Jewelry Business

[ErikV10]

I've been interested in starting my own jewelry business (store).

My question is, how hard is it to break in to the business? I am looking to sell Swiss watches like Rolex, Panerai, Tag, Omega, Movado, etc.

What should my capital be around? And where can I get the watches?

Additional tips would also be greatly appreciated!

Thanks In Advance.

Erik G.

[duc749r]

tough buisness...... there is a guy on 6speed and lambo power, not sure if he is on here but his user name is Stryke. He is a watch dealer out of NY PM him.

[pdisme]

I've been interested in starting my own jewelry business (store).

My question is, how hard is it to break in to the business? I am looking to sell Swiss watches like Rolex, Panerai, Tag, Omega, Movado, etc.

What should my capital be around? And where can I get the watches?

Additional tips would also be greatly appreciated!

Thanks In Advance.

Erik G.

I suspect it's fairly easy if you start up the typical mall store selling mid-level brands since their criteria for accepting new dealers is probably not very strict. You just need the front money, rent the store, build it and they will come. A non-mall location would take advertising of course and you'd probably have to work for a while before you could garner a high end brand reseller agreement; you could always sell gray market though, just no factory warranties.

tough buisness...... there is a guy on 6speed and lambo power, not sure if he is on here but his user name is Stryke. He is a watch dealer out of NY PM him.

He is on here; same name.

[ErikV10]

I never thought of a mall store. Its a good idea to build a business like this since people who goes to the mall are gonna pass my store no matter what.

[ErikV10]

you could always sell gray market though, just no factory warranties.

He is on here; same name.

Are you allowed to do that?

[demetri]

theres a guy on lamborghini-talk that just bought a green lp640 roadster. i cant find his thread but he owns a jewelry store and i think its in chicago. he might be able to help.

[pdisme]

Are you allowed to do that?

Yeah, nothing illegal about purchasing authentic watches and selling them against the factory's wishes, they just won't honor the warranty and you have to find a place to get them.

[Shawn]

A mall will be very expensive, around here (Woodfield Mall) it's about $100 per sq ft in rent per year. So if you have a moderately small space of 2,000 sq ft, you're looking at about $17k/month in rent (this doesn't include CAM or taxes). The good thing is that it also includes alot of advertising ie all the people walking by. So factor that in.

You'll also need gobs of insurance on all the pieces that you have. Also plan on spending a pretty penny on a security system, surveillance, and a big safe - the insurance co's will most likely require it.

Then there's the buildout. Which for me on a similar size store was about $50k. I'm not sure how much the jewelry cases and lighting would cost though so maybe it would be less?

And finally there's the inventory!!

All of that said, when I worked at Zales, we had to do special orders all the time. And on the special orders we had to input 'our cost' on the PO and it was often times 1/4th of what the Zales price was on it. This wasn't the case on some items, but on like gold chains and tennis bracelets it was an insane markup!

[pdisme]

Malls take a percentage cut too right?

[Shawn]

I think you're right; but I'm not sure if there are minimum size requirements before they do..?

[Matt]

all good points. The main thing is getting the reseller contract from these big watch companies, and of course stock. Even at 1/4 the price you'll be selling them at, thats a LARGE overhead. Maybe start small with an online store, and if it is a success go brick and mortar.

[artherd]

I've been thinking about it too, but all I'd sell is Patek :P

[Matt]

I've been thinking about it too, but all I'd sell is Patek :P

you'd have MAYBE 5 customers, but thats all you'd need to make profit each year :lol2:

[pdisme]

I want a big Run DMC chain and four finger ring; will your store sell those?

http://www.talklambo.com/pics/data/525/medium/SLICK_RICK_2.jpg

[ErikV10]

Yes Dave. It will be custom made just for you!! :p

[Stryke]

Hey, just saw this. Don't waste your time as there's no money to be made. :(

[Mikey]

Hey, just saw this. Don't waste your time as there's no money to be made. :(

:clap: