of putting a value on your time, creativity and joy.

But if you want to sell your work, it must be done. There are several variations, but the general formula goes something like this:

* The total cost of your materials (beads, wire, thread, clasps, etc)
* PLUS the total cost of your overhead (travel, vendor or web fees, etc)
* PLUS $10 per hour for the time it took to make the item
* MULTIPLIED x2 EQUALS the wholesale price.
* MULTIPLIED x2 again EQUALS the retail price.

But "formulas" don't take into account things like marketability, venues, or learning curve.

"I set an hourly rate of $10 since this is mostly still a hobby - some people who do this for a living use $20+ but it's really up to you." - Jill Liles, Liv'ngood Jewelry

MARKETABILITY

It can be a balancing act... If you price your work too low, it won't be valued by your customers. But if you price it too high, they won't buy it -- unless you're absolutely brilliant and you create things that people can't live without. Genius trumps all pricing rules.

"While I'm sure it makes sense to you that the more time you put in the more valuable it is, that is only true if the final product is something that people will pay much more for. Focus on making beautiful woven-bead designs, and charge as much for them as you think people will pay. If you find that customers are not willing to pay more for the designs that take you more time to make, you may consider focusing on items that you can charge more yet which take less of your time and labor." - Dr. David Weiman

Bead weavers spend several hours -- even days -- making one piece, and their skills are incredibly admirable. But, from what I've heard, they are rarely able to sell their jewelry for the $10 to $20 hourly rate in the formula. There just isn't much of a market for $500 to $1,000 artfully arranged beads.

I've found that the value of a particular piece of jewelry can be as much about supply and demand as it is about the cost of materials and time. This is when it helps to stand out, to have a reputation, a client base, well-developed style and skills. With jewelry, as with other arts and crafts, customers are buying a particular theme, style or artist's name, and will be willing to pay more for something in high demand or of high personal value to them.

In addition to supply and demand, I've found that earrings in general tend to support much higher markups than bracelets, and bracelets more than necklaces, even though it takes much longer to make a necklace (usually) than to make a bracelet or a pair of earrings.

CONSIDER: VENUE

The same pair of earrings might sell in a boutique in upscale Cameron Village for $25. Put them on a pretty display, under a light that makes them sparkle, and you might even get $35. But hang them with 20 other pairs on a cheap wire rack at the flea market, and you can't sell them for $5.

Consider your venue, and the buyers it brings in contact with your work. If you're putting your work in a beach-resort boutique, you are reaching people with a lot of money to spend on $200 glass fish and seashell jewelry. If you are putting your work on a card table at a church bazaar, you are reaching an entirely different group of people, perhaps those who want inexpensive lanyards for their eyeglasses, or a $10 pair of earrings for a niece. These are two entirely different markets. I'm not saying one is better than the other... but some market out there is YOUR market, and you should know what it is.

Venue is also part of your presentation, and presentation can add $ to your prices. This works online, too. You'll get away with charging more, and be more likely to sell your higher priced items, if you have your own gorgeous website with clear pictures and a user-friendly ordering system, rather than just an Etsy store or some lousy-looking website your cousin threw together.

CONSIDER: LEARNING CURVE

Following the jewelry pricing formula, a beginner who takes a long time to make something would charge more than a skilled artist who can make it better and faster. Of course, that makes no sense at all.

Don't let yourself be pressured by other jewelry artists. "You should charge more" is a common refrain that can sometimes mean, "I feel like you're underselling me." Keep in mind that jewelry makers who are just beginning to sell are not going to charge as much as established, in-demand artists. And those who make jewelry as a hobby typically are not going to charge as much as those who are doing it for a living, offering wholesale, and working with boutiques.

BUT DON'T UNDERVALUE YOUR WORK

"I took an intermediate forging class and my instructor, Michael David Sturlin, was full of stories. We briefly discussed the subject of pricing jewelry and he told the class this: 'A jeweler colleague was asked at an artisan show how long it took him to make a particular ring. He responded “30 years and 15 minutes.' - Jodi L. Bombardier, Jewels By Jules

This is a common mistake made by handmade jewelry artists. Remember that customers are not only buying the materials in a piece of jewelry, and the time you spent making it, they're buying your unique vision and expertise. They're buying the hours you spent in metal-smithing classes, and the beadweaving books you read, and the 20 broken necklaces you had to restring before you perfected your technique. They're buying your life-long love of the Victorian Era, and the visit you took to the Louvre, and all the doodles you made as a child. All of this is contained in each piece you make, and it lends value to your work.

Jen Hilton makes one-of-a-kind jewelry sold through her website JLHJewelry.com. She is the founder of the Triangle Jewelry Makers and is featured in the books "Steampunk Style Jewelry: Victorian, Fantasy, and Mechanical Necklaces, Bracelets, and Earrings" and "1000 Steampunk Creations: Neo-Victorian Fashion, Gear, and Art" available at Amazon and other booksellers.

