How to Create the Perfect Sourcing Routine for Jewelry Resellers! - Episode #61

[00:00:00] Welcome to the Jewelry Resellers Podcast, You're Go To Source for All Things, Shiny, Sparkly and of course profitable. I'm your host Desiree, and I'll be your guide on this dazzling journey through the world of reselling Jewelry.

[00:00:14] We'll be diving deep into the art and science of reselling, uncovering valuable tips, insider secrets, and sharing stories from successful Jewelry resellers. We'll explore market trends, industry news and even discuss how to find those hidden gems just waiting to be discovered in thrift stores estate sales and beyond.

[00:00:37] So if you're dreaming of turning your hobby into a hustle or if you're a seasoned pro looking to stay at the top of your Jewelry reselling game, Join me each week for insights, stories, and more on the Jewelry resellers podcast.

[00:00:55] Hello and welcome to the Jewelry resellers podcast. I am your Jewelry reselling bestie. My name is Desiree, and every week I try to bring you things that will help you either start a Jewelry reselling business, maybe grow a Jewelry reselling business, or maybe you just want to do this for fun.

[00:01:20] So today we're going to talk about a sourcing routine. I think that is one of the questions I get asked about the most, is how do you find jewelry pieces that have enough resale value to make this a sustainable business?

[00:01:37] And it's not about just finding pieces here and there. It's about finding jewelry pieces on a consistent basis that you can resell for profit. So probably a couple weeks ago I answered a question from a woman who said that the hardest thing about doing this is finding jewelry pieces to resell.

[00:02:01] And I have to say that in a lot of ways, I do agree with that because it's getting more and more challenging to not only find jewelry pieces that you want to sell.

[00:02:13] But also finding them in their frequency and in the volume that you need in order to sell the amount in order to make the financial goals that you set for yourself.

[00:02:29] Okay, so today we're going to talk about that. And I know I'm doing a little bit of a different set up here. A lot of you have asked if I could do the podcast in a video format. So I am trying that today.

[00:02:41] And we're going to see how it goes. This is my first time recording a podcast episode this way. So I thought why not give it a shot and we will evaluate when all of a sudden done.

[00:02:54] But again, my name is Desiree and before we get started into today's topic I always like to remind you to make sure you join our newsletter family.

[00:03:05] Because when you do that I'm going to send you a list of the 20 best selling vintage jewelry brands that I believe all resellers should know. Now this is coming from my own research as well as my own experience.

[00:03:20] And so I want to help you get started if you are just beginning this whole jewelry reselling journey. And I will give you a list of brands that you can study learn about.

[00:03:35] And then hopefully you will recognize them when you are outsourcing and that's what we're going to dive deep into today.

[00:03:41] All right, so I do have my notes and I will be referring back and forth between screens here because I want to make sure I don't forget anything because remember today we're talking about having a sourcing routine.

[00:03:56] And I'm going to talk about what that is and what that means and how you can create one for yourself.

[00:04:03] All right, so basically a sourcing routine is something you do on a consistent basis in order to find the inventory that you need in order to keep your business going in order to keep your business profitable.

[00:04:18] All right, and it's not it's not something that I think develops quickly. It does take time for you to learn you know how how you you want to source what exactly it is you want to source as it relates to jewelry.

[00:04:33] And then you have to figure out what is accessible to you, you know, are you going to do your sourcing in person are you going to do it online or you're going to do a combination of the two all of those things you need to think about okay.

[00:04:47] All right, so creating an inventory sourcing routine for jewelry reselling does involve establishing a systematic approach. All right, to finding evaluating and acquiring jewelry that meets your particular business needs. All right, so let's go through this step by step.

[00:05:05] All right, so the first thing I want you to think about is really defining your goals. All right, so we have goals as it relates to sourcing specifically but we also have goals for our business and you want to really make sure that those are in alignment.

[00:05:21] You know, you can't say you go out sourcing maybe 50 pieces a week but then you have financial goals where that may or may not necessarily get you to where you want to be.

[00:05:34] Okay, so you want to figure out exactly how much money you want to make what is reasonable for you as it relates to getting enough inventory so you can make money you want to make.

[00:05:46] And then you also want to think about, you know, the time that's involved as it relates to doing this. All right, and you wanted to determine your needs.

[00:05:57] Some of the things I wrote down is you want to make sure that you are specific as it relates to your target market.

[00:06:06] Okay, you know, you want to identify the types of jewelry that your buyers are looking for, you know, whether that's vintage handmade, maybe luxury high end or maybe a combination of all.

