Selling Jewelry in a Thrift Store Without an E-commerce Operation
There is a lot of value hiding in that random costume jewelry
It’s becoming all the rage to sort through donated jewelry, pull out valuables and sell them online. It works, it’s very profitable and captures more of the value of donations.
It doesn’t take an e-commerce department to move past glass jars and a few random pieces in a showcase.
The key to finding value is sorting. It works much the same in a single store as does a central sort. A central sort program will tend to have high skilled specialists. Still, a lot can be done in a store.
In a store, someone that is responsible for regularly going through donated jewelry will find more than enough value to justify the payroll expense.
Chances are most stores that have someone that knows enough to find gold, silver, and other more obvious value. There is someone in almost every store that has an interest and has the patience to sort and review jewelry.
With the right person and additional training, a single store can become a jewelry shopper’s destination. That showcase can become some of the most productive space in the store.
Even without an online system, it’s easy to go to Facebook Marketplace and list individual items. Even that little extra exposure will have a multiplying effect.
There is another way to serve customers and increase income on jewelry, carding pegging individual pieces.
Rather than glass jars, carding and selling by the piece adds to the selection for your customers and maximizes value. When managed in conjunction with the jewelry sorter the sales will offset the added labor expense. The trick is to handle pieces as few times as possible.
Selling new costume jewelry and donated in the same stores seems to work. It may be because new will provide a wider selection than is sometimes available in thrift.
Investing a little more time in this category can create outsized benefits.
About me
I am a thrift and retail business expert located near Chicago. Using my twenty plus years of retail and seven-plus years of thrift retail experience to help small businesses grow and succeed.
You can also find me on LinkedIn, Medium, and my thrift reseller blog The Thrifter.
You might also be interested in my Thrift Merchandising ebook on Amazon. It’s about how to merchandise thrift stores more like traditional stores. It’s free with a Kindle Unlimited membership.
Tim Gebauer — The Thrifter