Websites and online selling

2010-06-28T16:00:00.012-04:00

I'm often asked about selling jewelry online. There are a variety of ways to do this, including:

Shoply
Artfire
Etsy
Bonanza (previously 1000markets)
eBay
Zibbet
Made it Myself

Click here for my post about selling jewelry on eBay

Several artists sell through their blogs. There are many blog services including:

Livejournal
Wordpress
Blogspot
Blogster

I use Wordpress for my jewelry website, and it works very well with the PayPal shopping cart and merchant services. I also use Blogspot for a charity fundraiser in which I'm involved, and have used PayPal "Buy It Now" buttons and drop-down menus there.

It doesn't take a lot of computer knowledge to use PayPal or blogs. Much of it is copy/paste and user-friendly. Just take a deep breath and read carefully. If stuck, most online services have help topics and user forums.

Social networking sites are free, but as far as I know they can't be used for online ordering (UPDATE: With the exception of Facebook, which now offers commerce options via Payvment). These are great, though, if you want to post pics of your latest creations, then people could phone or email you about ordering. Or you can link to your Etsy store, personal website, etc.

Facebook
MySpace
Twitter
Bebo
Flickr
deviantART

Some people invest in programs such as Dreamweaver or FrontPage. Personally, I use Linux Ubuntu and programs such as GIMP for processing photos for my website, because they're free.

Web design software: Which one is right for you?

There are several free website builders. Googling "free website builders" turns up sites such as:

Doodlekit
Weebly
Webstarts
Freeservers
Moonfruit

I've heard some good things about Weebly, and several years ago I used Freeservers with good results. Other than that, I have no personal experience with any of these sites, so use with care.

Of course, there's always the option of paying someone to do it. Be very wary though. I recommend shopping around. Insist on seeing samples of their work. Ask for references. Understand exactly what you are getting for the cost, and what level of support they will provide.

I've heard several horror stories of people who tried to do a website on the cheap by hiring a college student, friend or family member. After several dollars and several months, they still didn't have anything. Or they ended up with something that looked like absolute garbage.

I've also heard stories of people who paid for "a website" and all they got was a registered url. Or, at the other extreme, they got a fine, fancy, full-service website with bells and whistles... but absolutely no idea how to add pictures or change the information without continuing to pay the web designer another $100 for every update.

I hope this has given you some food for thought. You'll need to decide what works for you and what meets your needs. If you have no online presence, I recommend getting out there as quickly and painlessly as possible with a Facebook page or a free blog, and then working your way up from there.

Here are a few links to my own jewelry website, and my friends' sites, if you want to check out what we're doing online:

JLHjewelry Wordpress blog with PayPal
JLHjewelry My jewelry Facebook page
Alicia Coats Jewelry website
Liv'nGood Jewelry blog
Liv'nGood Jewelry on Artfire
Linda Searcy Etsy shop

Jen Hilton makes one-of-a-kind jewelry sold through her website JLHJewelry.com. She is the founder of the Triangle Jewelry Makers and is featured in the books "Steampunk Style Jewelry: Victorian, Fantasy, and Mechanical Necklaces, Bracelets, and Earrings" and "1000 Steampunk Creations: Neo-Victorian Fashion, Gear, and Art" available at Amazon and other booksellers.

Help! My jewelry isn't selling

2009-12-10T15:18:00.014-05:00

You're doing a craft show or art event, you bought displays, you paid $100 for the vendor space, and spent countless hours making inventory.

You put up a website, opened an Etsy store, and started a blog.

And you haven't sold a thing.

Every seller has a bad show once in awhile. And jewelry is an EXTREMELY subjective thing. Remember, it's a form of personal expression -- not just for you, the creator, but for the person who will buy it from you and continue to wear it for the rest of their lives.

But, if you're really having a hard time selling (and profiting), consider these suggestions. Some of them might seem contradictory -- "Try being more creative" vs. "Try being more practical" -- because I'm trying to offer a buffet of food for thought. Pick what applies to you.

First of all: Does your jewelry suck?

Are you making something people would actually be willing to pay money for? Don't trust your friends and family to tell you. If they like you, they will lie.

Be honest with yourself. How are your skills? Is your wire marred and your loops lopsided? Still using barrel clasps? Can't seem to figure out how to get those crimps to stay put? I spent several years making jewelry for friends, family and myself, honing my skills, before I started trying to sell it to strangers.

Are you using unusual, interesting, creative and quality ingredients? Or just throwing together a few "made-in-China" bits you bought at Michael's?

Is your style dated? There's nothing wrong with that, if you're audience is the same age as you are, or if you are going for the "hip," "vintage" or "retro" styles. But, then again, you might be styling yourself out of a sale.

