FOUR OUT OF FIVE independent jewelers haven’t created a YouTube channel for their business, according to INSTORE’s January Brain Squad survey. And among the 18 percent who have? Most admit they’re barely using it.
The reasons for sitting out are familiar: time, staffing and cost. “Only one of me, and not enough hours in the day,” wrote one Florida jeweler. A Texas store owner put it more bluntly: “No one to do it, and as an owner don’t have the time.” Several respondents answered with just two words: “No time.”
But time isn’t the only barrier. Some jewelers question whether the investment would pay off at all. “Our shop employs three people,” wrote one California retailer. “And who the hell would watch it, anyway?”
Others have priced it out and walked away. One Pennsylvania jeweler said that creating a channel good enough to compete “would simply cost too much. We don’t have the talent to do this internally, and the three proposals we received were cost prohibitive.”
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A few expressed philosophical resistance. “Not my style and seems too gimmicky,” said one Texas jeweler. Another admitted, “I don’t like being on screen!” And one Ohio retailer summed up a broader ambivalence: “I’m on the fence about all digital media platforms.”
“Instagram seems to do the trick, and it is all that we can handle.”
For some, it’s not that YouTube is wrong — it’s that other platforms are working well enough. “Instagram seems to do the trick, and it is all that we can handle,” wrote a Massachusetts jeweler. A Wisconsin store said their Facebook videos are popular, but “we do not have the staff to do YouTube also.”
Among the minority who do have channels, the results are mixed. One New Jersey jeweler reported thousands of subscribers and said the channel has helped with repairs and special orders — though not with selling existing inventory. A Canadian store owner was more candid: “Due to our inconsistency, no real following. And only some modest views. Can’t say it has helped our sales or awareness, but that is our fault for not fully embracing the medium.”
Several jewelers with channels acknowledged they’ve let them go dormant. “It’s an underutilized resource,” admitted one Illinois retailer. Another said his channel exists but added, “I am not using it. Yet!”
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The optimists are looking ahead. One Michigan jeweler said local customers “seem to enjoy our folksy, somewhat funny stabs at videos” and called consistent posting a goal for 2026. A New Hampshire store is working on short videos about antique inventory. And one Arizona retailer said they’re updating an older channel with plans to “use AI a lot more.”
But for the majority, YouTube remains a someday project — or a never project. As one Illinois jeweler put it: “If I could master the beast of social media, honestly I think I would be a multi-million dollar store. I struggle to be knowledgeable with the posting tasks or efficient with the tools needed.”
She’s not alone.
“I’m sure it would be great, but I won’t spend the time to do it,” said a jeweler from Arizona.
Added another from Michigan. “I have not followed up enough with this (but good goal for 2026). Folks in our area seem to enjoy our folksy, somewhat funny stabs at videos.”
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