Several years ago I would have said 'definitely, go for it'. I think the game is much more difficult now.
The most common sourcing areas are the pearl markets in China. But these places are no overrun with Internet resellers. When I started selling online nearly 8 years ago the market was new. I did not have any competition. Now, in order to stay above the game I am constantly sourcing new products of higher qualities and lower prices than ever before. This is because in addition to the hundreds of 'Hongqiao resellers' as I like to call them, there are many Chinese getting into the online game as well.
If you do decide to build a Site the most important thing I can suggest is that you diversify. Do not just carry one style of pearl. Of course our main business is Akoya, but we still sell a lot of Tahitian strands and at least 5-10 freshwater pieces a day as well. If the goods are sourced correctly a very good business can be had this way, but the investment is staggering. Our offices have literally millions of pearls, but every month I invest more than 100k on new stock just to keep up with demand.
I would also suggest reselling pearls from another online source. We have a total of 14 Sites online that exclusively sell our pearls. Some of our resellers do extremely well. The great thing about this is they have nearly '0' overhead.
If you are seriously considering this send me a private message and we can talk further.
