Too Much Jewelry Inventory? Try These 14 Reduction Strategies for Every Jewelry Business
Inventory collecting dust on the shelves is like cash in the bank!
Are you a victim of bright shiny object syndrome? Do you buy loads of materials that inspire you without really thinking about how you are going to create, sell, and market the finished good? Holding on to inventory without a solid inventory reduction strategy can be detrimental to your jewelry business.
If you are anything like I WAS you probably got sucked into bright shiny object syndrome and possibly years later have loads of things you don’t know what to do with. The same holds true for made goods. Maybe your sales projection was off and you are stuck with a bunch of extra castings or finished products
Inventory reduction = cash flow freedom! If you are struggling with your cash flow check out the inventory you have on hand because that may very well be the culprit.
Today, I wanted to bring you some strategies that I used to reduce my inventory by $100K dollars in just a few months. (Even if your inventory numbers are even close to this, please read on. It’s all relative to the size of your business).
Here are 14 of my favorite inventory reduction strategies for jewelry business:
1. Have a sample sale
2. Host a flash sale on your website for a limited period of time
3. Have a flash sale with an established flash sale site (Gilt.com or Hautelook.com, etc.)
3. Produce limited edition pieces for special prices
4. Host trunk shows at your friends homes or offices
5. Send pick boxes to your wholesale accounts for immediate delivery
6. Create prepackaged off-price assortments for wholesale clients
7. Participate in a local craft or art fair to de-stash old inventory
8. Develop special off-price collections to sell at off price stores
9. Find a local liquidator and sell old designs
10. Offer a gift with purchase on your website
11. Sell raw materials
12. Refine or trade in raw materials
13. Return unused materials for credit
14. Donate old raw materials to a non-profit or school.
The above are just a few of my suggestions! When you have extra inventory that is not moving, the best thing you can do is to get rid of it. Get creative, my list is just the beginning of ways to sell off old inventory.
While Robin and I are not huge believers in discounting your work, if it’s not selling, move it out.
Remember, if you donate, gift or mark anything below cost, make sure that you are keeping track of the expense so you can write it off on your taxes (better yet keep track in your accounting system).
