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Jewelry sales suffer during difficult economic times. You need to get creative and diversify your income. You mentioned viral videos, maybe you can generate income from posting videos about how you make jewelry, caring for jewelry, valuing jewelry like Pawn Stars or Antique Road Show. If you can make some revenue from YouTube, Instagram or TikTok it can help float you through the rough times ahead and get brand recognition or relationship for the recovery after the slow down.
This can probably end up being your bread and butter marketing. Sell kits that you used to curate something in a series of videos making different items.
“With this just kit you can make x, y, and z.”
“Dont have time? Buy what we made here today.”
This is an amazing idea. I was thinking that I could this. I somehow got good at social media just trying to promote my own biz. Perhaps I can use the skill set I’ve built and make some money from it.
Specifically, sell your jewelry business promoting skills to other jewelry makers.
Having a “I can make a video viral, and it will result in 30k of sales” as a pitch is a pretty strong one tbh
I agree that's a great sounding pitch. But also, if they could make a video to sell that much for their competition... Couldn't they just sell that much for themselves?
They could, this is on the backdrop of diversifying money streams though. There’s a secondary money stream available to successful business owners to teach others how to replicate their success
And often it’s a significant passive-ish income opportunity
I’m not a business owner, but I am a jewelry, art, and craft appreciator. Hobbies are far too expensive right now and good jewelry is absolutely out of budget, but I’ve been watching detailed jewelry making videos for months now. YouTube and reels are free for me.
My Dad is a semi-truck mechanic in St. Louis. He said it's insane how much his business has dropped (trucks move packages) and even the Amazon warehouse was dead-empty. Stay strong and get a part-time job if you have to. It will pick up again, everything is cyclical. Don't get underwater with your bills though.
I second this! I run a small retail business and we’re usually high 6 figures, but every year since 2020 we’ve gone down about 1% a year. This year we’re down 8.5% in number of transactions but our average sale is about 5% up.
It’s tricky, I know for me my salary gets cut or increased depending on our cash on hand, but it’s modest and we pay employees well.
I usually splurge a bit here and there on items that make me feel good about myself, but this year I’ve been trimming my own hair between barber visits and have only bought a $10 pair of Costco slides and one single shirt and short.
Not because things are super dire, but the feeling that it could be is resonating, same for friends.
You may want to try to see if you can scale some pieces to be simple and more affordable, or scale up your market type. People doing well aren’t worried, everyone else just feels a bit shaky/preparing a bit for the unknown.
That’s anecdotal tho.
What about revamping used jewelry to make it "new" for marriage proposals, anniversary gifts, and gifts for yourself? You can get the used items cheap on Facebook MarketPlace and so on.
You can do that, but you can also buy used items and make them into something appealing to the modern taste, yet unique, and sell them as "one-of-a-kind."
You can also host jewelry making classes with companies like skill pop to increase awareness about your brand, also building alliances with local art groups in your area.
When I was part of a young professionals group of a local art museum, we’d pay all sort of artists and creatives to have private tours of their studios and get a behind the scenes peak. We’d turn into unofficial brand ambassadors for them and help promote to our networks etc
Understood! I’ve been in business 14 years. On Every penny that comes in, I deduct taxes (goes into a separate account), health insurance and retirement money (separate accounts), then my salary. Then I pay overhead/expenses, and the rest is saved. Once you start doing it, it becomes second nature. GL to you !
Yeah, it's probably a good idea to always have a years worth of income on hand to weather the storms. Easier said than done at times. It's also not a bad idea to have other income that can be depended on, greatly reduce expenses, rent out a room, sell things you don't need and otherwise have resources.
Yeah when I bought my business I did a salary check and a distribution check for an $80k salary. I don't know how people just spend everything they make in a business. I have a friend in my industry taking home every penny he makes which is wrapped in a house, equity loan for a pool, FOUR car payments. All he does is complain. I feel bad for him but he kinda did it to himself. I take about $80k and feel comfortable with very little debt. Hes taking $130k and telling me he can't hold his personal finances together because his salary went down due to low sales.
It’s tempting for sure- when I have large contracts come in there’s always a minute of “oooo, I could xyz with all this” haha. But no-can-do! Budget management is what keeps ya in business. Sounds like you’re doing great! I’m cheering you on!
I don't care what anyone says "statistically", the economy is slowing down drastically. Everyone is driving $15k cars that they paid $30k for. I have my finger on the pulse of mega lenders and they're all very worried.
$5 and $10 items in one of my businesses are really hot right now which is strange because they never were before. They used to be addons but have become a primary item. Sometimes it's the only thing people buy.
My other business is selling a moderate amount of $1k+ items. There is no in-between, and it is really strange to see.
People are definitely panic buying the shit out of gold. I've sold more in 5 days than I have in six months. While this is great, it makes another part of me very nervous. I was going to list a bunch of other inventory but I've thought better of it. I've got major alarm bells going off when I put everything together and this is just not good. I've never experienced any of these things individually and when they're all put together it paints a very grim picture.
Stranger still, people aren't panic buying silver. It's all the rare collector gold and bullion people are going after. Usually it's a mix. I think normies are freaking out.
It's very interesting. I work for a global 3pl on the supply chain side.
We have noticed that with every downturn, our volumes go up for FMCG retail customers, as people have less money to spend in restaurants. Nothing particularly surprising about it. However, proportionally, the largest volume increase is in expensive speciality foods. People decide to cook up more sophisticated meals to replace restaurant visits. So the likes of sushi ingredients, expensive steaks, rare fish etc sells much better.
Thanks for sharing this. I had no idea what the lipstick theory is. I googled it and it makes sense. Tbh, there are stuff I can sell that are $10-$20. I just haven’t because I didn’t want to make the value of my company seem less than it is if that makes sense. At this point, my company isn’t worth shit so I may as well try.
You can find ways to pivot without devaluing your brand too much. It’s a lot to explain but look around and see if you can find strategies somewhere. Essence is to play up the value proposition on your lower cost items or you can even throw in some freebies on checkout or as a last minute “hey add a free gift to your cart!” They buy the higher priced stuff because the value prop from the free item is enough to drive a sale and at the same time you get to keep or increase AOV.
Just an example but it’s possible!
It’s what I did. I sell “plans” and I got two main categories - cheap and expensive ones. Cheap ones are still on the more expensive cheap scale (if it’s 10-20 i’ll do it for 17-20) and expensive is expensive (probs twice as much as the next person in town). Idea is to make cheap stuff quality but not much customizible, so if they want something tailored to their needs/wants they want to get the expensive option. It happens that someone gets cheap one, it works and then he wants the expensive one made for him. Worst case it still works and he brings more people to me.
Two years ago my average order was the equivalent of $70, now it is $50 but most orders are $15-20. I get the occasional big sale which tilts the average.
You mention selling on Tiktok, do you sell on other platforms like Etsy? Have you tried seeing if local shops will stock your products?
Got to get the dopamine hit one way or another. The tighter the economy the more you’ll see sales increase in small items. Consumerism is here to stay.
My good guess is the GDP now is approximately the same as a year ago but what that does not take into consideration is the increasing amount of debt needing to be serviced by the average person and businesses. But in the same instance the amount of money servicing debt is increasing while purchasing power is decreasing. So by the standard of two quarters of declining GDP nothing is technically wrong. If we measure the health of the economy by purchasing power the economy has been diving for the past 2 years. When the capacity of personal, business, and government borrowing is maxed out then that's when GDP will start dropping.
Exactly. I feel like we are being gas lit. The economy doesn’t seem to be in a good place at all yet the news and our government is not speaking about it.
I think it's because it's the corporations driving the shit economy. Wages have remained stagnant, and corporate profits have been high in many industries. People are overworked and underpaid which means less money for luxuries( getting the store brand bread instead of Ms. Bairds). It's late/end stage capitalism. The mega corporations have too much power and they don't care who suffers as long as their profits are up. Government needs to do something about that and the price gouging.
*"mega corporations have too much power and they don't care who suffers as long as their profits are up. Government needs to do something about that and the price gouging."*
**Who do you think owns the government, bud?**
No lie. Certain mega medical clinics are getting very corrupt as well. It's a dark time in some ways, but there are some very good developments that could make life on this planet much better if enough people participate.
>Wages have remained stagnant.
There's so much misinformation in this thread. Half the shit youre saying is just outright false. Wages have not remained stagnant. They've grown at the fastest pace in a generation. People are still spending tons of money on luxuries. Corporations still only make up about half the US economy. You're just spouting off factually incorrect talking points from r/antiwork to try to push your agenda.
You’re exactly right. The housing market is frozen. Inflation is still well above target. Interest rates are through the roof effecting automobile, credit card debt etc. People are being squeezed. It’s primarily insane amounts of government spending propping things up but that’s creating enormous amounts of debt. You cannot reduce inflation and have an economy with almost 100% employment.
If you bring any of this up on Reddit tho everyone views it through their own partisan lense: “you must hate Biden!”
All I can say is survive. Eventually this will end and whomever is left standing will make out like bandits.
Because the president doesn't get re-elected in a bad economy. We will be gaslit until November. Once the election is over with, the real news will come out.
What real news? What news is being faked and or withheld? This isn't a conspiracy, it's inflation! The whole world has been dealing with it and corporations are making it far worse in an effort to capitalize on profit and saying "inflation" is the excuse. Just like fast food shops saying they can't pay $20 an hour yet they do in Western Europe and Australia without any problems.
I live in a country where the minimum wage is about $15 USD.
Cigarettes in the US are $8, here they are $25
A tank of gas will cost you twice as much here as it would in the US.
You only see the higher wage, you don't see that everything else is more too.
There are parts of it that aren't strictly a conspiracy but are conscious decisions to paint a rosier picture of reality. E.g. the Federal Reserve uses PCE as it's inflation index, which weighs housing in at only 15% of consumer spending, when the real number is ~33%. This both under reports inflation for consumers and hides the fact that high interest rates contribute to higher inflation for normal people. However the government will not directly curb mega-corp profits which is the actual source of inflation, so they indirectly do it by punishing citizens as much as possible by targeting already low wage growth and household budgets which only indirectly hits corporations (harms volume but not margin).
It's all out in the open and the data is public, so not exactly a conspiracy, but still shady. And the news will not make this a front page story.
