Is Amazon Handmade a threat to Etsy?

Etsy unique positioning in the online marketplaces world can be defined as handmade products, designers , non-mass-production. Lately, by allowing production partners, shop teams etc, it focuses on more established businesses (which is quite clear because they produce more sales and so revenues to Etsy). This was clearly stated by Etsy in July 2018 , when Etsy wrote to their sellers “Now you have grown up”.

Amazon Handmade positions itself in the same category, unlike the “big brother” Amazon,trying to make home for artisan and unique products manufacturers. Despite the fact that in more than a year of operation Amazon Handmade weren’t able to build some serious competition ( becoming only 10% of Etsy), it’s important to remember the power behind this Amazon category.

One of the major issues Amazon Handmade had was the very annoying process of uploading items to the channel. This became a strong barrier for new sellers to join the marketplace. In the multi-channel marketing world, where sellers can easily get them self to multiple sales channels, this strategy led Amazon Handmade behind.

The later change in Amazon Handmade policies allows sellers upload items in bulk from Excel. This move can dramatically change the balance, and being a part of the most strongest eCommerce empire, Amazon Handmade can get stronger.

IMHO to become a serious player in the handmade / artisan world , Amazon has to review its strategy of treating sellers as given. Amazon is known for its hard approach to sellers. With that, Etsy is very active […]

Walmart for jewelry eCommerce

Recent research by MarketplacePulse made us focus on Walmart role in jewelry eCommerce ecosystem.

We summarized our thoughts on this:

  • According to the research, jewelry makes about 6.5% of Walmart products catalog. There are above 2.5M products in Jewelry department. This means that the category is quite significant on the marketplace. Not all marketplaces have enough volume in the jewelry category, allowing them to focus on the industry needs.
  • Walmart is actively growing, while encouraging external sellers to join. Only 2% of jewelry is sold by Walmart itself (one of the lowest rates in the marketplace). This is an opposite to Amazon, which has a very self-oriented strategy. It was shown not once, that Amazon’s brands have lower success than ones of 3rd-party sellers, and in the long-term point of view the strategy of ecological co-existence between the marketplace owned products and 3-rd party sellers is more effective.
  • Accepting only US companies as marketplace sellers, Walmart creates very strong protection for US sellers and is not too crowded (only 20K sellers). This is very much different from eBay and Amazon, crowded with more low-cost international sellers. From our clients’ experience we know that the marketplace performs well also in expensive products in the $3000-$4000 price range.
  • Buyers consider Walmart to be a provider of high quality products. This positioning allows selling high-quality jewelry, and has a positive role for the brand. In today’s cross-channel marketing world, this is an important factor in selecting the marketplace to sell jewelry.
  • While having relatively small catalog comparing to Amazon, Walmart offers  over half […]

Industry news: eBay converts all fixed price listings to Good ‘Til Cancelled

Dear Valigarers,

The latest eBay’s 2019 Early Seller Update informs that eBay converts all fixed price listings to Good ‘Til Cancelled. This means 3, 5, 7, 10, 30 days fixed price listings will not be available for use anymore. How can you use Valigara to adjust and benefit from this change?

1. Use the “Kill unsold listings” option in your eBay account settings, to avoid unsold GTC listings from staying forever.

2. Set diversified Mass Revise strategy with scheduling, to create constant updates in your eBay shop.

2. Create listings rotation with multiple Title Variants, eBay templates or other listing parameters to A/B test the best way to sell your jewelry.

Enjoy selling!

Valigara team

Valigara gets the SSL protection

Dear Valigarers!

We are glad to inform we have successfully completed the next major step in the list of security and performance updates in Valigara.

Following the security update on all Valigara system servers, manager / media / and data servers are now accessible by HTTPS – secured connection.

Valigara Online Jewelry Manager software

At this stage we allow accessing the manager.valigara.com system also with the non-secured http:// links. This will be gradually restricted, to assure higher level of data protection in Valigara.

We invite you to use the secured connection while working in the system. Also, please remember to update your browser bookmarks to the matching https://manager.valigara.com URLs.

Enjoy selling!

