Anyone here ever owned/worked at an online store w/ physical products? Or the jewelry business?

[clickhappy]

about 17 years ago I got a few short domain names that are really good. In case I get to a point where everything is fucked up I can use them as a plan B. Well Im ready for plan B now as i failed in business so far.

I have a killer domain name for an online jewelry store. and it would be super easy for me to put up a store, set up a merchange account/paypal/buy ads/market on social media/youtube etc.

But I dont know anything about the business. The inventory, terminology, competition from Etsy/Ebay/Amazon etc.

All I know is that I have a great domain name and that jewelry isnt something that will be slowed down by illegal pirating and downloading.

anyone know anything about this industry or about selling physical mainstream products online? Go for it? or definitely stay away? Is it LOTS of returns and pain in the ass customers?
Maybe just sell mens items since guys arent as fussy as women?

I imagine much of my competition are old ladies with shitty websites so I would fly past them, I would think.

[EddyTheDog]

Is the domain good enough to lease?..

[sarettah]

My wife has been doing jewelry stuff online for about 15 years.

Very competitive niche to be in. Lots of people selling for very low dollar. Lot's of cheap stuff out there.

.

[ITraffic]

amazon affiliate store.

[clickity click]

What's the domain?

[tical]

If you have a good product and know how to market it, you'll be fine and you can use channels like Amazon/eBay/Etsy etc. in addition to your own shop to promote & sell your products.

Use a service like shipstation to consolidate all orders into a single place for easy processing and shipping. Returns are rare as long as you're not misleading anyone with your product descriptions and aren't selling junk. Women will likely spend more than men and they don't really bitch at all... as a matter of fact, they're very understanding and easy going as long as your support is top notch.

But remember, just because you build it doesn't mean they'll come. You need to understand your demographic, how to reach them, how to get them to spend, and how to get them to come back and spend more.

Good luck!

[John_Galbani]

I sell adult toys in european market.

[clickhappy]

Originally Posted by sarettah

My wife has been doing jewelry stuff online for about 15 years.

Very competitive niche to be in. Lots of people selling for very low dollar. Lot's of cheap stuff out there.

.

Thanks, After 15 years is she doing alright in it or is it still a struggle?

[clickhappy]

Originally Posted by tical

If you have a good product and know how to market it, you'll be fine and you can use channels like Amazon/eBay/Etsy etc. in addition to your own shop to promote & sell your products.

Use a service like shipstation to consolidate all orders into a single place for easy processing and shipping. Returns are rare as long as you're not misleading anyone with your product descriptions and aren't selling junk. Women will likely spend more than men and they don't really bitch at all... as a matter of fact, they're very understanding and easy going as long as your support is top notch.

But remember, just because you build it doesn't mean they'll come. You need to understand your demographic, how to reach them, how to get them to spend, and how to get them to come back and spend more.

Good luck!

Thanks! Really appreciate your insider info and I will look at shipstation. Luckily I have women all around me so they will tell me what they would wear and what they wouldnt.
I guess I wouldnt want to get into something where it is already over taken by getting similar pieces from China for 0.05% of the price of American made, and where its already too competitive from billion dollar mega stores.

The last few years have been very sour for me and I just dont want yet another failure because i didnt research enough

[marketingpanda]

Go for it!
I've been working for a store that dropships physical products for 2 years now. If you need help with building a website or social media and seo services or if you have other questions on how to start this up please let me know.

[sarettah]

Originally Posted by clickhappy

Thanks, After 15 years is she doing alright in it or is it still a struggle?

She does ok. Provides about half our household income through it.

We do our own custom physical products and also do some supplies.

As far as it being a struggle or not I would say it is not usually but since Jewelry is often a "trend" thing it can be hard to keep up with so many different directions you can go in. Often have to pick and choose and hope that you picked right as far as what is going to be selling next week.

.

[suesheboy]

Originally Posted by clickhappy

Thanks, After 15 years is she doing alright in it or is it still a struggle?

The real question is: How much repeat business can be generated by emails and mailings to previous customers after 15 years. It is more than 25%? 40%? It this growing or declining?

