Wholesaling in the Middle East

Hello. Can you advise me on the following? I'm interested in traveling to the Middle East to buy jewelry wholesale and sell it to retailers in the US. Which countries have the best quality and best prices?

Thank you.

Therese Laskey

Dear Therese:

The answer depends on the type of jewelry you want to wholesale and the price range. Do you want to wholesale handcrafted, ethnic jewelry or precious gemstones? Who are your customers and what retail prices are they willing to pay? The most sophisticated markets are in Israel, Jordon, and Egypt. In Israel, you can find everything from handmade silver filigree and ancient glass-shard jewelry to diamonds. Quality and price vary at all sources, but they understand the Western market and, therefore, are competitive. Jordon and Egypt also sell handcrafted jewelry and have decent gold markets as well. Quality varies. For additional information, I suggest you contact the commercial attaché at each embassy, or the chamber of commerce in each country. These websites may help as well: For Israel, try www.export.gov.il/Eng/_Sites/Index.asp?CategoryID=374 and www.moit.gov.il/english. For Jordan, www.jaba.org.jo/. For assistance in Egypt, check out www.buyusa.gov/egypt/en/ with links to doing business in Egypt and other middle eastern countries. Also, www.iccwbo.org/index.asp.

Happy wholesaling,
The Fearless Shopper