Featured Selling Guidance as a Jewelry Dealer

I'm a little at my wits end with Eboo (yes I use it but it still sucks), and want to get a really grasp on things for 2025, so I could really use some experienced expert advice. I'm not sure if this is allowed since its technically about sales.

I like being transparent, so I will be as much as possible. For a very side hobby I've done really well this year. Vide greniers have kept my profits insanely high, and I've been lucky to find roughly 1.5oz of gold for under 5 euros at various places which I've sold.

I have nearly 60 reviews all 100% positive. I offer 14 day returns, and national postage for me is 6.50, I actually pay 4.95 and then the rest is packaging because I package well. I also offer international shipping and have done that several times with good feedback. I usually have 12 listings up at any given time, all described as accurately as possible in french and english.

But month to month has been difficult. I'm getting maybe 4 views on most of my listings, 10 or 11 is high, and 2-3 watchers that never bid is how most listings go. The african trade beads usually do well for me, but right now I've got 4 and none are selling, even as a lot. I suppose christmas has something to do with it, but its been like this all year. I will have one buyer come in and sweep 4 or 5 listings and then its dead quiet for a few weeks. A couple months back, I tried investing in better quality pieces but so far thats been semi wasted money. Already tried the promotion avenue, but that gets me 1 view instead of 0. Also tried the 99 cent start bid route for a couple of pieces, no takers there either. I've watched Youtube tutorials but mostly its basic 'make sure you're pricing competitively' or not advice that is useful for antique jewelry. Right now you guys are the most appropriate voice to listen to.

Granted, this season's vide greniers were hard work to pull anything from. Everything was tosh and the stuff that wasn't was expensive.

I've got nice things. There's a nice miniature painting c1800 thats at a competitive price. I've got several old silver bits, the aforementioned trade bead necklaces, a mid victorian agate brooch, a 19th century glass cairgorm brooch etc etc. I've done well with the mid century couture costume when I can find it, but I prefer 1920 or older to sell.

I used my trip to england to buy some really gorgeous pieces that I thought would sell, but so far nada. No one seems interested, even though the same sort of thing is selling for other people at similar prices. They'll pay 100 for someone else's, but not 60 for mine. I'm confused at this point.

I've been spending more time on ebay looking at jewelry and watching what it sells for. The pieces that do REALLY well I can't get my hands on around here, which brings me to my next point.

I would be very grateful for any tips on where to actually get pieces, especially those who deal in France. Apart from going to the paris flea markets, I can't figure out where to go. I've looked up auction houses, no one seems to do online unless they're sothebys nor do they have what I'm looking for. Estate sales aren't a thing here. I have no antique shops near by. Online is great but there are zero profit margins, I can get the garnet necklace for 120 but it'll make 140 tops. Same with english listings, everyone who bids is ready to pay 'retail', and the 18-30e it would cost to ship it makes it out of bounds for me.

My next idea is to take what I have and start doing small lots. They're the only thing that actually gets traction in my shop.

Sorry for the longggg post, but I just don't know what to do. Its fun for me and keeps me buying jewelry, but as its listed as part of my business I'd like to be able to make it work for me, and looking at 1 view on a listing thats a week old is depressing.

TYVM IA! ​

 

Yes, too close to Christmas is imo a major factor.
Watchers are not bidders.... but they do show that folks are finding your items.
Have you changed your titles?
Do you talk up your items or just present a factual description...?
By the 18th of Dec , a lot of folks put their stores on hold, because the traffic slows and last minute shoppers are out on foot .

I don't follow the French economy....... but our dollar dipped to 69 cents US.......and our economy has slowed ..... slow sales follow !!!

That's all I got for now....

 

One - eBay can and will hide your items because you don't sell enough. That's in the software here in the USA and I can't imagine France is any different. If you're selling vintage and OOAK, Promotion is a waste of money. If you pay enough to get seen you're not getting paid enough to bother selling.

Another problem is the global economy. People who used to buy pretties have had to pull in their horns.

