INNOVATORS Gold Award - New Orleans City Business
INNOVATORS Gold Award - New Orleans City Business
INNOVATORS Gold Award - New Orleans City Business
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ON THE BRINK<br />
PHOTO BY FRANK AYMAMI<br />
Allison Wasserman, with business partner Elizabeth Rothbeind, runs a Web site that allows women to sell jewelry of relationships that have gone bad.<br />
ex-cessories.com<br />
Key innovation: online boutique for women and men to<br />
sell unwanted jewelry, often from an ex<br />
Where they’re based: <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong><br />
Top executive: Allison Wasserman, based in <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Orleans</strong>, and Elizabeth Rothbeind, based in Winter<br />
Park, Fla.<br />
Year introduced: 2008<br />
IT IS NOT VERY often two business students are able to<br />
take an idea from a class assignment and develop a growing<br />
business model. Elizabeth Rothbeind and Allison<br />
Wasserman, who were seeking master’s degrees in business<br />
administration at Rollins College in Florida, did just that.<br />
Recognizing the potential of an untapped market for<br />
unwanted, high-end jewelry because of a failed romance,<br />
Rothbeind and Wasserman launched ex-cessories in<br />
April.<br />
With the slogan, “Don’t get mad … break even,” the coowners<br />
initially targeted women who were looking to<br />
unload jewelry, mainly engagement rings, which were a<br />
reminder of love lost. Initially the idea was for women to<br />
capitalize on their misfortune by exchanging the token of<br />
jewelry for a profit.<br />
“We were really dealing with our own personal lives and<br />
we realized there was a need for this sort of thing, having a<br />
lot of jewelry collecting dust. We knew we weren’t the only<br />
people with this issue,” said Wasserman, who returned to<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> after graduation and handles all of the jewelry.<br />
People send their unwanted jewelry to Wasserman and<br />
Rothbeind, who have the jewelry appraised and upload<br />
pictures to the Web site. Because there is no bidding, interested<br />
buyers can browse the merchandise as if they were<br />
shopping at a boutique.<br />
Rothbeind, who oversees the Web site and lives in<br />
Winter Park, Fla., said the two started with just 30 pieces of<br />
jewelry in April and now have more than 135 pieces listed.<br />
After a few months in business, the target market<br />
changed. The duo realized women weren’t the only ones<br />
looking to unload reminders of broken engagements. Men<br />
who had previous marriages or past relationships were also<br />
interested in exchanging their jewelry for a financial return.<br />
“As the business launched and we got more exposure, it<br />
sort of took a different direction. We now have an older target<br />
than initially expected. Married women who have<br />
upgraded their engagement rings are now among our customer<br />
base,” Wasserman said.<br />
“And men,” added Rothbeind. “We now have an entire<br />
section dedicated to men’s jewelry on our Web site.”<br />
Although neither will reveal actual revenues, they say<br />
the growing market helped them see a profit after just three<br />
months in business. And the two can’t always predict how<br />
fast the merchandise will sell.<br />
“We tell people we can’t even give an average time or<br />
turnaround for selling their jewelry. We sold a $5,000 piece<br />
in one week and it took a few months for a $4,000 piece to<br />
sell. It’s really about connecting a good buyer and seller,”<br />
Rothbeind said.•<br />
— Abby Kral<br />
52A 2008 Innovator of the Year