Newbie to pearls

[smartestjewelry]

Hello All,

I am a newcomer to this pearl business. I would like to start a small online business with 14K pearl jewelry more to learn and less to make money for now. Next year my wife and I plan to move back to a certain country inside the EU (Eastern Europe) where we plan to start the "real thing". I am a mechanical engineer with an MBA working in fusion energy for the US government. What a terrible combination to start a jewerly business, right?


Since I am new I would appreciate any help. For the last 2 weeks I have been searching the net for 14k gold findings and loose pearls. I am trying to find high quality loose teardrop pearls and round pearls for pendants and earrings. Do you guys know a wholeseller that could sell me these pearls and start a long term relationship for my European business? I also could use some 14k findings suppliers and some ideas regarding what to read (books, class etc.) to come up to speed in this area.

I almost ordered some pearls from topearl.com from China when I found this website.....

Thanks and....best regards from a new fellow

 

[pattye]

Hi Smartest Jewelry,

Welcome! Just keep reading--many choices that answer your questions are all right here! However, it's not all in the same place! Even the best of wholesalers will have different pearls in different sizes and different colors at different times. Most of us buy from a number of different people plus go to gem shows when we can.
You will get a great education here! Plus see lots of great photos!

There are also lists books of suggested reading to learn about pearls, and of course Jeremy Shepherd's book about starting an online business is available at Amazon.com (not from him).

Are you already familiar with pearls? If not, go out to the stores and look at lots of them! However, take what the sales people say with a grain of salt. They usually, unfortunately, are ignorant about pearls and how they have changed in the last 10-15 years.

Pattye
so many pearls, so little time

 

[KAC]

you just gotta remember that starting an online business is no different then starting a regular business. you cannot simply build a website and expect to have the sales rolling in. The days of "built it and they will come" were a decade ago - today's market is extremely competitive.

That being said, you can be successful if you educate yourself. A note about books though, typically by the time a book hits press its outdated. Some basics will always stay the same but many things on the Internet are changing yearly,monthly,weekly and daily.

Oh and don't order anything over the Internet from China unless you are willing to risk the investment - you'll usually not receive what you thought you ordered.

Good luck and start searching the Internet, all the info you could ever need is out there for free.

 

[jerin]

Hi Smartestjewelry,

a little bit of advice: read the threads/posts under

PEARL BOOKS AND RESOURCES
PEARL HISTORY
PEARL FARMING and
PEARLING INDUSTRY NEWS

especially for help with the start-up.

Unfortunately it is not easy to find wholesellers of fine loose pearls, our vendors are great wholesellers of these and for findings you should look at Bella Findings.com, Firemountain.com, Rio Grande, Stuller in NY and so on. There are posts about them, unfortunately I can?t remember where, so you just have to look. I think the LOWLY BEADERS CLUB might have posts and questions.

Good luck!

 

[smartestjewelry]

Thank for the answers and advice so far. I hope to get some more ideas. The biggest problem I have so far is finding a good supplier for quality earring and pendant perls at a resonable price.

I almost ordered from: stunninggemstones.com when I have seen some replies on this forum. So...Chinese suppliers like this one are out of question because I will never get what they promise?

Hm...I will have to do some more research for pearl suppliers.

Thanks

 

[GemGeek]

There is no substitute for buying pearls in person if you are buying wholesale, unless you have a long-standing relationship with a trustworthy seller.

Beware! There is a technique known as "Quality Fade". At first, the vendor gives you terrific stuff at a great deal so you will want to do more business. But over time, they reduce the quality of goods until they are the ones getting the great deal - at your expense.

You might want to consider occasional trips to Hong Kong to stock up on pearls. The only way to get a great price is by buying in quantity. Chances are, you'll be able to find a findings company in your own country. If not, findings are small and light, so they're easy to ship to you. Gold is very expensive right now, so you might want to have a good percentage of sterling silver findings for the more affordable pieces.

Good Luck

 

[smartestjewelry]

Seeing that I have no other replies I thought to ask another question. I will not have a high volume at the beginning but would like to establish a good relationship with a pearl company in the US that could sell me loose pearls and strands for jewelry.

Can I please get some replies from people / owners that are interested in a long term business relationship? The country where I will be moving is inside the European Union, a fairly new member with a rapidly growing economy. The prospect for pearl jewelry is excellent and I am trying to establish some contacts while still being in the States.

THANKS!