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Selling Jewelry to Hotel Gift Shops

by Dalia Costa

I usually sell to my friends and occasionally I sell a piece on the Internet.

But one day my little star shone, and now I consign many of my pieces to a 5-star hotel at the beach!

I would like to share some tips to help other jewelry artists who may be interested in selling jewelry at hotels.

A short time ago, through a friend I contacted the person in charge of the Boutique / Gift Shop in a 5-star hotel in Portugal (where I live).

I sent an e-mail with my business presentation and some photos of my work and waited… but not very long I have to say :o) ! The same day they contacted me saying that they loved my pieces and wanted to schedule an appointment for the next day! I was so happy and excited.

I went to the hotel and showed my portfolio and my pieces, and they asked me if I could leave some of my jewelry in the boutique right away. Because I had done my “homework”, I already had a consignment sheet with me, showing my wholesale prices.

If you want to try selling your jewelry at hotels, I’m sharing what I’ve learned:

• Search for hotels that have a Boutique / Gift Shop, and ask for the contact information of the person in charge. (You can search on the Web or when you are on vacations at a hotel.)
• Have an e-mail, letter, or portfolio with your presentation and some great photos of your work, ready to be sent or shown.
• If you have a website, blog or other, refer to it in your contact, so they can check more photos of your work. Don’t forget to give them your business card.

• Create a consignment sheet where you put all information of the hotel, the prices, date and signature of the boutique’s person in charge, each time you send or deliver jewelry to them.
• All my pieces are put in a transparent bag and have a reference number. This number is also on the consignment sheet with the wholesale price.
• I also make a sheet where I put the full description of the piece, because many of the assistants who work in the boutique earn a percentage of each product they sell. This way they can inform the customer what the materials are and do some “marketing” related with this. If they sell many things they will receive more money. This is good for you and for the assistant!

• Make your jewelry unique and give each piece a name. This turns out to be a good idea, because I made small cards with this and a small description of the materials with my logo. Each piece in the boutique has this card and works as marketing for my jewelry business.
• Be prepared to “adapt” your designs to the hotel and clients. I always send my expensive, sparkly, and precious pieces to the hotel, because I found that what doesn’t shine doesn’t sell there!
• Also be prepared to make custom orders for the hotel. They asked me to make keychains with their logo in felt. They said that everything with their logo sells, and they were right!

• Always have new ideas to show. I started with jewelry and now I also sell bookmarks, handbags and pareos / sarongs.
• Regarding your materials, if you are tax registered you may be able to buy wholesale supplies.
• Always check your inventory that’s in the hotel, so you can see if all is correct or if something’s missing. Usually you receive a sales map from them every month or two.
• And finally, I always contact the hotel Boutique to see if they need more pieces, to show my new works, and to know if everything is OK. They like to know that we care!

Dalia Costa
Artibolas

Dalia adds, “As a Googleholic I found Rena’s website when I was starting my business, and it helped me with many issues and questions. I always check back to learn more. It gave me courage and hopes to continue and start new projects, like starting my own Etsy store for my jewelry and crafts soon!”