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Thursday, September 13, 2007

Selling jewelry on the streets of New York City ...

Well, it has been a wild summer. I really wanted to keep up with this journal, but I just haven't had the time. The street fair thing has been a real experience; we have learned a lot! Terry and I have tried a lot of ways to set up, we've tried different merchandise ... its not at all like selling online.

At first we brought eight glass and aluminum showcases. We sold very little.

So we ditched the cases. We sold more, but ... it seemed people were looking for less expensive things. A lot of our jewelry is priced in the $20 - $50.00 range, with many pieces priced much higher. People loved the stuff; they just didn't want to spend that much on an impulse buy. So we bought stuff we could sell for less than $10.00, and found it sold a LOT better. Stuff like stretch bracelets, gem chip jewelry, shell necklaces etc. Lower priced silver chains and bracelets do sell; but not as well as we thought, considering that silver jewelry is currently very fashionable. New York has always been a gold and diamond town ... silver jewelry never has sold well here. But costume jewelry sells like crazy in NYC. There is no middle ground. Jewelry has to be VERY expensive - or VERY cheap.

The fairs we're doing are basically a neighborhood "pedestrian mall" type affair. We really expected big crowds, especially in Manhattan, but the people running these street fairs don't promote them very well ... so we get mostly people who live in the neighborhood just out for a walk mixed in with a few New York visitors (tourists). I have to say people are VERY friendly - and MUCH more honest than we expected! Last week a mother and daughter came in. The daughter tried on a ring ... and forgot she had it on her finger. They talked with us for a while, then moved on. A half hour later, they came back - and returned it!

So, we are finding our "niche" so to speak. And we're having a lot of fun! We get to meet lots of people from outside NY, and have become friendly with many of the "regular" vendors. So far we've been caught in the rain twice, but the weather has generally been very good. In all, a very positive experience!

UPDATE:

No more street fairs. Fun but a financial loss. Concentrating on our website!

1 comment:

3thridge said...

I to sell jewelry on the streets
I was selling in houston tx
but hurricane ike took care of that
now I am selling in fayetteville ar.
It is a little harder being a small town
but i cant stop because i love it!
however I do occationaly search for other jobs just so I can keep my apt.
I could of wrote your article, funny how things are the same no matter were you are. E-mail me if you would like. 3thridge@gmail.com
I would love to here from you.