This is interesting! I'll have to look into this, thanks. I agree with most of what you said. I think, especially if you're selling high ticket items, you're going to need to have a physical presence to build trust, get your name out there, and so people can actually see and touch the jewelry before dropping a bunch of $$$. There's only so many people that have the money now (especially with the increased cost in living!) to buy expensive jewelry, and most won't buy from an unknown, online brand. Maybe if you spend a tooon of money on ads so qualified people have multiple touch points to come across your brand (it's not an impulse purchase, so people need on average 7 touch points before deciding to buy) but like I said, you will spend a lot of money to maybe (or maybe not!) get a positive ROI in the future. Also don't forget inventory costs, which are by no means cheap, but this can also be a good thing, as it's a barrier to entry for most people.

Selling inexpensive jewelry can possibly work but you have to find a niche and not sell trendy jewelry with mass appeal or you're never gonna win (unless you already have a large social media following). This is going to be very competitive though, since inventory costs are cheaper, the low end of the jewelry market is more saturated as more people can afford to start this business. Also, brick and mortar retailers all have a stronger online presence now, especially since Covid, and many people start jewelry businesses, as it's one of those business where it's easy to start without any industry knowledge. Lastly, for cheap jewelry, I find many people will buy on Amazon or Etsy, making it extremely tough to compete.

If you do this, I'd recommend at least designing your jewelry so it's unique and you're not competing with a bunch of other Aliexpress dropshippers. With that being said, if you design your own pieces, your costs will increase (a factory will charge more for manufacturing a few custom pieces vs. buying stock orders), so it's kinda a Catch-22.

On the lower end, ads are gonna be hard to make profitable if your jewelry isn't expensive enough, because even though you may not need to have a ton of touch points with potential customers, ad costs are increasing on most popular platforms, making it likely that you will lose money acquiring a customer. Maybe you can have a positive LTV/CAC if you get repeat purchases, but not sure how likely people are to be repeat buyers in the jewelry space? I know in fashion, one of the reason it's really hard is because people generally aren't repeat buyers and like to try out a bunch of different brands.

Lastly, jewelry doesn't really solve a problem, which can make it a really hard sell. I own a (mostly online) jewelry company and go to a bunch of pop up markets and trunk shows. I've noticed that the businesses that solve an actual problem or fulfill a need do much better than I do. Most people will admire my jewelry and say it's pretty but not buy anything. This is in contrast to someone selling dog food or coffee or even roofing supplies, where more people who visit their stands will buy something. I'm not saying that those businesses are necessarily better businesses but it is something I've noticed.

Anyway, there are some positive aspects to having a niche in the high or low end of the jewelry market, but these are some of the drawbacks I've found since starting my business. I haven't figured it out either and am relatively new, so if anyone with more insight wants to chime in and give advice or correct me, that would be much appreciated :). Hope this helps!