How to Sell More Handcrafted Jewelry Designs by Offering Something Free

Kristie Leong M.D.
Are you looking for new ways to market your handcrafted jewelry design business? Stop and consider for a moment how powerful the word "free" can be? When this word is used in marketing or advertising it causes the potential customer to stand up and take notice. Why not harness the magical power of free to sell more handmade jewelry? Here are some ideas for using the power of the word "free" to motivate people to buy your jewelry designs:

Sell handcrafted jewelry designs: Offer free shipping

If you market your handmade jewelry through a website or via online auctions, consider offering free shipping when your customer purchases a certain dollar amount of jewelry. Jewelry is usually light in weight and doesn't cost much to ship via first class mail (as long as it's not over a pound) and your customer will be more inclined to buy knowing they don't have to worry about a hefty shipping and handling charge.

Sell handcrafted jewelry designs: Offer a free piece of handmade jewelry

Offer a free pair of earrings when the customer buys a necklace and a bracelet. You'd be surprised at how hard a potential customer will work to get that free pair of earrings. They'll spend more time browsing your website and exploring your jewelry booth at a craft show knowing they'll be rewarded with a free pair of earrings if they purchase.

Sell handcrafted jewelry designs: Offer free gift wrapping

If your customer is searching for a gift for a friend, she'll look a bit harder if she knows she'll get free gift wrapping with her purchase. Finding a box and appropriate wrapping paper can be a hardship for a busy buyer which makes your offer all the more appealing.

Sell handcrafted jewelry designs: Offer a free polishing cloth

Even something as small as a jewelry cloth placed in your buyer's bag can be enough to motivate them to purchase from you. You can get these very inexpensively from a variety of wholesale jewelry suppliers.

Sell handcrafted jewelry designs: Offer free candy in your craft booth

A nicely displayed bowl of candy will encourage your potential customer to hang around a bit longer. Instead of having the standard, overdone, peppermint hard candies, have something a bit more elegant, but not extravagant, such as individually wrapped miniature Hershey's bars. If you really want to make an impression, have chocolate coins imprinted with the name of your business imprinted on the outer, gold foil. There are a variety of sources for these custom imprinted chocolates on the internet. Be sure to keep them close to the counter so people won't be tempted to take a handful.

Sell handcrafted jewelry designs: Offer a free jewelry consultation

If you have more than one person working your craft booth, put up a sign that you'll do a brief jewelry consultation to help your customer determine what jewelry styles look best with their face shapes. Spend a few minutes making suggestions on what metals will look best with their skin color as well as what earring shapes will look best with their face shape. When you finish, hand them a card with your website address and ask them if they'd like to sign up for your online newsletter.

There are probably lots more things you can offer free from your craft display booth or from your website. Why not brainstorm a few ideas that might work to help you sell more handcrafted jewelry designs?

Published by Kristie Leong M.D. - Featured Contributor in Health & Wellness

I'm a family physician with a strong interest in disease prevention and alternative medicine. I'm particularly interested in how diet plays a role in disease prevention. Hope I can inspire someone to lead a...  View profile

11 Comments

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  • Dita Basu11/3/2010

    Great idea. I have a booth sale this weekend. Try to remember your tips:)

  • Charlie K3/7/2008

    Another cool idea.

  • jcorn3/6/2008

    Excellent idea!

  • Paula Myers3/6/2008

    Excellent marketing ideas! People love anything "free".

  • Christine Bude3/5/2008

    Great marketing tips.

  • Pearlygates3/5/2008

    Free always does it. Good article!

  • Madeline3/4/2008

    You're right . . . "free" is the magic word. Great job!

  • Carmella Mae3/4/2008

    Yet another great article! I design my own jewelry and sell it online, and I like the idea of the free shipping, or the free earrings with necklace and bracelett. I'm going to put some of these great ideas in action tomorrow. Thanks so much for such great ideas!

  • 3lilangels3/4/2008

    did you say free? that always works out very great. i done that with my salon and it attracted so many

  • Lisa Riggs3/4/2008

    Getting a free gift definitely appeals to buyers! Nice work!!!

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