Petty rant about cheap jewelry!

So, my best friend has her own auction site, made for work at home moms,
yadda yadda. She does monthly charity auctions, where everyone can post
with all fancy options included for no charge, if they agree to donate a
cerain amount of the sale to charity.

She begged me to list some jewlery, because it was all baby stuff, like
diapers, and blankets, and nothing really for the MOMS. And, little side
rant, I sold not a damn thing at the huge 4th of July fair. It was one of
those deals where everything was supposed to be handmade, but everywhere I
turned was cheap cast base metal with a $3 or $5 price tag ( We made a
list of vendors to report to the comittee, because none of the FOUR legit
jewelry artisans made a single sale. We kept getting, "I think it's
terrible that you gouge your customers, when they can plainly see similar
pieces in the next booth for a fraction of the price". Well, actually, most
of them weren't so eloquent (to put it nicely).

GGGRRRRRR!!!

Where was I? Oh, so I listed some jewelry. Not much, only 6 auctions (my
first jewelry auctions, ever). Laura (my friend), convnced me with "But
there's NO other jewelry there! There never is, you know that! C'mon, it's
for CHARITY!". Yeah, yeah. I listed my favorite pieces. Within an hour,
two more jewelry auctions popped up. And then there were six more (not all
from the same person). Today, I see everything from custom necklace slots,
to lampwork keychains. Normally, this would be great, I would be so
excited! BUT, these women have obviously just thrown together cheap beads,
on cheap materials, and posted them for $5-7 (or you can get a lampwork
keychain, complete with Indian not-annealed lampwork bead, for only $3!!
RUN ON OVER, YOU CAN'T MISS A DEAL LIKE THAT!!) gggrrr (again.

So, even that wouldn't normally bother me. I'm pretty confident in the
quality of my pieces, though they aren't the most advanced, complicated
things. I *KNOW* they're better than the cheapo stuff that's being thrown
up there now (thrown up, get it? GAG?? heh). But NOW, I see these costume
pieces have over a dozen bids each! In jsut the first DAY of the auctions!
Mine have a lot of views, but no bids. And I think I priced them really
low, for what they are (ex: apatite necklace with Swar. & Bali drums (oh and
the big Bali S-clasp), and Thai dragonfly pendant, $20....no, that's not an
ad ;o). Honestly, I think I would be losing money if they sold at the
prices I started them at. I should have thought it through more :-\

Now I'm all ****ed at myself, LOL ;o)

So, I'm really bummed. After the massive blow to my confidence at the
recent craft fair, this is just killing me. I've never sold a piece from my
website (I don't advertise at all, and took crappy pics, 'cause I never
really cared if I sold anything). I've sold quite a bit to people that just
stop me on the street, and ask to buy what I'm wearing (I always wear
jewlery, even to the gym, or pool, because of this ;o). I sell a lot to
family and friends. I don't know...guess I'm not exactly sure what about
all of this is bothering me. I do have to say that I am not angy at the
women posting the auctions...some are even fairly good friends of mine, and,
like I said, it IS all for charity, anyway. LOL....and the biggest thing is
that I don't normally get angry! I'm a water-off-the-back kinda person, and
for some reason, this whole situation is just *scratching on the blackboard
of my mind*. I feel cheated out of the 4 hours it took me to properly
photograph and measure all my pieces, upload and crop my pics, and write up
all the descriptions, etc etc etc. That's a huge chunk of my day, posting
those auctions, or sitting in a booth, that I feel is being pulled out from
under me by people that either don't CARE about the quality, or just don't
KNOW enough about the craft/trade they are trying to pull off. Both of
those bother me. And, I guess that's kinda petty.

--
Kyla Nicole
http://tinyurl.com/3dweh -My scrap gallery
http://digi-bits.kylanicole.com/home.html -FREE digi-scrap graphics!
http://www.kylanicole.com -Handmade sterling jewelry

Both of those bother me. And, I guess that's kinda petty.

LOL! What a rant Think it this way: now you have good quality
pictures of your jewerly and you got some touch of writing good
ads.

Btw, I had this link on jewerly made with wire, you have these
earrings Caviar Dreams, that are samekind that in that page. Do
you have any clue where to start looking?

Hugs,
Johanna

--
Johanna Koski
Finland, Europe

Kyla,

FWIW, I've found that most of the customers a WAHM-based sites don't have
the $$ to spend on quality jewelry. Dipes, yes, jewelry, no. Pretty much all
I sell through via those sites are custom name bracelets. The other items I
have don't move - the quality is there, but the price scares. WAHMs that are
making stuff with cheap seeds, imported lampwork, etc, and barely covering
their costs usually sell because it's about the price, not the item many
times. Don't be discouraged - ! Instead, try a site like tuesdayatnoon.com
or middayfaire.com (sp?) - those sites that replaced tuesdaybear.com when it
closed abruptly. I've seen more quality items sell through those outlets.

