Show Shopping
By Kate Drew-Wilkinson

Kate Drew-Wilkinson's glass bead jewelry is sold throughout the United States and overseas. Her books include How to be Successful in the Bead Jewelry Business.

For those of us in the gem, bead, or jewelry business, trade shows are so important. I've learned quite a bit over the years and, to save you time and aggravation, am sharing my tips with you. Trade shows are one of the best venues for buying supplies. Although there are many ways to acquire the things you need, going to shows is one of the best ways to purchase. Just being able to look at a huge collection of loose stones, findings, filler beads, wire, or chain lying together on a table can be inspiring for both the jewelry designer and the gem buyer. And there are so many different dealers and manufacturers that you can compare products and prices almost instantly. And meeting your vendors is important - it is great to be in a business where we can actually have relationships with those we work with.

The biggest group of shows for those in the jewelry, bead, or gem industry are the ones that descend upon Tucson every year (see “A Sleepy Town Awakens,”). Many of us have been saving all year to spend rather a lot of money in rather a short time. And time is of the essence - what with the looking, deciding, and buying, you will have a lot to accomplish in a week (or two, if you are lucky).

Because I have a bead jewelry business, I focus on supplies related to beads. However, much of what is true for shopping for a bead jewelry business is also true for gem or jewelry makers who sell their work.

Be comfortable and be prepared. Do remember to wear very good walking shoes and to carry a reasonably large empty bag with a zipper for your purchases. Always keep your wallet in a safe place, of course.

If you have a resale license, be sure to carry it - you will not be able to buy at wholesale prices or allowed into wholesale sections of certain shows without it. (Check the Tucson Show Guide for more information. The Show Guide, available at the shows, is a directory of show dealers and the products they offer, as well as show floor plans, maps, and an area restaurant guide.) Upon entering a strictly wholesale show, you will have to go to the registration desk and sign in to receive your buyer's badge.

Once you have made it into the show, before you in all directions stretch tables, groaning with miraculous amounts of amazing merchandise. Perhaps you have been buying from your local bead shops and are now ready to buy some of your materials in bulk. Hold on to your money at this point, even if your time is limited.

Give yourself at least an hour of “wandering time.” There are several reasons for this. If you think you are making something special with stone beads because you found the occasional strand in your local shop and are now faced with mountains of the same cut and type of stone, you might want to rethink your design direction. Take time to educate yourself. Move quickly through the crowds and listen to your inner voice. Introduce yourself to the vendor of any table whose merchandise you fancy and make sure he or she has your business card. Remember that vendors are busy, but at the same time be on the lookout for potentially beneficial business relationships for the future. I have found that, as a serious buyer, it does me no good to go with an extra-chatty friend.

Take notes. Make notes about where things are and how much the vendor is asking, then buy the findings or any other items that you had on your original list. The special items must be searched out. Make sure that the bag with your purchase contains an itemized receipt for future individual costing.

If you have been buying beads, gems, and other components by phone, try to find the companies you deal with and introduce yourself. If the vendor you are talking with is not too busy, tell him or her about your future plans and ask if he or she might be able to stock something for you. If you ever want to sell to catalogs, you will need to have suppliers you can trust to make sure that the materials you are using for a large order will not suddenly dry up or increase in cost.

Tucson Gem & Mineral Show Exhibit Hall: photo © Thomas Wiewandt

If you are a bead artist, make sure to check the size of the holes in the beads and findings that you buy. I think the vendors require their cutters in India and the Far East to use larger drills these days, so perhaps there will come a time soon when we can forget all those hours of redrilling pearls and gemstone beads!

Think about the coming seasons and try to buy components that will go with projected color schemes. You will be amazed at just how much this helps. It is easy to work with your favorite colors, but it can mean that you will have a lot of your own jewelry to wear while you watch pieces made by other people (perhaps not made as well as yours) fly away just because the colors were right for that season.

Remember that you are looking for special things. So many of your regular items can be obtained later with just a telephone call, so spend your show money on the odd colors, looking for crystals in colors you rarely find, chain you have never seen in a catalog, and special clasps, especially special clasps! In the past year we have all seen more attention paid to this part of a necklace.

The Tucson shows are perfect venues at which to educate yourself, so don't make the mistake of searching so hard for the things you know you need that you do not give yourself time to look closely for findings, beads, or other items that may lead you in new directions. If you see a lot of work that is similar to yours, it may be time for a change. As you grow in design work, you will reach a place where you just cannot run out of ideas. This comes from obsessing, of course, and constantly studying the history of jewelry for inspiration.

It does not do any harm also to check out the tool stands. I bought a vibrating tumbler last year even though I have a huge rotating dinosaur of a tumbler already. The new one is very useful indeed. I can polish tarnished jewelry in it (even pearls survive), and this helps me to keep my jewelry looking fresh. Do not forget to buy packets of plastic bags in varying sizes. You can pick your favorite sizes on the spot. Keep a lookout for fine diamond bits for redrilling gemstone beads.

Look for display units, too. This is an important part of presentation, and one that I personally feel is still sadly lacking in good ideas. Let us hope I am wrong and that some new and wonderful company is emerging. I have only seen a few generic designs and almost no light, secure, and practical necklace and earring racks.

It is extremely important to remember when you are back in your hotel room and ready to gloat over your wonderful purchases not to simply spill them out onto the bed and rummage through them. Match each receipt to its item: strand of beads, findings, stones, etc., and slip both merchandise and receipt into a little plastic bag. I have always found this discipline rather difficult, but in this time of great competition in the jewelry business, it is very important to price your finished pieces accurately. This is impossible if you do not know the exact price of every finding and inch of chain or wire that went into your design.

Last but not least, remember to drink lots of water. You might not be used to the dry climate in Arizona and the combination of stress, excitement, and dehydration can give you a nasty headache. This is no time to be feeling fragile - there is so much to see and so little time!