Add to that: eBay royally (scatalogical but accurate words omitted) the jewelry search about two years ago here in order to facilitate the new "authentication" for fine jewelry that no one wanted. I can't imagine they left the French software alone. It's one reason I bailed; they made listing anything torturous and what I could list couldn't be seen. It was buried in the irrelevant results. That was before AI stuck its befouled nose in.

When AI came in, I decided to stay out for good.

 

For me, this bit is the part I think is the issue. Like @evelyb30 said, eBay has an algorithm and it will hide or bury listings that are not as "desirable." Of course they do not tell us what counts against you, but some things can be observed. For example, taking a break and not selling for a bit dropped me in views massively when I came back, for the same stuff and same ratings (because why should anyone take a break! ).

For you it might be that you don't do volume. eBay likes big sellers with turn-over. So only a few listings may rate you low in the algo as a small-time seller. Then you lose sales, which I imagine is another factor, and you continue to sink.

So my suggestion is to make more listings. You've already hit the bottom of your price threshold and others are selling similar, so that's not the issue. I'm sure you probably pack in the keywords and nice descriptions too. You might also change over from auction to BIN or vice-versa for older listings just to change it up, but idk what you normally do.

I only do promo boost on a couple of lots of contemporary niche items I have a large quantity of and for which all net is profit. It does sell them, but not a fast clip. I wouldn't say the ad thing helps much but you can test it out if you like. Just make sure you look at the fee percentage, because it recommends a level of fee-to-view amount and you can adjust it.

 

What's your timing like ?

.. Sunday is widely considered to be the best day to end an auction, as Jane eBay and Joe Bidder are more likely to be sitting in front of their computers at home with time to shop. Many people also use Sunday-and to a lesser extent, Saturday—as “get things done” days, including searching and bidding on eBay.

 

I haven't sold on ebay for more than a decade. But sometimes items that show as sold, were really items that the buyer never paid for, so they were not sold at that price. Just a thought. That is why I think that immediate payment thing might be a good idea for sellers, not bidding or BIN without paying.

In the old days, yes Sunday was the best night to end an auction for me. And then BIN and make an offer came in and the whole bidding thing lost it's glamour I think. I remember sitting up till 3 am wrapping teeny tiny ceramic christmas ornies so they were just perfect to ship from Ebay. I had usually 3 items at the most for one week at a time and they sold. But I don't think that happens much unless it is very rare or desirable. I mean who thought a Martha Stewart book would sell for $500 in this day and age. Yet they did because of a tik tok person mentioned it.

I know diddly squat about what you sell, but things I thought would fly out of my shop on etsy did not because etsy too hides listings if you don't do free shipping or shipping under $6 or are not a star seller you basically are abandoned. To be a star seller there you have to make a certain amount of money within a given period, respond fast to questions, ship like there is not tomorrow, make your pictures just so, and the list goes on and on. And on a whim, they shut down your listings with no explanation and hold your money.

I would keep trying on ebay experiement maybe with different photos or backgrounds or details.

For the most part, I think many folks don't have spare money right now and I am not sure how fast any of us will feel we are better off any time soon.

Good luck.

 

I have been selling jewelry on Ebay for about three years but I am in the US so I am not sure how what I've learned would apply to France.

Early on, I used the auction format, starting them on Sunday evenings as Pearls and Komokwa noted. Now I rarely use auctions except when I have something extra special by a notable designer or a piece that is exceptionally rare. I still launch everything on Sunday evenings but at buy it now.

I sell both vintage and fashion jewelry and stay away from fine jewelry. I am fortunate that I can purchase large lots from online but local auctions so my price per piece is reasonable. Of course, I get pieces that can't be sold due to damage or other issues.

I keep somewhere around 500 listings. I check through my listings every couple of weeks and pull the listings if they've had no views in the previous 30 days. I either wait a couple of weeks and re-list using "sell similar" or I group like items together and sell as a lot (i.e. butterfly brooches, clip earrings, etc).