You don't necessarily need to know what's "in" at the moment. Beautiful color combinations, balance, symmetry, artistry, creativity, the appeal of semi-precious stones, meaningful symbols, excellent craftsmanship -- these sorts of things are eternal, while trends come and go.

Does your jewelry have wide appeal?

No matter what you make, there is probably someone, somewhere, who will like it. But that someone might be on the other side of the country, and they never shop on Etsy.

You will have a better chance of selling your jewelry if you aim for colors and styles that have a wider appeal. That doesn't mean you have to compromise your artistic vision... but if your vision involves a lot of neon green and bright orange, it wouldn't hurt to make a few items in basic black, the ever-popular pink, or wedding white, just to see what happens.

Does your jewelry cater to a niche?

As I've mentioned in another post, catering to a niche or special interest can also improve sales. Over the years, I've made jewelry for people interested in sci-fi, cosplay, Irish/Celtic culture, steampunk, fairies, Renaissance Faires, natural childbirth, sock monkeys and gnomes.

These sorts of items consistently sell much better than my other jewelry. For me, the more unusual the piece, the more likely it will sell. But it can't be too weird... I always try to balance my creativity with good design sense, quality ingredients, and the preferences of my clientele.

If you are going to create niche jewelry, however, you'll also have to be more selective about the shows you do and the places you advertise. If I'm making jewelry for fans of the sci-fi TV show "Firefly," I post pictures on FireflyFans.net -- but I don't try to sell it at the Celtic Christmas event at Tir na nOg Irish Pub.

Pay attention to what sells

Making jewelry to sell means that you're not the only person involved in the process. The buyer is involved, as well. Pay attention to what sells and why -- whether it's being sold by you or by the vendor next to you. That doesn't mean you have to make the same thing over and over, and you should certainly NEVER try to copy other artists. But you can and should consider your audience when making the bulk of your inventory.

On the flip side, consider where you are selling your jewelry. My jewelry tends to sell really well to people in either California or the UK. I don't even bother trying to sell it locally. Ask yourself who you're trying to reach with your jewelry -- and then figure out where they shop.

Can they buy it at Target or Kohl's?

Your jewelry is beautiful and marketable. After all, it looks just like the stuff selling in the department store.

So, why should they buy it from you? A lot of people don't care whether something is made locally or made in China. So what if you use silver wire and real stones? The one in Wal-Mart looks just like yours, anyway, for 1/3 the price.

I hear this again and again from handmade jewelry sellers: "People just aren't willing to pay what this piece is worth."

This is where creativity, presentation, customization and forging customer relationships are important. You have to make the buyer want to buy from you instead of the chain store. Mention the fact that it's handmade in the USA, that you love doing it, and that their purchases help you support the local no-kill cat shelter. Personalize their experience, so that they will have a special connection with you.

Durability and practicality

I've seen a lot of beautiful and extremely impractical jewelry. Ask yourself, could this be worn to work? To a night on the town? Will it snag sweaters, get tangled in hair? Scratch the wearer's skin? Is it too heavy or too bulky? Would it be easily broken by the grabby hands of a baby?

You can certainly make some wild and woolly pieces of wacky adornment, but if you just can't seem to sell anything, you might try adding some more practical and durable jewelry to your offerings.

Creativity

On the other hand, if your jewelry is already very sedate, practical and conservative, maybe you need to mix it up with some unusual color choices, more elaborate pieces, or try using some entirely new technique.

Presentation

Less is more. Don't get too cluttered. The jewelry should be easy to see.

Displays. Are they clean, in good shape? Are they creative? Your presentation says a lot about you and your jewelry.

Pay attention to lighting.

If it's online, revisit your photos. If you shot it on a white background, try re-shooting it on black, or with a prop. Try a different angle, or a better closeup.

Pricing

I've found that it helps to have a wide range of price points, so that there's something for every budget. If everything you have is $15 or less, those with fatter wallets and finer tastes might pass you by. If everything is $60 or more, you might be passed up by 3/4 of the buyers -- the ones who are looking for a small birthday gift or fun memento, the ones with children to feed, the ones hit hard by the economy, etc.

When I say that you should offer some less expensive items, I mean simpler items. Things that cost you less time and money to make. What I DO NOT want you to do is lower your prices on your regular jewelry, nor skimp on quality. In my experience, most jewelry artists are already under-pricing themselves. What does lowering your prices say to your clientele? "I don't value this work, so why should you?"

Have patience

I've heard jewelry-makers say things like "I put up a shop on Etsy, and nothing sold within the first two months, so I closed it."

When you put something on the internet, you have the potential to reach the whole world. But that doesn't mean you will reach the whole world. Or that you will have the world knocking on your virtual door within the first five minutes you appear online, no matter how great your jewelry might be.