[00:06:17] All of those things, okay. You also want to figure out what exactly is going to be your average selling price. So you want to sell jewelry pieces that are.

[00:06:28] A hundred dollars enough. Do you want to sell jewelry pieces that are a hundred dollars in up? You know, there's no right or wrong way. Both of those approaches can work. You just need to make sure you adjust your inventory accordingly.

[00:06:42] All right, and this goes into my third point, which is your inventory levels, you know, exactly how much inventory do you need to have on hand and how much inventory do you need to turn over on a weekly basis monthly basis.

[00:06:57] So you can really achieve the goals that you set for yourself and for your business. Okay, so that's the first thing you want to think about is your goals. All right, number two, and this is probably the trickiest step and that is finding your reliable sources.

[00:07:13] Now I have shared on this podcast that there are a lot of ways and a lot of places to find jewelry. However, that may not necessarily be available for everyone everywhere. Okay, so we've talked about wholesaling jewelry from various places either online or in person.

[00:07:32] One of the things that I like to do are auctions online as well as the state sales. You guys also know that I love to go to thrift stores now. You may not necessarily find exactly what you're looking for at a thrift store, but you can find something.

[00:07:51] The only problem is that at least for me with thrift store sourcing is it's really hit or miss and sometimes it's not really time effective for me.

[00:08:01] The other thing is sometimes I may only find one piece, I may find two pieces and it's it's again, it's the time involved of going to the store taking the time to look to only walk away with two pieces that may not necessarily be the best use of my time.

[00:08:19] The thing else that you can think about is trade shows talked about this before. There's a lot of jewelry shows that happened throughout the year and various places all over the country, you just need to make sure you're plugged in to those types of events if they do happen in your area online marketplaces.

[00:08:40] I do like to source online, whether that be sourcing on places like eBay, even Etsy, Facebook Marketplace, wherever you're going to have to really put in the work and find out what is going to help you get the inventory that you need specifically.

[00:08:59] The other thing I want you to think about is local jewelry places within your neighborhood. Now this could be like a pawn shop, this could be like a buy-sealed trade gold type places we have a lot of those here in Las Vegas.

[00:09:16] I don't know if they're everywhere, but you can find some really good deals there, especially at pawn shops. A lot of people don't think about that.

[00:09:24] Like I said, I've shared a lot of these things in previous episodes of the podcast. So see what works for you. You may want to try all of these things or maybe only a few of them resonate with you, but it will take you some time to figure out exactly what's going to work for you and what isn't.

[00:09:45] So my third point is developing a sourcing schedule, and this is where I talk about having a routine. Now you need to figure out every week or however often you source that you do this consistently.

[00:10:00] I think when I answered the woman who asked me the question, you can't do this randomly. You can't just decide, oh one day I'm going to go here and one day I'm going to go there and know it needs to be a consistent thing.

[00:10:13] Now this is going to benefit you for multiple reasons, but one of the things is when you go to some someplace or you do something all the time in a consistent way.

[00:10:26] Things really start to shift for you in the sense that people get to know you, people begin to expect you and you really start making connections and building relationships with people who could potentially be amazing resources for you as it relates to jewelry inventory.

[00:10:43] Now this has happened to me over the years, there's three or four thrift stores that I go to every single week and as soon as I walk in those ladies know me and they know what I'm looking for.

[00:10:53] I've had instances where sometimes they save stuff for me or sometimes they will bring stuff out because they know I just walked in.

[00:11:01] So you can have these types of relationships as well. Now the other thing is just by showing up consistently by default you're putting the odds in your favor that you are going to be there when something amazing shows up.

[00:11:15] All right, so make sure that whatever you decide whatever kind of time you have available maybe it's going to be every weekend, maybe it's going to be every Tuesday, whatever.

[00:11:28] That you stick to that to the best of your ability. Now, you also want to make sure that you are doing some type of daily search. Now I'm not saying you have to pour over the internet for hours and hours every day, but I usually spend anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes every single day searching jewelry online.

[00:11:51] Whether it be eBay, whether it be an online auction site. I always am looking because I want to see what's new and I also want to see if anything I'm particularly looking for if it has shown up since the last time I was looking.

[00:12:06] All right, now there's also a way that you can set up alerts on your computer. I know you can do that on Google and if you save searches in eBay they will send you a daily email of anything that matches your saved search.

