- Visibility of the earrings on display

- Portability of the display

- How many pairs of earrings the display can hold

- Durability, if the earring display will be traveling to a lot of shows

- Stability in a stiff breeze, if you'll be displaying outdoors

- Size of the earring display, and how much of a footprint it takes up on the table

- Whether the earring display coordinates well with the jewelry on it

- How well your earring cards (if you use them) fit on the display

- Whether the earring display coordinates well with the rest of your jewelry display

- Ease of getting earrings on and off their display

- Ease of loading the display with earrings at home and transporting it loaded to show

- Ability to organize earrings by color or style

- Ability to make earring prices known

- Ability to display earrings near pieces they match (for add-on selling)

There are many kinds of interesting earring displays. There are the standard lazy-susan style of revolving racks with bars for hanging earring cards. These are popular because they're attractive but unobtrusive, they look professional, and they hold a lot of earrings while using only a small amount of table space. You can get these pretty inexpensively from jewelry display suppliers if you shop around and compare prices.

There are also folding earring displays that stand up in panels, with rungs for hanging earring cards. These can make a nice and useful backdrop to the whole table display, with all the earrings visible at a glance, and no spinning an earring rack to see what's on the other sides of it.

And there are many earring displays made for showing earrings that are not mounted on cards-these are often available in all colors of velvet, leatherette, linen, silk, satin, and sometimes other fabrics. I've also seen them in metal, wood, and plastic.

- On earring cards hung on the pegs of a large peg board

- On earring cards standing up in a slotted wood board

- On a wire mesh screen stretched inside an elegant picture frame that was then propped up on an easel

- On propped up earring cards arrayed artistically around driftwood, seashells, and rocks

- On earring cards hanging on a small artificial Christmas tree

- In jewelry boxes lined up inside jewelry trays

- In jewelry boxes arranged on risers

- Hanging on an interesting, bare tree branch

- Hanging on a velvet ribbon stretched across the inside of an antique picture frame

- On earring cards pinned to a fancy bulletin board

- On earring cards pinned to a fabric-covered bulletin board

Look at all kinds of commercial earring displays. Look in catalogs, look on the Web, and take a field trip to the shopping mall jewelry stores and trendy jewelry boutiques. What displays are out there-styles, materials, colors, arrangements?

What earring displays do you see at art and craft shows that you like and dislike? What would be neat for your jewelry and the rest of your display? What would be convenient to transport?

Professional earring displays are popular for a reason--they really are a good, efficient, and attractive way to display jewelry. If you decide to purchase professional displays, be sure to look at several suppliers and compare prices, because pricing can vary widely on the same jewelry display from one supplier to another.