Sunday, May 1, 2011

And now...semiprecious stone

I've sold vintage beads and cabs and glass gems on eBay and Etsy for a few years now, and I always hesitated about selling semiprecious stone. I mean, everyone else is selling it, right? You can get everything you want at any time and at rock bottom prices, right?

But then I took a good hard look at the things I can get, and the prices, and I realized that I have access to a lot of funky semiprecious stone that most people will never ever see. Amethyst slices, ammonite beads, gorgeous rhyolite and fossil coral...why not share? Sure, there will always be someone who will have something cheaper. But they won't ever have that exact bead, and if I choose the really standout stones, and I have them for a good price, then it could be something great!

So I went out on a limb and picked up a few strands of yummy beads. Smoky quartz handcarved rounds, rhyolite and fossil coral disks, lodalite quartz, some fantastic ammonites...and guess what? I took them to a couple shows, and they sold! Beaders liked how unique they were, and they liked buying just one or two instead of a whole strand.

Now I've decided to try this in my Laurel Moon eBay store and my Laurel Moon Beads Etsy shop and see how it goes. I've already sold a few lots, which is exciting, and I just put a few new pieces up, including this standout ammonite bead:

Laurel Moon Beads, ammonite

Can you see the opalization at the center? Just fabulous. I love sharing these awesome beads!

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