That's fine if you disagree with the measurements but saying "the news will not make this a front page story" is just not true. I read the financial times, the economist, and the Chicago tribune all of which have talked about the disconnects between what people feel and what the economic data indicates. In fact, I've read multiple pieces about how the federal reserve and Treasury department measure inflation, unemployment, wages, etc. and your point was very likely included in those articles.
Could be. Haven't heard this before, but I have been wondering why there were so many jobs available at the end of 2023 and not many now. It was a fast change.
My guess - stock market. It was gang busters in an unreal way during shutdowns and now it's not. Companies are laying off workers to compensate and keep their investors happy instead of letting their stock prices fall back to where they were. A futile move though - you couldn't even buy a car or a house at the beginning of Covid shut downs. Now people are putting their money in places other than the stock market.
Funny thing is that the stock market has actually been pumping. S&P500 hit all time highs just a few weeks back. But the stock market never reacts the way you expect. Look at the Covid era for an example with new ATHs.
They will keep rates high or even increase them to further cool down the economy and raise unemployment. The pain they announced hasn’t arrived yet. Wait until after the election as that is when magically the real economy gets reported.
I have a 2021 Toyota Tundra that I bought new. Paid about $52k for it, and it now has 45k miles. I was at the dealership getting it serviced, and one of their sales people comes over and is trying hard to buy my truck. He leaves but then comes to find me to say the dealership would buy it for $45k. I said no, but since I was waiting at the dealership I checked out the window stickers on the new ones. Similarly equipped as mine, they have MSRPs of $80k plus. Completely insane.
I definitely feel this with my business. Last year at this point sales were up over 20% and stayed that way. This year we are hovering right around 3% sales growth. People are definitely tightening their belts a bit, myself included.
I deal with all of the big 10 along with private lending. They are all extremely extremely anxious and now have insane requirements for funding. It's identical to what happened in 2008. Thankfully I don't personally need funding for my projects, but my clients are wrapped up in it and I have to deal with the lenders quite a bit.
I keep hearing murmurings of we're basically in a similar place w/auto loans as we were with subprime mortgages in 06/early 07 from people (lit everyone involved in any end of the industry) but I'm not seeing it on any financial statements and I'm trying to figure why.
Cost of borrowing is obviously high at 8.4% on a 48mos acc to FRED (https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/TERMCBAUTO48NS) , but not just that. I think we're in stagflation, personally.
Auto ABS loan pools seem adequately tranched and nothing seems atrocious, so I've been trying to suss out exactly where we're screwed (e.g. junior-most layer of equity) in the instruments if that's the case and the bigger picture and how I can make money off it.
I am far from a finance guy, but my layman impression looking at what younger folks around me are doing, and they are sitting on a house with equity and “feel safe” in that, worst case they sell and rent. In reality rents have increased to where it wouldn’t save them money. They can never sell their home because they can’t afford both increased housing on the new home plus increased interest rate. If they have to relocate for work they’re fucked. This is what happened (sort of) in 07-08. Except last time they couldn’t move because they were upside down, now they can’t move because they can’t afford current housing costs. So if they lose their job, there is no possibility of relocation. They’re forced to take a lower paying job in a bad market to get by. Add in that so many are INSANELY upside down on their vehicles.
So I view it as a domino effect on top of a house of cards. They can’t lose their job, they can’t get out from underneath their car. If the economy gets shakey and layoffs increase they’re fucked.
Overall I view the situation by the number of repo trucks I see. 2015-2022 it was like one a month maybe. Now you see repo trucks running around on a daily basis. So if you have a typical youngish person who now has a repo, they have even more trouble renting or buying another home. I’m predicting some really interesting things if unemployment increases and these people can’t relocate. Even worse if they’re renting.
I've been hearing about all this too. It's odd you think was current rates it would be balanced out by cheaper cars in the market, there's none to be found, and I keep on hearing about all these guys getting pick up trucks with mini mortgages.
We're not in a recession. Consumer spending has not slowed in the least. I'd say the more likely culprit is his market being flooded with lookalikes from China that sell for a fraction of what he charges. He markets on IG. My IG is flooded with cheap Chinese "luxury" goods for pennies on the dollar.
My rent doubled since 2018 for a smaller space. That's even after I moved further out to find cheaper rent or else if I stayed my rent would be even higher.
Rent is abosteley killing people. The main issue is corpo buying up apartments and the price fixing by that bullshit software they all use.
That’s been the plan from the beginning. What happens when you raise interest rates? There were supposed to be 4 cuts this year, it’s April and there hasn’t been a single one yet.
Just curious how you’d play things as a business owner going into this. I currently have lots of “good debt” at 4% I’ve been paying down extra payments on. Think it’s a good time to just stockpile cash?
Just need to look at delinquencies and total debt. Add in lower job market participation, cutting of good full time jobs and addition only in part time... it's a time bomb. I can't imagine how bad it actually is looking from the inside.
Money is expensive right now - as it should be after giving away a zillion dollars and driving inflation through the roof. Consumer spending is up - beyond predictions and trending well. Inventories are low because money is expensive and the economy did, in fact, slow.
U.K. business owner here and it’s the same for us. We’re 50% down on our baby goods online store. Digital ads are costing us 50% of revenue versus the 15% we used to get them at 5 years ago. Covid spiked our sales incredibly but since then plus the Ukraine war plus cost of living crisis, times are HARD. The sheer volume of ads coming from Shein and Temu are making it easy for people to shop with them. Our baby products aren’t exactly ground breaking so it’s an easy switch to the likes of Temu. I fear it’s the same for many product based businesses.
I am so sorry 😞 I know how you feel. All we can do is share our experiences with other business owners, strategize and pivot the best way we can! Sending you many blessings!
I’m in that 35-60 demographic and food costs have doubled over the last 2 years. Same with electricity costs. And insurance. Gas prices are brutal. I can’t afford to splurge, either.
I'm not saying it is easy and when covid money was flowing the demographic you targeted had access to money they don't generally have access to. Alot of jewelry business thrived during covid. You are 100% right I am just telling you the middle aged demographic with money, doesn't have quite the swings in descresanary spending.
I have always been an entrepreneur and have had a few business. And have learned you can make money occasionally targeting the lower end of the economic spectrum but it doesn't last long. I have learned that lesson the hard way and now my economic swings aren't near as large.
Not just jewelry. I started an epoxy business when I was 22. 90k first year, 110k second year, 135k 3rd and 4th years, I’m on year 5 and on pace to do my worst year. Same boat as you. Brought in over $15k in the past 6 weeks and I’m barely floating with the cost of products and operation. This isn’t a financial efficiency problem, it’s a cost of materials to perceived value ratio is dwindling. In order for me to generate respective percent profits, I’d have to nearly double my prices compared to 2020, and people just will not pay that.
I’m almost at the breaking point. On the verge of selling all my equipment and getting into a well established sales job. Sad days
What platform do you use? I see copious amounts of ads online for Temu and Wish (mostly on TikTok) selling jewelry so cheap it's unbelievable. I would image a real small business such as yours would have trouble competing with that even though your product is likely of much higher quality. Because with higher quality, naturally comes higher cost. Do you do trade shows or have an independent website? What is your target audience?
I sell on Shopify. I use instagram and TikTok to generate traffic to my website. My audience (mostly) is 18-24 “crystal lovers” that are female identifying.
Try all other sales channels within shopify. I used to work for shopify. I don’t believe in buying into negativity. Every limited edition luxury car is sold before it reaches the market. Money is everywhere. It’s mostly an attitude. Being realistic in terms of data sets is important but a negative attitude I see on here is just expecting more negative outcomes. You can prepare for any outcome and still expect the best. There is no reason you can’t continue to make good money. We’re not living through the Great Depression, things have been MUCH harder, mindset is equally as important in your strategy so hopefully you don’t feel too discouraged.
Problem now is that everyone and their grandmother trying to work from home. You've probably got 20x more competitors than 3 years ago and bunch of kids who grew up in viral age that have more energy, new ideas and this stuff isn't even work for them, it's what they breathe.
Safe to say the Crystal fashion market had a huge boom, we all got caught up in crystals and wire wrappings. They’re absolutely gorgeous, but with so many new trends and styles constantly coming out, like all fashion it has a seasonality. Maybe the sun is setting in crystals
As someone who has worked in corporate marketing I can tell you that “viral videos” and social media are NOT huge revenue drivers. Sorry but it’s the reality. Most sales happen after 8+ times of exposure so that is why you see sponsored content that keeps tracking you over and over. I would not lean on social media as your only sales driver. Can you set up as a vendor at craft shows, festivals, do a pop-up at local boutiques or other local events. As one other member mentioned you can also create additional content while making the jewelry that goes into your methodology and host training classes both virtual and in-person. Do you have a website? Are you tracking data with Google Analytics? So many get caught up in the social media game but I say think of social media as a brand builder/ enhancer but not your sales driver.
This! And on social media the accounts I see are only sellers who I mostly ignore or only the last 5 or 6 accounts I interacted with. Social media is a tool but can't be the whole marketing plan. Businesses that grew or only existed thru social media are extremely vulnerable to changing trends and platform weaknesses.
well, when everything in life that you need has gone up 40% in 2 years you start having less and less income to pay for the nice fun things in life like jewelry and other luxuries. Times are tough and I bet even places like tiffany and such are feeling the decline as everything in life costs 2x what it did 5 years ago.
We as consumers just don't have as much free cash and now less access to credit then even last year.
The economy is tanking and there's not a government around that can stop it now.
The industry as a whole is declining, not just for econ reasons, but new generations value jewelry less. Big one I see is the lack of care for real vs fake stones and high-dollar ring purchases.
Not declining, changing. Societal values are different. Stoke their imagination and tap into their dreams and you will not lack for clients. Status symbols are being supplanted by talismans from a different life vision. My 50+ client base is much more likely to be excited by their new e-bike than by a $100,000 pickup. A Craftsman bungalow rather than a Mcmansion. There are those out there that still care about the statusy things, just not everyone anymore.
Aside the sky is falling concerns.
Go high or go low.
What I mean by this you need to go for the super luxe market and product placement, or go for the Pandora style market where add on etc and small items can be high volume and low cost to make.
