Today's post is all about where to sell handmade jewelry online. We have found five great marketplaces, described in detail below.
Jewelry making is a popular hobby, with hundreds of thousands of devotees across the globe, and a lot of crafty people with artistic inclinations make their jewelry just for themselves, purely as a form of self expression with no other ambitions.
But if you've spent years honing your skills, why not take it a step further? Assuming you're designs are cool enough, and you're willing to do a little market research, you might be able to turn your hobby into a full-blown profession.
There are dozens of websites out there these days where craftspeople and artists of all types can easily put their creations up for sale, and legions of customers who're just dying to buy handmade items.
Plenty of artists have built good-paying careers in this niche, working out of their homes, doing something that they love to do.
As long as you have enough talent, and the patience to learn a little about marketing, there's no reason why you shouldn't throw your hat into the ring and see if you can join them.
There might be thousands of customers out there who will happily pay big money for your jewelry designs, but you'll never know if you don't give it a try.
In the list below, we've assembled a few of the more popular online handmade crafts marketplaces. Some of these have much bigger customer-bases than others, and each site has it's own rules and quirks.
Before you launch your own business in this field, you'll definitely want to do some additional research and figure out exactly how to approach everything, but these sites should serve as a good starting point for your investigation, and give you a decent idea for how the business works.
Places To Sell Handmade Jewelry Online
Etsy
This company really deserves most of the credit for launching this whole industry. They've been around longer than just about anybody, and they have a huge base of customers who are clamoring to buy all kinds of handmade stuff, including jewelry.
One of the basic rules of business is to go where the customers are, and in the world of handmade crafts, a whole lot of those customers are currently browsing Etsy.
To sell your jewelry here, you have to pay a $0.20 listing fee for every item you put up, but there are no transaction fees until after you record a sale.
Etsy's shops have all the features you'll ever need, and there's a lot of information available online about how Etsy works, which will make it easier for a beginner to learn the ropes.
You'll have to face a lot more competition here than on some of the lesser-known sites, but this is one of the premier marketplaces, and you'd be crazy not to at least give it a close look if you plan to sell handmade jewelry.
Go here to check out Etsy, or read our Etsy review first.
Amazon Handmade
Amazon added this crafts marketplace to their store a few years ago, and like most things they launch, it didn't take long for it to grow into something pretty huge.
To join up, you'll have to go through an audit process where they check out your products and make sure your skills are top-notch.
If you pass muster and get an account, this barrier for entry could work in your favor, since it means you won't have to deal with quite as many competitors as you would in a wide-open marketplace.
But remember, whatever competition you do face will likely be of fairly high quality, so you'll need to bring your A-game.
As one would probably expect from a big tech company like Amazon, their storefronts have all the cutting-edge features a seller could ever ask for, and if you're willing to shell out some cash, you can use their paid advertising system to promote your business and start building a customer-base.
Amazon charges a fifteen-percent referral fee on every sale, but it's free to set up your Handmade store and there's no charge for listing items.
Go here to check out Amazon Handmade, or read our Amazon Handmade review.
Shop Handmade
The best thing about this service is the price tag. It's one-hundred-percent free to set up a shop, and there's no referral fee or commission on any items you sell.
Shop Handmade isn't quite as well known as some of the bigger names, but their tools are top notch.
They have a well thought out category system that makes it easy to find the right spot for your products, their system will automatically promote your products to the right customers, and the initial setup for your storefront only takes about five minutes.
RebelsMarket
This site caters to edgy and rebellious styles, like punk rock, metal, and modern-day rockabilly, so if your sensibilities are a little wilder than most, you might find a happy home here for your Jewelry.
From the sound of things, you'll have to go through an approval process to make sure your designs are a good fit for their customers, but there are no upfront transaction or setup fees at all. The only charge is a 15-percent commission on each completed sale.
Artfire
This site is fairly similar to Etsy in many ways, but there are a few distinct differences. Unlike the other services listed here, there is a monthly fee for sellers just to participate.
Artfire has a range of plans starting at $4.95 per month, and topping out at $40 per month. If you decide to start with the low-end plan, there are additional listing fees, and other inconveniences.
Those who go for the $40 package get to list items for free and are given more shop-wide exposure. Reading between the lines, it looks like the cheap plan is mostly just useful for giving the site a test-run.
Those who want to put a lot of time into this marketplace will probably need to shell out the additional cash for the premium membership.
Artfire has a few interesting promotional tools, including the ability to automatically share your products on social media, and they have strong community features which make it easy to connect with other artists and learn more about selling your designs.
The list above is just the tip of the iceberg in this niche, and there are new handmade markets popping up every year.
If you know of any other cool sites to sell handmade jewelry and other craft items, please tell us about them in the comments section below. We're always looking for new suggestions.
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