As I write this, I've had a website selling my own jewelry online for about a decade. It took me at least three years to build up a customer base and to work my way up in the Google rankings. I do have several pieces that will sell immediately... but I also have pieces that don't sell for 6-8 months or more. Just recently, I had a necklace that hadn't sold for two years. I finally cut it apart to use the beads in other ways, and the very night I'd deconstructed it, someone ordered it on my website before I'd had a chance to remove the listing (and I had to issue them a refund). So, you just never know!

Jen Hilton makes one-of-a-kind jewelry sold through her website JLHJewelry.com. She is the founder of the Triangle Jewelry Makers and is featured in the books "Steampunk Style Jewelry: Victorian, Fantasy, and Mechanical Necklaces, Bracelets, and Earrings" and "1000 Steampunk Creations: Neo-Victorian Fashion, Gear, and Art" available at Amazon and other booksellers.

Selling handmade jewelry on eBay

2009-07-08T12:41:00.005-04:00

I started selling handmade jewelry on eBay many years ago. Which has it's pros and cons.

With eBay, you have the potential to reach a huge audience. Having good cred on eBay also helps when establishing your own personal website. You can direct new customers to your eBay profile and show them that you have a good reputation.

A big drawback, in my experience, is that handmade jewelry is either extremely undervalued or just gets lost entirely in the massive amounts of flotsam and jetsam on the site. Customers who are seeking handmade, unique jewelry, and who are willing to pay what that jewelry is worth, are probably not shopping on eBay.

Then there's the fees, which you'll be paying upfront just to create an auction. If the item sells, you'll be paying even more fees to both eBay and PayPal. Those can eat up profits on smaller items in a hurry.

Sometimes eBay can be daunting. There's a lot of information to fill out if you want to start an auction. You've got to establish good feedback in order to attract more bidders (which can be done fairly easily by buying several small items and getting a good rating as a Buyer before trying to be a Seller). You'll need a PayPal account. And eBay has a LOT of rules and policies you'll have to know.

But eBay has worked well for me under a few circumstances.

Niche jewelry

Niche jewelry includes anything unusual or which has special appeal to people in a specific or self-selected group. That would be stuff like Celtic, Steampunk, cosplay, Goth, fairies, objects inspired by popular movie trends (pirates, wizards, etc.), retro or nostalgic items. These sorts of things seem to sell better than a generic jewelry item.

I used to sell handmade religious jewelry on eBay, burning various symbols by hand into wooden beads and making them into necklaces. As far as I know, I was the only person making this type of jewelry, at the time, and it was very popular. I also sold themed rosaries -- green St. Patrick rosaries, pink or baby blue rosaries for a new baby, white rosaries for weddings, etc. -- and a lot of natural-childbirth, midwife and doula jewelry.

Customers who bought these items from me on eBay would sometimes see I had my own website and then place special orders with me.

As an established jewelry artist

More recently, I've used eBay to sell some of my unusual and high-demand pieces, such as the one in this picture, which wold on eBay for $154.49. But it was my own website which drove the traffic to eBay, not vice versa. I would link to the auctions from my blog, and my established customers and blog followers would go over to eBay to bid.

Selling off extra materials

I also use eBay to sell off unused beads and charms, and sometimes even completed pieces which just won't move. I group these into lots by color, type or style and then get creative. Things like "Magical Fairy Bead and Charm Lot" usually sell better than "Pink bead lot." Adding a yard or two of bead thread and a few findings and calling it a kit seems to improve sales, too.

It's a great way to liquidate stale items and to attract attention to the website where you have the sweet handmade jewelry yummies.

Making the most of eBay

* Create a "ME" user page, (eBay doesn't allow you to link to your website directly from your auction listings, last time I checked).

* Put your personal jewelry URL in the tagline of all email correspondence with buyers, and include business cards or fliers when you ship items. If you make custom jewelry, mention that in your promotional material.

* Have friendly, good-looking, uncluttered auctions with good photos and thorough descriptions (DO emphasize the originality and special features of your creations).

* Provide excellent customer service, and maybe even a small free gift with each order. A handwritten "Thank you" and a few free beads or a lollipop can make someone's day, and they will remember and come back to you!

Jen Hilton makes one-of-a-kind jewelry sold through her website JLHJewelry.com. She is the founder of the Triangle Jewelry Makers and is featured in the books "Steampunk Style Jewelry: Victorian, Fantasy, and Mechanical Necklaces, Bracelets, and Earrings" and "1000 Steampunk Creations: Neo-Victorian Fashion, Gear, and Art" available at Amazon and other booksellers.