Valigara team

How to choose the right marketplace to sell jewelry?

Starting your jewelry eCommerce business requires know-how, very different from the one for offline jewelry business. Knowledge of the sales channels, and the ability to find the right representation for your jewelry business online is one of the major keys for your online go-to-market strategy. So is there such a thing as the right marketplace for selling jewelry online? 

Largest online marketplaces for selling jewelry in USA are eBay, Amazon, Etsy, Sears and Walmart. But does it mean that this list is closed, and each jewelry business has to present on all these channels? Absolutely not!

In the offline jewelry retail world, selling jewelry in the local fair, a luxury brick-and-mortar store or in the mall has different meanings for business. Similarly, each online marketplace has its own characteristics and matches different etailers (eCommerce retailers). To assure your online success, it is critical to identify the marketplace which suits your jewelry business most.

So how can I know which marketplace is the right one for me? Do the profiling of your business. While choosing the channel(s) for selling your jewelry online, consider the following factors:

Your jewelry

  • If you are more “mass-production”, or work with more classic designs – this will match to a general audience and is good for the larger marketplaces, such as eBay and Amazon. Buyers on these channels know less about the jewelry […]

Amazon marketplace reduces fees on selling jewelry

Good things happen in the jewelry eCommerce! While the latest update by Amazon is not necessarily positive for all Amazon marketplace sellers, jewelry sellers were definitely glad to receive it. Starting 22. February, Amazon reduces fees on selling jewelry on its marketplace, by lowering the current flat 20% fee to 5% for any portion of the total price greater than $250. This change is a critical news for the fine jewelry sellers, making selling on Amazon much more affordable, and the jewelry more attractive to the Amazon buyers.

Additional effect of this change is that Amazon becomes more relevant for multi-channel eCommerce.  Till now, Amazon had the highest in the online industry (compared to 9.25% by eBay, 4% by Etsy etc.) With that, Amazon’s policy requires sellers to offer their jewelry at the prices not higher than 10% than on any other online channels. This requirement made offering attractive prices on other channel almost impossible. Jewelry sellers looking to sell jewelry on Amazon were pressed to sell on Amazon only, or to violate the marketplace policy to stay competitive on additional online marketplaces. With the recent change, fine jewelry sellers can offer more relevant prices on additional markets, while complying with the Amazon’s rules.

This is the recent email with update sellers received from Amazon:

Dear seller,

Starting on February 22, 2018 (midnight PST), we will reduce the Referral fee for eligible Jewelry items for one year. We will also increase the Referral fee for Clothing & Accessories and eligible products in Shoes, Handbags & Sunglasses starting […]

What makes Jewelry eCommerce different?

Specializing in software for jewelry eCommerce we at Valigara are often asked, why we are “limiting” ourself to this specific  industry. What is special in jewelry and diamonds eCommerce? What is it different from other industries? What special knowledge does it require to sell jewelry onlineIs the market hard to reach? How can ROI and sales productivity be improved?  These are some answers to these questions, and general knowledge on the jewelry eCommerce today. 

Jewelry eCommerce Uniqueness

It is quite regular thinking for  the e-commerce people saying that whatever eCommerce experience they had before in other industries, they will be able to succeed in jewelry and diamonds eCommerce as well. Be it electronics or real estate, most eCommerce people imply that sales principles apply equally to any product.

From our experience, it is much more sophisticated than that. In many ways, selling jewelry online is a different and unique process. Let us go through some of the most important aspects that will help you get a better idea of how online jewelry sales work and what makes it different from the e-commerce in other industries.

Standardized vs. unique products

First, an essential concept about jewelry is that it is a unique, not standardized product. This means, that the potential buyer does not precisely know what he is buying. Each jewelry piece or model is different. Even if there are hundreds of sellers offering the  most popular “1 carat G/VS2 white gold diamond engagement ring size 7″ on eBay, Amazon, Etsy, Sears or […]

  • best-selling-silver-jewelry-online
    Permalink Gallery

    Best selling sterling silver jewellery online – myth or reality?

Best selling sterling silver jewellery online – myth or reality?