Sets sell faster than than individual pieces. Some vintage signed pieces sell better than others (for me Trifari is an easier sell than say Weiss). Colored rhinestone pieces sell better than clear rhinestone pieces. Some pieces that I think are not worth listing sell quicker than pieces that I consider outstanding (an absolutely hideous porcupine quill necklace with beads that looked like mouse vertebrae is the most memorable).

I do use Ebay international shipping, although I don't know how much the the EU new rules on documentation will affect those sales. I do sell quite often to Chinese buyers who use their own freight forwarding companies.

Sales are a roller coaster, some months are awesome and others are not. Certainly this time of year in this economy results in less sales. I think one just has to hang in there, go with the flow, research, learn and adapt. Eventually it works.

 

As above.
More listings means more views. Not all viewers buy, but your chances of making a sale are increased with more listings.

Sunday auction ending is a good idea.

If you can afford it, send watchers a discount offer for the item they are watching.

You can also consider listing on different Continental ebays as well as ebay.fr. That way your listings show above the 'listings from international sellers', which always dangle on the bottom where no one sees them.
Try ebay.de (Germany) and ebay.it (Italy) for instance.

You could do the same with ebay.com and ebay.co.uk, but bear in mind that shipping and custom fees are a setback.

Bring it back to 4.95. Add the extra 1.55 to the item, if necessary. Buyers know how much shipping costs, and charging them more makes you look like a money-grabber, even if it is only 1.55.

 

Agree with the above. Especially on pricer items. Looks mingy to then make a profit on shipping.

Debora

 

I'm not serious about selling -- can't find enough time -- but my strategy is to list as much as I can, offer items as BINs and let 'em ride. In my experience, (almost) everything sells eventually. Discount offers annoy me because they seem hollow. Sellers testing the waters at a higher price (that may be unreasonable) but immediately willing to come down.

Debora

 

Almost everything I watch ends up sending me an offer...and that's on newly watched things, not things that have sat in my list. It definitely trains buyers to expect it. I see the BIN price as a "BIN because someone else might snag it while you wait" price, with a discount possible on something that doesn't sell right away.

 

I agree with Debora that everything sells eventually. I am constantly surprised at the things that sell that have been listed for months. I only change them out when they've had no views in 30 days or more. I do not send offers nor do I list with a price or best offer. I do get buyers who email me with an offer. If I accept, I revise the listing to reflect the adjusted agreed upon price. I don't like waiting for payment using the best offer option.

 

I see basically the same trends in the malls I sell in. I probably shouldn't share this but those who frequent malls usually know that many, if not most, vendors will give a discount (I give 10%) on items over a certain price, most often $20. That discount is built in to the tag price and probably 90% of my sales are at full price. There are many things in my booths that have been there a long time and it always amazes me that, just when I plan to bring something home because it hasn't sold, it sells. I frequently review ebay sold prices on things that haven't moved and will lower the price if need be. I will also bring things home and donate them because it's obvious they are no longer desirable. Before I give up on things I really think should sell, I move them - to a different shelf, in a more prominent place or to a different mall. Not something you can do online particularly but you can shoot new pics, change your title up, create a group of pieces. When I sold on ebay (way back when things were easy and good there) I found that my photos were about the most important part of my listing. Use a solid background that contrasts the item, good lighting, good focus, show condition and marks. Basics I know but I still see listings with 1 photo, blurry or so far away you can't see detail. Or props that overshadow the item. The AI generated descriptions never mention condition. I would never consider purchasing whatever it is.

And I've gone on and on. I'm not a pro but I have had reasonable success over the years. It's harder now but still doable.

Best of luck, Linda

 

Not selling currently but the best thing I ever did was offer free shipping on virtually everything. I did up-charge for AK and HI and international shipping was figured separately. I did keep it low as a portion of the shipping was included in the price. Of course I built shipping into my price but it did not matter as my buying costs were low and I could still keep prices reasonable. Free shipping bumps you up in search and customers love it, often paying more than what other sellers have theirs listed for.

