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Archive for April, 2009

Great Tips to Showcasing Your Beaded Jewelry to Online Buyers

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009

By using these great, simple techniques for showcasing your beaded jewelry to an online audience, you can create an eye- catching and alluring virtual storefront that is sure to capture the attention of online shoppers.

Writing about your beads. When writing the description of your product you will want to be specific, yet concise. Online shoppers become bogged down and weary of auctions and descriptions that are too wordy. After all, the photos of your beaded jewelry is what will really sell them. Keep these handy tips in mind when writing about your beaded wares:

Creating headlines and titles. Generally, the shorter your headline the better it will be to grab the attention of potential buyers. For example, Sizzling Swarovski Cuff is a better title than Crystal Blue Swarovski Cuff That Will Melt Your Heart and Make You Sing. Also, experiment with words that pop and don’t be afraid to get creative. After all, it is your creativity that led you to beading in the first place! Try headlines with allure, such as Blue Lagoon Beaded Bracelet, or Mint Julep Gem Stone Choker. This will assign your product an appealing air of exoticism, and tempt shoppers to browse your site.

Describing your beaded jewelry. Maintain a conversational tone throughout your description that shoppers will identify with; avoid both slang and overly-professional jargon. Write as if your audience doesn’t know anything about beads or beaded jewelry. Include information such as the size, length, and dimensions, as well as the materials, beads, or gem stones you used to create it. A reader will want to know if it’s Swarovski, TOHO, acrylic, plastic, or glass beads that you are using. The more descriptive you are about the history of your jewelry, the more you will lessen any doubt or questions a buyer may have.
You can provide a detailed description while still remaining concise by breaking up your text into bullet points and lists that are easier to read than a large block of text. Use caps or boldface to highlight important information.

Being clear about your policies and guidelines. Shoppers must know that they are purchasing their beaded jewelry from an actual person, and not a factory or conveyor belt with automatic shipping systems. If you present your jewelry accurately, you can protect yourself from buyer fraud, complaints, and unhappy customers. Have all your bases covered regarding your policies on payment, shipping, returns and exchanges to ensure that the transaction goes smoothly.

Editing. Buyers are much less likely to bid on or purchase items with a description that contains spelling or grammatical errors. Sloppily composed descriptions errant with mistakes will only draw negative attention. An outside opinion can be very helpful, so ask a friend or family member to review it once you are done.

Photographing your work. A picture is worth a thousand words, and the purchasing appeal of your beaded jewelry is made, or broken, with the photos you present. The initial photo of your gem stone jewelry is displayed amongst many others in the same category, so it is important for yours to stand out amongst your competitors. Experiment with a magnified view, eagle eye photo, or various angles that are eye-catching and unique. If you can, use a macro lens to create a sharp and interesting image. Good lighting is equally as important, as well as using a backdrop that will not take away from the appeal of the item. Use smooth, cool colors to create a contrast against your beaded jewelry. Set aside time to play around with your photos on computer programs such as Photoshop or Picasa, and make your photos transform from fuzzy to fit.

Is your Antique Jewelry Valuable?

Friday, April 17th, 2009

Before you start figuring out whether or not your antique jewelry is valuable, you need to define what the word valuable means. There are a number of different valuable things that people can take a look at and a number of different ways that value can manifest itself to different people. To some people, value simply means how good the actual jewelry itself is in terms of the sentimental value that it has to them and in that case antique jewelry is almost always very valuable. To most people though, value translates into money and in order to do that, you need to either be able to appraise your value yourself or alternatively get someone else to appraise the value for you.

Your first step whenever you encounter a situation like this should usually be to go online and see what’s going on. The reason for that is that there is a lot of good information online around a number of different websites regarding different types of jewelry from silver jewelry to sterling silver jewelry to gold jewelry and others that discusses exactly what you should look for when it comes to appraising your own jewelry. It will also usually have some good photographic aides for you as well as some specific information for different materials because different materials are treated differently when you are considering antiques.

If you don’t really want to do it yourself or want to but simply are not interested in devoting the time necessary to doing it, well then that’s what professional appraisals are for! You always have the option of taking your antique jewelry to a professional and getting them to look it over for you. Some professionals specialize in different types like silver jewelry and gold jewelry whereas others are more general in their tastes and expertise. Either way, you can get an appraisal from them pretty quickly, an appraisal that ultimately will help you figure out exactly how valuable your jewelry antiques might be. Once you know how valuable your antique jewelry is, then you can figure out exactly what it is that you want to do with it.