b'THE STATE OF RETAIL DIAMONDSJEWELRYCOLORED DESIGN STONESAMAZONPROSLets start with the obvious: Pretty much every-one shops on Amazon at one point or another, including fine jewelry customers. The e-commerce giant ranked No. 3 on National Jewelers 2022 $100 Million Supersellers list, with an estimated $2.8 billion in fine jewelry and watchrather than dealing with the hassle of the shipping process.sales in its most recent fiscal year. However, this convenience comes at a cost, by way of various More than 300 million customers shopped with Amazonfulfillment fees and monthly inventory storage fees.worldwide as of April 2021, including more than 200 million Prime members, its subscription-based service, according to an April 2021 shareholder letter from formerCONSCEO Jeff Bezos. Amazon has a fairly low barrier to entry for those looking With hundreds of millions ofto sell on its platform, which can be a double-edged sword.shoppers flocking to Amazon,Its marketplace is flooded with sellers, which is a positive for cus-JEWELERSsellers will likely need a way totomers looking to shop around, but a negative for sellers who want to TAKE stand out in the crowd. Signingstand out.up for a professional accountA search for hoop earrings, for example, pulls up more than gives sellers access to Amazons20,000 results. Susan Eisen, of Susan Eisen Fineon-site advertising tools to ex- While there are advertising tools available to help break through Jewelry and Watches in El Paso, Tex- pand the reach of their listings. the noise, a single page of search results can feature more than a as, has been selling online in somedozen sponsored posts.form since 2000 and has usedYou have toA low barrier to entry also means less exclusivity, which may not Amazon for about 10 years. be what a luxury jewelry brand has in mind. Shoppers can find brass Many of her customers usepay to haveearrings and 18-karat gold hoops being sold side by side.her Amazon store as a place toyour pieceAnother downside of using the platform may be its complex gather information, she says. system of fees.In addition to her website,moved up soAmazon, like many other selling platforms, has a variety of fees it gives Eisen a landing page toyoure not jewelers should be aware of, including fees for listings, according to direct customers to when they callNo. 3,000 the sellers section of its website.her looking for something andFor $39.99 per month, sellers can set up a professional account on need a visual. [in the search]. Amazon. While businesses can pay more or less, this tier generally A downside is the high level ofworks best for those selling more than 40 units per month. competition.Susan Eisen, Susan EisenThe benefits include being able to advertise products and the use You have to keep up withFine Jewelry and Watches of advanced selling tools.whats going on and pay to haveSellers also pay referral fees. For every item sold, sellers pay Ama-your piece moved up so that whenzon either a percentage of the total amount paid by the consumeryou type in a search, youre not likeWhen the orders come in, thewhich includes the item price, shipping costs if applicable, and any No. 3,000, says Eisen. next step is shipping the prod- gift-wrapping chargesor a minimum amount, depending on which Trisha Joseph, vice presidentucts out. Getting a customers or- is greater.at Josephs Jewelers in West Desder to them safely and in a timelyAmazon breaks down the fees by product category.Moines, Iowa, had looked into usingmanner is crucial to the onlineFor jewelry, sellers pay Amazon 20 percent of the total sale price Amazon, but decided not to aftershopping process. up to $250 and an additional 5 percent for any portion of the sales seeing the sites pricing structureA benefit of selling via Ama- price greater than $250. and commission rates. zon is that sellers have the choiceSo, if a shop sells a $1,000 ring, Amazon receives $87.50.The jeweler has its own websiteto either handle shipments them- For watches, sellers pay Amazon 16 percent of the total sale price and sells on eBay. selves or let Amazon ship it out.up to $1,500 and an additional 3 percent for any portion of the sales Sellers can store inventory in anprice greater than $1,500.Amazon fulfillment center andFor both watches and jewelry, the minimum referral fee is 30 cents.have it shipped out from there, Continued on page 1614 STATE OF THE MAJORS 2022'