Motley announces permanent closure

Jewellery design platform Motley, which focused on selling and promoting independent jewellery, has announced it will cease operating.

The news was announced by co-owners Cecily Motley and Ilana Lever in an open letter, who said that “the small margins and punishing payment terms which retailers work to meant we would have had to either reduce the quality of our pieces or hike up our prices.”

Its last day for international orders will be 19 April 2022, and 5 May for UK orders.

Motley and Lever said: “”Against a backdrop of increased inflation and consumer uncertainty, times have been very tough for small businesses. In order to keep our prices fair and accessible, we had to use lower-costing marketing channels than the traditional ones big companies use. For a long time, this was paid adverts on Facebook and Instagram.

“However, last year Apple made some changes which meant that Facebook marketing was far less effective. Then, Facebook put up their prices. This made our marketing unaffordable for us (and many other small businesses too). Many of our other costs also went up, including precious metals and shipping.”

They added: “Ultimately, this would have meant compromising the Motley mission, which did not feel right for our customers, designers or partners. So, we made the heartbreaking decision to close Motley for good.”

source https://www.jewelleryfocus.co.uk/204608-motley-announces-permanent-closure