I love going to my local bead shop for unique beads that I can’t seem to find anywhere else and I love shopping at big online bead stores for regular beading supplies. But I also appreciate shopping convenience and saving a few pennies on discount beads here and there. When I am shopping for beads, especially a brand name like Swarovski crystal beads, I’ll often sit down and figure out the total cost per bead and usually end up going with the least expensive option. That’s why I often end up buying my Swarovski Crystal beads from none other than Amazon.com instead of some other big bead jewelry supply stores.

Amazon has a few other things going for it as well:

Quality Discount Beading Supply Vendors: Amazon.com is less like a big chain grocery store and more like a huge farmer’s market now. Lots of different vendors all sell their items on Amazon and that means competition for best price and best product is fierce.

Bead Supply Shopping Convenience: I like the idea of being able to buy a book I want, a DVD, my favorite shampoo and even a few bead jewelry supplies all in about six clicks on the computer. It saves me time that I would normally use going out to shop and the prices are almost always cheaper than I would pay in the store.

Discounted Beads and Supplies: Yes, it is true that Amazon doesn’t have a million different beads for sale, but name brand items like Swarovski Crystal beads I’ve found that Amazon is actually cheaper if you figure out the cost per bead! Yes, they are even cheaper than Fire Mountain Gems in some cases and you don’t have to order 70 packages to get the cheapest price.

Discounted Bead and Beading Supplies Shipping Costs: Amazon almost always has a cheaper shipping cost than most of the big online bead stores because of the volume of packages they sell. Depending upon the items and vendor I’m sometimes even able to get free shipping if I don’t mind waiting a few extra days.

Smaller Selection of Discounted Beads: A smaller selection of items is usually seen as a negative and in many cases it is. However, I’ve found that it can sometimes be overwhelming, especially for beginner bead jewelers, to have 500 choices of beads to choose from. Sometimes simpler is better, and having a limited selection isn’t so bad if you know what beads or beading supplies you’re looking for and Amazon carries it.

Beading Supply and Beading Vendor Reviews: Amazon.com allows anyone to leave comments about the products that are bought, so you can quickly see what products are popular and read the reviews that others have left. These reviews are often more helpful than the product description alone and they often help my figure out what beading items I want.

Still not convinced Amazon.com sells decent beads and beading supplies at a discount price?

I’ll let you be the judge: check out some of the incredibly affordable beads and jewelry making supplies and see if you aren’t convinced!