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The Beadmakers Liberation Front



 
 
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  #141  
Old February 17th 04, 08:02 AM
Kalera Stratton
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Absolutely... and one of the things that gets me is how many people will
complain about others startig auctions at .99 or listing 40 auctions a
week, because that is supposedly "hurting" prices.

If you look at the past auctions of a seller who starts at .99, they
will usually have closed for prices inline with other auctions of
similar quality. As for someone who posts 40 or more auctions per
week... is it fair to ask someone to stop making their living on eBay so
that someone else's hobby will be more profitable? I just find that
ridiculous, and borderline offensive. I stagger my auctions, because it
works for me... that doesn't mean it works for others, and no one in
their right mind is going to change a selling formula that works for
*them* (especially if it pays their mortgage) just because it bugs *me*.

Anyway, just had to throw in my "me too"!

-Kalera

KDK wrote:

I think you are dead on. I have some of your beads -several in fact. And I
think you are right that for some people it's just easier to complain than
to actually DO anything.

Kthy K

Ads
  #142  
Old February 17th 04, 08:07 AM
Kalera Stratton
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This is true. I think newbies should continue to sell (and I don't
consider the term "newbie" to be offensive, I mean PLEASE, it started
out as an affectionate term!) for newbie prices. Newbie work has a charm
you can't get elsewhere, and newbie work can become extremely
valuable... can you imaging having one of Leah Fairbanks' first goddesses???

Some buyers prefer the beginner's hand, and I think it's tremendous
incentive for a new lampworker to be able to sell their work, and even
pay for glass and better equipment that way. Beginner work has a place
inthe market.

-Kalera

Christina Peterson wrote:

However, it is not undercutting to offer lesser beads for a lesser price.

Tina


"Dr. Sooz" wrote

I don't agree with the organization, the "rules", etc. But I


wholeheartedly

support the feeling that undercutting is noxious and harmful to beaders


and

beadmakers everywhere.




  #143  
Old February 17th 04, 08:19 AM
Kalera Stratton
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I have a hard time understanding their perspective... did they think
that being vocal would make you lower your prices to a point that was
unprofitable for you? How would they benefit from you being unable to
profit? You would eventually go out of business, and they wouldn't be
able to get the merchandise they seem to have coveted.

They don't sound like very good businesspeople. I had an inquiry a while
back, from a shopkeeper who wanted my beads for wholesale prices. I've
scoped out other US lampworkers, and am well aware that my beads are
already priced at or below wholesale, so I priced out the beads she was
interested in and told her that I would do a 30% discount on orders over
$300 (seems to be a popular discount!) and I never heard back from her.
That was before I raised my prices, about six months ago. I can respect
never having heard back from her... artisan lampwork probably didn't fit
into her budget. That was far more professional than if she had
contacted me again to complain about my prices!

-Kalera

Karen_AZ wrote:

"Christina Peterson" wrote in message
news:1076469073.78773@prawn...

Am I the only person who works with lampwork beads who faces this problem?

Tina



It's interesting, my show partner and I had a run-in with some small store
owners over the weekend. We both had our beads priced for wholesale since it
was primarily a wholesale show. I was willing to take a deeper discount for
a reasonable quantity, and said so (30% off $300 purchase). These ladies
were very unhappy with this and quite vocal about it, saying we were
obviously unwilling to work with them. Well, yes, we were. I'm not
cutthroating my own income to make their store sales easier. Nobody else
complained, and I came home to 3 large orders, so obviously I'm doing
something right. I do appreciate their position, but I think they had
difficulty in even perceiving mine. I politely told them I had beads in
several stores already, sold at the same prices. If their local market can't
handle that, there's not much I can do about it.


  #144  
Old February 17th 04, 08:22 AM
Kalera Stratton
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Blackberrybeads most certainly sells some... they're a pretty successful
story, beadmaking-wise!

-Kalera

AmazeR wrote:

On Wed, 11 Feb 2004 06:37:55 +0000, Christina Peterson wrote:


Here's jewelry offerred by a beadmaker.
http://www.blackberrybeads.com/Finis...Necklaces.html
Considering the prices for these items, I guess I should be charging $250
for wholesale.

I'm not picking on anyone. I'm just trying to get a feel for this.

Tina




ROFL - Get their prices!! I wonder if they sell any..

It surely makes your point...

Mavis
:-))


  #145  
Old February 17th 04, 08:38 AM
Kalera Stratton
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As a lampworker, I'm a little unusual in that I'd never head of lampwork
before I learned how to make it, and didn't buy a single bead from
another lampworker for a decade... until Tink! That was the catalyst
that got me started collecting, and now that I have a fair assortment of
beads (anyone who does not yet have any of Jennifer Geldard's beads, BUY
SOME NOW!!!) I am absolutely floored, delighted, and amazed at how
incredibly different the beads from each lampworker are. You would buy
two seemingly identical styles from eBay, but when you got them, you
would see the hand of each lampworker distinctly. That, to me, is what
makes it addictive; the fact that when you start collecting, you realize
that these beads are Art Glass is a tiny, affordable form; suddenly
$10/bead sounds like a bargain!

-Kalera

Debbie B wrote:

"This is where you have to educate your costumer about how they are made and
that they are a work of art. Just show them the difference between a cheap
Indian bead and good lampwork bead and they will learn to appreciate the
art.
Roxan"

This is correct. I am learning about beads and now know the difference
between cheap and quality. I am starting to collect the lampwork as I can
afford it. And like some of the others, I don't want to resell them. I
keep them and look at them (touch them) and some I'm making into stuff for
me. They are too beautiful to part with.