Barbara

I feel your pain!!!! It's been said here over and over again, in general
jewelry doesn't sell well online, unless it's something gimmicky.

Something I would mention, if you can add to your description or if you do
it again (don't faint!) is a detailed description of your materials. EDUCATE
your possible consumers and tell them exactly why your pieces are as good as
they are and worth spending money on. Emphasize all the good stuff like
annealed, US artist-made lampwork, sterling silver, etc. You CAN do that
without slamming others. Emphasize all the positives, let them ask the rest
of the questions. If someone only shops by price there's not much you can do
but for those who DO compare and do want to know, you'll have done your job.

I've done the same thing at craft shows. I used to place little tent cards
in bright colors with a little doodle (my Mom's a great doodler) pointing
out things like "sterling silver clasps" (most buyers have no clue what
"findings" are), "genuine gemstone beads," "hand knotted" (with my pearls),
and "American-made artist beads." It would spark conversation many many
times, and frequently get me a sale. Sometimes you just have to let the
snippy comments go buy, but sometimes you can spot a potential buyer who's
going to hear what you say and understand.

KarenK

We have all experienced this in one way or another. This is why you have to
pick you venue carefully. I always take the time to explain the difference
between what I make and the cheap stuff you see at a low end craft show.
Educating your customers is the only way they can know that they will get
what they pay for. It is always a struggle to keep prices low but use make
good jewelry pieces that will not turn green, fall apart and last a long
time.
Roxan
"Kyla" wrote in message
news:zA5Jc.321$FZ.53@lakeread06...
So, my best friend has her own auction site, made for work at home moms,
yadda yadda. She does monthly charity auctions, where everyone can post
with all fancy options included for no charge, if they agree to donate a
cerain amount of the sale to charity.

She begged me to list some jewlery, because it was all baby stuff, like
diapers, and blankets, and nothing really for the MOMS. And, little side
rant, I sold not a damn thing at the huge 4th of July fair. It was one of
those deals where everything was supposed to be handmade, but everywhere I
turned was cheap cast base metal with a $3 or $5 price tag ( We made a
list of vendors to report to the comittee, because none of the FOUR legit
jewelry artisans made a single sale. We kept getting, "I think it's
terrible that you gouge your customers, when they can plainly see similar
pieces in the next booth for a fraction of the price". Well, actually,
most
of them weren't so eloquent (to put it nicely).

GGGRRRRRR!!!

Where was I? Oh, so I listed some jewelry. Not much, only 6 auctions (my
first jewelry auctions, ever). Laura (my friend), convnced me with "But
there's NO other jewelry there! There never is, you know that! C'mon,
it's
for CHARITY!". Yeah, yeah. I listed my favorite pieces. Within an hour,
two more jewelry auctions popped up. And then there were six more (not
all
from the same person). Today, I see everything from custom necklace
slots,
to lampwork keychains. Normally, this would be great, I would be so
excited! BUT, these women have obviously just thrown together cheap
beads,
on cheap materials, and posted them for $5-7 (or you can get a lampwork
keychain, complete with Indian not-annealed lampwork bead, for only $3!!
RUN ON OVER, YOU CAN'T MISS A DEAL LIKE THAT!!) gggrrr (again.

So, even that wouldn't normally bother me. I'm pretty confident in the
quality of my pieces, though they aren't the most advanced, complicated
things. I *KNOW* they're better than the cheapo stuff that's being thrown
up there now (thrown up, get it? GAG?? heh). But NOW, I see these
costume
pieces have over a dozen bids each! In jsut the first DAY of the
auctions!
Mine have a lot of views, but no bids. And I think I priced them really
low, for what they are (ex: apatite necklace with Swar. & Bali drums (oh
and
the big Bali S-clasp), and Thai dragonfly pendant, $20....no, that's not
an
ad ;o). Honestly, I think I would be losing money if they sold at the
prices I started them at. I should have thought it through more :-\

Now I'm all ****ed at myself, LOL ;o)

So, I'm really bummed. After the massive blow to my confidence at the
recent craft fair, this is just killing me. I've never sold a piece from
my
website (I don't advertise at all, and took crappy pics, 'cause I never
really cared if I sold anything). I've sold quite a bit to people that
just
stop me on the street, and ask to buy what I'm wearing (I always wear
jewlery, even to the gym, or pool, because of this ;o). I sell a lot to
family and friends. I don't know...guess I'm not exactly sure what about
all of this is bothering me. I do have to say that I am not angy at the
women posting the auctions...some are even fairly good friends of mine,
and,
like I said, it IS all for charity, anyway. LOL....and the biggest thing
is
that I don't normally get angry! I'm a water-off-the-back kinda person,
and
for some reason, this whole situation is just *scratching on the
blackboard
of my mind*. I feel cheated out of the 4 hours it took me to properly
photograph and measure all my pieces, upload and crop my pics, and write
up
all the descriptions, etc etc etc. That's a huge chunk of my day, posting
those auctions, or sitting in a booth, that I feel is being pulled out
from
under me by people that either don't CARE about the quality, or just don't
KNOW enough about the craft/trade they are trying to pull off. Both of
those bother me. And, I guess that's kinda petty.

