The Ultimate Guide To Amazon Watches and Jewelry
With online fine jewelry sales expected to double between 2014 and 2020, it’s no surprise that more and more people are considering selling jewelry on Amazon.
Are you one of them? Here’s everything you need to know.
What is the Watches & Jewelry Category on Amazon?
On Amazon, watches and jewelry are listed under the broader category of Clothing, Shoes, Jewelry and Watches. From there, Amazon lists watches and jewelry based on gender.
Within the Women’s Jewelry section, there are 10 subcategories:
- Anklets
- Bracelets
- Brooches & Pins
- Earrings
- Jewelry Sets
- Necklaces
- Rings
- Wedding & Engagement
- Smart Jewelry
- Body Jewelry
The Men’s Jewelry section also has 10 subcategories:
- Bracelets
- Cuff Links
- Earrings
- Necklaces
- Rings
- Shirt Studs
- Tie Clips
- Tie Pins
- Wedding Rings
- Body Jewelry
Within both the Women’s and Men’s Watches sections, there are 5 subcategories:
- Wrist Watches
- Watch Bands
- Pocket Watches
- Smartwatches
- Certified Pre-Owned
Within these categories, you’ll find a wide variety of pieces, from certified authentic designer watches and diamond engagement rings to piercing and costume jewelry.
In 2015, Amazon introduced their version of Etsy: Amazon Handmade, a section of the site that includes jewelry and watches among other categories of items “crafted by Artisans.”
Amazon’s Private Label Jewelry Brands
In the Jewelry category, Amazon currently has two private label brands:
- Amazon Collection: With 438 women’s items and 53 men’s items, this brand offers a huge variety of designs, from fashion jewelry to 2-carat diamond engagement rings.
- Amazon Essentials: This 23-piece collection focuses on simple, inexpensive fashion jewelry for women, often featuring cubic zirconia and plated metals.
In 2018, Amazon also applied for a trademark for “For Keeps by Amazon.” The filing notes that the trademark can be used for the “online retail sales of jewelry” — it’s safe to assume Amazon has another jewelry private label coming soon.
How To Sell Jewelry on Amazon
For Amazon sellers, jewelry is broken into two categories: fashion jewelry and fine jewelry.
Fashion jewelry is defined as inexpensive items made from alloys plated with precious metals, often including crystal stones. Buyers usually have low emotional involvement in the purchase of fashion jewelry — it’s more likely to be an impulse buy.
Fine jewelry refers to more expensive pieces made from solid precious metals and gemstones. Both online and off, these items are more often sold by established jewelers.
Selling Fine Jewelry on Amazon
Following buyer complaints, Amazon has become more thorough than ever when it comes to ensuring jewelry sellers follow their requirements. Amazon has extremely strict rules for selling fine jewelry on their marketplace and is known for being more heavily regulated than Etsy and eBay.
You can see Amazon’s full Jewelry Quality Assurance Standards here.
In order to apply to sell fine jewelry on Amazon:
- Sellers must comply with applicable metal quality mark and stamp requirements in the US and Canada
- Sellers must provide accurate metal content information in their product listings
- Sellers must follow specific metal, diamond, and gemstone standards set by Amazon
- Sellers must have a Professional Selling Plan with Amazon
- Sellers must be an existing Amazon seller with at least 12 months of selling experience and annual revenue of $50,000 on Amazon
- Sellers must have a defect rate below 1%, cancellation rate below 2.5%, and late shipment rate below 4%
Once you meet all of the above requirements, your application still requires approval from Amazon. In order to apply, sellers must pay a non-refundable application fee of $5,000.
That’s why it’s so important to make sure you meet all of the above requirements before applying — if your application is rejected, Amazon will not refund the application fee. You’ll have to pay another $5,000 to reapply.
Once approved, sellers must list fine jewelry items in accordance with Amazon’s jewelry style guide.
As you can see, becoming a seller of fine jewelry on Amazon can be incredibly time-consuming and expensive.
Selling Handmade Jewelry on Amazon
If you sell handmade jewelry, you may want to apply to sell on Amazon Handmade — especially considering that Amazon is offering free Professional Selling Plans to Amazon Handmade sellers through the end of 2019.
That said, Amazon takes a 15% referral fee per item sold — or $1 minimum per item — which dwarves Etsy’s 5% fee.
In addition, Amazon Handmade has much stricter requirements than Etsy and requires a lengthy application, including photos of your workspace, materials, and process.
The Competitive Landscape
Fashion jewelry, fine jewelry, watches, and handmade jewelry all follow different industry trends across different competitive landscapes. Overall, however, the jewelry industry is thriving; every day, 29 million people purchase jewelry.
Amazon’s biggest competitors in the online jewelry market are Etsy and eBay:
- Etsy has more lenient seller requirements and takes lower referral fees for handmade jewelry than Amazon.
- eBay sells approximately 50,000 jewelry items every day.
eBay also recently introduced an authentication program to build customer confidence in buying fine jewelry and designer items on their platform.
Amazon may be looking to catch up to Etsy and eBay by introducing the Amazon For Keeps line — which could make it even more difficult for jewelry sellers to succeed on Amazon.
If you sell fashion jewelry or watches, you are much more likely to find success selling — or even just be able to list your items — on Amazon than if you sell fine jewelry.
Successful Brands Selling on Amazon: Citizen Watches
At this year’s AdNYC event, Citizen Watches discussed how they’ve successfully navigated price erosion, knockoff brands, and more to grow their business on Amazon without sacrificing luxury brand equity.
You can read the full recap with Dalton Dorne, CMO at Tinuiti and Regina Fiedel, Director of Integrated Marketing at Citizen Watches here.
For more information on Amazon Watches & Jewelry, email [email protected]
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