How to start a jewelry business: steps, rules and costs

How to start a jewelry business, step by step

These steps cover how to start your own jewelry business, whether you work from home, sell online or make gold pieces.

1. Choose what you make and what it is made of

   Pick one category to start: beaded, wire-wrapped, stamped, cast silver, gold or permanent jewelry. The metal sets your costs and the words you may use. The FTC Jewelry Guides list it as misleading to call a piece sterling unless it is at least 925/1,000ths pure silver, and the word gold on its own means fine (24 karat) gold. Write each listing so the metal claim matches the piece; the rules section below lists each term.

2. Make and cost a first collection

   Make a small collection of a few designs, each in a few variations, and write down the materials and minutes each piece takes. That record is the base for your prices. Example: a pair of earrings that uses $4 of findings and wire and 20 minutes of work.

3. Set up the business

   The SBA says you are automatically considered to be a sole proprietorship if you do business activities but don’t register as any other kind of business. Forming an LLC is optional and can come later. An EIN from the IRS is free. If you sell under a brand name rather than your own, note that most states require you to register your DBA if you use one.

4. Get the permits your state and city require

   The SBA says local governments determine registration, licensing, and permitting requirements, and that you will have to research your own state, county, and city regulations. Check your state tax agency about a seller's permit for collecting sales tax, and your city or county about a business license. Working from home does not remove local rules: zoning ordinances can still apply even to home-based businesses.

5. Photograph, price and list

   Shoot each piece on a plain background in daylight, and once on a hand, ear or neck to show scale. Then price it with the method in the pricing section below.

6. Pick one place to sell first

   A marketplace brings shoppers who already search for jewelry and charges a fee on each sale. Your own store usually takes less per sale, as the fee chart below shows, but some builders add a monthly plan and you bring every buyer yourself.

Rules for selling jewelry: metal claims, children's jewelry and shipping

The table lists the federal rules and guides that cover metal claims, children's jewelry and shipping, and who sets each one.

Jewelry counts as a children's product when it is a consumer product designed or intended primarily for children 12 years of age or younger. The CPSC says jewelry intended for children is sized, themed, and marketed for children, and that the level of attraction alone does not transform a piece of general use, adult jewelry into children's jewelry. If you sell adult pieces only, describe and photograph them for adults.

The CPSC has determined that certain materials are exempt from testing for total lead content. That determination does not provide an exemption from meeting the total lead content requirement, so check the CPSC list before you skip a lab test.

States can go further. California's Metal-Containing Jewelry Law says jewelry sold there must be made entirely from one or more of the materials specified in the law, and children's jewelry there may not have more than 0.03% (300 ppm) cadmium by weight. The cadmium rules cover people who make and sell their own jewelry.

Under FinCEN rules, a gold jewelry business can also count as a dealer in precious metals, stones or jewels if, in the prior year, it purchased more than $50,000 in covered goods and received more than $50,000 in gross proceeds from the sale of covered goods. A retailer selling mainly to the public is not a dealer unless, in the prior year, it purchased more than $50,000 in covered goods from persons other than dealers or other retailers, for example from members of the public. Each dealer needs a written anti-money laundering program.

This section is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules vary by state and city, so check with your state and local agencies before you sell.

What it costs to start a jewelry business

Startup costs depend on the technique. Beading and wire work need a few hand tools; casting and soldering need a torch, a bench and a ventilated space. The table separates fees you can look up from example figures, which are assumptions for a small home setup and not price quotes.

Example: with the example figures above and a free selling plan, a home beading business starts at about $370 before listing fees. Silver and gold work costs more. Replace the example figures with your own supplier quotes.

Selling fees on a $40 piece of jewelry

The same $40 pair of earrings sold on marketplaces and on your own store, using each platform's published rates for a US seller.

How to start selling jewelry: marketplaces, your own store and in person

Starting a jewelry business online usually means choosing between a marketplace and your own store. Each has its own jewelry rules and fees.

• Etsy's Creativity Standards count hand-assembled pieces as made by a seller, for example using jewelry-making tools to attach charms to a necklace chain. For personalized pieces such as engraved jewelry, Etsy says your first image must show a finished, customized item rather than the blank product.
• Amazon Handmade requires an application before you can sell, and Jewelry & Watches is one of its categories. The referral fee is 15% or $0.30, whichever is greater.
• eBay charges jewelry sellers without an eBay Store a final value fee of 15% in the jewelry category, plus $0.40 per order over $10 ($0.30 at $10 or less).
• TikTok Shop charges a referral fee of 6% per order, or 5% for its gold, platinum, diamond, jade, ruby, sapphire and emerald sub-categories. Silver is not one of those sub-categories. The referral fee covers all TikTok Shop fees except shipping and tax.
• Your own store: Shopify's Basic plan costs $39 a month plus 2.9% + 30¢ per online card sale through Shopify Payments, and Square Online has no monthly fee on Square Free.
• In person: craft fairs, markets and consignment in local boutiques let buyers try pieces on. Square charges 2.6% + 15¢ on Square Free for card payments taken in person.

Opening a physical jewelry store adds a lease, display cases and insurance to these costs. The SBA notes that local governments determine registration, licensing, and permitting requirements, so check with your city and county before you sign a lease.

Price each piece to cover costs, time and fees

Price from your own costs, not only from what similar pieces sell for. Add materials, your time, packaging and the platform fee, then a margin for the business.

For the time you put in, one public benchmark is the median pay the BLS reports for jewelers and precious stone and metal workers: $25.26 per hour. The BLS notes that this figure does not include pay for self-employed workers, so use it only as a reference point.

Example: earrings with $4 of materials, 20 minutes of work at an example rate of $24 an hour ($8) and $1.50 of packaging cost $13.50 to make. Sold for $40 on Etsy, the fees are $4.25, and the rest is profit before postage and tax. Self-employed makers also pay self-employment tax of 15.3% once their net earnings from self-employment are $400 or more. This is general information, not tax advice.

Where Nation fits

Questions about starting a jewelry business