Online jewelry sales are big business, and they're only going to become bigger. Forrester Research estimates that by 2010, 14% of all jewelry sales transactions (1 of every 7) will occur online. This figure includes purchases eight by both individual consumers and jewelry professionals. 

This guide will help you, regardless of the category to which you fall, sort through both your choices of online jewelry vendors, and what types of jewelry you can expect to find for sale on the Internet.

Types of Online Jewelry Vendors

There are several different kinds of online jewelry websites, catering to different categories of buyers. Many professional jewelers are now using the Internet as the main source of their jewelry purchases. Jewelry retailers can contact jewelry manufacturers, wholesalers, importers, and distributors through online directory sites available only to professionals and requiring registration. One typical professional directory, with a broad range of both jewelry styles and jewelers’ supplies, is Wholesalecentral.com. 

Jewelry Wholesalers:  Online jewelry wholesalers market to retailers, and many of them specialize in a single kind of jewelry - wholesale costume, wholesale fashion, or wholesale fine jewelry. Online jewelry trade journals like the one offered by the Manufacturing Jewelers & Suppliers of America are an excellent resource for finding jewelry wholesalers, with links to suppliers of both finished jewelry and supplies. Tradekey is a site where professional jewelers can either post buy offers for specific items, or search through sell offers posted by jewelry manufacturers and suppliers from around the world.

Jewelry Auction Sites: There are, of course, plenty of online places for individual consumers to buy all sorts of jewelry. Almost all of us are familiar with the online auction site eBay, where every conceivable type of jewelry, gemstone, and jewelers’ supply is available. Bidz.com, however, is an auction site devoted almost exclusively to jewelry auctions, and like eBay it attracts professional as well as well as private sellers.

Retail Sites: Professional retailers sell as well as buy jewelry online. One of the most respected online retail jewelers is Blue Nile. Blue Nile earned Kiplinger’s vote as the best online jewelry retailer for 2008, thanks to its low prices and access to approximately 60,000 diamonds from the same suppliers used by Tiffany.  Blue Nile and other online jewelry sellers offer all types of jewelry, ranging from budget pieces to engagement rings costing in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

If you decide to begin purchasing jewelry online, what sorts of jewelry will you find available?

Categories of Jewelry Available Online

Fine Jewelry: The next time you're shopping at a mall, stroll through one of the jewelry stores and pay attention to how the jewelry is arranged. You'll find the least expensive pieces out one end of the shop, and the fine jewelry at another. While all of them might be considered fine jewelry, the pieces containing semi-precious stones, freshwater pearls, and lower carat gold or pewter will be separated from the pieces with precious stones, 24-karat gold, and sterling silver or platinum. Fine jewelry is exactly what it name indicates: the best jewelry you can buy.  Custom-made fine jewelry is the most expensive of all jewelry.
Fashion jewelry, on the other hand, is a catchall phrase for many different kinds of jewelry. It can include watches as well as earrings, rings, brooches, and necklaces. Fashion jewelry, unlike fine jewelry, isn’t meant to be kept for a lifetime and passed down as an heirloom.  It’s simply the jewelry which is “hot” at any given time, and goes out of style with the arrival of the next fashion trend. For that reason, it’s made of less expensive materials like brass, bronze, beads, glass, wood, or a combination of any of them. DivaDesignsUSA  is a fashion jewelry wholesaler.

Costume Jewelry: Coco Chanel created the first costume jewelry, using less valuable metals and stones to create breathtakingly beautiful pieces which in many instances were indistinguishable from authentic jewels costing thousands of dollars. Costume, or “paste,” jewelry has retained its popularity, and many pieces of costume jewelry are now considered collectibles. Celebrities who own jewelry valued in the several thousands of dollars often have it re-created as costume jewelry which they can wear with peace of mind while their authentic pieces lie safe in vaults.

The most popular collectibles incorporate the designs of historically important jewelry from the Victorian, Edwardian, and Georgian eras, without their corresponding historically high prices. “Vintage” is a term referring to costume jewelry made between 1940 and 1980.  You’ll see some great examples at Vintage Costume Jewels.

Antique jewelry, also offered online, was created prior to 1940.   The Three Graces is a great site for finding exquisite authentic antique jewelry, beginning as low as $200. 

This guide, provided by Jewelry2Cash.com, is meant to get you pointed in the right direction when searching for online jewelry, whether you are an individual consumer, or a professional. The online jewelry business is here to stay, so learning your way through its ins and outs simply makes sense!

This guide may also been seen at Business.com.