Selling jewelry to stores plastic cover or no?

[Shawn808]

Hello everyone.
I am new here and have been creating and selling my Sterling silver and fimo jewelry for 7 years now. I am about to approach some stores and am working on getting my jewelry "carded".

My question now is are those clear plastic bags with the hole on the top good for presentation? Or does it make the jewelry look cheap?

The reason I ask is that I plan on putting a "hang hole" on the top of the card for peg displays. But I also know of a company that makes those clear plastic bags with a top margin and hole at the top for the pegs. So the carded jewelry goes into the bag and it hangs via the plastic bag  hole. (does not hang from card only plastic bag) So the card does not need a hole. Plus it will keep my jewelry separated and individually packed.

Does the plastic cover make the jewelry look too "toy" or "cheaper" to you? Or does it make you feel like you are getting a new piece of jewelry because they are individually wrapped?

Any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks!
Shawn

[Polly]

Personally, I don't like the look of the plastic bag for finished jewelry. It's fine for parts and supplies (or kid/cheap stuff).  It's good for convenience, but bad for presentation.

--Polly

[Luann Udell]

I agree with Polly 100% on plastic bags for display and presentation--IX-Nay!

Good jewelry will not sell as well when it's wrapped and bagged.  Even when jewelry is presented under cases, it's meant to be whipped out and put in a customer's hands.  People want to TOUCH and try it on--almost impossible when it's bagged and sealed or hanging on a peg rack.

And unfortunately, jewelry in plastic bags on a peg rack just has a dollar store look/feel to it.  In fact, I can't remember ever seeing nice jewelry in a store displayed this way!

A second point is, I'm afraid you will find that almost every store will have their own preferences on how they'd like you to package your jewelry.  

For awhile I tried to keep everyone happy--creating displays for one store, individually boxing each piece, providing my boxes separately, earrings on cards, earrings not on cards, etc.   I spent a lot of $$ and time, and no two stores wanted the same thing!  

I now ship each piece in an individual plastic bag, and the store can do whatever they want with it.  Nowadays, unless you have items of unusual size, MOST stores prefer to box everything in their own "branded" gift boxes anyway.

Short story--keep it simple.  MOST stores have their own cohesive way of displaying, storing and packaging their stock.  Trying to accommodate them with YOUR packaging will run into unnecessary expense and time.  

If you are PRESENTING it to a buyer, (say, a store visit with the buyer) you can't go wrong with those black velvet-flocked plastic trays, the kind with different-sized sections available for earrings, bracelets, necklaces, etc.  They are lightweight, reasonably priced, and let your jewelry pop.  They fit into the heavy black cardboard or plastic trays, which in turn slide into a gray suitcase/carrying bag.  They hold a lot of jewelry, and the whole shebang is also reasonably priced (often around $25-$30 for the case with trays.  You buy the inserts separately.)

As a third point, storing/displaying STERLING SILVER jewelry in plastic bags will eventually tarnish the sterling, unless you keep little tabs of that tarnish-proof paper in them, too.

Hope this helps,
Luann

[Shawn808]

Thank you Polly and Luann
I think your right and will not put them into the plastic bags. Thanks for the heads up!

I found a company that will help me with sales reps to sell my jewelry, esp in areas that I would not normally have access too. The reps suggested that I create "packages" of my pendants and earrings on hang cards and with a small display. Then they can offer it to the store as a "turn key" kind of thing. So a small display with jewelry on cards will be $200. Medium $400 etc.

What do you think of this idea?  

Reading what you wrote Luann I am very tempted to just offer the jewelry alone in small bags so they can do what they wish, but also realize some stores may not have access to their own cards etc.

What do you think is the best solution for this?

Thanks again!
Shawn

[Luann Udell]

A good, experienced rep probably has a set clientele they deal with regularly.  If they say an all-in-one display will work for their beat, I would go with that.  

A good thing is, your minimum order is built into the set-up!

Caveat--If your rep recommends it, try it with a very few displays.  Don't run out and buy 100 for the price break.  I can almost guarantee you will be stuck with 97 six months from now.  

It is true that a all-in-one display can guarantee you a certain amount of counter space (as opposed to 2-3 pieces in a case, for example).  And it might be more appealing for some retailers--more gift-type stores, for example, as opposed to a fine crafts gallery.

It also helps them see when they are low on a certain style, because there will be obvious "gaps" in your display when items sell.

On the other hand, consider this may be what works best for the REP, not necessarily for the store or for you.  It's certainly easier for the rep to show two sample display units (filled) rather than a selection of jewelry for a store to choose from.  And it's easier to write an order for "one large display rack set-up" rather than "3 large blue necklaces, 2 matching earrings, 2 pink pearl bracelets, 1 matching earrings, blah, blah, blah."

Even if you may some sales this way, be sure to ask the rep if there were potential accounts who did NOT want such a display, who would have been open to a more flexible option.

Sorry this sounds conflicting, but that's why I quit doing the display thing for stores!