[00:12:24] Okay, so if you're looking for something specific let's say I don't know Kenneth J Lane necklaces what you can save that in a search on eBay and then every day eBay will send you an email and let you know what listings match those particular words that you put into the search.

[00:12:44] Okay, so that's a really good tool that I think we all should be using because it doesn't cost you anything and it will help you to find exactly what it is you're looking for. Okay.

[00:12:55] All right, the other thing I have here is seasonal adjustments and you may have to do this because throughout the year there are at least in my experience there's times of the year where it's easier to find fine.

[00:13:15] Jury than as opposed to other times during the year. So you really want to take into consideration the seasonality of your sourcing, you know like a lot of people for a lot of people summer is a very slow time and other people and who sell another category is a summer can be a booming time.

[00:13:35] Right, so if you have the opportunity to maybe source more at certain times of the year to kind of offset the slower times of the year you may want to do that right. So you know a lot of this will require some planning and scheduling on your part.

[00:13:52] All right, my next point is to really learn how to research and evaluate the inventory that you do find. All right, I'm not saying you should be able to just look at something right away and then know oh my gosh, that's an amazing piece or maybe it's not.

[00:14:10] But you want to have a good knowledge and I talk about this in almost every episode you want to have a really good knowledge base about jewelry just in general.

[00:14:19] Again, this is where your daily searching and researching will will really help you and you want to be able to evaluate the quality of the pieces that you do find fairly quickly now it will take time for you to develop this skill but the more you do it the better you get at it.

[00:14:36] Okay, so you don't want to waste your time but you also don't want to dismiss something too quickly either all right, so learn how to recognize certain styles designs. Even metals or materials in some cases.

[00:14:54] And sometimes if you can handle the jewelry I always talk about this if you can actually touch the pieces that's really good because you can feel quality you can recognize it just by the weight or by.

[00:15:06] Maybe some of the edges and how the piece is finished all of those things you will kind of learn to recognize good jewelry when you see it.

[00:15:16] All right, the other thing is you may you may or may not have to authenticate or learn to authenticate pieces depending on what type of jewelry or searching if you're going for those higher end.

[00:15:31] Brands usually you will find those at estate sales maybe auctions and sometimes the person selling it will have the piece authenticated which will be good for you as a buyer.

[00:15:43] But you just want to make sure that you're buying it at a price where you can still make a profit depending on exactly what exact you know your goal is as it relates to selling your jewelry pieces.

[00:15:56] All right, so we want to think about the condition. We also want to think about the market demand are people looking for this type of jewelry. Okay, especially if it's something newer. My experience is that most people prefer vintage and antique jewelry.

[00:16:11] However, that doesn't mean some of the newer more modern pieces won't be in demand as well. Again, it just depends on what it is you're looking for and what it is that you want to sell.

[00:16:24] And then we talk about the profit margins. I think I mentioned that earlier exactly what do you plan to sell the piece for and is it going to meet your metrics as it relates to how much money you want to make either a per piece or.

[00:16:40] By the lot, however you're selling it okay, so think about that and make sure you keep that in mind.

[00:16:46] All right, point number five is to really develop and maintain relationships. I think this is something that cannot be underestimated when it comes to sourcing really good quality jewelry for resale.

[00:17:00] A lot of it is going to be who you know and who knows you so don't be afraid to let people know what you do. You know a lot of people now know that I am a jewelry reseller and I have gotten.

[00:17:15] Some messages and some requests where people have actually come to me and said hey I've got all this jewelry. Would you like to take a look at it? And that's fantastic, you know, I wish it would happen more but.

[00:17:28] I told you I shared earlier when I walk into some of my thrift stores here, the ladies know me and and you know it's been a really nice.

[00:17:38] Nice relationship, you know and I think that that is where you're going to really find your best best stuff is when people know what you do and they know what you're looking for and they trust that when you come in there.

[00:17:54] You're not playing around you're not messing around. You are there to buy and you are there to help them offload whatever it is and help them get the money that they want to make as well.

[00:18:06] Okay, so take the time to communicate what you do and what you're looking for and don't feel.

[00:18:14] And I'm going to share that someone's going to judge you for it because even if they do who cares right because this is our business, this is our work and we're not here really to make friends we're here to make money.

[00:18:26] All right and people want to know that you're reliable to and again that takes time to build that trust.

[00:18:33] And the point number six is we're going to utilize technology and tools now I talked about this, you know things like setting up alerts on your computer saving searches with eBay. They do have.

[00:18:46] I think they do have software although I've never used it so I don't know but I know there is software that can help you track certain things.