  #146  
Old February 17th 04, 08:47 AM
Kalera Stratton
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Harry, I have a small glass case a friend gave me for my bead
collection. I had been storing them in an antique Chinese basket (which
is ornamented with ancient glass beads and rings!) but my friend knew I
wanted to be able to see them... they're on display now, and probably
will never be made into jewelry. I treasure them as miniature works of
glass art. (There are three Tink beads, a Susan bead, and a Starlia bead
in there... and I'm gonna have more.)

Now I just need a case for my polyclay... I still think that stuff is magic.

-Kalera

Harry wrote:


Thank you Tink.... Now I do not feel guilty one bit about all the lovely items I
have just sitting here looking beautiful! I didn't want to make them into
jewelry or sell them and now I know it's ok for me to just look at them and
enjoy them. ) I am very happy now and my stress level went WAY down!

Harry
My Ebay Auctions are at http://snipurl.com/3okw

  #147  
Old February 17th 04, 08:56 AM
Kalera Stratton
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Um, but I DO turn glass into beads for a profit... that's not my sole
motivation, but if I couldn't, I'd keep my work for myself and have a
full-time job doing something else!

I think Tink is just talking about the market reality of retail vs.
wholesale. The jewelry making professional has to keep the bottom line
in mind, otherwise he/she can't make a living selling jewelry. People
who are buying beads *just to own them* will pay more money for them
than the designer who needs to pay bills with what they earn creating
finished pieces from the beads. That's why sometimes a single bead will
sell for two and a half hundred dollars... that person is *not* going to
resell that bead, I would guess!

-Kalera

Christina Peterson wrote:
Excuse me, Tink. I'm a little offended at the comment about "and not to
turn into jewelry to resell for a profit". What a beader does is not to
turn beads into jewelry for a profit, any more than what a glassworker does
is to turn glass into beads for a profit.

Tina



"Tinkster" wrote in message
news
This is a really important point. The vast majority of my customers
buy my beads to collect and display, not to turn into jewelry. And not
to turn into jewelry to resell for a profit.




  #148  
Old February 17th 04, 09:10 AM
Christina Peterson
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That's great to know. And I wasn't being sarcastic or disrespectful when I
mentioned upping my prices. I live in an area where high ticket jewelry is
gold nuggets, jade and gems. I don't think I can get a fair price here in
Fairbanks. And I don't see example of work similar to mine that is for
sale.

Tina


"Kalera Stratton" wrote in message
...
Blackberrybeads most certainly sells some... they're a pretty successful
story, beadmaking-wise!

-Kalera

AmazeR wrote:

On Wed, 11 Feb 2004 06:37:55 +0000, Christina Peterson wrote:


Here's jewelry offerred by a beadmaker.
http://www.blackberrybeads.com/Finis...Necklaces.html
Considering the prices for these items, I guess I should be charging

$250
for wholesale.

I'm not picking on anyone. I'm just trying to get a feel for this.

Tina




ROFL - Get their prices!! I wonder if they sell any..

It surely makes your point...

Mavis
:-))




  #149  
Old February 17th 04, 09:19 AM
Tinkster
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I feel the need to reiterate what I was saying here. (I never even saw
this post from Tina. Egads!). I grabbed Tina's text from Kalera's
post.

I was talking about my customers who buy my beads to collect them, not
to make them into something to sell. This is as opposed to my
customers who buy my beads to turn them into something to sell.

I'm not understanding what's offensive about my description. And I'm
also not understanding the other stuff... I think most glassworkers
turn glass into beads for a profit.

I'm sooooooooooooo confused.

Tink

Christina Peterson wrote:
Excuse me, Tink. I'm a little offended at the comment about "and not to
turn into jewelry to resell for a profit". What a beader does is not to
turn beads into jewelry for a profit, any more than what a glassworker does
is to turn glass into beads for a profit.

Tina



"Tinkster" wrote in message
news
This is a really important point. The vast majority of my customers
buy my beads to collect and display, not to turn into jewelry. And not
to turn into jewelry to resell for a profit.





  #150  
Old February 17th 04, 10:41 AM
Kandice Seeber
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Ooooohhhhh, yum!!!

Kalera - thank you for all the kind responses. That thread has grown
significantly with a lot of opinions and such, and it is a real eye opener
to read it. I just hope people will leave that thread with the knowledge
that a group of people cannot and should not tell you how to run your
business. eBay is a capitalist enterprise with all the fluctuation,
mind-bending psychologies, successes and failures that capitalism is known
for. Competition is healthy for the market, even if it does mean trying to
figure out whether you want to start your auctions at 99 cents. There is a
whole huge layered issue underlying the thread, and there were some parts
that I agreed with and some that I did not. But the gist of my view is that
we all have the freedom to run our beadmaking operation as we see fit, and
if it's unsuccessful, we need to look inward just as much as we look outward
to find the reasons.
Man, my typing fingers hurt now!!
I have been working at the torch all evening and night, and this is, believe
it or not, my break time. LOL I live for drama.
--
Kandice Seeber
Air & Earth Designs
http://www.lampwork.net

I want garden-fresh tomatoes, sliced, with a liberal sprinkling of salt
and pepper.

Dr. Sooz wrote:

Time to stop now before someone whacks
me with a tomato!!



Mmmmmmmmmm....tomatoes....
~~
Sooz
-------
"Those in the cheaper seats clap. The rest of you rattle your jewelry."

John
Lennon (1940 - 1980) Royal Varieties Performance
~ Dr. Sooz's Bead Links
http://airandearth.netfirms.com/soozlinkslist.html



 




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