Meet the Dealers Selling Vintage Jewels Fast on Instagram from Trade Shows
Buy it now!
When the idea of selling jewelry online first emerged ages ago, people were, to put it mildly, skeptical. The general thinking was that clients needed to see, touch and feel jewelry, especially the high-ticket items.
To say the prognosticators were wrong is a massive understatement. But I don’t think even the most enthusiastic e-commerce supporters could have predicted how much people would love buying jewelry online. Today, nearly all contemporary designers sell on their own websites or through etailers.
Vintage jewelry is another story. Some dealers offer a portion of inventory on their websites. It’s rarely everything because of various reasons: logistics, manpower, the nature of how things move in the business. Many use Instagram on a day-to-day basis for selling, because the interface is easy to work and clients are already on it.
Then there are the super speedy social media savvy dealers who sell from Instagram, usually through Stories, right from the trade show floor at the Original Miami Beach Antiques Show.
This type of selling goes on at other vintage shows as well, particularly the Las Vegas Antique Jewelry & Watch Show, but OMBAS is universally considered the best. Over 600 dealers from around the world descend on the Miami Convention Center for the event. It took place from March 26 to 29 this year.
There is a lot more to the story than simply putting up a post and waiting for the offers to come in. Find out all about it below.
Is selling on Instagram Stories at shows new?
No. Selling jewelry from a trade show floor on Instagram has been a sales tool for years. But it has grown in popularity. In a landscape of retail doldrums, the practice infuses the shopping experience with a sense of excitement. Securing a jewel before someone else does becomes a bit of a game.
What is the price range of the jewelry sold on Instagram Stories?
It’s more than you might think. It’s far more than I had guessed. A couple of the dealers I spoke with have sold jewels for $500,000 over Instagram Stories. But that is the exception not the rule. The exact same dealers offer pieces under $5,000. The vast majority of items offered fall between $10,000 to $50,000.
Can jewels purchased from a trade show floor be returned?
The short answer is “no.” This is particularly true for pieces in the deep five and six-figure range. With those types of treasures, the dealers are acting as expert agents for buyers on the spot. They would not be acquiring the jewel for inventory and cannot shoulder the cost of accepting a return.
There may, however, be some workarounds or resale opportunities for less expensive items from certain dealers if a piece doesn’t fit properly or some similar issue. It’s important to ask a lot of questions before buying.
Meet the dealers
There are many dealers who sell from trade shows via Instagram. The following four, presented in alphabetical order, stood out to me on the app based on what they showed and how they showed it: Briony Raymond, Garland Collection, Sarah Hendler and Serpentine Jewels.
Each has a distinctive eye for jewelry and established relationships with vendors. Interestingly they all sell their own jewelry collections. I feel this might be a key to why they feel comfortable selling vintage with such speed.