[00:18:54] I don't want to go too much into that like I said because I've never used it and I don't even know what kind of brand or what the name of it would be. And I don't see anything. Yeah, I don't know.

[00:19:13] But I do know that they have you know software to kind of help make things easier as it relates to that okay now they do they do have inventory management software.

[00:19:23] I've shared a couple tools here on the podcast as it relates to cross listing software you know things like that so. But I think the biggest thing for me personally is setting up the alerts it's not hard to do.

[00:19:39] I'm sure you can Google it like I said if you do a safe search on eBay that's really all you have to do so and you can even keep notes like in a notebook you can write down maybe some websites or maybe some.

[00:19:53] names of places locally to you where you want to you know make make a point to go check out those places to go visit them and make sure that you're not missing out on a potential honey hole as it relates to your jewelry sourcing.

[00:20:08] Okay, so just remember to utilize whatever you can in order to make this easier and more efficient for you. All right next up I have. Financial management in other words budgeting.

[00:20:27] All right, do you have money set aside to buy the inventory that you want to buy in the volume or the quantity that you want to buy it right because.

[00:20:40] In the beginning let me tell you I came across a lot of good deals that I could not take advantage of because I didn't have the money.

[00:20:48] And that's a horrible feeling knowing that oh my gosh, you see all this stuff here and you're like I know I can flip this stuff but I don't have the money to buy it right now right.

[00:21:01] So you really need to set aside a sourcing budget set aside money so when you do see these amazing bulk buys you can jump on it you can buy it you can.

[00:21:13] Take advantage. Okay, now the other thing you want to do is you want to constantly be reinvesting into your business right so when you buy jewelry and you sell that use that money to buy even more inventory better inventory or you know combination of both maybe just getting better stuff and more better stuff.

[00:21:37] All right, so figure out exactly how much you can budget as it relates to your sourcing you want to allocate a specific budget for inventory sourcing each week or however frequently you decide to source and you want to make sure you stick to that now let's say you have a.

[00:21:58] I'll just use around number 500 dollars is your sourcing budget for the week and let's say you go out sourcing and you only spend $300 of your $500 budget well you can either increase your budget to 700 the following week or you can stick to that 500 dollar budget.

[00:22:19] And just save that $200 that you didn't use the previous week right you have to figure out how you're going to do this, you know and what if you go over budget one week.

[00:22:29] Are you going to deduct that from the following weeks budget or are you just going to make adjustments in some other area of your business okay these are things that you need to plan ahead because you don't want to mess yourself up by not thinking about that or not planning for.

[00:22:48] For situations like that because they will come up I'm telling you if you have a 500 dollar budget you're going to stumble across a bunch of inventory that's a thousand dollars it's it's like it always happens it always happens so you want to make sure you have enough flexibility to compensate for those situations okay.

[00:23:08] Let's see. Next up I wrote this down and I don't know if it's really a big deal but I'll mention it anyway and this this is the legal and ethical considerations as it relates to sourcing.

[00:23:23] All right you want to kind of make sure you're operating your business you know in compliance with integrity and I say this because you want to ensure that all your sourcing activities comply with local and international laws.

[00:23:38] Including important export regulations so if you are buying overseas or if you are buying things like. You know like ivory that's only when I can think of but you know these are things that definitely we have to be careful especially if you're trying to sell them on eBay.

[00:23:59] Or things that are made from like animal skins bones those types of materials you want to make sure that you are in compliance. Depending on where you're selling this you know if you're selling it online maybe you're selling it in person at a show or something like that.

[00:24:17] Just make sure that everything is okay and you don't want to you don't want any surprises you don't want to get yourself into any trouble.

[00:24:27] The other thing I also want you to think about is ethical sourcing now again for those of you who buy wholesale and then sell it.

[00:24:35] This probably applies more to you because you want to strive to source jewelry ethically considering certain labor practices and the environmental impact of your suppliers your wholesalers whatever. All right again.

[00:24:52] I know that probably doesn't apply to a lot of us you know and one of the things we all love about resale is the sustainability of it and so I think we are doing what we can to support the environment in that way.

[00:25:08] But I just wanted to throw this out there because like I said I do know some of us source overseas with various wholesalers and distributors and so we want to make sure that what we're buying is in compliance and that we're able to sell it where we want to sell it okay without any kind of hiccups or issues or anything like that.

[00:25:33] All right the last thing that I want to share with you is to really be innovative and learn how to adapt as it relates to your sourcing because what's working now may not necessarily work a month from now six months from now a year from now.