Business license and home occupation use permit in Raleigh, NC

2009-06-26T13:51:00.021-04:00

Do you need a business license in order to sell jewelry? The answer to that depends on where you live. I live in Raleigh, North Carolina, so that is what I'm going to talk about. For other cities, you can Google "(your city) business license" and you should be able to find what you need.

Here is the link to the Raleigh Business License page

Here is a link to the City of Raleigh "Starting a New Business" page

If you are planning to make jewelry that you are going to sell, and you are making it while living in the City of Raleigh, you must obtain a business license from the city - even if you are selling only at craft shows or on the Internet. The only exception is if you sell solely at the flea market, then you don't have to have a business license. (You will, however, still need a tax ID number.)

If you click on this Business License link, you will be able to open a PDF file of the Raleigh Business License application. You can print it, fill it out, and mail it to the address on the form.

Here are some tips I was given by the Raleigh business license office:

1) You are not considered "Peddlers by foot, vehicle, pushcart, or without a retail location" if you are selling on the Internet and/or via craft shows. This only applies to people who sell door-to-door.

2) On the line for "Business Name," you put your FBN or DBA. But if you're not using one, just put your own name.

3) What if you don't have a "Business Location Phone Number"? My business is home-based, but my home phone number is unlisted and I never use it for business. THE PHONE NUMBER YOU ENTER HERE WILL BE PUBLIC RECORD. So, if you want to keep your number private, leave the space blank.

4) There's a section called "Schedule II: Business License Tax Based on Business Activity" but nothing there applies to jewelry makers. Again, the "CJ Merchant/Peddler- No Retail Store" does not apply to jewelry makers, unless you plan to go door-to-door or operate an independent, mobile jewelry cart.

5) "Schedule III. Business License Tax Based on Gross Receipts" is the main section for us. In this section, you are being asked to ESTIMATE your expected gross receipts (total amount of money collected by selling jewelry). For most people, this will safely fall within the first category, "$ 1 - $ 50,000" which means your annual business license tax will be $ 50.00.

Include your check for $ 50.00, made out to the City of Raleigh, when you mail your application. Applications are processed within 3-5 days, and a renewal will automatically be sent each year to the address on file.

HOME OCCUPATION USE PERMIT

Businesses operated from a home within Raleigh must also obtain approval from the Zoning Division of the Inspections Department by applying for a Home Occupation Use Permit (clicking on this link will open a PDF file of the application). This is a one-time fee of $ 72.00.

I called and spoke with a very nice lady named Faye at the zoning department, to make sure I had the most recent, accurate information for this blog post. Faye said there should be no problem getting a home occupation use permit as long as everything you sell is handmade. You can't be buying jewelry wholesale, storing and reselling it from home, I guess. You have to be buying materials and making the jewelry yourself.

Under "Describe business activity that will take place on the premises" she said to put down that you are doing Internet sales only, filling orders through the mail, that all jewelry is handmade by you only, you have no employees, and no customers will be coming to your home. Assuming these things are all true, of course. If you have other circumstances, you'll need to talk to the City of Raleigh Zoning Division at 919-516-2555.

Jen Hilton makes one-of-a-kind jewelry sold through her website JLHJewelry.com. She is the founder of the Triangle Jewelry Makers and is featured in the books "Steampunk Style Jewelry: Victorian, Fantasy, and Mechanical Necklaces, Bracelets, and Earrings" and "1000 Steampunk Creations: Neo-Victorian Fashion, Gear, and Art" available at Amazon and other booksellers.

Fictitious Business Names (DBA)

2009-06-11T00:09:00.021-04:00

"Fictitious Business Name" (FBN) and "Doing Business As" (DBA) are both terms used to describe the public registration of a made-up business name. The terms are used interchangeably, along with the term "Trade Name" or "trading as" on the legal sites I referenced for this post.

YOU DO NOT NEED A DBA OR FBN IN ORDER TO SELL HANDMADE JEWELRY.

According to the website Business.gov, if you are a sole proprietor, then the legal name of your business is your full name. In some states, you may even be allowed to be "Jane Smith Jewelry" or even "Smith Jewelry" if your name is Jane Smith, and you will not have to file a FBN.

But, in most cases, if you want to use any name other than your full name to sell jewelry, or use something else as your url, logo, letterhead or email, then you have to register the made up name with your state, county and/or city (requirements vary from place to place).

Business name registration: All state requirements

Filing your FBN/DBN gives you the right to advertise and open a business bank account under another name. You'll be able to use that business name when filing for permits, billing customers, paying taxes, and so on. However, it does not necessarily protect your business name from being used by someone else. THAT would be a trademark, and that's a different legal beast.

