Searching for the best place to buy jewelry making supplies online?
You have landed in the right place!
This guide is going to touch on topics like:
- What to look for when buying jewelry online
- What are the different apps for jewelry supplies?
- How to know if a jewelry supplier is legit
- What are the red flags you need to watch out for?
- And a lot more!
Best Places to Buy Jewelry Making Supplies Online
What are Jewelry-Making Supplies?
If you have looked at different jewelry pieces closely, you must have noticed how well crafted they are. The craft of making jewelry is somewhat complicated and needs special tools. Different tools are used for grinding, polishing, cutting, and soldering stone pieces that make the final jewelry piece.
Jewelry-making supplies make crafting jewelry easier.
Jewelry-making supplies include common tools and other special items. These include soldering tools, drills, drill bits, pliers, and wire cutters among many more. You can find all these tools in malls, hardware stores, and online craft shops.
Below are the best online stores to buy beads, leather cords, jewelry scales, and any other supplies you may need.
1. Buying Jewelry Supplies at Amazon
The most popular online store is Amazon, it has millions of products on sale including supplies for making jewelry. The arts and crafts section of the website has a majority of the jewelry supplies you need.
In this section, you will find butane torches, jewelry drills, pliers, drill bits, and many other tools in hundreds. Amazon stocks products from different distributors, wholesalers, and manufacturers. The more the suppliers, the high the competition, and consequently the higher the product quality.
Amazon has a rating system where shoppers rate their buying experience and product bought out of five. The products are rated in terms of durability, quality, and shipment. Head over to this section to know if the jewelry tool you are about to buy is worth it.
Take this Paxcoo jewelry-making kit, for example, it has more than 1,800 reviews and a rating of 4.5 out of 5. This shows that you can trust this kit and that it has high-quality items.
This is one tool you will not think twice about buying, it will help immensely in designing beautiful jewelry pieces.
Beadsmith 1-step Looper Pliers
This is a heavy-duty tool that helps to create many similar loops on any piece of jewelry. It comes highly recommended with a 4.7 rating. More than 4.7K customers left a positive review about this tool.
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2. Buying Jewelry Making Supplies at Jewelry Supply
This is the best place to find jewelry storage items and displays. If you like handcrafting jewelry from materials such as seed beads, glass beads, or gemstone beads, this is the place for you.
Jewelry Supply is known for stocking affordable items and shipping them faster than any other online store. The supplies you need are located at their Jewelry tools section of the website is further divided into 20 other categories. This section has a wide inventory that features beading adhesive, bench lamps, glue, cleaners, hammers, gauges, and many more.
Price ranges for items in this online store are classified into three: 1-3, 4-6, and 7+. The price gets better when you buy more items. I was once not pleased by their sales and clearance section.
If you have been shopping online or even physically for some time, you know that there is so much meaning attached to the price tag. The sales and clearance section should help you get the items at a cheaper price. However, this section at Jewelry Supply is limited, it does not have all that you need for jewelry supplies.
All said and done, Jewelry Supply is the perfect stop shop for any jewelry designer or artist. This store accepts payments such as American Express, PayPal, Mastercard, and several others.
3. Buying Jewelry at Fire Mountain Gems
Head over to Fire Mountain Gems for all the jewelry supplies you need. It is a one-stop shop with all the jewelry supplies found on the supply section on the homepage. This store does not just sell jewelry supplies for your craft but also offers several tutorials on how to craft jewelry, how to work with different materials like art beads or Swarovski crystals, or any other crafts. You can also check out some of their DIY projects for inspiration.
If you go to the business and marketing page, you will get various articles and videos on tips for selling jewelry online and how to commercialize jewelry making. Fire Mountain Gems help you become an entrepreneur who deals with jewelry.
There are many subsections in the jewelry supply section and you will not fail to find what you are looking for. There are many headpins, findings, beads, cabochons, chains, and string and stringing materials. This store offers exactly what you need to make your own jewelry.
You can gain access to the crafting tutorials after registering on the site. Once you order an item, you get a gift for every item bought accompanied by a free jewelry makers catalog.
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4. Buying Jewelry Supplies at eBay
The collection of jewelry supplies at eBay is the same as that of Amazon. It has a whole section for Beads and Jewelry as well as other subsections. There are various items from different sellers. This kind of business model makes sure buyers get a variety of selections and value for money.
eBay has shopping options like “buy it now,” “auctions,” and “offers”. You get to choose whether you want to buy jewelry supplies directly or through an auction. Alternatively, you can give the seller an offer depending on the payment method you prefer.
If you don’t have all the amount to buy the jewelry supplies you need, you get the option to buy on credit using the PayPal credit option. If you are into business and wish to resell these items, this is a good bet.
They have very many jewelry tools, you may need to search using some keywords you get what you want. If you want to buy a Tibetian silver chain that features a filigree pattern, then search for “filigree Tibetan silver chain” to get that exact chain.
