My first steps in trading jewelry from China

How to organize a jewelry trade?

In the 21st century, the market has changed greatly. Trade that took place in tents has now begun to increasingly move to large shopping centers and department stores. There, entrepreneurs rented space for trading. Many did not dare to open their own store, and such people were the first to decide to sell jewelry to tenants and owners of retail outlets.

Many traders, having considerable experience in their work, have come to the conclusion that trading in costume jewelry is a very profitable business. Even in the roaring nineties, when any product on the market could provide up to 200% profit, it was worth opening a jewelry store and it was able to bring a profit of 1000%! Entrepreneurs at that time very accurately guessed the right direction, and do not hide the fact that even today, by selling costume jewelry, you can make a considerable profit. Opening a cosmetics store is also a very profitable idea.

On what basis did they decide that one could earn a fortune by trading such, at first glance, not particularly necessary products?

On video: Business plan for selling jewelry

Prospects for trade in jewelry and accessories in Russia

Since costume jewelry is not an essential commodity, in the difficult economic conditions of recent years it is difficult to make far-reaching forecasts regarding the growth in demand for this type of product. However, a fairly quick return on initial investment makes selling costume jewelry an attractive business option. This option is perfect for novice entrepreneurs who are limited in funds. The niche has prospects for growth in Russia and is a good investment in the long term.

Cooperation with China in the supply of costume jewelry: basic rules

Selling Chinese-made jewelry has several important advantages that will make your new business practically break even. These features include a wide target audience - inexpensive Chinese jewelry is in demand among the female population of various age and social categories.

On video: How to buy jewelry wholesale from China?

Another important point that speaks in favor of choosing such a business will be the wide range of jewelry produced in the Middle Kingdom and a significant variety of style trends. In addition, costume jewelry is a product that has no expiration dates, which allows you to make your business practically break-even.

Since the variety of goods manufactured in China is very wide, an entrepreneur organizing trade with local manufacturers should immediately think through a strategy for future activities, identifying the target audience and purchasing jewelry for certain style and age categories. At the same time, you can target buyers of different income levels, offering for sale both luxury jewelry and economy-class products.

On video: Jewelry factories in China. Live review of Fallon Jewelry

Minimal starting investments when purchasing goods directly from a Chinese manufacturer make entering the market very simple and minimize the risks that a beginning businessman is exposed to in one way or another.

Business with China, including in the decorative jewelry industry, requires minimal knowledge of the Chinese language, since not all local partners speak English, much less Russian. Thus, mainly Russian entrepreneurs who feel confident in the relevant market can count on concluding a profitable contract. Previous experience of cooperation with Chinese companies will also help in organizing a business from scratch selling locally produced jewelry.

On video: Business with China on jewelry

Possible difficulties of cooperation with Chinese companies include a high level of risk, which is associated with frequent cases of handicraft and counterfeit products. This same aspect causes potential buyers to distrust goods from China. This difficulty can be overcome by first making sure of the reliability of the chosen manufacturer and guaranteeing customers the high quality of the product offered.

Opening a jewelry sales point: step-by-step guide and drawing up a business plan

• Selection of supplier and formation of assortment

Before hiring sellers and coming up with storefront designs, it is important to decide what kind of jewelry you are going to sell and find a reliable supplier with reasonable prices. All costume jewelry presented on the Russian market can be divided into three categories:

• Cheap and not very high quality: such products are usually produced in China or Korea and have a low purchase price. Cheap jewelry can be found everywhere, the markup on them is minimal and the profit is formed mainly due to sales volume.
• Inexpensive products of good quality: creating an assortment will cost more, but the markup can be higher, and high-quality materials and attractive design allow the store to win the trust of the client, turning him into a regular customer. It is jewelry from the middle price segment that is sold by most popular chains selling costume jewelry in Russia.
• Expensive branded jewelry: the store’s markup when selling luxury jewelry can reach up to 300%, and the fame of the manufacturer ensures a constant flow of wealthy customers. There is an opportunity to become an exclusive representative of the brand in Russia.

For a novice entrepreneur, an excellent solution would be to purchase a franchise and work within a successful large network. This approach will eliminate many of the difficulties that arise in the initial stages of developing your business. You will be able to purchase goods from trusted suppliers, and the “big brother” will tell you the most popular items and profitable batch sizes.

The choice of price segment is directly related to where the product is planned to be sold. Cheap jewelry is suitable for markets and small provincial shops. In a shopping center where famous brands are represented, expensive jewelry is in great demand, and cheap goods will remain unclaimed.