I do not use a DBA. My opinion is that artists use their own names, and retailers create fictitious biz names. Monet didn't called himself "Splashy Dots." Gustav Faberge wasn't "Eggstravaganza." Tiffany wasn't "Lamps R Us." I think when jewelry artists use a fake name, it creates a sort of psychological distance between themselves and what they create, and might set up the wrong impression in buyers. I'm told again and again by handmade jewelry artists that, even at craft shows and art exhibitions, customers often assume jewelry sellers are only retailers--not artists and creators.

On the flip side, though, if jewelry is only part of your biz and you also sell beads, fabric, etc., then I can see wanting to have a catch-all biz name. Or perhaps you are in business with a friend and need a name for your collaboration.

When I began selling jewelry online several years ago, my full name .com was already a porn site. Lucky me. So, I use my initials + "jewelry" to avoid any awkward confusion. However, my business cards, address labels and PayPal account are all in my real name. I have no bank accounts or permits under the name JLHjewelry.com.

Here are some really good articles on the topic:

Doing Business As (DBA) - Fictitious Business Name

When does a variation of my name become a fictitious business name?

Naming Your Business

North Carolina Certificate of Assumed Name Forms

Jen Hilton makes one-of-a-kind jewelry sold through her website JLHJewelry.com. She is the founder of the Triangle Jewelry Makers and is featured in the books "Steampunk Style Jewelry: Victorian, Fantasy, and Mechanical Necklaces, Bracelets, and Earrings" and "1000 Steampunk Creations: Neo-Victorian Fashion, Gear, and Art" available at Amazon and other booksellers.

Keeping records

2009-06-10T19:00:00.008-04:00

Aside from the actual filing and paying of taxes, this is probably the one thing that makes artists and crafters groan the most.

You mean I have to write things down?
I have to save receipts?
I have to deal with... NUMBERS?

After all, if we were good at this sort of thing, we'd be accountants, not artists, right?

But it's a fact of life, if you're going to sell your jewelry, and it doesn't have to be (too) painful.

I make jewelry as a hobby. Yes, I sell it, but I'm not supporting myself by doing so. Not even close. So, the following information is for everyone hoping to sustain their jewelry-making obsession, have fun, and maybe make a little pocket change. That's what makes it a hobby. If you're treating this like a big money-making endeavor, that makes it a "business," and that will require a look at the IRS Publication 535.

THE MAIN MOST IMPORTANT THING

1) Get a file folder.
2) Write "Jewelry 2009" or whatever year it is. (And have a new folder every year.)
3) Put all of your receipts, invoices, packing slips and other business items in it.

KEEP TRACK OF ALL YOUR INCOME AND EXPENSES

1) Get a piece of paper.
2) Make two columns: MONEY IN and MONEY OUT.
3) Record your sales and expenses.

Some people use computer programs to do this. I use an actual paper ledger with five columns:

1) Item name (this might be the customer name, bead company, etc.)
2) Income (the money people give me for stuff, etc.)
3) Materials (the money I spend on beads, wire, etc.)
4) Shipping costs (postage, padded envelopes, labels, etc.)
5) Fees (PayPal, eBay, sales tax, etc.)

I write down every amount of money I take in, and every business-related expense. Some items will have entries in more than one category. For instance, if I sell something to Jane Doe, I write "Jane Doe - pink necklace" under ITEM, then "+ $20.00" under INCOME (this is the sum total payment received, not just the price of the item), "- $1.20" under SHIPPING, and "- $.88" under FEES (for the PayPal transaction).

The reason I break the expenses up into three categories is because it helps me at tax time when I'm filling out my Schedule C. Depending on your particular jewelry-selling situation, you might want to use different categories (such as "vendor fees," "PayPal fees" and "State Sales Tax," instead of just "fees"). You'll need to figure out what works for you.

If you feel like your brain is going to explode, just stick to the basics (two columns, MONEY IN and MONEY OUT) until you get comfortable with record-keeping in general. For someone selling very little, this will be just fine.

MAKE A HABIT OF RECORDING YOUR INCOME AND EXPENSES DAILY OR WEEKLY

Assuming you are taking in more than $400 in sales each year, which is the IRS threshold, you can, and absolutely should, deduct business expenses when you file your Federal income tax with the IRS. "Business expenses" are the costs associated with running your business.

If you don't deduct expenses, you will pay taxes on ALL of the money you took in during the year. For example, let's say you did two craft shows during 2008. Between the two of them, you took in $1,100 from your customers. However, you also spent $100 in vendor fees, $50 for jewelry displays, $350 for beads and findings, and $100 for a website.

Would you rather pay taxes on $1,100, or pay taxes on $500? Remember, you will have to pay the full social security taxes yourself. The Self-Employment Tax rate is 13.5%, which is 12.4% for social security (old-age, survivors, and disability insurance) and 2.9% for Medicare (hospital insurance). That's in addition to whatever Federal and State income taxes you'll have to pay.

