She's awesome...Hung out with my sister too...:D
They brought me to a new bead store in Mascouche. It's quite reasonably priced and I like the fact that it's a bead bar type deal. You don't HAVE to buy a whole string of beads...only what you need.
What I DID notice, which actually had me quite surprised and a little annoyed, is that acrylic beads are as expensive, if not MORE expensive than the semi-precious and precious stones I've been buying on Etsy!
I think that's horrible! I can get a whole string of amethysts on Etsy for 4.00$, But to buy a focal bead in plastic costs me 2.00$? My amethysts were about 0.13$ a bead...I bought TINY acrylic ones for earrings and they were 0.40$ a bead. That just makes no sense to me. Unfortunately, I'm not really finding suppliers on Etsy for just regular beads. There are plenty of suppliers for vintage and buttons, crystals, glass and stones and spacers though.
The whole reason I was interested in purchasing what I see as 'cheaper' beads in the first place was to offer a lower price point to my potential customers. When I calculate everything it almost comes to the same thing! The only supplies that actually ARE cheaper are what I string the beads on and other findings. At least THOSE aren't more expensive than real silver!
So, in the end, my 'cheaper' items, aren't really that much cheaper...:( Especially if I work on them for a long time seeing as labor is included in the final cost. I AM getting faster as I go, but still....
All in all, it was a rather disappointing thing to discover because I feel it limits what I CAN create at a lower price point. I feel I've started branding myself with rather signature style pieces and, though I understand that I will be including some simpler work, I don't want to be forced to only make simple little pendants for those who might not have as much loose change about. I don't feel it's fair to those customers to offer something that seemingly didn't take as much work...:(
The trials that plague me!
On a completely different note, the treasury I was in on Etsy made it to the front page!
You can see the screen cap here: Etsy Front Pagers
My Agate Astray was featured...XD The irony? I MISSED IT! *LOLOLOLOLOL*
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