Cheap Beads

This weekend I was reminded that you can sometimes get the best beads without paying a lot of money. I stopped in a local dollar store and was amazed at how wide a variety of beads and general jewelry and craft supplies they had on sale. They actually had an entire row filled with things I could use to make jewelry with.

In most stores you’d expect to get nothing more than a few kid’s jewelry beads or a little bag of plastic seed beads for a dollar, but I actually found a lot more than just that in the dollar store. For a single buck I could get a bag full of some sort of turquoise looking glass beads, a large bag of some very nice wooden beads or a fairly good sized package of silver colored seed beads.

They also had a small collection of metal pendants with an oriental look to them and there were a bunch of bags of mixed charms and trinkets of various shapes and sizes. The dollar store even had some off brands of jewelry wire, but I refrained from trying it. I did pick up another cheap pair of wire cutters and pliers that I could keep handy for when I wanted to put together some bead jewelry while I’m working a craft show.

You might have better luck finding some deals on cheap jewelry supplies and beads at the national dollar store chains as opposed to the local mom and pop dollar stores. Some of the chains even offer bulk buying, so if you need a case of wooden beads or want 10,000 seed beads for next to nothing you may be able to buy them directly from the store! Buying this many beads at one time for such a low price almost feels as though you’re buying your jewelry beads wholesale!

Dollar stores are great places to get jewelry supplies and beads at a discount but you still have to be careful about overpaying for things, even in a dollar store. I’ve found that you still have to consider the cost-per-bead to really make sure you’re getting a good deal. Sometimes you can still get some better deals on your jewelry supplies using online coupons and I’m always amazed at the cheap beads and jewelry making supplies you can find at Amazon.com.

There are lots of great ways to buy your discount jewelry supplies online, but one of the best ways to save money on jewelry supplies is to buy them in an online auction. An online auction allows you to purchase a lot of different beads and supplies at one time, usually for a price that’s similar or better than what you might pay when buying from wholesale jewelry suppliers.

Lots of people sell beads and jewelry supplies through online auctions for a few different reasons. Sometimes other jewelry artists just have a lot of extra supplies hanging around and want to sell them off just to clear out some space in their own jewelry studios. Some bead stores and independent art and craft stores will sell their extra supplies and beads through online auctions because it allows them to quickly sell their older inventory without worrying about finding the exact price point. Here are some great online auction sites where you can get the best deals on bead jewelry supplies.

eBay - Sure, it’s one of the oldest online auction sites around, but it’s really gone downhill in the past several years. Lots of eBay sellers are leaving and the network has had a lot of lawsuits regarding scam artists and lack of buyer protection. That being said, you can still find lots of good and reliable people selling jewelry supplies and beads, well-priced vintage jewelry, estate jewelry and other jewelry pieces. I like to browse for all sorts of old jewelry, costume or otherwise, which can all be taken apart and plundered for beads and other jewelry pieces!

Auctionbeads.com - How about an online auction site that’s totally dedicated to buying and selling beads and jewelry? That’s the main goal of AuctionBeads, an independent online auction site that has a ton of cool features including an ad builder, spotlight auctions, a “BeadRadar”, referral program and more! It’s a little less polished than eBay, but it has some nice features and a fairly wide variety of sellers and buyers of beads and jewelry that seem to be using it.

AtOncer Buy and Sell - Here’s craft and jewelry supply auction site that’s pretty useful because it has fairly easy navigation and easy to follow categories, allowing you to drill down into a particular interest or type of craft supply you’re looking for. Because it’s relatively unknown (compared to eBay) the prices are pretty good, though you can’t always find someone selling the exact beads or jewelry pieces you’re looking for.

Obviously, this works both ways. You can also sell your extra beading supplies on these websites and quickly make a good profit on items you weren’t going to use for jewelry making. You can then take that money and buy more jewelry supplies that are more useful to you.

If you’re going to use these auction sites, you might want to consider signing up for a free account through PayPal. It’s simple to use and it makes sending money and receiving payments much easier than any other online method out there.

If you like buying and selling your jewelry and supplies at online auctions you might want to try to increase your business and profits picking up a book or two on eBay and other online auctions. Most of the advice that’s written for eBay can easily be transferred to other online auction sites as well.

