INNOVATORS Gold Award - New Orleans City Business

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