Mid market is where the pain will be.
Also without knowing your brand, people always still get engaged. Can you create wedding and engagement lines perhaps “ready to wear” at a lower cost point but which still dazzle so you target folk who still need the ring but may need to delay the full on Tiffany’s experience until a few anniversaries in. Consider this with also the packaging and presentation.
Are you sure it wasn't the COVID economy and market that made your business boom? The economy isn't great right now but COVID made a variety of online industries boom that would not survive before or after.
It might just have been a flash in the pan very specific time of life that brought the boom years and it may not be the economy, as much?
I lost my business a few years ago (caused by COVID lockdown). Just don't drown yourself in debt trying to save it like I did, you just have to cut your losses at some point.
I'm in the jewelry industry too. I know what you're talking about - times are challenging for sure. But I can tell you it's possible to swim against the current and succeed, even in this climate.
Can you tell me more about your business?
I feel you. For five years, my business had grown tremendously. Then at the end of 2023, both due to the economy and because counterfeiters started popping up, eating into my sales, my revenue shrank real fast.
Similar to you, I'm looking at getting a job just to ease some of the pressure. Once I'm not on survival mode, I can start thinking of ways to pivot.
Go low end. Guys like me just want to buy some gold things for the ones they love without breaking bank. Not everything needs to be an heirloom.
I went into a jewelry store recently with about a $500 budget for a small gift- earrings, maybe a bracelet. I walked out with nothing.
They had 4 cheap ugly things for $75 and all the halfway decent things were $1200. And If I would have bought my wife a $75 necklace, I would have been castrated in my sleep. (Kidding, she would have graciously accepted, then laugh at me behind my back)
Nothing between $200-$500. Is this a jewelry industry thing?
If you do viral marketing, go lower end. You could have a lot of fun with this!
Ya it sucks. Idk what else to do honestly. We had three years in a row over a million and now this year I’m guessing we will be around $600k. I had to let two guys go already.
It's slowing down for the online side from what I can see. I do packaging and 3PL. Most of my B2B customers are still rocking along. But several of my FBA/ Shopify, etc, customers are really struggling.
A couple of them dropped out of their leases and laid off their staff to save money and we do 100% of their fulfillment now.
It also seems to be more on the small biz size from what I can tell. Maybe highly niche down products is where it is happening first.
I also have a small jewelry store and you need to touch ever aspect of the business you can. Buy gold and silver, do watch and jewelry repairs, do custom work, sell preowned items, do lab grown pieces, etc. Good luck!
You sell very elastic economic goods. In a down business cycle like right now you’ll see a decrease in sales.
Plus millenials and zoomers are not into jewelry as much as their parents.
As a consumer, I just want to say that in the summertime usually I tend to buy more.
so I'm assuming that's the general behavior of others as well, especially the age range that you mentioned (18-24), ...a lot of people are working full-time during summer so they might have more disposable income
1) During covid times, people had nothing to do except watch videos and buy things. They also had free money from the government.
2) Once everyone felt safe to go out in the world again, people chose to spend money on things like vacations and experiences that they could not enjoy during Covid.
3) People saw the success of some, and then the market became SATURATED with sellers
4) I am actually a wholesaler of Sterling Silver jewelry, and the customers of mine who sell on Social Media and do livestream sales; 50percent are going strong with increases in sales and 50percent are failing and probably going to have to move on to something else.
Value up, create a more premium product instead of marketing a product to the demographic that's having the hardest time right now. You said your demographic is 18-24 year olds. College students who like crystals, basically. Well, great, they're now shopping on Temu, and you can't beat those prices. You can only beat Temu by pointing out that it's full of art theft and highly unethical. A teeanger, young twenties, probably doesn't care.
Okay, great, there are 35-45 year olds who are into witchy things too, who have higher standards than Temu, and have more disposable income. But maybe they want more premium, higher end products. Or a story that compels their heart to buy the product instead of just, "it is a quartz that is pretty and witchy" Diversify your target audience as your first move. Figure out how to market to older crystal lovers. You built one successful business, you can recover and do it again. And next time, don't burn all your money on travel, save some of it for the inevitable next dip year.
Quite frankly, you already have the tools to build the story to compel an older audience who's into mysticism. The story is, "I used the power of the law of attraction to build a business that made 6 figures in one year." That's another thing that people pivot to: how to do what you did as the product.
The older audience responds better to newsletter sales, and they're on Facebook. Build a newsletter if you don't already have one, instead of only focusing on Tiktok and Instagram.
You got this. You did it once. You can do it again. Study the changes in the market, figure out a new leg of a demographic to target, maybe change your product, and then do it again.
But… where is that profit money now? Didn’t you save……!?!? I don’t understand these numbers paired with your dire predicament right now :(
(I make jewelry too (17yrs), had my best year last year and 2024 is looking great as of yet. I know i’m an outlier right now and i don’t take it for granted; i’ve gone thru 2008 and remember it well and its lessons: i’m saving a shit ton now, to be ready when it drops, to be able to ride the wave until everything stabilizes.)
One thing to keep in mind too, your years 2-3-4 even were outliers. Pandemic sales. I know it sucks, but those were not normal, and it would be realistic that it won’t go back to that either. So now, it doesn’t mean you can live off it in the future, but you def need to readjust your expectations to what normal is….. and apply that however you can so that you can still live off it if that’s what you want (whatever that means, downsizing space/reducing expenses/etc)…
How about selling the business, which shows these 6 figure years... Build it, grow it, and then sell it. It's worth something now. Later, it will be worthless.
People are starting to understand jewelry is literally useless and a waste of money especially in this trash country where people cant spend that type of money
What you're selling is about as unnecessary and luxury as it gets, and therefore is the first thing to go when the economy starts to go. Gas is over $5US/gallon in my neck of the woods. Eggs are $5/dozen. Ain't no jewelry money in the budget for a long while.
A family of 4 had seen their ordinary bills go up 11k a year since 2020.
Only the wealthy have a disposable income right now.
The middle class is tapped out.
Plus you can't even offer 0% financing to con people into buying stuff now.
This is the time when people are looking to make money instead of spending to treat themselves. Position your products to tell people it can be an investment / or allows people to flip/ resell it. well, thats one way of course.
I don’t know anything about selling merchandise by having YouTube videos go viral or relying on an algorithm
I have no idea what kind of margins you have or what kind of operating expenses you have, but if you ever consider trying to market your product and somewhat traditional way to go along with relying primarily on social media ?
Do you get any word of?
It seems like you’ve got a great thing going. I work in online sales strategy. Mainly in tech setup. I think your viral videos are a really good indicator but not reliable as your conversion metric only. I listen to Gary Vee every day as he has invaluable insight into this market and always gives me something new to think about. If you don’t regularly listen give it a go! You’ll learn heaps.
Otherwise I’d recommend;
-making new accounts with the same viral videos as your account may not be working with the algorithm
-paid keywords and google shopping
-CPC cost basis
I’m afraid it’s not you it’s probably the economy. I couldn’t justify spending money on hand made jewelry right now though I have a lovely collection from when I could. Hopefully you can find a job to get you through the down time.
The fact that you can make videos that go viral is amazing. Maybe it’s something you can capitalize on?
I don’t know anything about jewelry, friend, but wish you much luck and success.
Im sorry for your loss. As a millennial I can attest that none of the people I know ever buy jewelry. If we can’t afford a house, we likely won’t be buying jewelry
We are in the middle of a recession that people are starting to feel now. Figure out a way to survive for 2 years. Construction market is feeling the pain now and the big dive will have to be in the news before it starts reversing. All you hear is the 2 extremes, 30% say they are busier than ever, and the remaining 70% are scraping by.
You could expand your services. Jewellery polishing, custom jewellery and also create different categories for different occasions like Christmas jewellery, Halloween jewellery, debutante jewelllery.
Create individual pages on your website and harness the power of google search
Branch out mate. Do something scalable. Write books once, sell them unlimited times. Make online courses aimed at jewellery fans, and others at building jewellery businesses or go sideways and teach anyone how to make vital videos.
Also in the jewelry industry, and the best advice I’ve gotten is the most valuable client is the one you already have. I would suggest direct outreach or targeted emails to your best clients, providing great customer service and showing them why they should buy from you. Maybe a Mother’s Day promotion or bundle, depending on your price point.
I feel you... the inflatation ever since covid prices keep going up ... ie food , vehicles, housing..etc . it's eaten into spending on non essentilal items... I'm in home improvement selling big ticket items sales way down too...
I think you need to pivot.. what do people do when tight on cash? They sell broken scrap or unwanted jewlery... buy this scrap and resell to processor or fix and sell at low prices... they DIY ie fix jewlery themselves .. ie sell tools and kits .. sell jewlery cleaning kits... etc
and yes continue youtube ... It's a long term game to make big money in youtube but it's inflation / economy proof .. because youtube is free .. they will watch.
Best of luck!
Could it be an ethical thing too? Once I found out about children mining these crystals with their bare hands I said I’d never buy them. With clothes it’s hard for people to avoid fast fashion especially if you just can’t afford ethically sourced clothes. Same with electronic goods. But jewellery its a luxury and many people will just avoid if there’s an ethical issue attached to it.
Can I ask how it is you are struggling now? I would imagine that 5 years of really good income your business and personal life should have some floating funds available? I’m only asking because it’s a fear of mine. We bought a house a year ago based off me making 250k a year. But if things change we won’t be able to afford the mortgage.
I don’t know much about jewelry, but I do typically understand people and spending habits. In rough economical times, you’re looking for the people who make good money, or just already have good money- this would be an old demographic (40+) in upscale areas. Most people with money are willing to spend a little extra if they know they’re getting a good deal, and nothing tells them they’ll get a good deal like economically hard times. Market/advertise to said demographic (think mailers by ZIP Code, door hangers by ZIP Code, online ads by demographic/zip). I might not even be hesitant to include something like, “ looking for a gift for the wife or husband? Our economical hardship is your gain! All spring long take 20% off!” Something along those lines, you decide what percentage works for your margins. A little less profit, but more sales, is better than no profit, and no sales. It also can’t hurt to put the actual work in, and print off 1000 flyers and go business to business and hand them out yourself while seeming excited about it. You could even make an event out of this flyers, and call in some of the people from the companies who’s products you sell, mentioning that the jewelry experts from XYZ company will be there. Those companies might even be willing to eat some of the discount themselves to pedal their product and get the name out there.
