You have the store. You don't have sales. This is the plan we give new Branvas merchants: what it actually costs, why most new stores never sell a thing, and the 30 days of work that separate the ones that do.
What it costs to start a jewelry business on Shopify with Branvas: about $39 per month for Shopify, roughly $15 per year for a domain, $298 for the Branvas Growth plan, and $30–$60 for samples. Product is paid per order at wholesale after your customer has paid you, so there is no inventory to finance. The real cost is the 30 days of consistent traffic-building work described below; stores that skip it almost never make a sale.
Product quality is not the bottleneck. Traffic is.
They pick a specific customer (“brides on a budget,” “men who don't wear jewelry,” “waterproof gold for swimmers”), list 15–30 pieces instead of 300, order samples, shoot their own content and publish to social media, and commit to one traffic channel for 30 days before judging anything. Their first sale is usually to someone they reached directly.
Install the app, import 300 products, run one $20 ad for two days, see zero sales and conclude dropshipping doesn't work. The store was never the problem; nobody saw it.
Total to first sale is roughly $85–$450, plus 30 days of consistent work.
| Item | Cost | Required? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify Basic plan | ≈ $39 / month | Yes | Less on annual billing; free trial available [verify current pricing] |
| Domain | ≈ $15 / year | Recommended | Buy through Shopify or any registrar |
| Branvas | $0 Free · $29 Growth · $79 Scale | Free plan is enough to start | Product paid per order at wholesale, after your customer pays |
| Samples | $30–$60 | Strongly recommended | 2–3 pieces at wholesale for photos, unboxing video and quality check |
| Inventory | $0 | — | None. Branvas packs and ships each order under your brand |
| First 30 days of traffic | $0–$300 | Yes, in time or money | Organic (TikTok, Pinterest, Reddit, local) costs time; paid costs money. Pick one |
| Total to first sale | ≈ $85–$450 | Plus 30 days of consistent work |
This is the sequence we walk new merchants through in support.
Write one sentence describing who buys from you and why. Use the Niche Scorecard if you’re stuck. Import only pieces that fit the sentence; a curated edit converts, a catalog dump doesn’t. Rewrite the first three product descriptions in your own words.
Order 2–3 pieces at wholesale. When they arrive in your branded box, shoot 10–15 short videos and 20 photos on your phone: unboxing, wearing, styling, close-ups. Publish to your social media accounts. This is the asset that separates you from other stores.
Pick one: TikTok or Reels (3 posts a day from your sample footage), Pinterest (10 pins a day), a niche subreddit or Facebook group you genuinely participate in, or a $10/day Meta ad. Do not switch channels for 30 days. Use the Breakeven ROAS calculator before spending a dollar on ads.
Your first orders will come from people who already know you or found your content, not from strangers on Google. Message them. Offer a launch discount that expires. Ask every buyer for a photo review.
With 300–500 real visits you can read the data: which pieces get clicks, where people drop off, what your actual conversion rate is. Now optimize. Before that, every “fix” is a guess.
Two minutes now saves a month of guessing.
“I’ve had a really good experience with Branvas and still do. When I first started my small Shopify store, I had zero customers and no idea why everyone was bouncing from my shop. Then I consulted with one of their professional support agents, Ashley, and she opened my eyes to what was actually wrong. They don’t just offer great products to help your store run better - they also have an excellent support team.”
Feminine collection · a typical first edit for a bridal or feminine-basics niche.
You can start as a sole proprietor; an LLC is optional early on. Register for a sales tax permit in your state once you have sales; Shopify collects tax at checkout once configured. Keep business and personal money separate from day one. This is general information, not legal or tax advice.
State base metal and plating on every product page (“18K gold-plated brass,” “S925 sterling silver,” “gold vermeil”). It is required by consumer protection rules in most markets and it cuts returns. Branvas lists composition on every catalog item; copy it into your listings.
Suggested retail on Branvas gives 60-70% median margins. Price to your customer, then check margin, not the other way around. Free shipping thresholds (e.g., $50+) raise order size in jewelry because a second piece is cheap to add.
If you reached 10 orders, you have proof. Now widen: add a second collection the same customer would buy, set up an email flow for buyers, and turn your best sample video into a small ad. If you didn't reach 10, the honest question is whether you did the traffic work daily. Almost nobody's store was the reason.
With a dropshipping supplier like Branvas, the fixed cost is the Shopify subscription (about $39 per month on Basic, less on annual billing), a domain (about $15 per year) and, optionally, a Branvas paid plan from $29 per month. Product is paid per order at wholesale after your customer pays you. Budget $100–$300 for samples and your first ads. What most people underestimate is the time and money to get traffic, not the product.
Almost always because nobody is visiting. A new store with no audience, no ads and no search presence gets a handful of visits a day, and a normal conversion rate is 1–2%. Fix traffic first: one channel, run consistently for 30 days. Only after 300–500 real visits does it make sense to diagnose the store itself.
It has real advantages: high margins (60–70% median on Branvas), one size, low shipping cost and strong gift demand. The disadvantage is competition; jewelry is a crowded category, so a generic store rarely wins. Pick a specific customer and point of view, and merchandise a small edit rather than a big catalog.
Stores that follow the 30-day plan on this page typically see a first order in the first two to four weeks; stores that install the app and wait usually never do. The difference is entirely whether you send people to the store.
Yes; you do not buy product until a customer has paid you. We still recommend ordering two or three samples at wholesale so you have real photos, know the quality and can film your own unboxing. That is a $30–$60 investment, not $0.
No. Fulfillment is automated; demand is not. Branvas removes inventory, packing and shipping from your plate. Finding customers, making content and answering them is the business, and it is work.
Install Branvas free, order two samples, and post your first video before the box is cold. We'll be in support when you have questions.
Free plan available · No credit card required