|
Tracy Janik grew up on Long Island, NY. Her family were owned and rented out a huge Victorian building filled with a variety of different shops. Over the years there were all sorts of shops, many owned at least for a time by Tracy's parents. Antique stores, dollhouse stores, and even one restaurant (which had an art gallery AND a jewelry shop) were all owned and run by her family at some point. In the 1970s, Tracy's mom designed gemstone jewelry and sold her pieces in the shop. Tracy's Dad was a true Entrepreneur. Tracy did get a real job and worked as a stock broker for quite a while, but the whole 9-5 thing was not for her. In 2001, she started looking for other alternatives. She decided to find something she could do from home and due to her computer background (Oops did we mention, her Dad wound up owning a computer programing and design company), she thought that selling on ebay might be a lot of fun. Her mother still had tons of beads and supplies for making jewelry and Tracy decided to make and sell finished jewelry on ebay. However, her new venture was not too successful until she discovered her mother's stock of unsold 1970s jewelry. When Tracy put these older items on the internet, she found a great interest from buyers and she did very well. Along with her husband John, Tracy began thinking that vintage jewelry would do very well on ebay and she was right! We started selling tag sale jewelry under the Raefield Designs id, and things really took off.
Raefield Jewelry Designs is the main eBay presence under the AJ Raefield’s umbrella of internet jewelry stores. Raefielddesigns was our original id which we started the business with in 2001. Since that time, we have grown and expanded. Currently we offer more than 16,000 different jewelry items for sale on the internet via different jewelry id’s! Our first love has always been Vintage Costume Jewelry, and we currently have three stores devoted to the cause. Our main vintage store is this store, raefielddesigns ( 15690). This store specializes in items from the 1950s to the 1980s, both previously owned and from vintage unsold inventory. Here, we feature our newly acquired estate items at auction. We offer our new acquisitions for a few weeks at auction, and later offer them in our store as buy it now or haggle items. We are really excited about ebay’s best offer feature; come have some fun and make us offers!
Our estate and vintage stock is acquired from a vast network of resources we have developed over the years. Pieces are acquired directly from estates, from other dealers who handle entire estates, auctions, flea markets, retired wholesalers, and warehouses filled with vintage items. The best part for us has ALWAYS been shopping! We love finding these items for you. It is always exciting for us to find designer pieces, as well as Victorian items. We carry both signed and unsigned items, as well as a few contemporary estate pieces. Our prices range from low to high; we are the perfect place for both serious collectors, as well as those looking for a piece to complete a new look!
Because our offerings have grown to such significant proportions, we have split our original inventory up into 5 stores, dealing in both vintage and new costume jewelry. You may notice there is hardly any vintage plastic jewelry whatsoever in this store… Isn’t that strange? NOPE... It is because we had sooo much that we needed to open a whole store dedicated to it! eBay id bakelitejohnny( 916), handles all of our vintage plastic jewelry. There you will find a huge assortment including Bakelite, Lucite, Plexiglas, Celluloid, and other plastic jewelry. Our 247jewelry( 2506) id carries a mix of classics and novelties. This extensive collection features Initial Jewelry, Name Jewelry, Zodiac Jewelry, Mens Jewelry, Hair Accessories, and Vintage Novelty Items, such as Pet Rocks, which are ALWAYS a must-have! This store is all about keeping you in style, but also allowing you to have unique pieces! We carry both vintage and new items, to guarantee that you will find something you love, and also something that no one else will have! Finally, our most recent endeavor is bffjewelry( 63), which sells all new jewelry. We specialize in BFF Friendship Necklaces, Chandelier Earrings, Bangles, Tiaras, Rhinestone Pins, and Cocktail Rings. Many of our items are sold in sets of two or more, so that you can keep one for yourself, and share one with your bff!
We've begun to develop a passion for e-commerce. Every employee has taken the opportunity to learn about e-commerce, as well as basic business techniques. Every day we learn something new, whether it be a new program, or just another way of doing something. Teaching each other about the business and how to make it better is a part of our daily routine, and we work hard to keep everyone included. Our business is not only centered around our love of vintage jewelry, but also for the fact that we have the ability to provide young people with the knowledge that will help them to get a great job in the future. All of our employees are heavily trained in computers and programs such as Photoshop, Excel, Word, Dreamweaver, eSellerPro, and Quick Books, just to name a few. Everyone knows how to do nearly every job in the office, and knows how to do it well. The knowledge that running a business has given us is irreplaceable. Although it's tough when employees move on, we also feel good about it. We know that when they leave, they are going to begin down a new life path with the skills that they had learned from us, as well as an appreciation for vintage jewelry! Working in this environment has taught each and every one of us new and vital skills that we hope that our employees will take with them in the future, and will allow them to do something great!.
|