--
Kyla Nicole
http://tinyurl.com/3dweh -My scrap gallery
http://digi-bits.kylanicole.com/home.html -FREE digi-scrap graphics!
http://www.kylanicole.com -Handmade sterling jewelry

I know Eni Oken has a tutorial for that weave:
http://www.oken3d.com/jewelry/tutorial5.html And if you check out her main
site, she has a lot of really intricate wire jewelry (and I can vouch for
her tut's! They're incredibly easy to follow )
http://www.oken3d.com/jewelry/

And Heidi Hale uses it a lot. Her work looks a lot like Dana Kellin's, but
I am not sure if Dana has a site of her own. You can Google her, and come
up with stuff, I'm sure. Here's the link to Heidi's site:
http://www.heidijhale.com/

I learned the technique from my friend, Sarah DeAngelo, about two years ago,
and have since mastered it. Most people I've seen use really thin (like,
24-28g) wires for the wrapping, but I liked the way the thicker (22g) wire
looked on those earrings )

HTH! )
--
Kyla Nicole
http://tinyurl.com/3dweh -My scrap gallery
http://digi-bits.kylanicole.com/home.html -FREE digi-scrap graphics!
http://www.kylanicole.com -Handmade sterling jewelry


"Johanna Koski" wrote in message
...

Both of those bother me. And, I guess that's kinda petty.

LOL! What a rant Think it this way: now you have good quality
pictures of your jewerly and you got some touch of writing good
ads.

Btw, I had this link on jewerly made with wire, you have these
earrings Caviar Dreams, that are samekind that in that page. Do
you have any clue where to start looking?

Hugs,
Johanna

--
Johanna Koski
Finland, Europe

Oh, yeah! I love the way 20g looks. Couldn't use it on those particular
earrings, though, because the beads were only 4mm.

Haven't tried 18g; I only have half hard right now (actually, I'm completely
out of wire! *gasp!*), but I think I will try it with some softer, easier to
manipulate, 18g )

--
Kyla Nicole
http://tinyurl.com/3dweh -My scrap gallery
http://digi-bits.kylanicole.com/home.html -FREE digi-scrap graphics!
http://www.kylanicole.com -Handmade sterling jewelry
"vj" wrote in message
...
vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from "Kyla"
:

]Most people I've seen use really thin (like,
]24-28g) wires for the wrapping, but I liked the way the thicker (22g)
wire
]looked on those earrings )

and i've used up to 20 and 18.


-----------
@vicki [SnuggleWench]
(Books) http://www.booksnbytes.com
newest creations: http://www.vickijean.com/new.html
-----------
I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America,
and to the republic which it established, one nation from many peoples,
promising liberty and justice for all.
Feel free to use the above variant pledge in your own postings.

I know Eni Oken has a tutorial for that weave:
http://www.oken3d.com/jewelry/tutorial5.html And if you check out her main
site, she has a lot of really intricate wire jewelry (and I can vouch for
her tut's! They're incredibly easy to follow )
http://www.oken3d.com/jewelry/

Indeed -- she rocks -- her stuff's on teh Links List, and definitely listed
under "Instructional". Good call, Kyla! (smoochie)

Here's the link to Heidi's site:
http://www.heidijhale.com/

Wow -- thank you. (LL-bound)
~~
Sooz

Kyla wrote:

That's a huge chunk of
my day, posting those auctions, or sitting in a
booth, that I feel is being pulled out from under me
by people that either don't CARE about the quality,
or just don't KNOW enough about the craft/trade they
are trying to pull off.


It's not petty to feel that way. You obviously care a
great deal about quality and you take the time to make
sure what you're selling is the best you can make it.
It's irritating when others don't care and put things
together in a sloppy manner. It's especially galling
when those people get praise (sales) for their crap and
you get nothing for your lovely work.

It's the same in any creative endeavor. In addition to
beading, I also write. I post my stories to mailing
lists and other groups. I work very hard, agonizing
over each sentence, writing and rewriting, polishing
the story over and over. It takes me weeks to churn out
one short story. So, when someone comes along and posts
a story that she "just threw together in one hour" and
it's filled with grammatical and spelling errors, has
no plot to speak of and is just plain terrible - and
gets praised for it, you bet it's irritating.

All of this is a long winded way of saying that I feel
your pain.


--
Lisa

AAAAAAAAAA! I didn't mean to spell it that way! Honest!

teh Links List


~~
Sooz