Cheap Beads For Making Jewelry

When we’re trying to build our own bead jewelry business we all sometimes fall into the trap of shopping for supplies at the same places that everyone else does because it is convenient and easy to buy all your beads in one place or with one click of the mouse.  Like most beaders I love visiting my local bead store (and especially love visiting new bead stores when I’m on vacation!).  And like most beaders I can spend hours flipping through the pages of all those bead supply mail order catalogs.

But sometimes I find that I’m spending a lot of time and money looking at and buying beads that are, well, just like the beads used in everyone else’s bead jewelry.  Sometimes I find myself buying Swarovski crystal beads simply because it’s what’s expected of a lot of beaded jewelry these days.  And even though I buy my beads at a discount I’m still sometimes spending more than I’d like.

I’ve learned that I can find some great deals on unique and cheap beads in some of the most unexpected places.  Here are some of the great stores I’ve shopped at and found deep discounts on beads:

Overstock and Discount Product Stores: My area has a couple different overstock stores that get products when they are discontinued or a store is going out of business.  When The Rag Shop went out of business my local discount store had large bins filled with craft supplies.  I rooted through them for a while and ended up coming away with a whole handbasket filled with cheap beads that I was able to buy at an amazingly discounted price.  I still have some of these beads in my beading closet today and I simply smile whenever I stumble across them because I know I bought them for a steal!

Big Box Hardware stores: If you’re looking for some unique jewelry pieces or additions to your bead jewelry then you have to try visiting your local hardware store and checking out their section of fasteners and washers.  Many of these metal connectors are practically begging to be used in bead jewelry.  I’ve seen jewelry made from 12 cent washers that was both stylish and fun and sold for $40!  I’ve only made a few jewelry pieces out of hardware items but I have noticed that when I display them at the craft shows that they are a hit with teenage girls and even some of the guys!

The Grocery Store: Yes, you can even buy cheap beads at the grocery store if you’re looking for some unique bead jewelry materials.  You can buy dried seeds, coffee beans and even a box of dried pasta at prices that make any other bead price seem expensive.  Would I suggest pairing pasta beads with Swarovski crystals?  Probably not! LOL!  But you could make some jewelry with beads or dried items, spray them with a craft protectorant and make some fun jewelry for the kids!

Flea Markets and Yard Sales: Again, any place that sells old “junk” is a great place to find some wonderfully unique beads and jewelry pieces at a big discount.  I’ve bought whole boxes filled with old jewelry for as little as $5.00 and I’ve been able to take those old pieces apart, salvage some of the amazing beads from the jewelry and then turn around and make new pieces.

I’ve found that when I’m shopping for things other than discounted beads for jewelry that I sometimes stumble upon items that can be substitute for traditional expensive beads.

The key to finding discount beads that can be used for jewelry at non-traditional shopping places is to treat each shopping trip you go on as a sort of treasure hunt!  Bead stores are great but sometimes buying from them can seem more like a chore.  Going the non-traditional route will often serve to inspire you to create something new and exciting with your jewelry.   And discounted or not, inspiration is worth it’s weight in gold!

Buying discount beads for jewelry is one of the key ways you can make more money when you’re making and selling your own bead jewelry. The cheaper your beads and other beading supplies cost, the more profit you can make out of each piece. And while keeping your costs low is obviously a key goal, you also don’t want to sacrifice quality in your materials as you sometimes can when you’re buying discount beads.

There are, however, some ways you can buy beads at a discount without sacrificing quality. The key is to always keep in mind that you’re aiming to buy cheap beads and always try to keep track of your cost per bead to realize your true discount.

Here are some ways you can buy discounted beads:

Clearance Beads: If you’re going to look for cheap beading supplies then you have to be willing to shop the clearance aisle of just about any store you enter. You’d be surprised how many different types of stores attempt to sell beads for jewelry and then later decide to sell the beads at a deep discount. I once picked up a large back full of discount wooden beads at a local office supply store for less than one dollar because they were clearing out all their cheaper craft supplies.

