Whether you’re selling online, in a brick-and-mortar store, or you’re making the most of market footfall, selling jewelry is still a highly profitable business, with jewelry sales growing on average by 3.9% a year. Despite challenges caused by the pandemic, the jewelry market is still booming, with the industry as a whole expected to be worth $518 billion by 2030.
While the future of the jewelry industry is looking bright, for retail sellers to profit from this growth, you need to find wholesale jewelry suppliers that are reliable and offer high-quality goods. Purchasing bulk amounts of jewelry is not as easy as other retail products, with more pitfalls and room for oversights that could prove extremely costly. Without a good supplier, you may be left without inventory to sell and - even worse - second-rate goods.
Below, we’ve put together some of the best tips and tricks to help you find a good wholesale jewelry supplier locally and online. We’ll also give some tips on things to look out for, including how to cut down overall expenditure.
Online Directories
While it might seem a bit old hat, scouring trade directories is still one of the very best ways to connect with suppliers. While this used to require you to buy bulky print publications, nowadays, everything can be found online with directories about to be searched and filtered with ease.
Most online directories cater to specific countries and regions, so you’ll need to do a quick search for your location’s best listing website. Some of the biggest directories that feature jewelry suppliers and cater to international markets, however, include:
- Faire: An international directory of more than 30,000 independent suppliers.
- Handshake: A Shopify offshoot dedicated to wholesale selling, featuring a large number of wholesale jewelry suppliers.
- Wholesale Central: A comprehensive database of wholesalers, distributors, manufacturers, and suppliers, with a robust jewelry section.
- Alibaba: The single biggest B2B marketplace in the world, with a massive range of wholesale jewelry on offer from a range of suppliers.
- Tundra: An online wholesale directory website with a clean layout that features some of the world’s best jewelry suppliers.
Local Suppliers and Google
While online directories are useful for large orders and regular shipments, you may also want to leverage local jewelry suppliers. These are often made by local tradespeople and craft artists, but some more commercial ventures can also operate locally.
Finding these local suppliers is easier than you may think. You may see local jewelry suppliers selling their wares on relevant Facebook groups, for example. Feel free to reach out to them and ask them if they’d be interested in becoming a supplier for you. Use these local suppliers as a way to augment and supplement larger wholesale shipments.
You can also use Google to find local jewelry suppliers using the following formats:
- “[location] jewelry wholesaler”
- “jewelry supplier near me”
- “[descriptor] jewelry manufacturer”
For example, “sterling silver jewelry manufacturer” will lead you to elf925’s wholesale website where customers can order high-quality silver, unique jewelry pieces in large quantities with a minimum order of just $99.
Visit Trading Shows
A great way to build bridges between businesses is to attend trade shows. Retail trade shows are exhibitions held to showcase different industries and allow wholesalers to demonstrate their goods. For jewelry sellers, they allow you to inspect the quality of the metal, gems, and construction in detail, as well as give you the opportunity to ask as many questions as you’d like. Retailers and wholesalers alike both favor trade shows as they facilitate easy working relationships without miscommunication. Wholesalers also tend to offer special discounts at these events that would otherwise be unavailable.
- TSNN: The Trade Show News Network has a directory of trade show events for US retailers with plenty of upcoming jewelry events listed.
- Events Eye: For international audiences, Events Eye has a comprehensive database of all jewelry trade shows happening all around the world.
- Trade Fair Dates: Another great international database of events that mostly focuses on European locations.
Facebook, eBay, Etsy
Sourcing your jewelry through Facebook marketplace, eBay, and sites like Etsy can also be a great way to create a jewelry inventory. Facebook marketplace, as discussed, is great for finding talented local jewelers that can help distinguish your store from competitors with bespoke, unique designs.
While eBay may not seem like an ideal wholesale supplier, it has plenty of mixed lots and bulk supplies on offer for prices a lot cheaper than you’d expect. A point to consider is international shipping can be a lot costlier, however. Some eBay sellers charge extremely high rates for international shipping and can use non-reputable companies.
For this reason, some people still choose to use trusted online wholesalers. At Elf 925 Wholesale, our shipping process is simple, with free delivery on orders over $499. We only ever use the world’s most reliable carriers, including FedEx, UPS, and DHL, and ship within 48 hours of order.
Most people visit Etsy to buy a unique, handmade gift, but it is also a great way to find wholesale jewelry suppliers. Unlike eBay, a lot of these items are authentically handmade and can be limited by locale. Since inception, prices here have steadily risen, making bargains harder to find. However, it’s still possible to strike up good working relationships with creators here should you be willing to order regularly.
Referrals
As with any type of business, referrals can often be the best way to find good suppliers. While hours of research, reaching out, and sending endless emails will pay off, referrals offer a shortcut with someone else already sourcing reliable suppliers.
Try reaching out to your network and connections and asking them for good suppliers. Some retailers like to keep their inventory sources close to their chest, but others are more than happy to share their wholesale list, especially if you are selling to different territories.
You can also reach out on business forums for your country and region. These can be a goldmine for advice and forging business relationships, with many wholesalers regularly checking for potential new retail clients.
Takeaway
Finding jewelry wholesalers involves a little time, effort, and tenacity, with the payoff being a solid list of reliable suppliers to stock out your inventory.
For those looking for beautiful, high-quality sterling silver, visit ELF925 Wholesale’s store now. We offer highly competitive prices, a low $99 minimum order amount, high-volume discounts, and free worldwide shipping for orders over $499.
