The vendor on Ebay was Zonego -Shop, I believe that they are coming from Hong Kong. Am not sure if they are the real deal, I have no clue has to how I would figure that out either lol. It does state they are "Swarovski Crystal Beads/4mm Bicone". What caught my eye is the shipping is only $1.50 and some other people want to get you to buy things at a cheap price but the shipping is crazy!

That kinda sounds too good to be true, but who knows? If you go to the Fire Mountain Gems website section on Swarovski Crystal, there is an article entitled "How to tell whether you are getting real Swarovski (R) crystal" so once your package arrives you can check that out. And shipping from HK only $1.50? Hmmm.

Fire Mountain also has great prices on supplies and tools. I did buy the boss's bead bag (i lb of beads) recently, but I sent it to Dorlissa (aka thecatdragon on this forum) for her community center activities, so I'm not sure if the contents were good stuff! 

 I will go on the site to see how you can tell if its the real deal or not, thanks!

Yes am feeling weird about the $1.50 shipping says from HK but hey its okay with me lol. Someone had mention earlier about the boss bead bag but when I went on the site I tried searching and nothing came back.

I googled and this is what came up

How to tell whether you are getting real Swarovski® Crystal.

Swarovski® (Swore-off-ski) crystal components are regarded as the highest quality machine cut and polished crystal beads in the world. The demand for luxury products unfortunately can create a host of imitators. The imitators are all over the Internet and at every craft show that I have visited.

The Swarovski® Company creates its glass with a special compound that imitators cannot duplicate. This special compound creates the incredible brilliance of their product. The delicate color palette is another quality that sets Swarovski® crystal components apart from others.

With so many crystal beads and components out there, how can you tell if the crystal you are purchasing is actually a Swarovski® crystal component....or an imitation?

Here are some tips for the retail buyer that can help you determine which crystals are genuine:

1. Swarovski® crystals are perfectly uniform. Since they are machine cut, each crystal is the same. This means that the height, width and slope are consistent. A hand polished imitator bead will not have as uniform a cut. You may also notice different dimensions from bead to bead.
2. Swarovski® uses machinery that precisely cuts each crystal. According to Swarovski®, "cutting hard materials such as crystal and gems, in such a way that they have a hundred identical facets in several directions, is a very complicated task; each direction of the reflected light must first be calculated by computer, then this has to be simulated in 3D, optimized and finally converted into control programs for complex machinery." This is just part of the technology that gives Swarovski® crystals their unbelievable flash.

   

3. The precision cutting of Swarovski® machinery allows each crystal to have its facet juncture "pointing up". This means the facet junctures all meet at precisely the same point. This is a similar aspect of diamond faceting. See the illustration above.

4. AB finished Swarovski® crystals have a uniform surface luster. There are no swirling marks from the vacuum process that produces the AB finish, and generally there are no scratches. The "imitations" often have scratches, swirl marks ("oily" looking surface). Some of these imperfections, in the "imposters", have to do with the lower quality of the finish.
5. When you look inside the crystal, you will see no bubbles. If you see any bubbles, you know immediately that it is a fake
6. Because of its special glass compounds, Swarovski® crystal will out-sparkle a bead of lesser quality when placed in a side-by-side comparison.

I've looked at some of those auctions from Hong Kong, and at least the pics they have look like real Swarovski.  Some of those vendors do such high volume they can do the cheap shipping, but others are outrageous.  Other times it's the other way around-the beads are super cheap, but the shipping is $20. 

If you have a bead store close by (or even a Michael's), you can compare Swarovski and Czech crystals for yourself, and you will immediately be able to tell the difference.  There's just nothing that sparkles like them.  Granted there are a couple of new brands out there that I haven't seen in person, but they should be labeled as to what they are in the stores so you can make a comparison.

Having said that, there is also nothing wrong with using other types of crystals (or faceted glass, depending on what you want to call them).  I have lots of Czech crystals, and I use them all the time, especially if I'm doing a project that calls for a ton of crystals and I want to keep costs down.

As to the Bosses' Bead Bag, I have bought several of them over the years, and they can be a lot of fun.  You get a bit of everything from plastic to glass to metals, and I love to sit and sort through it.  I like getting things I might not consider buying otherwise-makes me stretch my imagination.

I personaly have not ordered from this vender. I have ordered from several others and they were Swarvoskit crystals. I have also ordered Swarvoski crystals from many state side venders. I have gotten them as cheap as 5 or 6 cents each it all depend if you are lucky in bidding or not. I have also bougth them at bead shows and they ran about 10 cents each if you bought them bulk like 200 plus. I usually go with my sister to these shows and we each buy different colors and then we split them so we can get many more colors and not have to have over 200 of each color. It is even better when a group of us go and each buy a color or two and split them.

 There is a local LBS  near here that sells them (4mm bicones) for 10 cents each for plain 15 cents for AB and 20 cents for 2xAB. Another local LBS sells all 4mm bicones for 20 cents each. I usually go there because they are alot closer and with the price of gas I would spend more in gas than what I would save,  so I just go to the nearest which is the one with 20 cents for any color effects on the  4mm bicone. 

So just because you got a good price doesn't mean you did get the real thing. Have heart when you get them hould them up to a real Swarvoski and see if it has the same amount of sparkle for nothing shines like a Swarvoski.  And if they aren't  you paid less then 5 cents each for lesser crystals but that is still cheap.  You pay more than that for plastic. 

 Well there is nothing wrong with having  some faith right! I will for sure post if it was the real deal or not when I get them thats for sure!

I was told that a show will be coming to IL in Decemeber so am going to make the time to attend that and learn more.

I went to Michael's and JoAnn Fabrics today and yes I know that their prices are a little higher than what I have seen online but it was just so overwhelming to see sooooo many different beads, etc. I would grab one thing to later put it down and grab another and to make the long story short I came home with Nothing LOL. But I do tell you that there was a sale going on both places so maybe just maybe there is something worth buying.

Blueskies:

I went to Michael's and JoAnn Fabrics today and yes I know that their prices are a little higher than what I have seen online but it was just so overwhelming to see sooooo many different beads, etc. I would grab one thing to later put it down and grab another and to make the long story short I came home with Nothing LOL. But I do tell you that there was a sale going on both places so maybe just maybe there is something worth buying.

Nothing??
How you do that ... I can manage not even wanting beads and still coming home with a bag full ... or some other "beads related" stuff ....

 LOL Yes nothing but am going today now that I was able to think about which ones I liked and would like to start off with! I will let you all know what I ended up getting!