Increase Your Bead Discount by Buying More: This is the way a lot of online bead stores encourage you to buy more items. They offer discounts on beads based on buying larger amounts of beads. You can get these bead discounts on high end beads as well as cheaper beads with most stores. This is a great way to buy a lot of discounted beads at once, but if you don’t need all those beads or don’t want to put out all the money you could try this next method.

Combing Bead Sales for A Deeper Discount: Let’s say you want to buy some discount beads and your two beading buddies also want to buy some discounted beads. The three of you could get together and buy a larger quantity of beads for a discounted price knowing that you will break them up amongst you when the order arrives.

Take Advantage of the Wholesale Bead Discount: If you are a serious bead jewelry artist then you may want to look into getting a wholesaler’s license and take advantage of the wholesale discount for beads. Buying discount beads for jewelry wholesale will also allow you to avoid double-paying on taxes and will allow you to buy a lot of beads at one time.

These are just some of the ways you can score great deals on beads for jewelry and get your hands on some great discount beads!

Technorati Tags: fashion, jewelry, saving money, beads

Every so often someone asks me if Swarovski crystal beads are dangerous or not, seeing how Swarovski advertises its products as being made with “lead crystal.” Let’s cover some of the more common questions:

Do Swarovski crystal beads contain lead?
Yes, it does! And yes, it is the lead that you always hear about in paint and other substances that can poison the body. It is estimated that Swarovski crystal beads contain about 32% lead or lead oxide in them. The lead is used to maximize the way the light refracts through the crystal which gives them an almost diamond-like sparkling quality.

Do all crystal beads also contain lead?
No, but some do. To be advertised as “lead crystal” the European standards dictate that there must be 30% or more lead contained within the crystal. Anything below that amount can just be advertised as “crystal.”

Is the lead in Swarovski crystal beads dangerous?
Generally, no, though you may want to wash your hands and be sure to keep lead crystal of any sort out of your mouth and away from children. Lead is toxic if it is ingested or otherwise introduced into the bloodstream, but simply touching crystal lead jewelry will not expose you to enough lead to be toxic. Swarovski has made statements (see below!) which say that they believe the lead in their crystal is not easily “released” from the crystal and therefore does not pose a health threat. That being said, if you’ve been working with Swarovski lead crystal beads or any beading supplies containing lead you may want to thoroughly wash your hands before touch or preparing any food, just to be safe.

Can I buy and sell Swarovski crystal beads for jewelry in California?
You are may be aware of California Proposition 65 which sets requirements on the use of lead in products including jewelry of certain types. This is directly from the state of California’s Toxic Substances Control website: “Glass and crystal decorative components used in adult jewelry are considered Class 1 materials. There are no lead limits for Class 1 materials used for adult jewelry. Therefore, the use of leaded crystal, including Swarovski crystal, may be used in adult jewelry.”

Can I use Swarovski crystal beads in children’s jewelry in California?
You can, but there are limits. Given the very real possibility of children accidentally digesting lead crystals you might want to avoid the practice. For more information please visit that California Toxic Substances Control site.

What gives Swarovski crystal beads that unique shine? Is that lead?
No. Swarovski coats many of its beads with different special coatings to give the surfaces of their crystal beads different shimmers and colors. One of the more common coatings is called AB or “Aurora Borealis” and it is applied to many of the Swarovski crystal beads. There are many types of coatings and the coatings can be applied in different amounts and even on different parts of the crystal beads to really make a unique piece of crystal.

What does Swarovski say about lead in their crystal beads?
I wrote to Swarovski asking them about the safety of lead in their crystal beads. A very nice woman named Bianca wrote me back and gave me what appears to be an “official” statement from Swarovski:

Recently, there has been an increased regulatory focus on potential human exposure to lead from various consumer products, including jewellery. Crystal has unique properties. The crystal manufacturing process creates a matrix which inhibits the mobility of lead. In other words, lead is bound into the structure of the crystal. Because of this structure, lead crystal poses no significant risk of excessive lead exposure to human health via surface contact (hand to mouth), mouthing or even ingestion. Indeed, Swarovski crystals have been tested under a variety of test methods for extractable lead. Test conditions and procedures do vary, but lead levels are well below regulatory limits even when the crystal is tested in an acid solution to maximize the release of lead.

