I sell jewellery made from semi precious gemstones. If listing a necklace, I can add that it is made from gemstones. However when listing bracelets and earrings there is no gemstone option so for bracelets I have to put beaded, which means its not clear what the beads are made from.
Does anyone think it would be a nice option to be able to select gemstone for bracelets and earrings, and not just for necklaces ???
I make jewellery with silver and gemstones so do I list it under silver, gemstone or something to do with the physical form of the piece (eg dangle or chandelier for earrings)? In the end I just pop it in all and then make sure that all of the constituent parts and colours are in the search tags. I would like to have a few more things listed in there - have you noticed that you can have turquoise as a colour but not a material? I don’t know how many people actually browse through the categories compared to the number who enter a search string so I don’t know which is more important to focus on.
As a customer I would personally be far more likely to use a search or the gift guides than to browse through catagories. Either I know what I’m looking for and go direct to the search or I haven’t a clue in which case catagories are too limiting. Regarding gemstones it might be helpful to note that as a buyer I may not be aware of what gemstones are what and may search for “blue gemstone earrings” as I may not know all the blue gemstones by name. Don’t know if this is any help.
I always thought it would be good to have a birthstones option in the jewellery listings. People may not know what their birthstone is but they could click on that category to find out.
I think it strange that you can select gemstone for necklaces but not bracelets or earrings. You can select beaded or dangle etc but that covers a multitude of materials. As you have put Roz, you would put in blue Gemstone earrings which is what I would put. The only place you can have the word gemstone is in the title or description. I think that having the option to select gemstone would mean that the shopper could either click beaded (so getting all items) or just gemstone( so only getting those) This would narrow the search considerably for shoppers… and yes Sasha odd that Turquoise isn’t in as a material, especially as it is such a popular gemstone. Does anyone know if we can email the Folksy team to ask if its possible to get them added to the drop down options when listing ???
Totally agree! Some of the categories in the jewellery section are a bit random (and there is also an option for just “stone” in the necklace section but all the entries are semi-precious). I suppose that is because they are based on what previous shops have listed, but it might be easier for customer to find what they were looking for if things were more organised.
Also I use a lot of pearls in my work but there is no distinction in the “pearls” category between glass pearls, shell pearls and freshwater pearls, so my work often looks overpriced on the page.
I really like this idea, Sarah-it might help people who are buying jewellery for a present and know the birth date but not the stone.
I think if enough of us type in a particular material eg turquoise when listing them it will (eventually) be added to the materials selection but I think enough different people have to use it rather than 1 person using it multiple times.
I think it’s worth a shot asking Folksy to redo the categories for gemstones in the new year, it would be lovely not to have to be so random but not sure how much it would help with the search.
I’m a right boring old anorak when it comes to semiprecious and precious stones but I appreciate not everyone wants a history/geography/ metaphysical lesson- they just see a stone they like the look of and buy it.
Why don’t we vote for it Sarah? Folksy do look at what people are voting for and, you never know, we may get it.
Theresa
Hi Theresa
Maybe we should form a Folksy gemstone group (a bit like they have on E…) and then we could ask for the changes as a collective.
I agree it’s worth trying for 
I think we should ask the question. Next question does anyone know to set up Vote For buttons, I’ve had a look round the site but can’t find anything on how to do it ???