What is Online Bead?
A bead is a small, decorative object that is formed in a variety of shapes and sizes of a material such as stone, bone, shell, glass, plastic, wood, or pearl and with a small hole for threading or stringing. Beads range in size from under 1 millimeter to over 1 centimeter in diameter.
Top Online Bead Shops In South Africa
As a jewelry artist, I regularly get asked where I buy my beads. Like many jewelry artists, I use multiple sources for most of my projects.
There is no one source that I go to all the time. These are the resources that I use the most often. I’ve included advantages and disadvantages for most of these venues as well as a few other things to keep in mind when purchasing beads. Happy shopping!
1. Art Beads
This is my favorite website for ordering delicas and tours. I know that a lot of people prefer Fire Mountain Gems. If you place large volume orders with lots of bulk items frequently, Fire Mountain is the place to go.
I don’t so Art Beads suits my needs better. Art Beads offers free shipping on all orders of $10 or more. The two sites don’t have identical inventory so it’s worth searching both and comparing prices before purchasing anything from either site.
2. Fire Mountain Gems
Fire Mountain offers flat rate shipping (with some shipping and handling charges). They also offer a mix and match pricing option so you can take advantage of their bulk prices for any orders with x amount of eligible items. Again, if you are placing large orders, this is the place to go. I have been pleased with the quality of the items that I’ve ordered there.
3. Fusion Beads
I’ve used Fusion Beads for a few specialty items that I couldn’t find anywhere else. They offer free shipping. Typically their prices are a little higher than Art Beads, which is why I don’t shop there more often. They have a larger selection of Japanese seed beads (in various sizes and shapes) than Art Beads or Fire Mountain so if you’re hunting for triangles, hexes, drops, tilas, etc., head over there.
4. Bead-a-Holique
If you shop on eBay and/or Etsy, you can find Bead-a-Holique on both of these sites. They also have their own site. Free shipping is available for orders of $25 or more through the main site so keep that in mind for larger orders. I’ve used Bead-a-Holique for size 6/0 Czech beads, which I simply haven’t found on any other large online supplier.
6. eBay
There are numerous bead suppliers on eBay. Generally, I try to stick with US bead suppliers. eBay has a huge international supply base as well.
Overall I have had decent experiences with Chinese suppliers, but the quality of the items is generally cheaper than that of the items that I’ve purchased from the US. Two of my favorite sellers are:
How did beads come to South Africa?
Glass beads were introduced on the east coast of Africa by Arab and (from the 16th to 18th centuries) Portuguese traders, and reached southern Africa in small quantities through internal trade.
After European settlement at the Cape, imported glass beads became more plentiful, though still expensive.
Is bead making a lucrative business?
Bead-making is a very lucrative business and it has a lot of money-making potentials as long as you know your art and your target market. Beading does not require a lot of space or significant technical training, which means you can do it right in the corner of your home.
How much can I use to start bead making business?
With N30,000 or less you can start a small-scale beaded jewelry-making business.