 

Free shipping does simplify the purchase calculation. I (try to) use that sales strategy too. An exception is when an item is heavy and adding shipping to the BIN pushes the price beyond what seems reasonable. Pet peeve: People who sell items for $$$ and above and charge shipping. Seems petty.

Debora

 

I found out that selling on etsy, if I upped my price and lowered the shipping cost, my competitors, had lowered their prices and had free shipping and in the end made hardly any if at all profit. I can't speak for ebay really, but as of this holiday season, ebay sellers with the same item like mine were charging a tad less, but having realistic shipping fees and seemed to sell more of that type of item.

It is a race to the bottom on etsy. I stink at math, but I can tell when a sale leaves the seller with maybe a dollar or 2. And that is not worth my time or effort. Many sellers on etsy don't figure their fees or materials to pack things etc. I know some it is just a way to get rid of items and I get that, but if I want to get rid of items, they are donated.

IMHO.The only items I will give free shipping on is if the item is light and I bought it for a mere bag of shells and I can sell it for a huge profit. Otherwise, free shipping is not something I am willing to do with the price of shipping these days.

 

cars go for a lot of money...& no one ships for free.

 

when I sold on eBay I could never ship for free.
A mask to Texas
A carving to Australia
A lighter to France
A bronze to Vancouver

all my items were of different sizes and weights.... and I never knew where they would end up.

 

THANK YOU everyone who's taken time out of the busy season to reply here. I really appreciate all your responses! There is a lot of food for thought here.

I did initially end my listings on sundays/weekends, but stopped doing that as I saw loads of auctions do well any day of the week and it made sense for me to list on monday or tuesday after sorting through the vide grenier finds. But I should go back to making that a priority.

Volume seems to be the stand out issue here. I don't think I've ever had more than 15 listings at a time. I'm not sure whether to 'close' the store for the holiday season and find more pieces in lots etc, then reopen and list 5+ things a day until I have a larger number.

The holidays are definitely a factor, but not so much in July or April, this has been happening all year round. The state of the economy makes sense, but sometimes I question the quality of my pieces. I see bidders spend 200+ easily on certain silver brooches, which of course are different to mine but the money is there. I wish I could get my hands on some of those pieces, but of course if I did they wouldnt go anyway! Case in point, the sentimental hair brooch I got for 5 pounds, I could get the bidders but that one is mine because I normally can't touch them!

I've had bad luck with BINs, they sit forever with 1 or two watchers and don't do a thing. But perhaps time to try a bit more.

Shipping wise, I think someone knocked off one star on their review for 'high shipping', I thought it was a bit odd as I bubble wrap everything, with a nice velvet jewelry pouch and a little hand written note, and the box is taped to high heaven against leaks. I offered free postage on one or two items without much difference to the quickness of sale, but again, if I do it for all the items it might be different. All my pieces are pretty light, if I use a padded envelope instead of a box I can afford to add the extra 1.50 on the sale price.

To give you an idea of the type of sale photos, quality might be affected and the 2nd one isnt the full photo, had to do some fenaigling to get the photos to show up:



I use the photo box I got for christmas last year, black background. I tried different colors but they clashed a lot. Again, its something I could experiment with some more, but the white was very hard to get the lighting right, and red or blue was awful.

Sorry if I've missed any points in writing my reply! So far the main ones are list more items, make them BINs/don't do so many auctions, change up titles (I don't do this right now, but generally I try to hype up my pieces), pull listings and reevaluate, offer free domestic shipping, research.

 

I use three methods of shipping. Shipping included for small, lightweight items like a pair of earrings or items I just want to get rid of at a very small profit. Flat rate shipping of 4.75 per item with $1.00 for each additional item. Since most things I sell only weigh about 3-4 oz, the maximum I pay is $4.58 for shipping to the west coast. And finally calculated shipping for items (other than jewelry) I might have listed. I also use calculated shipping for bulk/multiple purchases if I have to set up a special listing for a buyer who wishes to purchases a bunch of jewelry.

I will be raising my flat rate to $5.00 after the first of the year due to the increases in postage in 2024.