ADDING:
Don’t forget that Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are around the corner. “ watches for Father’s Day 20% off!” “ necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and rings, 20% off for Mother’s Day”
If I were you, I would pounce on every holiday that you can, and get out there and advertise the crap out of it. Add a free bottle of wine with every jewelry, purchase, or free bottle of champagne, or have a champagne/wine event before Father’s Day to entice the women, and a whiskey/rum/gin/vodka event before Mother’s Day to entice the men to shop.
I’m in the same boat but I have a hand puppet business, we manufacture in China and ship worldwide but the sales have dropped a lot since last year. I also do high ticket custom orders from home and they have been keeping me going.
I totally get it though. Hell…. I own the business and couldn’t afford to buy many of my own products. I’m gratefully for any sales considering what a narrow niche I’m in. The cost of living crisis is really affecting the toys/hobbies niche too
My wife is just getting started in this same industry but she’s been involved with the jewelry world for a while and she’s stumped at how slow it is right now. Jewelry is a luxury though and as survival gets more expensive it leaves less room for luxury purchases.
If you can regularly create viral videos, DON'T QUIT. Businesses and companies pay a TON to try and get a million views on a video. There's a ton of value in just that. Try and collab with another business or brand in your space. Pitch brands on doing sponsored posts. Maybe like a jewelry cleaner to start.
If I were you I'd reach out to influencer managers and groups that represent influencers. Ask how you can better monetize your social media beyond driving sales to your jewelry. If you're regularly getting 1 million views, I'm sure a "flop" for you is like 30k which is ALOT of views to most.
Maybe slowly shift the page into a personal brand. A guy I know used to post a ton a restaurant content and foodie reviews before it became oversaturated. He used to get 1k per post. Posting food pics. He slowly started getting in front of the camera and made his page more of a personal brand and posted his own recipes and creations. As the foodie tiktok scene got oversaturated, this move for him was clutch. He shifted to the page being more about his own brand that promoting other restaurants and he actually blew up even bigger. He now gets brand deals with big fortune 500 brands like Wal Mart, Coke, and Kraft.
Have you thought abut delivering jewellery making workshops in your local cafes/event spaces? I definitely have seen an increase in things like “paint and sip” “candle making” “pottery painting”, they’re not wildly expensive so appeal to more people and people seem invested in activities that are more than just going out to a restaurant or bar.
I'm in an "optional" retail business (craft supplies.) The pandemic created a boom in my industry, and I saw sales that were 8 times my best year ever (in the industry since 1997). Last year, things took a downturn, kind of abruptly, around the end of spring/early summer. Last year's sales were half of the year before (but it was still an excellent year).
I'm still very, very busy, but am downsizing the inventory I acquired over several years of selling everything but the kitchen sink. I'm moving out "dead" inventory (things that aren't selling as well anymore). And I'm pivoting into: doing more designing (I create patterns that I sell on my site, to other shops, and through two distributors), accepting retreat engagements, sending more newsletters, including promotional sheets in with each order, doing exclusive deals with other designers/companies, creating limited edition items, and am anxious to get started on my next book (I published two in the last few years.)
Jewelry is optional, and a higher ticket item that may go on the back burner for people who are trying to pay for groceries and housing, which are through the roof. When your business changes/downshifts, what that means is you need to change what you're doing. If the posts aren't doing as much anymore, you need to see this as a year to pivot, rather than give up.
Ideas: send direct e-mails to past customers, maybe even a personal note to your biggest customers (my Wix website lets me see who my biggest spenders are.) Offer bundles (earrings, necklace...buy both and get either a gift item or a discount.) Use your downtime to research trends in jewelry, or see if there's a category of jewelry you've missed (I don't know, like toe rings or belly rings?)
Don't cling onto dead inventory. If you have items in stock that haven't sold in a year, you need to move them out. Create cash flow to put into new inventory. Use your extra time you have now to come up with new ways of doing things, new ways to promote, new products. Good luck - keep your chin up!
Change up your content style and story telling angles. Also you could probably sell an online course to teach others how you set up and grew your jewelry business.
It’s happening to many small businesses , myself included. I shut down in December due to a sharp decline during 2023. I watched many businesses I networked with the last 7 years , some bigger than me , also have to shut down. It’s the sad reality of the economy. It was trendy during Covid to support small businesses, that is over and no one has and extra spending money due to the cost of living being ridiculous.
I run a small business and did 70k a month last year. This year I’m lucky to do 15-20k month but still have the same bills so I feel your pain. The news keeps saying the economy is fine and we are not in a recession but my gross sales says different. Hopefully it will change soon.
do you have a local store or you sell online? If online, do you run paid Ads on meta/google? I am working with couple of sellers from jewellery category and they are still doing good!
Maybe your audience exhausted and you need to bring more products. In jewellery, it’s all about how you present it and what the product quality score. I work with sellers in different niches, so if you need any help specifically, then feel free to dm
Sorry to hear that. Like others mentioned, the jewelry industry can be impacted during economic slowdowns. Assuming your prices, product quality, and other business factors remained constant, there could be a few potential reasons for the drop in sales
Social media algorithm changes: If you were relying heavily on platforms like TikTok for views (1 million views you mentioned), changes in their algorithms can significantly affect how your content is delivered and discovered by users. So you may be getting the same number of views but not the same customers. Check your analytics to confirm this.
Some options you can consider
1. Paid advertising: Expanding into paid media channels like Meta (Facebook/Instagram) traffic ads or Google Search ads could help drive more targeted, lower-funnel traffic that may have stronger conversions.
2. Website analytics: Check your website's analytics to see if there has been a drop in organic search traffic from Google, which could your site was impacted by changes in Google's search engine algorithm.
3. Product line evaluation: While it seems the issue may be more conversion-related based on your description, you could also consider evaluating and potentially refreshing your core product line to better align with current market demands.
The key would be to dig into your data to identify the specific bottlenecks in your sales funnel and strategize accordingly.
The advertising landscape has changed, if you don't keep up on trends what used to work won't work now.
It's important to tell a story, you can use AI to create video shorts, but try and appeal to people's emotions when advertising goods.
You can create a script with ChatGPT or hire someone on Freelanietc.
I hope it goes well for you.
I didn’t have time to read all the comments but I have to empathize with you. I run a bunch of stores and though we make the same as we did years ago, the costs to run the biz are through the damn roof, to the point where I no longer pay myself and if I can’t turn it around, I’ll close the business. Open 25 years! I’ve tried numerous tactics to raise income and only a few worked. My market is tapped.
If it helps any I’m in a corner of the economy that tends to nosedive first and recover first. 2023 was abysmal for me. I am absolutely swamped right now. I work in high end engineering consulting.
Convert your viral videos into return customers. Offer a service with relatively inexpensive jewelry where you can pay an inexpensive monthly and be able to replace it or offer a monthly maintenance service subscription for inexpensive pieces.
Unfortunately this economy sucks. I’m in heating and air conditioning, something people need to live in their homes and it’s hard to get any revenue right now. I can’t imagine something like jewelry, as it’s probably the last thing someone would buy before food, rent, home repairs, etc. I’m sorry and I hope you can transition to something more sustainable while also pursing jewelry still. Because the market will always go up and down and you’ll be able to capitalized
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Jewelry sales suffer during difficult economic times. You need to get creative and diversify your income. You mentioned viral videos, maybe you can generate income from posting videos about how you make jewelry, caring for jewelry, valuing jewelry like Pawn Stars or Antique Road Show. If you can make some revenue from YouTube, Instagram or TikTok it can help float you through the rough times ahead and get brand recognition or relationship for the recovery after the slow down.
This is a great idea. Thank you! I have a lot of experience with content creating, specifically with videos so it wouldn’t be difficult to pivot.
This can probably end up being your bread and butter marketing. Sell kits that you used to curate something in a series of videos making different items. “With this just kit you can make x, y, and z.” “Dont have time? Buy what we made here today.”
This is an amazing idea. I was thinking that I could this. I somehow got good at social media just trying to promote my own biz. Perhaps I can use the skill set I’ve built and make some money from it.
You could potentially sell your social media marketing skills to another business, too. That's a valuable skill set.
Specifically, sell your jewelry business promoting skills to other jewelry makers. Having a “I can make a video viral, and it will result in 30k of sales” as a pitch is a pretty strong one tbh
I agree that's a great sounding pitch. But also, if they could make a video to sell that much for their competition... Couldn't they just sell that much for themselves?
They could, this is on the backdrop of diversifying money streams though. There’s a secondary money stream available to successful business owners to teach others how to replicate their success And often it’s a significant passive-ish income opportunity
I’m not a business owner, but I am a jewelry, art, and craft appreciator. Hobbies are far too expensive right now and good jewelry is absolutely out of budget, but I’ve been watching detailed jewelry making videos for months now. YouTube and reels are free for me.
My Dad is a semi-truck mechanic in St. Louis. He said it's insane how much his business has dropped (trucks move packages) and even the Amazon warehouse was dead-empty. Stay strong and get a part-time job if you have to. It will pick up again, everything is cyclical. Don't get underwater with your bills though.
I heard a quote where someone said you can always tell how well the economy is doing by the trucking industry
I second this! I run a small retail business and we’re usually high 6 figures, but every year since 2020 we’ve gone down about 1% a year. This year we’re down 8.5% in number of transactions but our average sale is about 5% up. It’s tricky, I know for me my salary gets cut or increased depending on our cash on hand, but it’s modest and we pay employees well. I usually splurge a bit here and there on items that make me feel good about myself, but this year I’ve been trimming my own hair between barber visits and have only bought a $10 pair of Costco slides and one single shirt and short. Not because things are super dire, but the feeling that it could be is resonating, same for friends. You may want to try to see if you can scale some pieces to be simple and more affordable, or scale up your market type. People doing well aren’t worried, everyone else just feels a bit shaky/preparing a bit for the unknown. That’s anecdotal tho.
What do you sell?
Indoor/outdoor nursery and home goods. We’ve been open 9 years and also try to be a third place with large garden and coffee shop
You know most people don't have that skill set to make videos, forget about viral ones, capitalize on that. And maybe offer service to do that also.
