Turn Your Hobby into a Business: Sell Handmade Jewelry Today

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Sell Handmade Jewelry

I stopped by my pet’s veterinary office today to pick up some medicine for both my dog and cat.  There was a doctor on duty that I had never met.  One of the vet technician gals greeted me at the desk and told me the doctor wanted to speak to me about my cat’s medicine before I left.  I waited a few minutes, and then an attractive, older woman appeared from a room, decked out with an absolutely fabulous necklace.  I asked her where she got it, and she told me that she had made it.

“You made that!?” I practically screamed. The necklace had gorgeous blue stones interspersed with really neat decorative silver beads.  The highlight was a large, blue stone pendant that adorned the center of the necklace.  I can’t do justice to these beads; they were just magnificent.  Anyway, I asked her if she had a card or a website.  I told her that my mother loved the type of handmade jewelry, like the necklace she made.  She told me that she had neither, but that she had just formed a limited liability company.  Good first step, I thought, but with her talent, she could be selling her handmade jewelry in upscale boutiques.  I’ve seen enough handmade jewelry to know that this woman had a gift that many part-time jewelry makers couldn’t claim.

I asked her if she had ever heard of Etsy.  She had not, so I told her about the online marketplace that’s similar to eBay, except that only hand-made items are listed for sale by sellers who use their creative talent to make extra money from home.

The doctor quickly grabbed a pen and asked me to repeat the website’s name and spell it for her. She explained that she wanted to get to the point where she was selling her items online and at upscale craft shows. She loved making jewelry, and her dream was to be able to do it more and make some money from it.

Selling handmade jewelry can be very lucrative.  Selling opportunities include craft fairs, flea markets, home party sales, online sites like Etsy and eBay, and wholesaling to jewelry stores, boutiques, and consignment shops.

The doctor had a great start. She had exotic, upscale jewelry that many women (myself included) would want to buy as gifts or for themselves. Her challenge would be to market her jewelry to a large enough audience to make her venture worth her time. She didn’t strike me as the type to be on Facebook or Twitter!

What if you love handcrafted jewelry and would like to sell it, but don’t want to make it or don’t have the time or inclination to learn to make it?  Fear not!  There’s a great resource called Worldwide Brands: The Product Sourcing Experts.  I’ve used them in the past to find wholesalers for pet products, children’s products, and other things that I could sell on eBay.  You’ll find plenty of jewelry wholesalers at Worldwide Brands .

Keep in mind, though, that if you’re looking to buy products from wholesalers, you’ll most likely need an EIN. You can easily obtain this by going to the IRS.gov website. An Employer Identification Number (EIN), also known as a Federal Tax Identification Number, is a nine-digit number that the IRS assigns to business entities. The IRS uses this number to identify taxpayers who are required to file various business tax returns.