Jewelry Sales Suggestions S & T Creations

 MIRRORS: You simply MUST have mirrors available for customers. They will want to hold earrings up beside their cheek. They may want to hold a necklace up to see if it needs an extender.

HEIGHT One of the on-going recommendations is to get your jewelry at eye level. So, I wanted to mention a few things you might try to address this. If you raise the height of your displays be sure YOU are still visible! A regular folding chair will make you look like a little kid, and people walking by may think there is no one at your booth. Consider director's chairs, or bar chairs/stools, so you are at a height where you are visible and where you can see your inventory.

First, you can take pvc pipe that is big enough to slide over the legs of your table and cut it so that, when the table legs are inside, it raises the table 12-18 inches. (remember, if you use table skirts, you need extra long one now!).

Second, we used to take many items we needed for a show in boxes, then unload them and set them around the table, on top of our tablecloth. Once we covered them with pieces of material, we had lots of varied heights to sit our displays on.

Third, we decided we wanted at least the option of 2 rows, and maybe 3. This works well if you are limited to only 1 table, or along a back table if you do an "inside U." But what could we pack easily AND carry? We bought wire closet shelves and cut it to the length of our tables. But that was still rather long to fit in our vehicles, so we cut them in half one more time. I then found wire flower pot stands for outdoors. Light, stackable, all the same size. Put a flower pot stand on each end of your table, then add one in the middle. The shelving will sit right on top. If you want 3 rows, use wider shelving for a middle shelf and stack another row of pot stands and shelving.

LIGHTING: For jewelry, I think more is more! I'm not sure what it would be to have too much light at your booth. Lots of booths will have clamp on lights on all corners facing into and down onto tables inside. You can also have track lights across your booth along the top. On simple tracks, these can be hung from your booth frame. Plain indoor reading lights, or torchieres, will also work, especially those with 2 to 4 bulbs that can be turned to high-light different areas of your display. I saw someone set up a pvc pipe frame, stand that over their jewelry, and they had lights attached to the pvc pipe across the top. And don't forget pretty rope lights; these can look very nice both along the inside of your booth AND in and out of displays. Even the candles that have the flickering light bulb inside can give your booth a soft glow.

OK, this is definitely a take what you want and leave the rest. I won't begin to tell you I have done all these myself or make any commitment of what might or might not work, but I do hope to compile tips and suggestions I've learned from others and things I've tried. You may think some are worth trying and some are crazy! I guess reading is optional!

FOR SALE/CLOSE-OUTS: When you are closing out a jewelry line or have earrings you need to move, pieces from last season, even your de-stash beads if you sell those, package them in individual bags and put them in a pretty "treasure chest." While personally I'd use exactly that term and have a pretty chest, you can also use a small box, suitcase, basket, etc. Whatever the container, people LOVE a sale and will trek to your booth for that "special" deal.

DISCOUNT "MONEY" OK, make a scan of some dollar bills, in whatever denomination you want customers to be able to use toward a purchase. Open your scan, leave the denomination # on the corner, replace the profile with your logo and add anything else you want---your tagline, website, phone number, etc. Scan the back and replace that with other information. Maybe a discount message related to purchases on your website, whatever. Now you have business money; customers can draw an envelope and see how much money they save on their purchase. Or it can be used for someone who "wins" a game during a home show. Hand one to everyone who brings a friend to a home show. Have a special "word" during your show and every time someone uses it, they "earn" a business bill or the right to draw one and see what denomination they get. I think there are lots of ways to incorporate these into a business; in fact, you can make these in larger denominations and sell them as gift certificates.

COUPONS OK, coupons that customers can use online are a bit tricky, but here are a couple of suggestions. Coupon codes can be developed that specify what event they were distributed at, with an expiration date (I'd recommend a month, 60 days at the most). BUT what if you want to be able to hand out coupons to people more spontaneously, like a waitress, hairdresser, teller, delivery person, etc? Maybe, at that time, you don't care so much about an expiration date, but you do need to track these individually. Well, here are some options: write in a code that includes the day's date, followed by some code you want (010109BANK, 021009WMART, 031509CLNR, 042009ARBY) that will tell you where you left the coupon. Now, you really have no reason to log that you gave this coupon OUT, you just need to record when it's used so they can only use it once. SO, when it's used on your website, then is when you record that code, in a file somewhere. If someone ever tries to use it again, that's when you can notify them it's been used. OR write in your expiration date.

VINTAGE DISPLAY: If you have a series of designs using vintage components, create a separate display for those. Taking an old, hard side suitcase, cover it with vintage design wallpaper, decals or even contact paper. You may also wish to line the inside the same way. Across the top of the suitcase, you can run ribbon and hang earrings and bracelets. Inside the bottom, line it a bit, using a vintage print material with some quilting inside, then attach necklaces. You can then add more than 1 layer of these....when you open the case, pull out the extra layers and put them around the case, creating a wonderful "trunk" display. You can also design a shallow shelf that can sit inside the bottom, much like old steamer trunks had.

Don't limit this to only vintage, although the older hard style suitcases remind me of that era. By decorating the suitcase with different designs, you can make it look like you packed for the beach, with scenes of sunsets, ocean, palm trees, surfboards and sand. Use old maps of Africa and jungles, deserts, and rivers to create a more ethnic design. All of these themes will bring out the beauty of your jewelry and tie a nice, cohesive look to the entire display. Plus, these become easy to pack and move from show to show.

I don't make many rings, but we occasionally have a few beaded ones to display. If you don't have a display box, or a ring tray, improvise! One suggestion I was given was to paint an old bottle of fingernail polish or cover it with a scrap of material, and then slide the ring on the brush handle. I thought that was great, since we are always throwing away those old dried up bottles.