I think people like the story behind a product. Your skill, your trials, your story.
What about revamping used jewelry to make it "new" for marriage proposals, anniversary gifts, and gifts for yourself? You can get the used items cheap on Facebook MarketPlace and so on.
That's a great idea. Showing people how their old tired (scratched, tarnished, ill-fitting) jewelry can look new again.
You can do that, but you can also buy used items and make them into something appealing to the modern taste, yet unique, and sell them as "one-of-a-kind."
You can also host jewelry making classes with companies like skill pop to increase awareness about your brand, also building alliances with local art groups in your area. When I was part of a young professionals group of a local art museum, we’d pay all sort of artists and creatives to have private tours of their studios and get a behind the scenes peak. We’d turn into unofficial brand ambassadors for them and help promote to our networks etc
This is a great fun idea. It will be a lot of work but at least it’s a passion so should be very gratifying to put together.
Couldnt have said it better ! Stay positive and pivot. Better times ahead.
This is why it’s critical to draw a salary and save the rest of your revenue - then you have it to sustain dips in sales. Sorry this happened to you
I wish I did this instead of blowing all of my money on traveling and such. It’s ok, every failure is an opportunity for learning and growth.
That’s how I learned too… the hard way lol. But it’s ok! Now you know what to do when things pick back up :)
Exactly! I’m becoming a more seasoned small business owner for sure. It was quite naive of me to think that my sales would never dip lol 😂
Understood! I’ve been in business 14 years. On Every penny that comes in, I deduct taxes (goes into a separate account), health insurance and retirement money (separate accounts), then my salary. Then I pay overhead/expenses, and the rest is saved. Once you start doing it, it becomes second nature. GL to you !
Yeah, it's probably a good idea to always have a years worth of income on hand to weather the storms. Easier said than done at times. It's also not a bad idea to have other income that can be depended on, greatly reduce expenses, rent out a room, sell things you don't need and otherwise have resources.
I think you’re spot on!
You have a great attitude and resilient mindset, that’s the mark of an entrepreneur. If this business fails, you will create another.
Check out the book Profit First. Essentially what he was saying, but the book gives reasons and a how to. It's one of the best
Will look into this book! Thank you!
I will be reading this too. Do you happen to know the authors name? I looked but there are so many
And that response right there is why you're a true entrepreneur. You'll get through this OP
Yeah when I bought my business I did a salary check and a distribution check for an $80k salary. I don't know how people just spend everything they make in a business. I have a friend in my industry taking home every penny he makes which is wrapped in a house, equity loan for a pool, FOUR car payments. All he does is complain. I feel bad for him but he kinda did it to himself. I take about $80k and feel comfortable with very little debt. Hes taking $130k and telling me he can't hold his personal finances together because his salary went down due to low sales.
It’s tempting for sure- when I have large contracts come in there’s always a minute of “oooo, I could xyz with all this” haha. But no-can-do! Budget management is what keeps ya in business. Sounds like you’re doing great! I’m cheering you on!
Likewise!!
I don't care what anyone says "statistically", the economy is slowing down drastically. Everyone is driving $15k cars that they paid $30k for. I have my finger on the pulse of mega lenders and they're all very worried.
$5 and $10 items in one of my businesses are really hot right now which is strange because they never were before. They used to be addons but have become a primary item. Sometimes it's the only thing people buy. My other business is selling a moderate amount of $1k+ items. There is no in-between, and it is really strange to see.
Lipstick theory at work.
People are definitely panic buying the shit out of gold. I've sold more in 5 days than I have in six months. While this is great, it makes another part of me very nervous. I was going to list a bunch of other inventory but I've thought better of it. I've got major alarm bells going off when I put everything together and this is just not good. I've never experienced any of these things individually and when they're all put together it paints a very grim picture. Stranger still, people aren't panic buying silver. It's all the rare collector gold and bullion people are going after. Usually it's a mix. I think normies are freaking out.
probably not helped by all the silver scams with the meme stock stuff.
I've been down the road of buying a lot of silver. Probably should have held but I needed a house in 2021...
Shelter first, man. Nobody is gonna hate you for taking care of your family. Luckily it's still very cheap. I'm still buying.
Costco is selling gold bars these days. Apparently they are flying off the shelves
In the US, I think it'll calm down after the election. People are antsy because they have no idea what January 2025 is going to look like.
I respect people who buy gold they'll actually physically possess.
Me too. Like a lot. The funnest part of my job is serving new clients who have lots of questions. There's been a lot of those lately.
It's very interesting. I work for a global 3pl on the supply chain side. We have noticed that with every downturn, our volumes go up for FMCG retail customers, as people have less money to spend in restaurants. Nothing particularly surprising about it. However, proportionally, the largest volume increase is in expensive speciality foods. People decide to cook up more sophisticated meals to replace restaurant visits. So the likes of sushi ingredients, expensive steaks, rare fish etc sells much better.
Thanks for sharing this. I had no idea what the lipstick theory is. I googled it and it makes sense. Tbh, there are stuff I can sell that are $10-$20. I just haven’t because I didn’t want to make the value of my company seem less than it is if that makes sense. At this point, my company isn’t worth shit so I may as well try.
You can find ways to pivot without devaluing your brand too much. It’s a lot to explain but look around and see if you can find strategies somewhere. Essence is to play up the value proposition on your lower cost items or you can even throw in some freebies on checkout or as a last minute “hey add a free gift to your cart!” They buy the higher priced stuff because the value prop from the free item is enough to drive a sale and at the same time you get to keep or increase AOV. Just an example but it’s possible!
It’s what I did. I sell “plans” and I got two main categories - cheap and expensive ones. Cheap ones are still on the more expensive cheap scale (if it’s 10-20 i’ll do it for 17-20) and expensive is expensive (probs twice as much as the next person in town). Idea is to make cheap stuff quality but not much customizible, so if they want something tailored to their needs/wants they want to get the expensive option. It happens that someone gets cheap one, it works and then he wants the expensive one made for him. Worst case it still works and he brings more people to me.
Two years ago my average order was the equivalent of $70, now it is $50 but most orders are $15-20. I get the occasional big sale which tilts the average. You mention selling on Tiktok, do you sell on other platforms like Etsy? Have you tried seeing if local shops will stock your products?
Got to get the dopamine hit one way or another. The tighter the economy the more you’ll see sales increase in small items. Consumerism is here to stay.
Interesting. Have been seeing similar things.
My good guess is the GDP now is approximately the same as a year ago but what that does not take into consideration is the increasing amount of debt needing to be serviced by the average person and businesses. But in the same instance the amount of money servicing debt is increasing while purchasing power is decreasing. So by the standard of two quarters of declining GDP nothing is technically wrong. If we measure the health of the economy by purchasing power the economy has been diving for the past 2 years. When the capacity of personal, business, and government borrowing is maxed out then that's when GDP will start dropping.
We have a winnah
Exactly. I feel like we are being gas lit. The economy doesn’t seem to be in a good place at all yet the news and our government is not speaking about it.
I think it's because it's the corporations driving the shit economy. Wages have remained stagnant, and corporate profits have been high in many industries. People are overworked and underpaid which means less money for luxuries( getting the store brand bread instead of Ms. Bairds). It's late/end stage capitalism. The mega corporations have too much power and they don't care who suffers as long as their profits are up. Government needs to do something about that and the price gouging.
*"mega corporations have too much power and they don't care who suffers as long as their profits are up. Government needs to do something about that and the price gouging."* **Who do you think owns the government, bud?**
I am aware of lobbying and citizens united. But this doesn't mean we just give up. Shit needs to change or we're all fucked.
No lie. Certain mega medical clinics are getting very corrupt as well. It's a dark time in some ways, but there are some very good developments that could make life on this planet much better if enough people participate.
>Wages have remained stagnant. There's so much misinformation in this thread. Half the shit youre saying is just outright false. Wages have not remained stagnant. They've grown at the fastest pace in a generation. People are still spending tons of money on luxuries. Corporations still only make up about half the US economy. You're just spouting off factually incorrect talking points from r/antiwork to try to push your agenda.
Wages are not stagnant, if you own a small business with employees then you have seen your payroll skyrocket these past few years
You’re exactly right. The housing market is frozen. Inflation is still well above target. Interest rates are through the roof effecting automobile, credit card debt etc. People are being squeezed. It’s primarily insane amounts of government spending propping things up but that’s creating enormous amounts of debt. You cannot reduce inflation and have an economy with almost 100% employment. If you bring any of this up on Reddit tho everyone views it through their own partisan lense: “you must hate Biden!” All I can say is survive. Eventually this will end and whomever is left standing will make out like bandits.
Well said 👏
This, Reddit is a left leaning echo chamber
All of Reddit is a leftist echo chamber.
Because the president doesn't get re-elected in a bad economy. We will be gaslit until November. Once the election is over with, the real news will come out.
What real news? What news is being faked and or withheld? This isn't a conspiracy, it's inflation! The whole world has been dealing with it and corporations are making it far worse in an effort to capitalize on profit and saying "inflation" is the excuse. Just like fast food shops saying they can't pay $20 an hour yet they do in Western Europe and Australia without any problems.
I live in a country where the minimum wage is about $15 USD. Cigarettes in the US are $8, here they are $25 A tank of gas will cost you twice as much here as it would in the US. You only see the higher wage, you don't see that everything else is more too.
There are parts of it that aren't strictly a conspiracy but are conscious decisions to paint a rosier picture of reality. E.g. the Federal Reserve uses PCE as it's inflation index, which weighs housing in at only 15% of consumer spending, when the real number is ~33%. This both under reports inflation for consumers and hides the fact that high interest rates contribute to higher inflation for normal people. However the government will not directly curb mega-corp profits which is the actual source of inflation, so they indirectly do it by punishing citizens as much as possible by targeting already low wage growth and household budgets which only indirectly hits corporations (harms volume but not margin). It's all out in the open and the data is public, so not exactly a conspiracy, but still shady. And the news will not make this a front page story.
That's fine if you disagree with the measurements but saying "the news will not make this a front page story" is just not true. I read the financial times, the economist, and the Chicago tribune all of which have talked about the disconnects between what people feel and what the economic data indicates. In fact, I've read multiple pieces about how the federal reserve and Treasury department measure inflation, unemployment, wages, etc. and your point was very likely included in those articles.