Online auction sites are not only great places to find discount bead jewelry supplies, but they also add an element of fun and surprise to the every day process of buying your beading supplies online!

One of the best ways to purchase cheap beads online is to use special internet coupon codes and links when you purchase your beads for making jewelry.  Just like regular coupons, online coupon codes and links usually allow you to save a few dollars when you’re purchasing your beads on different web sites.  A great example is the Goody Beads coupon code I posted a while ago that allowed you to get 10% off your order.  Online coupon codes don’t always work for various reasons, which is why I usually like using cheap beading links instead.  Links often seem to work better than random coupon codes in my experience.

Here are some links and coupon codes I sometimes use to buy cheap beads online:

Cheap Bead Coupon Links

Artbeads.com is one of the best places to buy cheap beads for jewelry because they actually offer weekly coupons,free shipping with no minimum order, have a great “learning center”, offer Swarovski crystals beads of every type imaginable and they have an overall huge selection of beads that rivals just about any other online bead store!  There really isn’t too much they don’t offer.  You can use the coupon to the left to immediately start saving money on all the beads you buy online!

I’m going to present you with two different online coupon links for Pugster, one of the more fun and fashionable online stores for buying beads and charms for jewelry! You don’t have to write down the coupon codes, you just have to click on the coupons. The first coupon is good 15% off any charms or fashion jewelry you purchase online and the second coupon is good for 15% off any Murano glass jewelry you come across. There are lots of different aspects to Murano glass jewelry and it’s gaining in popularity because it’s beautiful, simple and can be worn in a number of different ways. I have also listed some Pugster bead coupon codes in the next section.

CreateForLess always has some interesting and affordable beads that I’ve never seen anywhere else. Their selection of beads for jewelry is large but not excessive and they also have some pretty good prices from time to time. I’ve offered two different online bead coupons for them. The coupon on the left shows you their weekly specials on all their craft supplies, including making bead jewelry. The coupon on the right is for their super 70% clearance sale. If you’re looking for beads you can visit the clearance coupon (it might take a moment to load) and then use the “Beading and Jewelry Making Supplies” link on the left. A nice feature is they tell you how many clearance items they have in each category. Today they have 301 Beading and Jewelry Making Supply clearance items on sale!

Beading & Jewelry Making Supplies - I’m including this Amazon.com jewelry and bead text link because Amazon is another one of those sites which regularly updates and switches around its coupon codes and savings. The Amazon beaded jewelry and jewelry making supply categories sometimes contain great deals on beads, jewelry making tools, gemstones, pendants, pins, earrings and more. I have to admit I’ve bought whole jewelry pieces from Amazon for next to nothing only to take it apart and use the clasps and even beads and charms in some sort of beaded jewelry piece I’m making to sell!

I don’t know if this online coupon actually gives you much of a discount on buying beads, but I like Heavenly Treasures because they have a wide selection of various pieces of silver and gold jewelry, including plenty of charms, pins pendants which can be worn alone or used to make other pieces of beaded jewelry. They’re a full service online jewelry retailer with pretty good prices, regularly updated inventory and even a 90 day return policy! They have a lot of unique and well-priced Christian jewelry as well as some men’s jewelry.

Cheap Bead Coupon Codes

You can enter these codes when you check out for a variety of savings.  These codes expire at times, so there’s no guarantee as to which ones will work and which won’t!

FireMountainGems.com Coupon Codes
save30: Save a whopping 30% off your order (may be expired )

Brightlingsbeads Coupon Codes
d100-5: 5% discount on bead orders of $100 or more.
d250-5: 10% discount on bead orders of $250 or more.

EEbeads.com Coupon Codes
BPM52: Free beads with any order.
CV9V2: Free beads with order and free shipping on orders over $20.
They also offer monthly coupon codes if you sign up for their mailing list!

Pugster.com Coupon Codes
CJ15PUGT2: 15% off your total order.
BRH3OFF: $3 off the sale of any brooch.
TOE3OFF: $3 off any toe ring.
CJCUSTOM3: $3 off any custom photo charm.
FREECUSTOM1: Free shipping and free custom photo with order of $35 or more (expires soon!)
Pugster changes coupon codes on a regular basis so your best bet is to visit their website to see the latest offer!

