Beading Business

Needing ideas for a name for my beading jewelry business

pippy4tao — Thu, 02 May 2013 06:40:35 GMT

Hi there,

I'm looking for a name that reflects a bohomian, hippy, boho chic, nature, mystique type of vibe. My middle name is Dawn which I think goes well with this train of thought so would be nice to use it not in the sense of the name but the rising sun. Not necessary though. I find that most words that come to mind for these themes are already taken for domain url. Like Gypsy a word I love with just about any other hippy word is covered.

I am a nomad, vagabond type person who travels in a minivan with a bed in the back so I would like my name to speak about my uniqueness.

Any ideas are welcomed and appreciated. Brainstorming is fun and if you would like to join in I would be so glad.

Etsy Alternatives

Vessa — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 17:45:59 GMT

Hey all,

I was hoping that everyone could help me out. My partners and I have been selling jewelry at our local fairs and farmer market for the past year but wanted to start selling online.

Before we start, however, we wanted to try and find the best fit for us. Do y'all have any alternatives to Etsy & Artfire that you would recommend we look at - or any you would recommend we stay away from?

Any and all suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks

Garage Sale Selling

asmdgl — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 21:49:28 GMT

Hey everybody!

My family is considering doing a garage sale in June, and as in previous years, I would like to set up a table with my handmade jewelry. So does anybody have any ideas or tips on what will be popular in the way of jewelry this year (within a small price limit) with the average person? I would like to have a bunch of cheap pieces (earrings?) that a wide range of people would buy. Any other tips or ideas would be welcome! Thanks!

Alissa

Jewelry Party

MichaelaJewelry — Wed, 01 May 2013 19:38:48 GMT

I am having a trunk show the day before Mother's Day at a very upscale hotel and I wanted to advertise that I do jewelry parties. Have any of you held a jewelry party? and if so, what is your feedback? Also, what incentives do you suggest I should give the host of the jewelry party? Thanks!

Selling jewelry

armellamea — Wed, 01 May 2013 15:53:56 GMT

Hi,

How do you sell your jewelry? I have a small collection of 30 bracelets. Is it enough to sell on-line?

I'll appriciate your comments.

Thanks

Marijana

http://armellamea.blogspot.com/

Hand making brooch

jewelrymaking11 — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 06:51:21 GMT

My mon taught me to make hand making flower brooch. But I think it is suitable for wedding dress. :)

I just can't drawan audience

kbeaudoin — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 22:49:42 GMT

I set up a shop on Etsy a couple of months ago and have yet to have more than five people even look at my products. I have done everything I have read suggesting ways to draw business: listed several items, provided clear pictures, updated my personal profile, offered coupons, created a shop banner. I just can't seem to draw anyone to my site. I have used other social media as well, such as Instigram, Twitter, Posh Closet, and Wanelo to attract people to my shop. Any other ideas out there? Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

will a blog help me!

christina..p — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:36:03 GMT

i was wondering if anyone could help me with this. i make and sell my own jewellery and i am planning on setting up my own website in the near future. i am wanting to know that if i set up a blog to help me advertise myself can i also sell my products on it? and would it be a good way to get myself out there before paying for a website???

any help would be really appriciated

thanks.

Some new little bracelets I made recently...

HDChiky — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 03:39:59 GMT

Hairpin enthusiast

jewelrymaking11 — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 06:56:25 GMT

I really like various kinds of hairpins very much, this is my new work. :)

Look Books

MichaelaJewelry — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:58:40 GMT

Does anybody know how I even start working on a look book? Is there a software program that can make laying out a look book easier? Thanks!

Wholesale vs. Retail

MichaelaJewelry — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 20:24:53 GMT

Hi there, I just had a local store contact me about having some of my pieces in her store. Obviously she wants to buy wholesale. I've only ever sold retail. So what is the general 'rule' for pricing wholesale? Is it half of the retail cost? Help!

Thank you!