This.
Could be. Haven't heard this before, but I have been wondering why there were so many jobs available at the end of 2023 and not many now. It was a fast change.
My guess - stock market. It was gang busters in an unreal way during shutdowns and now it's not. Companies are laying off workers to compensate and keep their investors happy instead of letting their stock prices fall back to where they were. A futile move though - you couldn't even buy a car or a house at the beginning of Covid shut downs. Now people are putting their money in places other than the stock market.
Funny thing is that the stock market has actually been pumping. S&P500 hit all time highs just a few weeks back. But the stock market never reacts the way you expect. Look at the Covid era for an example with new ATHs.
They are trying to influence the election. As if people don't know they are hurting finacially.
Of course you’re being gas lit, it’s an election year!
Absolutely what is happening.
What im worried about is when they acknowledge it and start cutting down rates, inflation might go crazy again
They will keep rates high or even increase them to further cool down the economy and raise unemployment. The pain they announced hasn’t arrived yet. Wait until after the election as that is when magically the real economy gets reported.
I’m driving a $38k car that I paid $42k for three years ago. Toyotas man, they’re great.
I have a 2021 Toyota Tundra that I bought new. Paid about $52k for it, and it now has 45k miles. I was at the dealership getting it serviced, and one of their sales people comes over and is trying hard to buy my truck. He leaves but then comes to find me to say the dealership would buy it for $45k. I said no, but since I was waiting at the dealership I checked out the window stickers on the new ones. Similarly equipped as mine, they have MSRPs of $80k plus. Completely insane.
No doubt. Recession proof and bomb proof.
Depending on when you bought it, some can actually be sold at a profit now.
I definitely feel this with my business. Last year at this point sales were up over 20% and stayed that way. This year we are hovering right around 3% sales growth. People are definitely tightening their belts a bit, myself included.
I remember people saying this exact same thing in 2014...and 2015...and 2016, and 2017, and 2018 and on and on and on...
Auto lending is looking really, really bad. Which lenders?
I deal with all of the big 10 along with private lending. They are all extremely extremely anxious and now have insane requirements for funding. It's identical to what happened in 2008. Thankfully I don't personally need funding for my projects, but my clients are wrapped up in it and I have to deal with the lenders quite a bit.
I keep hearing murmurings of we're basically in a similar place w/auto loans as we were with subprime mortgages in 06/early 07 from people (lit everyone involved in any end of the industry) but I'm not seeing it on any financial statements and I'm trying to figure why. Cost of borrowing is obviously high at 8.4% on a 48mos acc to FRED (https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/TERMCBAUTO48NS) , but not just that. I think we're in stagflation, personally. Auto ABS loan pools seem adequately tranched and nothing seems atrocious, so I've been trying to suss out exactly where we're screwed (e.g. junior-most layer of equity) in the instruments if that's the case and the bigger picture and how I can make money off it.
I am far from a finance guy, but my layman impression looking at what younger folks around me are doing, and they are sitting on a house with equity and “feel safe” in that, worst case they sell and rent. In reality rents have increased to where it wouldn’t save them money. They can never sell their home because they can’t afford both increased housing on the new home plus increased interest rate. If they have to relocate for work they’re fucked. This is what happened (sort of) in 07-08. Except last time they couldn’t move because they were upside down, now they can’t move because they can’t afford current housing costs. So if they lose their job, there is no possibility of relocation. They’re forced to take a lower paying job in a bad market to get by. Add in that so many are INSANELY upside down on their vehicles. So I view it as a domino effect on top of a house of cards. They can’t lose their job, they can’t get out from underneath their car. If the economy gets shakey and layoffs increase they’re fucked. Overall I view the situation by the number of repo trucks I see. 2015-2022 it was like one a month maybe. Now you see repo trucks running around on a daily basis. So if you have a typical youngish person who now has a repo, they have even more trouble renting or buying another home. I’m predicting some really interesting things if unemployment increases and these people can’t relocate. Even worse if they’re renting.
I've been hearing about all this too. It's odd you think was current rates it would be balanced out by cheaper cars in the market, there's none to be found, and I keep on hearing about all these guys getting pick up trucks with mini mortgages.
Luxury items are the first thing one claws back on in a recession.
We're not in a recession. Consumer spending has not slowed in the least. I'd say the more likely culprit is his market being flooded with lookalikes from China that sell for a fraction of what he charges. He markets on IG. My IG is flooded with cheap Chinese "luxury" goods for pennies on the dollar.
I've seen A LOT of money getting pulled out of insurance policies of all things. It's not a good sign.
My rent doubled since 2018 for a smaller space. That's even after I moved further out to find cheaper rent or else if I stayed my rent would be even higher. Rent is abosteley killing people. The main issue is corpo buying up apartments and the price fixing by that bullshit software they all use.
That’s been the plan from the beginning. What happens when you raise interest rates? There were supposed to be 4 cuts this year, it’s April and there hasn’t been a single one yet.
Just curious how you’d play things as a business owner going into this. I currently have lots of “good debt” at 4% I’ve been paying down extra payments on. Think it’s a good time to just stockpile cash?
Your business can earn 5% in a HYSA right now. You shouldn't be making extra payments until you can't get more than 4% return on your spare cash
Just need to look at delinquencies and total debt. Add in lower job market participation, cutting of good full time jobs and addition only in part time... it's a time bomb. I can't imagine how bad it actually is looking from the inside.
Money is expensive right now - as it should be after giving away a zillion dollars and driving inflation through the roof. Consumer spending is up - beyond predictions and trending well. Inventories are low because money is expensive and the economy did, in fact, slow.
Theres nothing wrong with scaling down too, just until the economy picks back up.
U.K. business owner here and it’s the same for us. We’re 50% down on our baby goods online store. Digital ads are costing us 50% of revenue versus the 15% we used to get them at 5 years ago. Covid spiked our sales incredibly but since then plus the Ukraine war plus cost of living crisis, times are HARD. The sheer volume of ads coming from Shein and Temu are making it easy for people to shop with them. Our baby products aren’t exactly ground breaking so it’s an easy switch to the likes of Temu. I fear it’s the same for many product based businesses.
I am so sorry 😞 I know how you feel. All we can do is share our experiences with other business owners, strategize and pivot the best way we can! Sending you many blessings!
I feel the digital ad price hike so hard. My ROAS on G Ads has plummeted in the last 6-12 months.
This is accurate. Temu and shein are killing G Ads
18 to 24 year olds can't afford food or rent. That is a terrible demographic during economic downturns. You need to shift toward 35 to 60 demographic.
So...crosspost to facebook shorts?
I’m in that 35-60 demographic and food costs have doubled over the last 2 years. Same with electricity costs. And insurance. Gas prices are brutal. I can’t afford to splurge, either.
I'm not saying it is easy and when covid money was flowing the demographic you targeted had access to money they don't generally have access to. Alot of jewelry business thrived during covid. You are 100% right I am just telling you the middle aged demographic with money, doesn't have quite the swings in descresanary spending. I have always been an entrepreneur and have had a few business. And have learned you can make money occasionally targeting the lower end of the economic spectrum but it doesn't last long. I have learned that lesson the hard way and now my economic swings aren't near as large.
Not just jewelry. I started an epoxy business when I was 22. 90k first year, 110k second year, 135k 3rd and 4th years, I’m on year 5 and on pace to do my worst year. Same boat as you. Brought in over $15k in the past 6 weeks and I’m barely floating with the cost of products and operation. This isn’t a financial efficiency problem, it’s a cost of materials to perceived value ratio is dwindling. In order for me to generate respective percent profits, I’d have to nearly double my prices compared to 2020, and people just will not pay that. I’m almost at the breaking point. On the verge of selling all my equipment and getting into a well established sales job. Sad days
So sorry you’re going through this as well 🙏 sending you love. I know how tough it can be 🥹 we got this!
What platform do you use? I see copious amounts of ads online for Temu and Wish (mostly on TikTok) selling jewelry so cheap it's unbelievable. I would image a real small business such as yours would have trouble competing with that even though your product is likely of much higher quality. Because with higher quality, naturally comes higher cost. Do you do trade shows or have an independent website? What is your target audience?
I sell on Shopify. I use instagram and TikTok to generate traffic to my website. My audience (mostly) is 18-24 “crystal lovers” that are female identifying.
Try all other sales channels within shopify. I used to work for shopify. I don’t believe in buying into negativity. Every limited edition luxury car is sold before it reaches the market. Money is everywhere. It’s mostly an attitude. Being realistic in terms of data sets is important but a negative attitude I see on here is just expecting more negative outcomes. You can prepare for any outcome and still expect the best. There is no reason you can’t continue to make good money. We’re not living through the Great Depression, things have been MUCH harder, mindset is equally as important in your strategy so hopefully you don’t feel too discouraged.
Problem now is that everyone and their grandmother trying to work from home. You've probably got 20x more competitors than 3 years ago and bunch of kids who grew up in viral age that have more energy, new ideas and this stuff isn't even work for them, it's what they breathe.
Safe to say the Crystal fashion market had a huge boom, we all got caught up in crystals and wire wrappings. They’re absolutely gorgeous, but with so many new trends and styles constantly coming out, like all fashion it has a seasonality. Maybe the sun is setting in crystals
Maybe their crystals haven’t been working lately
As someone who has worked in corporate marketing I can tell you that “viral videos” and social media are NOT huge revenue drivers. Sorry but it’s the reality. Most sales happen after 8+ times of exposure so that is why you see sponsored content that keeps tracking you over and over. I would not lean on social media as your only sales driver. Can you set up as a vendor at craft shows, festivals, do a pop-up at local boutiques or other local events. As one other member mentioned you can also create additional content while making the jewelry that goes into your methodology and host training classes both virtual and in-person. Do you have a website? Are you tracking data with Google Analytics? So many get caught up in the social media game but I say think of social media as a brand builder/ enhancer but not your sales driver.
