| are two traditional methods of sourcing jewellery | | | | selling from a showroom, or having an |
| from wholesalers. The first method, most widely | | | | experienced sales rep sit in front of a customer |
| used by small, independent retailers, is to visit a | | | | for two hours pushing the merits of their |
| showroom of one of the many established | | | | necklaces or bracelets. Online, the quality of the |
| wholesalers in person. The second method, more | | | | jewellery needs to be good enough to sell itself. |
| common amongst larger chains and businesses, is | | | | The customer is in control at all times, and can |
| to have a rep from these same wholesale | | | | leave at any moment. You're competing with 1001 |
| companies pay you a visit with a collection of | | | | other online wholesalers, many of them selling |
| catalogues. The problem with both of these | | | | similar lines to yourself, at similar prices. |
| methods, is you're very limited in the number of | | | | Established, bricks and mortar wholesalers, have |
| wholesalers you can see, and in the new lines of | | | | no advantage in the online world, where everyone |
| jewellery you can find. | | | | operates at the same level. |
| How many showrooms can you visit in a day? | | | | But with so many web wholesalers to chose |
| And how many sales reps can you convince to | | | | from, how do you find the good suppliers? The |
| come visit you, if you have the time? | | | | purpose of this article is to outline the different |
| The solution, as with just about every business | | | | methods of finding wholesale jewellery suppliers |
| and commercial decision these days, is to look | | | | online, detail the pros and cons of each, and in |
| online. The number of wholesalers, both new and | | | | doing so, point you in the right direction for when |
| established, that have an online presence is | | | | you begin your own search. Only a small |
| growing every month. And retailers who look | | | | percentage of jewellery retailers have yet |
| online can often find new and exciting lines of | | | | embraced online purchasing, and it is these very |
| jewellery that can be difficult, if not impossible to | | | | retailers who are finding the best of the new |
| source elsewhere. | | | | suppliers, and the most original and unique lines of |
| Online businesses are more than simply arms of | | | | new stock. |
| already established businesses. In many cases, the | | | | It's a well known fact that large, long established |
| best online companies do not have an offline | | | | businesses are loathe to change. This is as true of |
| presence at all. Companies such as Amazon and | | | | jewellery wholesalers as it is of any other |
| Dell started online, and continue to sell only online. | | | | business. What this means for retailers, is that if |
| The wholesale jewellery business is no different. | | | | they continue to source their jewellery the old |
| While it is true that many of the wholesale | | | | fashioned way, they are in real danger of being |
| companies with large showrooms and sales teams | | | | left behind. And with the current economic climate |
| do have websites, they are rarely numbered | | | | being anything but forgiving, this is not |
| amongst the best online jewellery suppliers. | | | | somewhere a retailer wants to be. |
| Running an online business is not the same as | | | | |