This point of the business project will be called “product characteristics” and will explain what kind of jewelry was chosen for sale and why.

Story

In the 90s mentioned above, some entrepreneurs noticed that in foreign countries, almost every member of the youth wore a lot of different jewelry. In Russia, there were practically no retail outlets that sold various earrings, beads, etc. The absence of such outlets meant that if you started selling jewelry on your own, there would be virtually no competition in the market. The only worrying question was whether such products would be in demand in Russia. But then, encouraged and inspired by possible success, the entrepreneurs decided to take a risk. There was an important question about where to purchase the necessary goods and how to sell them in order to minimize taxes. If there were no problems with the purchase of goods, since then it was possible to buy jewelry from emigrants at ridiculous prices, then the second question, which concerned how to sell the products, turned out to be more serious. It was at that moment that the idea arose in someone’s head that it was possible to trade with the help of third parties and the outlets they used.

Entrepreneurs came to the conclusion that this option is very convenient, especially taking into account the peculiarities of that time period. The absence of a threat from racketeers, the ability to cover many retail outlets simultaneously without opening their own stores, as well as the absence of problems with the tax inspectorate, allowed entrepreneurs to expand their opportunities.

On video: Jewelry from China. Male gaze

Obviously, there was still some danger in this business. For example, there was a possibility that merchants who were provided with jewelry for trade could fraudulently take possession of other people's money. Some people have been deceived by tenants to whom they rented jewelry for sale. They simply changed retail outlets, taking someone else’s goods with them. And at that time there were very big doubts that costume jewelry would really be in demand on the market.

However, now, it is no secret that this turned out to be a good, but not a new business idea. The work was carried out according to a very simple principle: every month it was necessary to purchase jewelry, hand it over to a retail outlet, calculate your profit, and leave, so that in a month they would return again with the goods and take your money. Thus, it turned out that the work schedule consisted of several days necessary for purchasing goods, and the rest of the time was completely free. The profit from such a business turned out to be very high indeed.

In the video: Online jewelry store on Instagram

Over time, many retail outlets ceased their activities. Obviously, this had a negative impact on the work of entrepreneurs who were engaged in the jewelry trade with the help of outsiders. Losses among partners became catastrophic, and the search for new ones almost always ended in failure. In addition, trading enterprises that took goods for sale have practically disappeared. This in turn is due to the high cost of rent.

After 2000, the jewelry trade began to spread in the form of its own points of sale. Since then, traders, like other entrepreneurs, began to prepare reports, pay rent, and fight the emerging competition.

Renting premises

The place where the store will be located should be clearly visible. It is best to rent space in a large shopping center, where there are a large number of people every day. High traffic will ensure a constant flow of visitors. There are several options for product placement when selling jewelry:

• Shop. The disadvantage of this option is the high cost of rent. Costume jewelry does not take up much space and a decent assortment can be placed even in one or two display cases. If you decide not to limit yourself to one counter, it is better to give preference to smaller departments. For representatives of well-known brand products, a separate store in a corporate style will be the best option.
• The island is a compact retail outlet of several square meters. Cheap and convenient.
• It is profitable to open a large department or supermarket if the entrepreneur is not limited in funds and is willing to wait a long time for the first profit. This option is usually used by large organizations in addition to the existing range of products.

The proximity to wedding salons and shops selling evening dresses has a tangible impact on sales growth. It is worth considering possible options for cooperation with sellers of related products to increase profits.

Necessary equipment

To start sales, it is enough to purchase a cash register, a payment terminal and, of course, product displays equipped with special lighting devices. The sizes of the decorations are small, their presentation depends on the angle of incidence of light, the background of the substrate and many other factors that should be taken into account when purchasing and decorating display cases. You will need halogen lamps, spotlights and, of course, mirrors. Products should be clearly visible on the counter. If jewelry is placed in the public domain, you should provide convenient holders so that customers can easily try on products without the risk of dropping them.

Starting capital: how much money is needed to open a retail outlet and when to expect profit

If an entrepreneur purchases a franchise for his business, then the volume of initial investments has already been calculated by the company’s specialists. The investment amount can range from 250,000 to 1,500,000 rubles, depending on the brand and type of outlet.

The main expense items are:

• purchasing the necessary equipment (showcases, lighting fixtures, mirrors, stands, etc.);
• purchase of a starter collection;
• rental of retail space;
• franchise entry fee (if any);
• advertising campaign expenses;
• employee salaries;
• registration of a company and maintenance of financial statements.