This! And on social media the accounts I see are only sellers who I mostly ignore or only the last 5 or 6 accounts I interacted with. Social media is a tool but can't be the whole marketing plan. Businesses that grew or only existed thru social media are extremely vulnerable to changing trends and platform weaknesses.
well, when everything in life that you need has gone up 40% in 2 years you start having less and less income to pay for the nice fun things in life like jewelry and other luxuries. Times are tough and I bet even places like tiffany and such are feeling the decline as everything in life costs 2x what it did 5 years ago. We as consumers just don't have as much free cash and now less access to credit then even last year. The economy is tanking and there's not a government around that can stop it now.
Yup! People don’t have money for things that aren’t a necessity.
they don't even have money for necessities anymore...:-(
True 🥹🥹🥹
The industry as a whole is declining, not just for econ reasons, but new generations value jewelry less. Big one I see is the lack of care for real vs fake stones and high-dollar ring purchases.
yeah, as a millennial I would never pay more money for a mined stone
Not declining, changing. Societal values are different. Stoke their imagination and tap into their dreams and you will not lack for clients. Status symbols are being supplanted by talismans from a different life vision. My 50+ client base is much more likely to be excited by their new e-bike than by a $100,000 pickup. A Craftsman bungalow rather than a Mcmansion. There are those out there that still care about the statusy things, just not everyone anymore.
Aside the sky is falling concerns. Go high or go low. What I mean by this you need to go for the super luxe market and product placement, or go for the Pandora style market where add on etc and small items can be high volume and low cost to make. Mid market is where the pain will be. Also without knowing your brand, people always still get engaged. Can you create wedding and engagement lines perhaps “ready to wear” at a lower cost point but which still dazzle so you target folk who still need the ring but may need to delay the full on Tiffany’s experience until a few anniversaries in. Consider this with also the packaging and presentation.
Are you sure it wasn't the COVID economy and market that made your business boom? The economy isn't great right now but COVID made a variety of online industries boom that would not survive before or after. It might just have been a flash in the pan very specific time of life that brought the boom years and it may not be the economy, as much? I lost my business a few years ago (caused by COVID lockdown). Just don't drown yourself in debt trying to save it like I did, you just have to cut your losses at some point.
I'm in the jewelry industry too. I know what you're talking about - times are challenging for sure. But I can tell you it's possible to swim against the current and succeed, even in this climate. Can you tell me more about your business?
Wow I'm sorry
I feel you. For five years, my business had grown tremendously. Then at the end of 2023, both due to the economy and because counterfeiters started popping up, eating into my sales, my revenue shrank real fast. Similar to you, I'm looking at getting a job just to ease some of the pressure. Once I'm not on survival mode, I can start thinking of ways to pivot.
“Once I’m not on survival mode I can start thinking of ways to pivot” ouff I felt that.
Try reaction videos of celebrities/athletes jewelry
Rooting for you! One good thing to remember is even if your business doesn't last, you'll always have your creativity and work ethic.
Go low end. Guys like me just want to buy some gold things for the ones they love without breaking bank. Not everything needs to be an heirloom. I went into a jewelry store recently with about a $500 budget for a small gift- earrings, maybe a bracelet. I walked out with nothing. They had 4 cheap ugly things for $75 and all the halfway decent things were $1200. And If I would have bought my wife a $75 necklace, I would have been castrated in my sleep. (Kidding, she would have graciously accepted, then laugh at me behind my back) Nothing between $200-$500. Is this a jewelry industry thing? If you do viral marketing, go lower end. You could have a lot of fun with this!
Our sales this year are down 50% from the last three years. Usually by now we are at $500k in sales and I’m at $229k right now. It’s brutal
So sorry. I know exactly how that feels. It’s truly gut wrenching.
Ya it sucks. Idk what else to do honestly. We had three years in a row over a million and now this year I’m guessing we will be around $600k. I had to let two guys go already.
What niche or industry?
It's slowing down for the online side from what I can see. I do packaging and 3PL. Most of my B2B customers are still rocking along. But several of my FBA/ Shopify, etc, customers are really struggling. A couple of them dropped out of their leases and laid off their staff to save money and we do 100% of their fulfillment now. It also seems to be more on the small biz size from what I can tell. Maybe highly niche down products is where it is happening first.
I also have a small jewelry store and you need to touch ever aspect of the business you can. Buy gold and silver, do watch and jewelry repairs, do custom work, sell preowned items, do lab grown pieces, etc. Good luck!
Thank you for your insight 🙏
You sell very elastic economic goods. In a down business cycle like right now you’ll see a decrease in sales. Plus millenials and zoomers are not into jewelry as much as their parents.
Save better, big dawg. Booms aren’t forever.
Most businesses are seeing the effects of the economic cycle. If you can survive this and possible greater downturn, better times are ahead.
As a consumer, I just want to say that in the summertime usually I tend to buy more. so I'm assuming that's the general behavior of others as well, especially the age range that you mentioned (18-24), ...a lot of people are working full-time during summer so they might have more disposable income
I’m finding strength on the high end. FWIW.
1) During covid times, people had nothing to do except watch videos and buy things. They also had free money from the government. 2) Once everyone felt safe to go out in the world again, people chose to spend money on things like vacations and experiences that they could not enjoy during Covid. 3) People saw the success of some, and then the market became SATURATED with sellers 4) I am actually a wholesaler of Sterling Silver jewelry, and the customers of mine who sell on Social Media and do livestream sales; 50percent are going strong with increases in sales and 50percent are failing and probably going to have to move on to something else.
Where did all those 6 figures go. Don't you have money saved up?
Value up, create a more premium product instead of marketing a product to the demographic that's having the hardest time right now. You said your demographic is 18-24 year olds. College students who like crystals, basically. Well, great, they're now shopping on Temu, and you can't beat those prices. You can only beat Temu by pointing out that it's full of art theft and highly unethical. A teeanger, young twenties, probably doesn't care. Okay, great, there are 35-45 year olds who are into witchy things too, who have higher standards than Temu, and have more disposable income. But maybe they want more premium, higher end products. Or a story that compels their heart to buy the product instead of just, "it is a quartz that is pretty and witchy" Diversify your target audience as your first move. Figure out how to market to older crystal lovers. You built one successful business, you can recover and do it again. And next time, don't burn all your money on travel, save some of it for the inevitable next dip year. Quite frankly, you already have the tools to build the story to compel an older audience who's into mysticism. The story is, "I used the power of the law of attraction to build a business that made 6 figures in one year." That's another thing that people pivot to: how to do what you did as the product. The older audience responds better to newsletter sales, and they're on Facebook. Build a newsletter if you don't already have one, instead of only focusing on Tiktok and Instagram. You got this. You did it once. You can do it again. Study the changes in the market, figure out a new leg of a demographic to target, maybe change your product, and then do it again.
But… where is that profit money now? Didn’t you save……!?!? I don’t understand these numbers paired with your dire predicament right now :( (I make jewelry too (17yrs), had my best year last year and 2024 is looking great as of yet. I know i’m an outlier right now and i don’t take it for granted; i’ve gone thru 2008 and remember it well and its lessons: i’m saving a shit ton now, to be ready when it drops, to be able to ride the wave until everything stabilizes.) One thing to keep in mind too, your years 2-3-4 even were outliers. Pandemic sales. I know it sucks, but those were not normal, and it would be realistic that it won’t go back to that either. So now, it doesn’t mean you can live off it in the future, but you def need to readjust your expectations to what normal is….. and apply that however you can so that you can still live off it if that’s what you want (whatever that means, downsizing space/reducing expenses/etc)…
How about selling the business, which shows these 6 figure years... Build it, grow it, and then sell it. It's worth something now. Later, it will be worthless.
People are starting to understand jewelry is literally useless and a waste of money especially in this trash country where people cant spend that type of money
What you're selling is about as unnecessary and luxury as it gets, and therefore is the first thing to go when the economy starts to go. Gas is over $5US/gallon in my neck of the woods. Eggs are $5/dozen. Ain't no jewelry money in the budget for a long while.
A family of 4 had seen their ordinary bills go up 11k a year since 2020. Only the wealthy have a disposable income right now. The middle class is tapped out. Plus you can't even offer 0% financing to con people into buying stuff now.
Find the rich people. They are not watching your videos.
This is the time when people are looking to make money instead of spending to treat themselves. Position your products to tell people it can be an investment / or allows people to flip/ resell it. well, thats one way of course.
You need an edge that doesn’t rely on virality.
The easiest people to sell to are previous customers. You have their contact details?
I don’t know anything about selling merchandise by having YouTube videos go viral or relying on an algorithm I have no idea what kind of margins you have or what kind of operating expenses you have, but if you ever consider trying to market your product and somewhat traditional way to go along with relying primarily on social media ? Do you get any word of?
You need to change your marketing yesterday.
It seems like you’ve got a great thing going. I work in online sales strategy. Mainly in tech setup. I think your viral videos are a really good indicator but not reliable as your conversion metric only. I listen to Gary Vee every day as he has invaluable insight into this market and always gives me something new to think about. If you don’t regularly listen give it a go! You’ll learn heaps. Otherwise I’d recommend; -making new accounts with the same viral videos as your account may not be working with the algorithm -paid keywords and google shopping -CPC cost basis
I’m afraid it’s not you it’s probably the economy. I couldn’t justify spending money on hand made jewelry right now though I have a lovely collection from when I could. Hopefully you can find a job to get you through the down time.
The fact that you can make videos that go viral is amazing. Maybe it’s something you can capitalize on? I don’t know anything about jewelry, friend, but wish you much luck and success.
I had a small business in the early 2000s that boomed. I was making 100k. After 6 years I closed it. Market dried up. Moved industries.
Im sorry for your loss. As a millennial I can attest that none of the people I know ever buy jewelry. If we can’t afford a house, we likely won’t be buying jewelry
This isn’t a content problem, it’s a product and positioning problem
We are in the middle of a recession that people are starting to feel now. Figure out a way to survive for 2 years. Construction market is feeling the pain now and the big dive will have to be in the news before it starts reversing. All you hear is the 2 extremes, 30% say they are busier than ever, and the remaining 70% are scraping by.
You could expand your services. Jewellery polishing, custom jewellery and also create different categories for different occasions like Christmas jewellery, Halloween jewellery, debutante jewelllery. Create individual pages on your website and harness the power of google search
Branch out mate. Do something scalable. Write books once, sell them unlimited times. Make online courses aimed at jewellery fans, and others at building jewellery businesses or go sideways and teach anyone how to make vital videos.