Using coupon codes and coupon links to buy discounted beads online is a great way to save money and keep your costs down, especially if you’re making and selling jewelry with the beads you buy!

In these tough economic times a lot of bead jewelry artists are struggling to make a profit on the jewelry that they make and sell.  Even if you’re buying your beads as cheaply as you can, there are still things you can do to maximize your profit.  And even though bead jewelry sales usually increase during an economic recession (and regular jewelry sales plummet) it is still important to make sure that you’re keeping your jewelry supply and bead costs low so that you have more money in your pocket at the end of each month!

When the economy hits the skids and traditional jobs begin disappear a lot of people begin getting creative with ways of making bead jewelry without paying out the high prices for lots of jewelry beads up front.  One great way to get cheap beads and keep your beading supply costs very low is to actually make your own beads!

Make Your Own Paper Beads: The ultimate way to make cheap beads is to make your own out of paper!  You can use any sort of paper, though colored paper, patterned paper or any sort of paper that has an interesting pattern are often best if you’re going to use these super-cheap beads for jewelry.  There are several different ways to make paper beads, from strips of paper into long colorful beads to making newspaper beads in boiling water.  Many people make paper beads out of old candy wrappers and junk mail, which is the ultimate way to have a never ending supply of practically free beads at your disposal!

Make Your Own Polymer Clay Beads: Polymer clay beads are popular and relatively inexpensive to make, though it’s one of those skills that may take a lifetime to master!  There are lots of great books and resources on making polymer clay jewelry beads, but Carol Blackburn’s Making Polymer Clay Beads and Grant Diffendaffer’s Polymer Clay Beads are both books that get rave reviews! Making your own clay beads is obviously not quite as cheap as paper beads but you have a lot more flexibility and design options open to you.  Like paper, there are lots of different ways to make cheap clay beads for jewelry that are durable, colorful and downright fun!

Make Beads Out of Recycled Items: Let’s get back to the really free and cheap beads you can make!  A lot of people have learned how to make cheap jewelry beads by using non-traditional materials and even “junk” in their jewelry with some startling great effects.  I’ve seen people make coffee bean bead jewelry, bicycle jewelry, jewelry from pencils, beads made out of washers and lots of beads and bead jewelry made out of all sorts of recycled materials.

If you have a little creativity you can find lots different things to make your own inexpensive beads from.  And by making jewelry out those items you are not only creating a beautiful and wearable piece of art, but you are also increasing the profit you make from the bead jewelry you sell!

I just picked up the paper this morning and read that Michael’s Arts and Craft supply stores across the country are having big start of the year clearance event on all sorts of different craft supplies, including beads and jewelry making supplies!   If you’re looking for some great cheap beads and jewelry making supplies to start out the new year then there is no better time visit the Michael’s Art and Craft Store website or visit a store in person to buy some cheap beads and jewelry supplies.

Some of the sales on craft supplies include up to 70% off certain yarns, 25% off all ribbons, 50% off floral items, 50% off baskets (great for displaying your handmade bead jewelry at a craft table), and 50% off Swarovski Crystal beads at all Michael’s stores!  I’m guessing that AC Moore and all the other retail craft and bead stores are having sales now, too, so it’s a good time to get out and shop and stock up on inexpensive beads while they last!  Also, please remember that Swarovski Crystals do have some lead in them and they should be treated accordingly!

If you want to get some cheap beads online then I recommend you visit one of the best online craft stores that I’ve found recently: CreateForLess.com. They don’t have the largest selection of beads online, but they do offer some great clearance prices on inexpensive beads and they’re having a sale right now, too, so it’s worth trying them if you haven’t before.

Because it’s the beginning of a new year and the end of an old one a lot of art and craft stores, like Michael’s and AC Moore, are having clearance sales.  This is an excellent time to get a jump on your holiday beading supplies for next year if you have the storage space.  By buying your holiday craft supplies a year in advance you’ll have the opportunity to offer some unique beaded jewelry at the craft shows next year and you’ll be able to realize a much larger profit when you sell your jewelry pieces.

Good luck at all those bead sales clearance events!  If I see you there I’ll try to leave a few good cheap beads for you to buy, too!