If you don’t search using the exact term of what you want, you will not get favorable results. Like Amazon, eBay has a section where customers can write reviews about products they have bought. Once you find the jewelry supply you need, go to the review section to see what other customers have to say.
Shop for jewelry-making supplies that have a 4+ star rating, unless you are buying from a new seller. eBay is the place if you want to buy designs from international sellers.
5. Buying Jewelry Supplies at Rio Grande
This is another online store I will not fail to mention, it has everything that jewelers and DIYers need to make wonderful jewelry designs. The jewelry supply section has every tool you can think of as well as different parts of jewelry.
The price tags are affordable but you can still get cheaper items in the clearance section. Every now and then, the clearance section has amazing jewelry supplies deals.
If you are a newbie in the business of jewelry making, Rio Grande was opened for you. There are enough infographics and detailed tutorials on how to craft jewelry. These resources talk about everything crafting from enameling, polishing, metal forming, metal clay to stone setting, and many other things. This store also has precious metals for sale. The front page always features the daily prices of gold, platinum, and silver.
Rio Grande was opened in 1944 and has since grown to earn a good reputation in the industry. It provides domestic and international shipping for all its products and customers have nothing but positive reviews. Sometimes they offer promotions and discounts on jewelry supplies. The help page on the site gives more insights about shipping options and charges.
6. Buying Jewelry Supplies at Dollar Bead
Go to Dollar Bead if you are looking for beads to make jewelry. It is the best shop to buy supplies for beaded crafts. The cheapest product you can find costs $1. Great price, right?
This store charges a flat shipping rate of $5 for all products bought, taking a few days to reach the buyer. Their collection of beading supplies boasts a large selection of crystal bead caps, chains, glass leaves, glass pillows, pearls, and eye pins.
Dollar Beads has specialized in the sale of beads and bead supplies, as such you are going to find certain types of beads here that cannot be found in other stores. There are not many jewelry-making tools here. If you are a professional jeweler, you might want to shop for those in another store. Dollar Beads does not stock needles, stringing materials, findings, and other tools. They do not also provide instructions on how to use any item bought from them.
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Guide to Buying Jewelry Making Supplies Online
If you have some information about jewelry, then you know what to look for. For newbies, looking for jewelry supplies can be overwhelming. It is not easy to single out reputable brands and where to get the best deals.
Start by looking at the unit of measurement used in the jewelry world. Most jewelry is measured in carats, pounds, or grams when it comes to weight. Length is measured in inches, meters, and feet. Understanding all these can be a little tricky.
Look out for sellers with a standing reputation and 4+ rating. Avoid picking the first product that pops up from your Google or Amazon search. Most suppliers spend a good time marketing the product than on the quality of the product.
Then, pay attention to the terminology used in the jewelry world. Some terms are used interchangeably and it might be difficult to know which term means what when. For example, “sterling silver” is very different from “plated silver” or “silver.” Read the product description carefully to ensure it matches the product you are about to order.
Lastly, do not throw all your weight on one seller. Take your time to mystery-shop around different online stores. It is good to have a backup online store where you can shop for jewelry kits and designs. Look out for discounts offered by your stores of choice at the time of purchase.
What to Beware of When Buying Jewelry Supplies
I will not let you go without telling you some of the red flags you must watch out for when searching online for jewelry supplies.
Look out for sellers who do not provide full information about the product on sale. Sellers with little or no information are fake. They use a lot of superfluous words and terms to lure you into buying their items. For example, if a ring seller misses the word bezel when describing a ring setting, close down that site immediately.
When you are buying a new tool, make sure you know what it is used for, any extra accessories, warranty, and maintenance. A ring sizer measuring tool should enable you to get the correct ring size.
If you are buying from a new seller, check to ensure that the online store is registered with the necessary authorities and that they have required certificates to offer such services.
Discounts are great, I don’t dispute that. They help you save a few bucks. However, fake sellers may take this opportunity to attract customers with awkwardly low prices. All serious sellers have the intention of making profits at the end of the day, so this should be reflected in their prices, even where there are discounts. An item that has a ridiculously low price is either dysfunctional or nonexistent.
The adage “When the deal is too good, think twice” is actually true, you might want to think twice about low-priced jewelry supplies.
Look out for fake sellers who post stock images of the items they sell. Only the actual image of the jewelry supply will help you make an informed decision. An actual image confirms that the supply is actually there and you know what to expect.
It may be hard to differentiate actual images from stock images, but where possible, avoid sellers with stock images. You can always do a reverse Google image search to check whether the image on display is actual or stock. If the image has ever been used on the website before, that is a clear indication that it is a stock image.
Conclusion
While you are on the online streets searching for a place to buy jewelry-making supplies, remember to be careful. Take time so that you can get the best tool to serve you for a long time. The content in this guide should be enough to get you started on your shopping experience.
The online sellers on the list here have undergone intensive research and I can take a bullet for them. Whether you want wire cutters, a jewelry cleaner, pair of pliers, or any other tool, you need to stop at a trusted and reputable online jewelry supplies vendor.
