Hong Kong Jewelry Fair

[TallyPearls]

Hello all,
My business associate and I are exploring entering the pearl business. We are interested in attending the HK Jewelry Fair in September, but have a few questions.

Auctions: Obviously the heavy hitters buying in high amounts attend. Would a newcomer looking to start small be able to compete on any Lot Auctions? Is it possible to just spend a few thousand dollars on smaller lots? As a new business, we would like to start small and see how it goes before upping the quantities.

Suppliers: Outside of auctions, I am assuming that we could meet a range of suppliers, and buy in smaller amounts as we wish. Are suppliers open to working with new business and understanding to sell smaller amounts of stock? Are we able to pick and choose by the strand? By a set or pair even?

As you all know, this is a massive jewelry fair with many well-established industry leaders attending. I am just wondering if a newcomer to the industry looking to spend a relatively small amount for some starter stock is able to have a positive outcome from an event like this?or are the big dogs buying in economies of scale scooping up all the product?

Thank you for any input you more experienced buyers can give. If there are any other recommendations you may have to acquire quality pearls outside the fair, such as just visiting dealers in HK or whatnot, please feel free to recommend.

Thank you again everyone and have a great day!!!

TallyPearls

 

[Cees]

TallyPearls, think you shoud register first at http://exhibitions.jewellerynetasia...ration/tabid/5289/language/en-US/Default.aspx
Then you have to think first what to buy with your budget
Some wholesalers only sell whole lots and don't let you choose your pearls.
When you want to pick pearls out of a lot you always pay a higher price than taking the whole lot.
Happy shopping

 

[pearlescence]

Attending the fair will tell you if the pearl world is for you or not. So from a business viewpoint that would be good. As Cees says, get the paperwork sorted first - register to attend, although you may have missed the deadline for having your pass etc mailed to you.
There are two prices, kilo weight and selection. Kilo weight you just take in bulk with no choosing strands or individual pearls. Selection is what it says, you get to pick. And because you are obviously depleting the value of the lot as a whole you pay more but get to pick exactly what you want.
You will be overwhelmed by the number of suppliers happy to sell you every pearl on their stall. Most will sell you one pearl if that is what you want. Think carefully before you attend: exactly what sort of pearls do you want? What is your market? This is a specialised market and you need to know your customer. Buying pearls is easy.

 

[Katbran]

You can spend any amount really .. the first fair I attended I only had 4 hours ( I was in HK anyway on a trip and just managed to fit in an afternoon) and I bought 2 strands. There are so many suppliers it's completely overwhelming. You need a clear idea of what you want to do and how you want to do it...and make a list. As Wendy says..buying the pearls is easy...getting them sold...not so much..

 

[pattye]

TallyPearls, Sounds like an adventure for sure, jumping right in by going to HK. What kind of experience do you have with pearls?

 

[TallyPearls]

Thank you all for the feedback. Cees and Wendy, I went ahead and registered today and just caught the deadline to have the pass mailed to me, as the deadline was the 12th. So a timely post....and responses indeed. Thank you for that.

Yes, it does certainly seem much easier to buy stock then sell it. We have some ideas for selling with our jewelry maker friends back in the States, so hopefully we can build and learn from HK. Much to learn for sure. Wendy, I think you are right, attending should be a great indicator if the pearl world is our oyster. Should be fun. Also, I really appreciate the info into ways of buying.

Pattye, not much experience outside my personal research, talking with friends, and handling some pearls in person. I live in SE Asia and am bouncing around various cities in the region often, so pretty inexpensive to travel to HK, a city I have visited several time already and always enjoy. So yeah, could be overwhelming, but hey what the hell. Might as well just go and see how it goes. But hope it goes well, because pearls are very interesting to me. Hope I can figure it out as I would love to work in a biz that has me excited and interested to learn more. Time will tell.

Thanks again for the comments and look forwards to hearing more if anyone would like to share.

Regards.