One facebook post on a community page...willingness to go out of my way for a customer...securing my first ever wholesale deal as a silversmith.
It was the Saturday before Christmas and I had recently joined a Galveston community Facebook group. While we still live in Northwest Houston, we have plans to purchase a home in Galveston and a goal to open a small storefront and studio. I posted in the Facebook group asking if anyone knew of any spaces that may be available soon and to just let people know that I still had some great handcrafted jewelry pieces available if they were looking for any last minute holiday gifts.
Everyone was very supportive and excited for my future store, wanting to see pictures of my jewelry, which led to a direct message from someone in the group, the owner of My Watch Dude, a watch and jewelry store in League City, Texas. While he specializes in high-end watches and diamond jewelry, he had a customer looking for a Turquoise ring, similar to a ring in one of my pictures. He did not currently have any turquoise in his store and wanted to place a wholesale order to include that ring and two other pieces of my choosing to have in stock. He asked if I could overnight the pieces that day, to arrive to his store for the Monday before Christmas.
League City was only about an hour drive from where I lived, so I offered to drive the pieces myself to ensure their arrival on Monday. I would bring the ring he requested and a selection of turquoise for him to choose from. This included White Water Turquoise and Bamboo Turquoise solitaire rings, double stone White Water Turquoise and Emerald Valley Turquoise statement rings, White Water Turquoise and a Turquoise Mountain drop necklace. I gave everything a fresh polish so they would look their best, packed up some boxes, and made the hour drive trying to stay calm, and manifest a successful trip.
When I arrived, I was greeted with a warm welcome from the owner and opened my case on the counter and prepared to answer any questions. He took a look at the seven rings and four necklaces, and simply asked, "How much do I owe you? I'll take it all.
In the world of handcrafted jewelry, most stores will only sell your pieces on consignment, meaning they hold on to your jewelry, pay you nothing up front, and if it sells, they keep a significant percentage and pay you the remainder eventually. I just flat out sold 11 pieces of jewelry on wholesale, meaning at a lower price, but many pieces at once and I walk out of there with a check.
I expected to sell 3 pieces, maybe 4 or 5. But because I went out of my way to bring these pieces to him in order to ensure they arrived before Christmas, when his client needed it, I sold everything I brought.
This means that my jewelry is now being sold in a high-end jewelry store along size Rolex watches, diamond rings, sapphire necklaces and is the only turquoise available in that store. Not one or two pieces of my jewelry...10!