Beading question - RV-Dreams Community Forum

cherylbrv · RV-Dreams Family Member

Beading question

The Bear II · RV-Dreams Family Member

Cheryl my wife makes jewelry using semi precious stone, stone, crystal, gold and silver beads. We always have lots of lookers, but not many buyers due to the price she needs to sell the jewelry for. The folks out there just don't want to spend a lot of money since the economy has and continues to fail.

We used to sell at a very popular weekend swapmeet that has been around since the 70's. The vendors that had been there since the 70s and 80's used to tell us that they would leave after two days with a minimum of several thousand dollars profit up until the 90's, now they are lucky if they leave with several hundred dollars.

Personalized items tend to sell well. You either have to have a large inventory with many different names made up in advance or work hard to build the jewelry while the customer continues to shop and returns for their jewelry. It can get very busy at times, especially around Valentines Day, Christmas and Mothers day.

cherylbrv · RV-Dreams Family Member

In making your (beautiful) bracelets, it looks like you have a clamp at either end to close it. How do you make it adjustable for different wrist sizes?

Linda · Hostess

Hi Cheryl,

I have tried a few festivals, but what I found is that people don't want to pay my prices. Art shows would be better for getting higher prices, but I just tend to sell on the website and in person.

I have made jewelry with initials before and can make them with full names if they want.

My jewelry is all done freehand.

If I am making up a bunch just to have on hand, I make them about 7" (an average size for women). If someone needs a different size, I have to make a new bracelet to fit them. Most of my jewelry is made to order so I have their size.