Selling Jewelry Online? JVC Publishes New Legal Compliance Guide for Independent Online Sellers

JVC has published a new legal compliance guide for online jewelry sellers. Image courtesy of JVC.

The Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC) has published a new guide for independent jewelry designers and sellers about online sales: “Guide to Selling Jewelry in the 21st Century: Legal Compliance for Designers, Independent Jewelers, and Online Sellers.”

JVC states that the guide is meant to help independent designers and jewelers marketing their pieces on websites like Etsy, Amazon, and eBay. The handbook, sponsored by the Future of Design Jewelry Education Fund created by Cindy Edelstein in The New York Community Trust, provides legal education to both established and new industry professionals. The guide also aims to help “those who create jewelry, whether new, vintage, used, recycled or upcycled.”

The guide covers many essential topics. From JVC:

• Protecting yourself as a jeweler, whether retail or wholesale, by understanding some basic legal principles, such as the importance of contracts, receipts and company policies.

• Applying standards and regulations that apply to advertising, regardless of the product.

• Understanding the specific advertising standards that apply to jewelers, contained in the Federal Trade Commission’s Guides for the Jewelry, Precious Metal and Pewter Industries and in the National Gold and Silver Stamping Act.

• Advertising on the web: while advertising laws are the same whether products are sold in a brick and mortar store or on the web, there are special considerations for online sales. We make sure to mention these wherever relevant.

• Implementing anti-money laundering laws laws that apply to many jewelers. Read this section to find out if you are covered and – if you are – for some general guidance on your compliance obligations.

• Understanding the Kimberley Process and System of Warranties, designed to combat the scourge of conflict diamonds.

“Legal compliance supports the integrity of the jewelry industry and boosts consumer confidence in our products. This guide will help independent jewelers and online sellers understand and follow the laws and regulations that apply to the trade,” said Cecilia Gardner, JVC’s president and CEO.

The handbook is available on the JVC website and costs $20 for JVC members and $25 for non-members.