Selling beading supplies

Birdiegirl123 — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 14:51:10 GMT

Does anyone know where I could sell some of my beading supplies such as freshwater pearls?

my jewerly

nttpowell — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 18:33:04 GMT

hi,i make jewerly in my home but not having alot of luck selling it.i advertise free on line and i have a shop,if there is anything else that would help me,would really like advice.thank you nettie

some advice needed

christina..p — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 21:50:14 GMT

i will be setting up my own website soon selling my handmade jewellery but before i do am wanting to make sure i have a wide selection of products ready to sell. how much would people recemend for me to have for when i set up?

New Beading/Business Blog

megabgirl — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 14:26:05 GMT

So I've started a new blog for my fellow beaders looking to make a success out of selling their work: http://beadingforbusiness.com/2013/04/01/hello-world/

I would be happy to hear any suggestions any of you have for future topics/posts you would like me to cover.

:-)

Return and Refund of jewelleries

StyleToniq — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 14:29:48 GMT

In the business of selling jewelleries (fashion jewelleries) which are inexpensive on internet, is it a viable idea to provide warranty, return and refund policy to the buyers incase they don't like it or are found unhappy with it? I understand in case of physical damage to the product (when proved by sending a picture within an hour of receiving the product) refund or return or exchange makes sense to the buyer; but incase the buyer simply doesnt like after receiving the product is it a good idea to provide the return / refund policy to them? Or is it better to credit that point in buyer's account for future purchase of same value or offering another product in the place of the earlier returned one? Please suggest, what's the ground rule?

Beadwork teachers, I need your input!

brightcircle — Thu, 21 May 2009 17:37:17 GMT

Who here teaches beading? I've thought about getting back into teaching but with stitching instead of wirework. I did a 'practice run', teaching a free class on one of my simpler stitching projects, and oh my, how do you guys do this on a regular basis?

My main questions are:

1: How do you write clear instructions? I'm a visual learner, no good with words, so I can try writing out general instructions but have no idea how comprehensible they are, but they are intended more for the students retrying the project at home after learning it, than as step-by-step instructions.

2: How do you deal with the different needs of all the class participants? Say there are fifteen or so attendees, some needing to be taught row-by-row and some needing to be taught nearly stitch-by-stitch, so I basically have to give each of them one-on-one attention the entire class long. Is it that people of the wrong skill level are taking my classes?

I'll post more questions as I think of them.

Licenses to sell online?

Vacationisgood — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 12:02:30 GMT

Hi everyone. I'm trying to set up my beaded jewelry website soon. But I first need to know if I need any kind of license to sell online. I know it depends on the state that you live in (Maryland). So if u guys could give me any help i would really appreciate it. Thanx

Jewelry Business Questions

BeadingMitsu — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 14:47:28 GMT

I had intended to start this off as only one question, but after reading some of the other posts on the board, I've got roughly a million more and am completely frazzled.

Here's the breakdown: I'm running a small shop on Etsy as of right now. I've had a whopping four sales(Woohoo!) since the opening of it. I want to do my best to turn it into a real business, owned by me, that is (hopefully) self sufficient. I've broken the questions down into stuff that's beading related, and stuff that's paperwork related. Any help that ya'll can provide will be much appreciated by a very confused college girl.

Business Stuffs

1) Inventory? I've been doing 'hobby' beading since I was 16, how the heck do you keep an inventory of everything?
2) Where is the best spot online to buy supplies from? I know everyone has preferences, but are there any tips? Buying from JoAnns is killing my checkbook.

Official Stuffs

1) Business license? Is that needed at this stage? Is there a cost to it when you're only a one person show?
2) Taxes? I already have the shop set up to charge taxes that are accurate for every state (at least as of last year) . Do I need to set aside a portion of the amount I get in my bank account from sales for taxes at the end of the year?
3) How in the world does one go about filing taxes for a small business and yourself?

4) Right now I've only saved the paperwork from each of the sales I've made, the transaction sheet? What else should I be holding on to for tax purposes?

5) Business ID#, needed/not needed?

Again, many thanks for any and all help ya'll are willing to provide. I want go about this the right way and all the books I've read have just left me rather confused.

P.S. I would like to point out that none of this is stuff they teach you in high school or college and damn they should.