To be deductible (some people call it a "write-off"), a business expense must be both ordinary and necessary to your business. Expenses for jewelry makers would be things such as beads, clasps, charms, thread, pliers, bead boards, gift boxes, padded mailing envelopes, address labels, postage, displays, websites, advertising costs, and credit card processing fees.

BETTER BUSINESS

Tracking expenses is also important because it can help you improve your business.

Example: If you see that you are spending $500 on beads and findings, but only bringing in $600 when you sell the jewelry, that might be a clue you need to raise your prices, and/or find a way to lower your materials cost.

Example: Over time, you might realize that you buy large quantities of a particular silver clasp or ceramic bead. This might be worth buying in bulk to save you money.

Example: You are paying $300 a year for your website, but taking in less than $100 in Internet sales. You could look into giving up the site in favor of using Etsy, 1000Markets, eBay or Blogspot, or just sticking with your more lucrative craft shows.

IRS: Recordkeeping

IRS: Starting a business and keeping records

IRS: How to record business transactions

Finally, I highly recommend paying the money for a tax preparation professional, at least for the first year or two you start selling jewelry. It's worth the expense to have the peace of mind. They can answer all of your questions about inventory, deductions, forms, losses, records, etc. Just be sure to make it clear to them whether this is a business (expected to eventually support you and be your full-time job) or a hobby (expected to do little better than break even and/or supplement your main income) -- the two are treated differently.

Jen Hilton makes one-of-a-kind jewelry sold through her website JLHJewelry.com. She is the founder of the Triangle Jewelry Makers and is featured in the books "Steampunk Style Jewelry: Victorian, Fantasy, and Mechanical Necklaces, Bracelets, and Earrings" and "1000 Steampunk Creations: Neo-Victorian Fashion, Gear, and Art" available at Amazon and other booksellers.

Doing shows, events and festivals

2009-05-18T22:23:00.018-04:00

I'm going to touch
ALL of your jewelry!

Don't.

No, I'm just kidding.

(No, I'm not.)

Doing shows, events and festivals is fun and profitable for some people. It seems to work out well if you are selling items other than your own jewelry and/or can devote yourself to making jewelry and preparing for shows full-time. I've talked to several artists who say doing shows has helped them feel validated and confident about their creativity and talent. It can also be a great way to get your name out there, take customer orders, and meet potential clients.

I find it to be a much bigger pain than it's worth. I don't have a lot of spare time, and what little I have I'd rather be making something really creative, not churning out inventory to sell, setting up, sitting there through the event, packing up, and then cleaning all the displays and jewelry because they got smeary, dusty and spilled upon. If you work with sterling silver, you'll need to invest in lots of little polishing cloths.

The outdoor festivals were fun when it rained and everyone would run under my tent -- and then lean over to look at my jewelry and spill all the rain off their umbrellas all over my stuff. Or all the little kids who would touch and move everything around and get their cotton candy and ice cream and boogers all over it. These are the reasons I invested in glass cases.

There's also a challenge in my city, Raleigh, because there are about 15 million people who are all trying to sell handmade jewelry. And the total population is only about half a million, so you can see what a problem that is. I blame Ornamentea for being the most awesome and inspiring bead store ever.

I was making jewelry before I ever got here, so it's a cool sort of kismet that I'm surrounded by such mad jewelry love. But it also kind of sucks, because if I say, "I'm a professional jewelry designer," I get the eye-roll and a "Oh, YOU, too! So is my (sister, in-law, mother, dog, self, doctor's wife)."

I turned that potential "lemon" into lemonade by founding the Triangle Jewelry Makers in 2008. The group is devoted to supporting and educating jewelry artists by sharing knowledge and information. It's been a wonderful, inspiring experience and I've made lots of friends.

But the glut of jewelry makers means that many jewelry artists I know are turned away from shows and events. "We already have enough jewelry vendors." And if they do get in, they are competing with several others. So I don't usually sell locally. I sell through my website, which keeps me busy enough. Instead of spending time setting up, taking down, and cleaning, I spend time taking pictures and putting them on my website. But at least no one's around to spill anything on my computer but me.

How much jewelry will I need?

How much inventory you'll need before trying to do an event depends on where you want to sell, what you are selling, whether you are sharing the booth with others, and your profit margin. Don't necessarily think about it in terms of NUMBER of items, but as TOTAL RETAIL VALUE of the items.

For example, say you want to do a craft fair. Your actual cost to do the event is not just the vendor fee, but also gas for travel, shopping bags or gift boxes, food, cleaning products, maybe chairs and a tent, etc. Let's pretend that all comes out to $100. You spend $500 on materials to make a bunch of jewelry. You price your jewelry such that if you sold it ALL, you would get $2,000 (which is a very generous markup). But you only sell 30% of that at the craft fair (and based on my experience, that is typical), so you've had a total income of $600.