Most authorities considering lead in crystal have concluded that limits on total lead should not apply to crystal. In 2006, for example, the California Attorney General settled a lawsuit brought in the state alleging exposure to lead from jewellery. The court-approved settlement agreement, as well as the later legislatively enacted Californian AB 1681, established limits for lead in metals and several other components, with stricter standards for jewellery intended for children 6 and younger. Significantly, in recognition of the limited risk of availability of lead from crystal, the settlement agreement as well as California AB 1681 allows the continued use of crystal without limitation in jewellery not intended for children. For children 6 or younger, up to 1 gram of crystal may be used in such jewellery. These same standards were adopted in the state of Minnesota. Similar bills are pending in other states, but some states are considering or have adopted new limits on lead that do not include an exemption for crystal.

Therefore you are in no danger in touching crystals. This is also the reason that there are no specific recommendations about touching or using crystal, however, we do not recommend that crystals are put in the mouth, swallowed, choked on or inhaled under any circumstances, or are used as children’s toys due to the small parts hazard.

Let’s hope those states that do not have an exemption for crystal don’t accidentally outlaw Swarovski crystal beads!

The bottom line? Swarovski crystal beads are perfectly safe to work with and use in adult jewelry, but should be kept out of the hands of children and never put in children’s jewelry. Yes, lead crystal beads do contain lead, but that’s no reason to shy away from using Swarovski crystal beads in any of your adult jewelry pieces or projects!

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!

When people first get into beading they sometimes feel overwhelmed with all the new terminology and beading supplies they have to initially buy. And while the real fun of any sort of beading project is definitely in the creating something beady from scratch, one of aspects many people also enjoy is simply buying the beads. But even this process of buying beads is not easy because we’re constantly bombarded with a thousand different beads in a hundred different packages and counts at what seems like a million different prices! The trick is learning how to buy the same beads for less money. These are truly discounted beads!

I know a lot of people various local bead shops and online bead stores and they are quickly confused, bewildered and simply amazed at all the different varieties and prices of the many, many different types of beads available. Bead store owners deal with exactly the same issue: buying beads and maintaining an inventory of millions of little beads and supplies for an entire store can get to be quite a trying experience!

While the variety of beads and beading supplies available doesn’t look like it will get any smaller soon (thankfully… LOL!) there are some things you can do to eliminate some of the confusion of buying beads, especially when it comes to comparing prices.

When faced with the idea of buying the exact same or almost exact same bead from two different stores, you simply need to figure out what the cost per bead is and then buy the discounted bead. This is not a new idea and you might even do it now when you’re grocery shopping. But when you’re starting to buy lots of beads this can really come in handy and save you some money.

The cost per bead is calculated by simply taking the number of beads and dividing it by the price. One simple calculation will do it but you might want to use a calculator because the division is almost never perfect.

Let’s say you are faced with buying some beautiful limited edition Swarovski crystal beads and you’ve seen them being sold at two different places. One place advertises them as 50 for $5.95. The other place sells 75 of those Swarovski beads for $8.20. Which place is cheaper? All you have to do is do the math!

$5.95 / 50 beads = $.119 cents per bead.

$8.20 / 75 beads = $.109 cents per bead which is about a penny less per bead. These are the cheaper beads!

Now, I know… one cent per bead probably doesn’t sound like much of a discount, but let’s say you are making 30 different necklaces for an upcoming craft show and and each necklace has 100 Swarovski crystal beads in it then you just saved yourself $30.00. No, that isn’t a huge discount beads on beads for jewelry but as you buy more expensive beads and larger lots of beads the savings will really start to add up.

The best part about this is that if you’re using any sort of decent bead jewelry business software, then it should automatically figure out and save your cost-per-bead price so you can go back and later compare which beads are cheaper, even if they’re the same bead from different vendors.  Most bead jewelry software packages should have this feature, but the affordable Bead Manager Pro definitely has it.

I especially like to use the cost per bead method when comparing online bead store prices, especially when I’m comparing the exact same type, size and brand of bead. I do this for all my Swarovski crystal bead purchases and have found that I can save quite a lot depending upon what I’m looking for at the time. Obviously, you can do this little math trick with everyone from crystal beads to seed beads to wire (count length of wire) to find the best price for discount beads!