[00:25:54] Because I know the way I source and my sourcing routine is very different than what it was even six months ago and it's night and day compared to what it was a year ago I didn't even have a sourcing routine I didn't even have any type of system in place.

[00:26:11] To source jewelry consistently and affordably for me right and so that's kind of what this whole episode is about is to help you figure out.

[00:26:21] How to source the jewelry in a way that works for you and your business and sometimes as things change in the marketplace as things change with our economy and as things change.

[00:26:36] As it relates to your business you will have to be very, very flexible you know and sometimes like you may be sourcing at a thrift store for years and suddenly it closes down and now you've got to find a new place to source maybe you only source online and.

[00:26:54] You want to start sourcing locally in your neighborhood well you've got to figure out how you're going to incorporate that into your current routine you know so. Being willing to make changes as needed or as your business grows and expands or maybe as you learn more.

[00:27:15] You may find it easier to only source online because you just don't have time to be driving all over town. Checking out various places hoping you find something good because I know a lot of resellers who only source online and so it's.

[00:27:32] It's what works but who's to say that's going to work forever we don't know and that's why I just want to remind you to be flexible and learn to adapt when necessary.

[00:27:42] Now you also want to stay informed and keep up with industry trends and changes as it relates to buyer preferences and buyer habits so that way your sourcing routine will meet exactly. You know your buyers where they're at what they're looking for and what they desire.

[00:28:04] All right, and so that's one of the things that you really need to be aware of. You also want to stay innovative continuously seeking out new sources and methods for finding high quality jewelry for reselling. You know and be open to experimenting and trying different options.

[00:28:24] You know, I'm not saying you have to do that all the time but you never know you know you might come across something that you just didn't expect. Didn't expect to be good and then you learn something about not only.

[00:28:40] jewelry but you learned something also about yourself about what you prefer and how you like to source.

[00:28:48] All right, now if I if I could only source in person that would be my preference because I like to see jewelry in real life I like to see it I like to touch it if possible.

[00:29:01] That's important to me however that doesn't always work for for what I want to do and so. I've had to resort to sourcing online even though that's not my preference.

[00:29:16] But because I can't find what I need in person locally, I do have to source online and so I do a combination of all of the things that I talked about with you today and it's working for me.

[00:29:31] But you know like I said, doesn't mean I'm going to do this forever and it doesn't mean that I won't change things up as needed depending on. Whatever I feel like depending on the needs of my business depending on what's going on in my life at the time.

[00:29:49] You know so all these things come into play, you know like I say your budget your time all of that okay. So by following these steps, you can create a robust and effective inventory sourcing routine that will help you consistently find desirable reselable jewelry.

[00:30:10] It will also help you maintain adequate inventory levels and grow your reselling business to wherever it is that you would like it to be. Now I have said this many times that it's not always easy to do what we do, however.

[00:30:27] It is simple and it is something that we get better at the more we do. All right so that's all I have for you today on this episode of the podcast remember.

[00:30:42] I don't even know if I said this now that I'm thinking about it but to join the newsletter all you got to do is go to jewelry resellers podcast dot com that's jewelry resellers podcast dot com and that is where.

[00:30:58] You can sign up for the newsletter and then I will send you that list of the 20 best selling vintage jewelry brands that I believe all resellers should know.

[00:31:08] It's an instant download so you can download it, you can save it to your phone so when you're out and about sourcing you will have that list and you hopefully will recognize some of those brands when you are outsourcing okay and I think that's going to be key.

[00:31:23] And helping you find the pieces that you are looking for and helping you become more profitable at being a jewelry reseller. So I would love to know your thoughts do you have a sourcing routine.

[00:31:37] If you'd like to share with me the details of your you're routine, I would love to read them in the comments or do you kind of just do this whenever.

[00:31:49] Whenever it works for you because I do know some jewelry resellers who do that too, you know I need more structure and I have found more success with a structured routine. But again there's no right and wrong way to do it.

[00:32:05] I am just telling you what has worked best for me and what I have seen working best for other people who also do this.

[00:32:14] Alright so let me know your thoughts and oh and let me know how you like this setup as it relates to me doing the podcasts in a video format.

[00:32:23] If you enjoy that and if you're listening to the audio version of this, you can hop on over to the YouTube channel and you can watch a video version of this episode.

[00:32:34] Alright friends thank you so much for spending this time with me. I'll check in with you again really soon.