This question, which we were asked on Quora,  is very important. With that, providing an answer with specific names, specs and prices would be simply misleading. For many reasons, and here are some.

1. Online jewelry sales are seasonal, and so the best sold products too. Same jewelry working perfectly in Christmas would be simply irrelevant in July on Father’s Day, or on another occasion.

2. Trends and buyers behavior changes, and so the demand for specific jewelry. There is no guarantee that the same jewelry will be relevant after 3 years. Of course there are some very classic jewelry designs (for example heart or cross pendants, flower stud earrings etc). But this would be a totally wrong strategy to build your jewelry eCommerce strategy on permanent collections in your online jewelry store.

3. Every sales channel has its own uniqueness. There is no such thing as “items good for jewelry eCommerce”. Jewelry for your website is different from external marketplaces (eBay, Etsy, Amazon, Amazon Handmade, Sears etc), and from jewelry you will sell through social channels. This is why your jewellery has to be relevant to the specific sales channel. Some examples:

  • Your Facebook store will work well for unique items, which can be identified with you, with your style and brand.
  • Amazon and eBay will perform better on simple, repeatable jewelry, which requires less understanding from the buyer, and requires more from your logistics ability.
  • For personalized jewelry with […]

eBay introduces eBay Authenticate

eBay has announced launch of eBay Authenticate this September. The service allows buyer check the authenticity of the product before buying it, using the external authenticators. Relevant items will be reviewed by a professional authenticator before it’s delivered to the buyer. Starting with handbags, through other fashion categories it is planned to reach jewelry.

For many years eBay is trying to figure out how to assure the jewelry quality, especially in the expensive diamond jewelry. Till now, plans for introducing regulation on the offered gemstones, for example by requiring best-known labs certificates for more expensive gemstones (similar to Amazon), did not bring fruits. For many years, Amazon  requires sellers to certify the offered diamonds above  0.75 carat to be certified by one of the 4 top certification labs “of the GIA level”. Lack of regulation on eBay results in chaotic and non-realistic offers on the loose gemstones and jewelry. Some of sold jewelry on eBay clearly shows to the professional eye that the product is inconsistent with the claimed parameters. Unfortunately buyers understand it only after receiving the “jewelry of their dream at the quarter of price”. And in such an emotional and urgent category as jewelry, this causes a lot of disappointment and sorrow.

Hopefully eBay Authenticate will add transparency to jewelry and gemstones sold on eBay, and will initiate new product certification procedures. Ad the end, eBay’s main business is to negotiate the best buying experience for his users.

 REGISTER FOR PERSONAL FREE ONLINE DEMO!

  • Etsy Studio
    Permalink Gallery

    Etsy Studio – good news for gemstones and diamonds industry

Etsy Studio – good news for gemstones and diamonds industry

Etsy has lately introduced the Etsy Studio – the dedicated marketplace for craft supplies. This is an interesting and encouraging move. Being a DIY-positioned marketplace, till now Etsy had to keep craft supplies stores, including gemstones, diamonds and beads suppliers, in the shadow. With that, almost 60% of the top 1000 Etsy stores are in crafts supply industry. With the introduction of Studio, Etsy creates a legitimate place for craft suppliers, which allows Etsy to take a park in the massive, professional wholesale trade with more harmony.

This are especially good news for the diamonds and gemstones manufacturers and suppliers. Historically, Etsy is a strong marketplace for jewelry, having about 25% of stores in all kinds or fashion, fine and diamond jewelry. Naturally, gemstones and diamond manufacturers always wanted to join the party and offer their products to this great jewellers community. Till now, it was not easy, because Etsy did not actively encourage the presence of craft supply manufacturers. Sales of diamonds, semi precious and precious gemstones stayed low, relatively to jewelry sales.

We hope that the introduction of Etsy Studio will allow Etsy to grow into more established channel for selling high end, semi-precious, precious gemstones and diamonds. Time will show if this move will allow Etsy to successfully follow the Amazon strategy of introducing more specialized markets, targeting different kind of sellers and audiences. We wish success to this new beginning by Etsy, so that diamond and gemstones manufacturers […]

Get Demo