This weeks question comes from Teri at S&T Creations

How do smaller jewelry makers locate and develop relationships for wholesale purchases?  I know some places where I can get good "deals" and we do have a Tax ID for wholesale, which helps.

But I'd love to find those unusual, out of the way, different sources for the unusual beads that are so striking.  I see them at bead shows. I know companies can source for wholesale vendors who can buy 100 strands of the same bead, but what about us little guys????


 Hi Teri! Thanks for the great question, here's what I know about buying beads for wholesale prices for designing and reselling.

First of all, you can usually buy artist made beads at wholesale prices pretty easily. Most artists will have a wholesale policy that varies a little. There is usually an initial amount that you need to purchase for the discount. It might seem like a large amount of money at first, but if you are designing and selling jewelry, you want to make a statement with what you are selling. So buying a larger amount should be better for your sales. I know with my wholesale policy, you only have to spend the larger amount once and then you can buy smaller amounts to fill in when you sell what you have.

As for strands of glass, wood etc beads. The people who get the best prices actually travel to India, China, or where ever the beads are manufactured. They buy direct from the manufacturers. You have to buy a lot of beads to make a trip to India pay off. Your next best bet is a wholesale only show. Sometimes there are minimum quantities and other times there are no minimums. You must register with the show to attend. This means providing resale information. The Atlanta gift mart has a supply section for retailers and other marts around the country. There are also shows like the Gem and Lapidary Wholesale Shows. These are held at certain times of the year all over the country.

You can find Teri's blog here, 
Borntobewornjewelry.wordpress.com



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