Congratulations, you've just broken even! And invested 50 hours doing it! Yay!

But if you're feeling adventurous, here are some things to take into consideration when selling at any event:

* Who is your audience? Who is attending this event? How much will they be willing to spend? What will they want? Mother's bracelets and inexpensive items might sell better at a family event. Celtic jewelry at an Irish festival. Expensive items at a high-end show. Renaissance-y items at a Ren Faire. Etc.

* Get out from behind the table and take a long, hard look at your booth. Does your booth look attractive, interesting, clean and pleasant? Is the jewelry sparkling? Or is it all laying flat, tossed in a basket, or sitting in the dark? Creative use of lighting and display can make or break you.

* Do you have items that are eye-grabbers to attract attention? A signature piece under lights, an unusual item up on a stand, a hanging display of jewelry that can be seen from afar, a bowl of free candy or a basket of cheap toys for kids are all tricks I've learned from veteran sellers, to draw people into a booth.

* You will need at least some or all of the following:

- Tent of some kind (if doing outdoor shows, and sometimes even for indoors)
- Lights
- Extension cords
- Sign(s)
- Price tags
- Business cards
- Displays (which might include glass cases, stands, bracelet bars, busts, baskets, shelves, earring cards, etc)
- Shopping bags
- Gift boxes
- Scissors
- Tape
- Paper towels
- Totes or storage containers
- Wagon, cart or dolly (I use Staples® Expanding Folding Crate on Wheels which is a combination tote/dolly, and I love it)
- Water and food
- Tables and chairs
- Space heater

Take some of your tools with you, in case you need to resize or repair something on the spot. If doing special events, you might need dressy clothes, a costume, or some other kind of personal presentation.

* Have fantastic jewelry. If it looks like something they can buy in a store, customers are not going to pay handmade prices for it. If it falls apart before they leave the event, they probably won't be telling their friends great things about you. Use quality ingredients, and make sure your customers know it!

Check out my guest interviews for more stories about event selling.

Jen Hilton makes one-of-a-kind jewelry sold through her website JLHJewelry.com. She is the founder of the Triangle Jewelry Makers and is featured in the books "Steampunk Style Jewelry: Victorian, Fantasy, and Mechanical Necklaces, Bracelets, and Earrings" and "1000 Steampunk Creations: Neo-Victorian Fashion, Gear, and Art" available at Amazon and other booksellers.

Income taxes

2009-04-29T11:10:00.008-04:00

If you are going to sell jewelry, you will have to deal with taxes, laws and licenses. Even if you are going to sell as a hobby, a non-profit endeavor or charity fund-raiser, in addition to filing sales tax you may have to claim income on your state and federal tax forms.

You must complete the following federal tax forms for any year in which you have net earnings of $400 or more:

* Form 1040 (U.S. Individual Income
Tax Return);
* Schedule C (Profit or Loss from Business); and
* Schedule SE (Self-Employment Tax).

Know the specific laws in your city and state. Contact your state's department of revenue, your city's business license office, and a personal tax advisor. Don't be afraid to ask questions. In some cases, you may also want to retain a business lawyer.

While it may be tempting to fly under the radar, it can catch up with you in back taxes, audits, fees and penalties, or when you go to sell at a local craft festival but get kicked out because you don't have a tax ID number or business license.

There's no point in my repeating what has already been said in so many ways, so here's a list of some excellent articles with more information on the subject:

Social Security Office: If You Are Self-Employed
Federal Start-Up Requirements for Small Businesses
State Start-Up Requirements for Small Businesses
Local Start-Up Requirements for Small Businesses
Operating Losses: Prove Your Hobby Is a Business
Is Your Hobby a Business?
Make your hobby pay for itself
Is your hobby a business for tax purposes?
Why Reporting Extra Income Doesn't Mean Paying Extra Taxes
Do I have to pay tax on stuff I sell on eBay?
Reporting self employment income to the IRS

But one bit of advice I will give you is to make sure you don't get caught up in doing more than necessary. Have clear goals. If you are starting a business and hope to make a lot of money, this is approached very differently than if you are just trying to make a hobby break even, or if you are trying to help your church make rosaries. You may not necessarily need to incorporate, file a fictitious business name, or track inventory, for instance. Know what you are doing and why, and make sure you understand your lawyer, tax adviser, and government officials, and that they understand you.

Jen Hilton makes one-of-a-kind jewelry sold through her website JLHJewelry.com. She is the founder of the Triangle Jewelry Makers and is featured in the books "Steampunk Style Jewelry: Victorian, Fantasy, and Mechanical Necklaces, Bracelets, and Earrings" and "1000 Steampunk Creations: Neo-Victorian Fashion, Gear, and Art" available at Amazon and other booksellers.