Question:
Does anyone know of reputable suppliers/manufacturers that I can get
sterling silver beads, supplies, etc. from? I have started a small business
of making necklaces and bracelets, and need to find a couple of suppliers
that I can get wholesale pricing for the beads and supplies.
Any contacts would be greatly appreciated.
Answer:
-I'm just getting started too - my daughter and I are officially K&E
Creations now, and I have several special orders I'm working on for
Christmas...
I just got orders in from INM Crystal (www.inmcrystal.com) and Halstead
Bead Inc. INM Crystal has Bali and Swarovski and the best price I've
found on alphabet blocks, and Halstead has sterling and gold filled
beads and findings. Halstead has a $100 minimum, and requires your
resale number, INM Crystal doesn't have a minimum and only requires your
resale number if you live in Florida. Each took less than a week to
arrive. My only complaint with either is that they don't tell you
online that they are out of stock of something - INM Crystal backorders
it for you (and you can add to your backorder, which will be shipped for
free, but no idea of when), and Halstead just doesn't send what they are
out of (but they do tell you to CALL if you are ordering something you
must have.) Everything I received looks first-rate.
I have a local lapidary store that I'm going to get gemstone strands
from, and I also get some from Fire Mountain - but I like being able to
actually SEE what I'm getting when it comes to the gemstone strands.
They have a $250 first order though, then $99 after that. I think they
had an ad in the last Bead and Button - Ebersole's, in Wichita, KS.
I've gotten some nice stuff from them.
-I just got orders in from INM Crystal (www.inmcrystal.com) and Halstead
Bead Inc. INM Crystal has Bali and Swarovski and the best price I've
found on alphabet blocks, and Halstead has sterling and gold filled
beads and findings. Halstead has a $100 minimum, and requires your
resale number, INM Crystal doesn't have a minimum and only requires your
resale number if you live in Florida. Each took less than a week to
arrive.
I ordered from INM on 11/26, and it arrived on 11/29. I was pretty impressed,
since there was a holiday in there. Like you, I had some things back ordered.
I had ordered some alpha letters to make 3 bracelets. Wouldn't you KNOW....
each bracelet needed some of the back-ordered letters, so I can't start ANY of
them yet. DANG! Their price on the Swarovski cubes was 4 cents lower (per
crystal) than the CHEAPEST rate at Rio Grande, too. I liked the stuff I got
from them, including the Bali.
-The people on this board know lots of good places, more than I do -
but I think 550 Silver (aka Monsterslayer) at
http://www.metalworks.com/ -- will be one of them. I've ordered
from them a few times, they've always been quick and helpful - have
called me (on their dime) to ask if XXX would do because YYY was out.
And I still got the order in, I dunno, 4 or 5 days?
But I am not as experienced as some - and I'd like to know, too - for
those of you who have ordered from monsterslayer, are the prices
comparable/good? I thought so..... but if I'm wrong I'd like to know
where is an even better source?
