Selling your finished jewelry on a regular basis helps keep money flowing into your jewelry business.
(In the retail world, it’s known as “turning over your inventory”.)
If you have finished pieces of jewelry sitting around for a long time before they sell, you’re not getting reimbursed for the money you’ve invested in the supplies and overhead (plus the value of your time) that went into creating these pieces.
So keeping inventory moving is important for all businesses that deal in tangible products – and one of the keys is not letting your older stock build up.
You see this strategy at work all the time in the stores you shop in. They don’t pack their unsold items into storage at the end of the season, to be brought out again next year.
Instead, at the end of the season unsold older items are discounted and then finally “clearance priced” to recoup the money that went into them.
For example, the lowest prices on swimsuits are at the end of the summer when stores want to move them out to make room for Fall fashions.
The biggest discounts on artificial Christmas trees are after Christmas, when stores want to get rid of them and start stocking Spring gardening items.
You can use this same “end of season” strategy to turn over your jewelry inventory and unload your older creations.
So while you’re working on the new jewelry lines or collections you’ll be introducing, start discounting and clearancing your current jewelry inventory.
You can find creative, appealing ways to do this.
For example, you can email your customers or send them a postcard to announce your discounts and clearances. (”Hurry – limited quantities available; when they’re gone, they’re gone!”)
At jewelry parties and art shows you can also package your clearance items for sale in rummage-style containers, with signs advertising your volume discounts.
See how I use this strategy in my newsletter article A Deal Your Customers Can’t Refuse.
Or try Janet Davis’ excellent Jewelry Grab Bags idea.
The idea is to turn your older jewelry pieces into cash, so the returns on your investment and time keep flowing in.