The payback period is from six months to two years. Accordingly, business profitability is on average 20%.

Advertising campaign or how to attract customers

Advertising jewelry is a complicated matter. Unlike other products, its sales are almost not affected by the placement of information on television and radio. Give preference to discount flyers and periodic information about sales and new arrivals. Proper design of the outlet is your main trump card. A bright and recognizable design will allow regular customers to recognize their favorite brand and attract new visitors. Promotions and seasonal discounts are a great way to attract attention.

When selling costume jewelry, it is extremely important to keep your collection updated. Costume jewelry is most often purchased periodically, seasonally or for an event, so customers come back again and again to buy jewelry that they don't already have. They will forget the way to your department if they don't see new products on display.

Chinese jewelry: assortment selection

Any product must be in demand among potential buyers. Therefore, before purchasing, you should find out the features of the relevant market in Russia, existing trends and the level of demand.

As a rule, when purchasing costume jewelry in China for further sale in Russia, they select the widest possible range. In addition to earrings, bracelets, rings, pendants and other jewelry, you can offer customers a whole set of hair accessories, including hair clips, elastic bands, etc.

The price categories of the future assortment should also be considered.

Decorative jewelry is mainly presented on the market in three price segments:

• cheap, made of plastic and other inexpensive materials;
• costume jewelry in the middle price segment, usually high-quality copies of jewelry from famous brands;
• expensive jewelry: with natural pearls, Swarovski crystals, handmade goods.

Regardless of which category a particular piece of jewelry belongs to, any product must have a quality certificate and detailed information about the manufacturer. The manufacturer should be treated with caution by first examining reviews of its product and making sure that it is properly registered in accordance with the law.

Legal registration of a business selling jewelry

To start making money, you should officially register your business. You can register as an individual entrepreneur or a legal entity. An entrepreneur faces a standard set of procedures: registration with the tax service, opening a bank account, registration with social insurance funds, choosing a form of taxation.

It is better to outsource accounting to a third party company. As a rule, the document flow of a retail enterprise is small, and maintaining its own accounting department is unprofitable.

Pros and cons of this type of business

The advantages of a jewelry store include:

• quick payback compared to other types of business;
• minimum starting investment: it is enough to rent a small island in a shopping center and hire one salesperson to start trading;
• development prospects: the costume jewelry market in Russia is growing, many brands are not yet represented in the country, and well-known brands are present only in large cities.

The main disadvantage of this type of activity today is the decrease in sales of costume jewelry and accessories due to the rise in the exchange rate of the dollar and euro, as well as a general decrease in household incomes. In order to remain in the black, the leaders of the direction are forced to constantly improve their working methods and form the assortment with special care. However, the segment is still profitable and quickly pays for itself, which attracts more and more new market participants.

Accessories and jewelry market

Once upon a time, accessories were considered something frivolous: Soviet women, for example, were deprived of the joy of matching earrings with beads, beads with dresses... There were, of course, jewelry and bags, but women were forced to buy more or less beautiful things through third parties .

Now the situation has changed radically. At the beginning of the 2000s, the market was flooded with a lot of accessories - which, however, most women did not know how to wear and combine. Years have passed, and now almost every woman has been trained in this science - thanks to women's magazines, videos and examples of stars.

Currently, sales of accessories are growing inexorably. New players are appearing on the market, both domestic and foreign. Due to the popularity of vintage and boho styles, the demand for handmade accessories has sharply increased. Now every fashionista has at least a couple of handmade items in her wardrobe.

Moreover, if previously accessories were sold as additional products in online clothing stores, now specialized accessory stores have appeared on the RuNet, which are extremely popular. In general, you understand: selling accessories now is a profitable business .

Choosing a direction

Open the website of a popular accessories store and you will find collections of different styles and different brands. You, too, can follow this example and sell all the accessories that are on the market: bags, sunglasses, swimsuits, belts, hats, mobile phone cases... However, in this case, get ready to fight with your competitors for every customer: you are unlikely to beat such popular stores like Marmalato, Diva, Lambada-market and others.

Accessories on the Lamoda website

The second option is to stay in one direction. For example, sell only hair jewelry: headbands, barrettes, elastic bands, headbands and much, much more. This is where you can go full force: attract all famous brands to cooperate, find interesting craftsmen who make handmade hair jewelry. Keep in mind: if you choose the second option, your assortment should be as complete as possible.

