How much to mark up imported goods for retail, specifically, jewelry?

November 12, 2010 12:25 PM

How much to mark up imported goods for resale, specifically, jewelry?

Is there any guideline for how to price imported products for retail resale? For example, is there a simple, generally recognized formula for markups that specifies a percentage over the landed cost that small businesses utilize?

Alternatively, would you just price items for whatever the market will bear…and what is the best way to figure this out?

posted by mintchip to Work & Money (6 answers total)

Whatever the market will bear. And the best way to figure this out is eBay. Keep in mind that people will pay more for "buy it now" since they don't have to wait to win an auction, so once you've sold a few at auction, start listing buy it now prices a little higher than what you were getting from straight auctions, and keep raising them a little bit each time until you stop selling them reliably.
posted by kindall at 12:36 PM on November 12, 2010

Most clothing sellers sell on a 50% markup, don't they?
posted by tel3path at 1:05 PM on November 12, 2010

Your total costs (overhead, materials, packaging, etc) x2 = wholesale. Wholesale x2 = Retail.
posted by muirne81 at 1:50 PM on November 12, 2010 [1 favorite]

@ tel3path -- at least 50% -- retailers who can import/manufacture in bulk mark up significantly more.
posted by muirne81 at 1:51 PM on November 12, 2010 [1 favorite]

With regards to jewelry muirne81 is very close. We've been selling Native American jewelry since the 70s. The standard markup was basically 2X until the 90s when it began drifting up. Now it has been at 2.8 to 3 X for quite a while. It's pretty interesting that different retailers arrive at nearly identical formulas. I don't know why imported jewelry would be different, but YMMV. All our stock consists of sterling silver, gold and genuine gem stones. If your line is more costume jewelry that might make a difference.
posted by txmon at 4:04 PM on November 12, 2010

Keystoning is used as a simple mark-up strategy for products like jewelry and art. Here is a brief explanation. More details here.
posted by prenominal at 4:17 PM on November 12, 2010