Working backwards from a retail price band to a landed cost you can sell at profit is the core arithmetic of the jewelry business. The headline markup a supplier quotes is not the margin you keep: returns, stone loss, slow-moving stock and re-photography all live inside the gross margin, and a four-times markup is closer to two-and-a-half in practice.
The landed cost stack
FOB unit price is only the base. Add freight and duty (typically 8–20 percent of FOB depending on market and material), inspection, inbound logistics, packaging amortised per unit, and payment costs. A useful planning constant: landed cost is usually FOB plus 12–22 percent for US/EU imports of fashion jewelry.
What the markup has to absorb
| Item | Share of retail price |
|---|---|
| Landed cost | 25–35% |
| Platform and payment fees | 12–18% |
| Marketing and returns | 18–30% |
| Operations and overhead | 8–12% |
| Net margin | 2–15% |
Assortment depth versus price point
Two price points across eight styles sells better than one price point across twenty, because the display reads as a collection rather than as clearance. Depth on winners also unlocks the re-order economics: the second production run of a proven style is where the margin improves, not the first.
Private label maths
Custom plating colour and branded packaging buy recognition, not units. Recover that investment in the assortment plan (spread across the family) rather than in a single order, and keep the packaging element under 8 percent of landed cost or it will eat the margin it was meant to build.
Frequently asked questions
Commonly yes once the order passes the supplier quantity break, with the sample fee credited against the first invoice.
Because the design is not the same product. Differences hide in gram weight, plating thickness, stone grade and the QC steps included. Ask both for gram weight, plating microns and stone specification in writing, then compare price per gram of finished piece. The gap usually collapses; whatever remains is the real negotiation.
Whatever your contract says. With metal locked at order confirmation, nothing changes. With a floating clause, the metal line moves with the fixing within an agreed band; beyond the band, the price re-opens. Insist on the split quote, metal and conversion, so movement is transparent and only the metal line ever moves.