And the third option is to find an unusual narrow niche (ideally, one that is not yet represented or is little promoted in the domestic market) and promote it. Here everything depends on you: the niche must really be unusual in order to interest Russian fashionistas. For example, these could be accessories made of ivory, teeth of the leaders of the African tribe Mumbo-Jumbo - well, you get the idea. In this case, you will need a large-scale campaign to ensure that your target audience knows about your products.

Registering an individual entrepreneur

We say individual entrepreneur, assuming that this is your first business. For a beginner, it is better to stay with this form of ownership, and then, if you decide to expand, you can open an LLC.

So, we open an individual entrepreneur at the nearest tax office, pay the fee, and indicate the OKVED codes . Here you need to decide what accessories you will sell - individual categories have their own codes. For example, for trade in jewelry and haberdashery (bags, wallets, belts) - 52.41, for retail trade in non-specialized stores - 52.1, and so on. The full list can be viewed on the OKVED codes website.

We draw up a business plan

So now you are an entrepreneur! In order not to burn out in the first few months, you need to draw up a business plan - at least conditionally on paper.

1. We study the market and main competitors. We go to websites and look at prices, the size of discounts, the scale of sales, and customer reviews. You can conduct your own survey on social networks: create an online store group and directly ask subscribers what accessories they would be more willing to buy.
2. We outline all the expenses (for creating a website, advertising campaigns, purchasing lots of goods, office rent, salaries for sellers) and the estimated financial income for the coming year. Be prepared for the fact that in the first year things may not go as smoothly as you would like. Everything is learned in practice: hold out for a year - then it will be easier.
3. We study the strengths and weaknesses of competitors. This online store makes too much of a markup and scares people away with its prices, while this one, on the contrary, sells cheap small things and can’t increase its turnover? Draw conclusions and don’t repeat their mistakes.
4. We create a USP - a unique selling proposition. This is what sets you apart from your competitors, what makes your products and your store unique. Have you found a gold mine, a narrow niche that is not yet represented in Russia? Great. Have you invited a media person to collaborate with you to promote your accessories? Wonderful! This is your USP, on which you need to build an advertising campaign.
5. Getting to know the target audience. Who are your clients? More precisely, clients: your main customers will be women. What do they wear, where do they work, how do they spend their free time? Let's draw up a portrait of the target audience and in the future we will focus on it.

We advise you to decide on the age of the target audience: this will make it easier to guess the needs and select the appropriate assortment. You know: what suits a young girl will look inappropriate on a mature lady.

The same can be said about the level of financial security. It is unlikely that a rich woman will buy bags and watches from China - not the same status, you know. But a simple office worker cannot afford expensive hand-made items made from genuine leather and semi-precious stones. To each his own. Try to ensure that your online store offers accessories for every budget - and no one will leave offended.

Filtering products by price

We are looking for suppliers

We do not recommend working with wholesalers - consumer accessories are plentiful in every shopping center. Your audience is looking for something new - surprise them. And you can surprise her only in one way: by offering original unusual accessories. But where to find them?

1. Search among needlewomen. Craftsmen make everything by hand: from bags to smartphone cases, not to mention jewelry. Let us note - and all this is in a single copy, which is an additional competitive advantage. They can be found on social networks, on specialized sites like the “Masters Fair”, many of them have their own shops offline or on the Internet. The main thing is to set a goal and find really high-quality original items that your customers will like.
2. Search abroad. In the West, there are also many single needlewomen who sell their goods among friends and acquaintances. The specifics of working with them are no different from what we suggested above. The only difference is that you need a good knowledge of the language and learning the intricacies of transferring goods across the border (duties, customs clearance, and so on).
3. Search in China. Yes, accessories from Aliexpress and similar sites often look cheap - but at the same time they cost pennies. Don’t immediately focus on a wealthy target audience: many young girls living on scholarships and part-time jobs also want to have cool things. The advantage of Chinese stores is that new fashion items are constantly appearing there. Your task is to constantly monitor their range and be the first to offer this product here in Russia.
4. Search among the stars. Popular personalities often release their own collections of accessories: perfumes, hats, jewelry, glasses, and the like. They sell them in the same stores - you just need to agree on cooperation and offer yourself as an intermediary. Keep in mind: young people have their own idols - as a rule, these are fashion bloggers and video bloggers, who also release their collections in the wake of popularity. For example, the online store Marmalato collaborates with video blogger Sasha Spielberg - on their website you can see her collection of accessories in a separate section.

We select the assortment

Accessories is a fairly broad concept. You can sell hats, shoes, jewelry, bags, beachwear, not to mention watches and bags. This is the assortment offered to customers by the same Marmalato.

Range of products on the accessories website