Buying supplies from ETSY sellers

When I first started making jewelry, I went online and found several videos about how to make this or how to make that.  Two of the video websites were Aunties Beads and Artbeads, both of which are in the business of selling supplies and tools to make jewelry.  So some wizard figured out that if they made some videos about how to make a beaded bracelet, or a twisted wire necklace, and then provided a list of the materials and supplies needed to make those items, someone like me would watch the video and then place an order for the beads and clasps.  It worked.  I ordered what they said I needed, and when everything arrived, I made the bracelet or necklace.  They sure made it easy.  And that system works just fine if you are planning to make just a few pieces for family and friends.

Then I decided to open an ETSY shop and start selling my handcrafted jewelry online.  It is my expectation that I will sell a much larger total volume of various items, meaning that my need for component materials will increase significantly.  There are companies that are willing to sell you one or two or three pieces at a time, but their pricing tends to be higher, often time significantly higher.  When your volume requirements being to increase, that is the time you need to start looking for companies that deal in comparatively larger orders.  You will have to order larger quantities of each item, but the unit pricing will normally be much better.

Over the last few weeks I have spent quite a bit of time looking for future suppliers of my needs, and developing a list of specific component part requirements.  The plan is to identify sellers that offer several of the parts that I need, and then compare their prices at various minimum order quantities.  Right now I can only afford to buy lets say 20 pieces of a 4mm open jump ring, 20 gauge, 925 Sterling Silver.

But as my sales volume increases, I will be able to order 50 pieces at a time, or later on even 100 pieces.  So what I did was to compare the prices from several different companies at different quantity levels, insuring that all of the prices were for the same 4mm open jump ring, 20 gauge, 925 Sterling Silver.  I want to be sure I am comparing apples and apples.  What I determined was that there was one company that seemed to offer better prices for 50 and 100 piece quantities, and so I tentatively selected that company for this item.  I then went through all of my other component parts, one by one, and made the same tentative determination.  This took a lot of time, but hopefully it will be well worth the effort n the longer term.

Ideally I would like to be able to buy all of my different parts from the same company, to simplify ordering, combine purchases to possibly secure better pricing, and reduce shipping costs.  It was not possible to find one company that had the best pricing on all my items, but I was able to select 3 companies that would be able to supply almost all of my requirements, at competitive prices.  So I placed orders with these companies, for the smaller 10 and 20 piece orders that I can afford right now.  This will give me the materials I need to be able to make items to ship to customers as orders are received in the coming weeks.  But almost more importantly, it will allow me to evaluate the quality and customer service of these companies.  If they seem to be companies that I would like to deal with in the long term, I will place larger orders with them as my needs dictate.  If, however, their performance is less than expected, I will change to other suppliers.

This comparison initially included both Etsy sellers, classified under the category of Craft Supplies, and also other companies I located through various Internet searches.  I wound up with all companies that sell on ETSY.  There are different reasons why, but it was relatively easy to determine the credibility of each company I considered.  I can tell how long they have been selling on ETSY, how many sales they have made during that period, and what type of feedback they have been receiving.  Comparable performance information can be much more difficult to reliably determine for other non ETSY companies.  I would also prefer dealing with a fellow Etsian, rather than someone out there in who knows what part of the universe.

This whole process of identifying and qualifying various companies to supply your materials requirements is definitely time consuming, but it is a necessary part of establishing your company on ETSY.  Your pricing needs to be competitive, your profit margin must be acceptable, your quality must be obvious, and dealing with the proper supplier companies goes a long way towards meeting those objectives.