[Sunny Day]

Talk about the toughest business in the world. If you have a name like Brighton, women will buy anything, considering it's all crap.
My GF makes jewelry that is beautiful, people say so, then don't buy. Hate to see her come home from a show crying, as she sold nothing.
It's a fucking crap shoot business.
One Christmas season I worked at a store specializing in holograms, but we were a jewelry store selling some hologram art, but the main income was hologram jewelry. I sold so many pairs of earrings, that for years after the first thing I looked at on a woman was her earrings. As for watches, it was show every customer in the store a watch. See the hologram, told it slightly and see the time. Shy me must have sold 1000+ in those 3 months. Ranging from $10 to $150.
It's all product, presentation and brand. Just like porn.
Then again, I get a mail order catalog from a company that sells clothing and jewelry. Just the cost of the mailings they must be bringing in revenue.

[Markonline]

Originally Posted by clickhappy

about 17 years ago I got a few short domain names that are really good. In case I get to a point where everything is fucked up I can use them as a plan B. Well Im ready for plan B now as i failed in business so far.

I have a killer domain name for an online jewelry store. and it would be super easy for me to put up a store, set up a merchange account/paypal/buy ads/market on social media/youtube etc.

But I dont know anything about the business. The inventory, terminology, competition from Esy/Ebay/Amazon etc.

All I know is that I have a great domain name and that jewelry isnt something that will be slowed down by illegal pirating and downloading.

anyone know anything about this industry or about selling physical mainstream products online? Go for it? or definitely stay away? Is it LOTS of returns and pain in the ass customers?
Maybe just sell mens items since guys arent as fussy as women?

I imagine much of my competition are old ladies with shitty websites so I would fly past them, I would think.

The key to anything like this is the quality (unuiqe angle) on/of supply.

US/EU/UK etc sellers used to buy from Ali etc and do quite well.

Now the Chinese have plenty $ and can see selling prices on eBay etc, many (lower end quality mainly) so are leasing warehouses themselves right in US/EU/UK etc.

The service, quality and everything is shit, they have feedback low as ~ 90%, but eBay turn a blind eye as they are killing it in fees.

Ideally you need a unique angle or product (nothing new there then ), then you can make good bank.
Better yet, create a hybrid product from others ideas being combined into a unique presentation.
Don't have it made in China.

Amazon has a better quality client base, eBay not so much, but if you add card/s in ebay etc deliveries to insentivise purchases direct from your own site and get them on a mailing list, money can be good, takes a few months to get right, then it can go crazy if done right.

Forget jewellery if you have no experience, don't be a busy fool; find items nobody else is selling, or be creative and produce your own or have it done for you.

The key lies in investing in the product packaging design in some areas, we threw a lot of $ at that and now cannot produce enough stock to meet sales, plus are being contacted by both wholesalers and retailers - all because our packing presented our stuff like nobody did before.

Best of all, now all automated, I never even see the fucking products.

(Sell the domains, whatever you do jewlery is a crazy place to start).

[slapass]

i sold physical products. The coolest thing is you can be up and running in days. Google adwords and paypal or the googel thing and off you go. You can test tweak, test tweak and then see about lowering costs by improving your process. Pretty straight forward.

[kane]

I used to buy storage units and sold the stuff online, but I didn't really have a store or focus on one product. However, I did date a girl several years ago that sold jewelry that she made online. After a year or so of trial and error she started focusing on just anklets and toe rings and a few other niche products and that was when it started to pick up for her. She said that by trying to do too many different thing she couldn't offer enough choices in enough categories to satisfy customers, but by focusing on a niche she could give them many choices and become an expert in that niche.

So, you might do that. Pick a few different areas of that big market and focus on just those.

[carpocratian]

Originally Posted by clickhappy

But I dont know anything about the business. The inventory, terminology, competition from Etsy/Ebay/Amazon etc.

One of the reasons that so many small businesses fail is because the owner doesn't have an good understanding of the industry and the product. That is absolutely essential.

You need to go get a job in a jewelry store and work there for a year. After that, you'll have a much, much better understanding of what you are doing.

Maybe just sell mens items since guys arent as fussy as women?

When it comes to jewelry, men are much more fussy than women. Most men don't wear as much jewelry as women, so they tend to be pickier about what they do buy, are less likely to spend a lot of money on it, and don't make the best repeat customers (since they don't buy much of it).