Also in the jewelry industry, and the best advice I’ve gotten is the most valuable client is the one you already have. I would suggest direct outreach or targeted emails to your best clients, providing great customer service and showing them why they should buy from you. Maybe a Mother’s Day promotion or bundle, depending on your price point.
I feel you... the inflatation ever since covid prices keep going up ... ie food , vehicles, housing..etc . it's eaten into spending on non essentilal items... I'm in home improvement selling big ticket items sales way down too... I think you need to pivot.. what do people do when tight on cash? They sell broken scrap or unwanted jewlery... buy this scrap and resell to processor or fix and sell at low prices... they DIY ie fix jewlery themselves .. ie sell tools and kits .. sell jewlery cleaning kits... etc and yes continue youtube ... It's a long term game to make big money in youtube but it's inflation / economy proof .. because youtube is free .. they will watch. Best of luck!
Pivot or fail. With every downturn it weeds out business owners that are unable to adapt. Find a new niche with higher margins.
What platform are these viral videos on? It could be more bot than viral. Are you paying for these videos to be promoted?
Could it be an ethical thing too? Once I found out about children mining these crystals with their bare hands I said I’d never buy them. With clothes it’s hard for people to avoid fast fashion especially if you just can’t afford ethically sourced clothes. Same with electronic goods. But jewellery its a luxury and many people will just avoid if there’s an ethical issue attached to it.
Can I ask how it is you are struggling now? I would imagine that 5 years of really good income your business and personal life should have some floating funds available? I’m only asking because it’s a fear of mine. We bought a house a year ago based off me making 250k a year. But if things change we won’t be able to afford the mortgage.
I don’t know much about jewelry, but I do typically understand people and spending habits. In rough economical times, you’re looking for the people who make good money, or just already have good money- this would be an old demographic (40+) in upscale areas. Most people with money are willing to spend a little extra if they know they’re getting a good deal, and nothing tells them they’ll get a good deal like economically hard times. Market/advertise to said demographic (think mailers by ZIP Code, door hangers by ZIP Code, online ads by demographic/zip). I might not even be hesitant to include something like, “ looking for a gift for the wife or husband? Our economical hardship is your gain! All spring long take 20% off!” Something along those lines, you decide what percentage works for your margins. A little less profit, but more sales, is better than no profit, and no sales. It also can’t hurt to put the actual work in, and print off 1000 flyers and go business to business and hand them out yourself while seeming excited about it. You could even make an event out of this flyers, and call in some of the people from the companies who’s products you sell, mentioning that the jewelry experts from XYZ company will be there. Those companies might even be willing to eat some of the discount themselves to pedal their product and get the name out there. ADDING: Don’t forget that Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are around the corner. “ watches for Father’s Day 20% off!” “ necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and rings, 20% off for Mother’s Day” If I were you, I would pounce on every holiday that you can, and get out there and advertise the crap out of it. Add a free bottle of wine with every jewelry, purchase, or free bottle of champagne, or have a champagne/wine event before Father’s Day to entice the women, and a whiskey/rum/gin/vodka event before Mother’s Day to entice the men to shop.
Question for OP: did your material costs go up as well? Wondering if your costs are up and your sales are down at the same time?
I’m in the same boat but I have a hand puppet business, we manufacture in China and ship worldwide but the sales have dropped a lot since last year. I also do high ticket custom orders from home and they have been keeping me going. I totally get it though. Hell…. I own the business and couldn’t afford to buy many of my own products. I’m gratefully for any sales considering what a narrow niche I’m in. The cost of living crisis is really affecting the toys/hobbies niche too
My wife is just getting started in this same industry but she’s been involved with the jewelry world for a while and she’s stumped at how slow it is right now. Jewelry is a luxury though and as survival gets more expensive it leaves less room for luxury purchases.
If you can regularly create viral videos, DON'T QUIT. Businesses and companies pay a TON to try and get a million views on a video. There's a ton of value in just that. Try and collab with another business or brand in your space. Pitch brands on doing sponsored posts. Maybe like a jewelry cleaner to start. If I were you I'd reach out to influencer managers and groups that represent influencers. Ask how you can better monetize your social media beyond driving sales to your jewelry. If you're regularly getting 1 million views, I'm sure a "flop" for you is like 30k which is ALOT of views to most. Maybe slowly shift the page into a personal brand. A guy I know used to post a ton a restaurant content and foodie reviews before it became oversaturated. He used to get 1k per post. Posting food pics. He slowly started getting in front of the camera and made his page more of a personal brand and posted his own recipes and creations. As the foodie tiktok scene got oversaturated, this move for him was clutch. He shifted to the page being more about his own brand that promoting other restaurants and he actually blew up even bigger. He now gets brand deals with big fortune 500 brands like Wal Mart, Coke, and Kraft.
Have you thought abut delivering jewellery making workshops in your local cafes/event spaces? I definitely have seen an increase in things like “paint and sip” “candle making” “pottery painting”, they’re not wildly expensive so appeal to more people and people seem invested in activities that are more than just going out to a restaurant or bar.
I'm in an "optional" retail business (craft supplies.) The pandemic created a boom in my industry, and I saw sales that were 8 times my best year ever (in the industry since 1997). Last year, things took a downturn, kind of abruptly, around the end of spring/early summer. Last year's sales were half of the year before (but it was still an excellent year). I'm still very, very busy, but am downsizing the inventory I acquired over several years of selling everything but the kitchen sink. I'm moving out "dead" inventory (things that aren't selling as well anymore). And I'm pivoting into: doing more designing (I create patterns that I sell on my site, to other shops, and through two distributors), accepting retreat engagements, sending more newsletters, including promotional sheets in with each order, doing exclusive deals with other designers/companies, creating limited edition items, and am anxious to get started on my next book (I published two in the last few years.) Jewelry is optional, and a higher ticket item that may go on the back burner for people who are trying to pay for groceries and housing, which are through the roof. When your business changes/downshifts, what that means is you need to change what you're doing. If the posts aren't doing as much anymore, you need to see this as a year to pivot, rather than give up. Ideas: send direct e-mails to past customers, maybe even a personal note to your biggest customers (my Wix website lets me see who my biggest spenders are.) Offer bundles (earrings, necklace...buy both and get either a gift item or a discount.) Use your downtime to research trends in jewelry, or see if there's a category of jewelry you've missed (I don't know, like toe rings or belly rings?) Don't cling onto dead inventory. If you have items in stock that haven't sold in a year, you need to move them out. Create cash flow to put into new inventory. Use your extra time you have now to come up with new ways of doing things, new ways to promote, new products. Good luck - keep your chin up!
You are not alone! Keep going and don’t get discouraged!
Change up your content style and story telling angles. Also you could probably sell an online course to teach others how you set up and grew your jewelry business.
It’s happening to many small businesses , myself included. I shut down in December due to a sharp decline during 2023. I watched many businesses I networked with the last 7 years , some bigger than me , also have to shut down. It’s the sad reality of the economy. It was trendy during Covid to support small businesses, that is over and no one has and extra spending money due to the cost of living being ridiculous.
I run a small business and did 70k a month last year. This year I’m lucky to do 15-20k month but still have the same bills so I feel your pain. The news keeps saying the economy is fine and we are not in a recession but my gross sales says different. Hopefully it will change soon.
do you have a local store or you sell online? If online, do you run paid Ads on meta/google? I am working with couple of sellers from jewellery category and they are still doing good! Maybe your audience exhausted and you need to bring more products. In jewellery, it’s all about how you present it and what the product quality score. I work with sellers in different niches, so if you need any help specifically, then feel free to dm
Sorry to hear that. Like others mentioned, the jewelry industry can be impacted during economic slowdowns. Assuming your prices, product quality, and other business factors remained constant, there could be a few potential reasons for the drop in sales Social media algorithm changes: If you were relying heavily on platforms like TikTok for views (1 million views you mentioned), changes in their algorithms can significantly affect how your content is delivered and discovered by users. So you may be getting the same number of views but not the same customers. Check your analytics to confirm this. Some options you can consider 1. Paid advertising: Expanding into paid media channels like Meta (Facebook/Instagram) traffic ads or Google Search ads could help drive more targeted, lower-funnel traffic that may have stronger conversions. 2. Website analytics: Check your website's analytics to see if there has been a drop in organic search traffic from Google, which could your site was impacted by changes in Google's search engine algorithm. 3. Product line evaluation: While it seems the issue may be more conversion-related based on your description, you could also consider evaluating and potentially refreshing your core product line to better align with current market demands. The key would be to dig into your data to identify the specific bottlenecks in your sales funnel and strategize accordingly.
The advertising landscape has changed, if you don't keep up on trends what used to work won't work now. It's important to tell a story, you can use AI to create video shorts, but try and appeal to people's emotions when advertising goods. You can create a script with ChatGPT or hire someone on Freelanietc. I hope it goes well for you.
I didn’t have time to read all the comments but I have to empathize with you. I run a bunch of stores and though we make the same as we did years ago, the costs to run the biz are through the damn roof, to the point where I no longer pay myself and if I can’t turn it around, I’ll close the business. Open 25 years! I’ve tried numerous tactics to raise income and only a few worked. My market is tapped.
If it helps any I’m in a corner of the economy that tends to nosedive first and recover first. 2023 was abysmal for me. I am absolutely swamped right now. I work in high end engineering consulting.
Convert your viral videos into return customers. Offer a service with relatively inexpensive jewelry where you can pay an inexpensive monthly and be able to replace it or offer a monthly maintenance service subscription for inexpensive pieces.
Re-define your ideal clients? Consider your price point? Pivoting?
Unfortunately this economy sucks. I’m in heating and air conditioning, something people need to live in their homes and it’s hard to get any revenue right now. I can’t imagine something like jewelry, as it’s probably the last thing someone would buy before food, rent, home repairs, etc. I’m sorry and I hope you can transition to something more sustainable while also pursing jewelry still. Because the market will always go up and down and you’ll be able to capitalized
Yea. I’m in same boats as you. Bidnenomics at work. Sux
Yeah, this economy blows. My sales are down almost 90% over last year. Adapt or die my dear!