Helping these local jewellery manufacturers realise their potential in the international markets is the jewel in eBay’s crown

Be it the festive season or celebration of any sort, Indians love to dress up. From rings to lockets to earrings, jewellery forms an essential part of dressing up. While this has helped jewellers and gemstone dealers establish huge businesses in the country, several small and medium jewellery sellers struggle to make the same impact in the market.

And to help such sellers realise their potential, eBay helps them take their business international by guiding them to start an online business. Bhavesh Patel and Leela Ram Bunkar are examples of such passionate diamond and fine jewellery manufacturers who navigated hardships in the initial days of starting their respective businesses.

Paving the road to success

Bhavesh’s journey began in 2000 when he took up a job in a diamond jewellery manufacturing company. At 24, he decided to start his own jewellery manufacturing business, but the earnings were only enough to cover the expenses.

From a Young Passionate Jeweller to an International Businessman with eBay

Unable to generate any profit and get access to the right contacts, Bhavesh failed to hit the targeted number of business orders. All of these were amplified by delayed payments, which only added to his woes. It was in 2020 when one of his clients suggested he list his products on eBay and start selling them online. Bhavesh hired new staff to kickstart his online business on the cross-border platform.

Similarly, Leela Ram used to work as a local artisan on daily wages. Designing and making jewellery strengthened his fundamental knowledge about the business, and he began to consider the idea of making his mark in the sector.

Leela Ram came across the idea of eBay’s expansive marketplace, and he decided to begin his global selling journey in 2015. Initially, with no experience of scaling up his business in the digital sector, Leela Ram found it difficult to deal with the huge demand of foreign markets. So, he decided to tap into customer demand and build a strong customer base first, with his portfolio of 200 products.

When Leela Ram started his journey online with eBay, he used to receive 10 to 15 orders a week, but his dedication to managing customer queries and complaints helped him grow his customer base. Currently, he receives around 300 orders in the same time span.

Proving the capabilities

While Bhavesh dedicated all his time to consolidating his presence in the international markets, eBay also helped his product create a huge demand in the United States and the United Kingdom, which in turn has helped his company grow in leaps and bounds. eBay helped Bhavesh create a worldwide business out of something that he realised when he was passionate about as a 16-year-old boy.

Having helped Bhavesh create a demand for his products in the US and UK markets, eBay also guided Leela Ram to create an online catalogue that connected him with foreign buyers and gave him tips on how to deal with competition against sellers in the foreign markets. eBay also provided Leela Ram with structured insights to optimise his visibility and enhance his selling experience.

This helped him figure out which products he could add to his inventory based on the demand, and helped him make necessary changes to his listings during festive seasons like Christmas and New Year in the foreign markets. Leela Ram was also assisted by eBay in communicating with his buyers efficiently, which helped them find the items they desired without any fuss due to his top-notch cataloguing.

When the first wave of the pandemic hit, Leela Ram made sure that he provided timely updates on pending orders to his existing buyers and initiated a recovery plan to protect his active buyer count. He prioritised the geo-expansion of his business in Q3 2020, which not only helped him sustain his active buyer count but also achieve a YoY increase in his Q4 2020 GMV sale.

Local jewellery manufacturers like Bhavesh and Leela Ram have the chance to take their business to international markets with the help of eBay’s ‘Sirf Local Nahi, International Seller’ campaign. Apart from a platform to list their products, sellers also benefit immensely from the various insights and tools provided to them to help their business flourish globally.

To know how you can become an international seller