What happens when a bead store goes out of business?

brians34 — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 06:51:46 GMT

I'm curious as to what a bead store would do with all the remaining stock they'd have when they finally decide to retire or call it quits?

After all the sales 50 to 75% off, there would still be stock left. What happens with that stock?

Getting into the beading industry

SegBead — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 18:37:26 GMT

Hey y'all ! I'm new here, but have been lurking for a couple of days reading many different forums and I have to say this seems like a really great community. The mix of hobbyists, retailers, artists both for pleasure and business, and general bead addicts is a wealth of information and inspiration both. I hope you are all proud of the resource you've all built here !

Anyhow, I have a few questions I'd love to hear feedback on, along with anything else you have to offer. As I mentioned, I've read quite a bit (barely the tip of the iceburg, I see) over the last couple of days, but I haven't found quite what I'm looking for. I'll spare you the questions you get every so often regarding opening up a new shop, as that is not my goal, but I am curious about a few things.

I used to work at a bead shop and have a somewhat unique opportunity to get back into the business. I'm not looking to buy out a shop or anything like that, but join in working with a currently established business. As you are all too aware the econimic situation is financially limiting (to say the least) for us all... but beaders bead on!

So I'm curious- what are the biggest factors in determining where you buy ? The attention and enthusiasm of the passionate beaders in your LBS ? The customer service of your favorite mail-order company ? The convenience of the items at your local Hobby Lobby or Michaels? The specialty items that can only be found at your 'secret source' ? The prices of your favorite online store?

Also, what turns you off ? Is shipping too high? Does the customer service lack in professionalism and accountability ? Are prices outrageous ? Do the salespeople lack practical product knowledge? What is it about certain places that you might otherwise spend money at, that makes you buy elsewhere ?

Thank you for taking the time to read my post. I appreciate any all input, feedback, insights, advice (even rants lol) in advance. Positive, negative- all of this information is relevant and important in my mission of improving the business to better accomodate customers. Everyone from the first time beader to experts, hobbyists, professionals, business owners are all not only welcome and invited, but encouraged to respond. I'd love to hear from EVERYONE ! :)

Happy beading!

SegBead

Bead Store Owners, What are You're Hours and do You Hire Employees?

brians34 — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 10:03:42 GMT

My wife and I are looking at opening a shop in the future, about 8 to 10 years.

We're getting prepared a little at a time, learning what we can along the way.

What are your hours of operation or if you don't own a store, what is your LBS hours of operation?

Do you hire employees? How many and what kind of hours do they work?

What do you do if you want to take a vacation for a week or something happens in the family?

The reason I ask these questions is my wife and I are planning on running the store ourselves and I'm curious as to how we can have time off now and again.

Feeling kinda dicouraged

kadone — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 04:10:59 GMT

2012 was a pretty crap year as sales went for me. I had about $200 worth of stuff on consignment and none of it sold, I took a loss at the one event that I was able to afford to go to, and aside from a good sized custom order early in the year, I didn't sell much at all. So, back to the drawing board for the marketing plan. Fingers are crossed that next year will be better...

My First Time Being a Vendor at a Bead Show! Help!

FairylandBeads — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 07:01:35 GMT

Hi! I am a new member here on Beading Daily, but I've read a few posts and it looks like their are some really helpful people here!

I currently sell finished jewelry and some beads online, but I am going to be a first time vendor at a bead show coming up in April. I would really love some input so that I can have a great first time, sell through some inventory, and make some money to reinvest!

First question: What kind of beads and supplies are in most demand right now?

Right now I have Picasso beads, Czech seed beads in size 6 and 10, some fire polished Czech beads, and some finished jewelry to showcase the beads. I am seriously thinking about purchasing a wholesale lot of Recycled Sari Ribbon in a few different colors, but separating it into smaller portions better for jewelry making. I've also thought about purchasing a good variety of components like ear wires, charms, bead caps, etc.

I would love to also have a great selection of gemstones and pearls, but I'm not sure I can afford to invest into before the first show. I already have a pretty good variety of Picasso beads so I'll just be getting some more to supplement that.

What other kinds of beads or supplies would you like to see at a bead show?

Thanks in advance!

-Ashley