Quote:
Originally Posted by kddani
Someone in my neighborhood invited me to a Sabika Jewelry party. I've never heard of it before. Looked at the websites and was kind of surprised at the prices - they were quite expensive for what I would consider costume jewelry. Anyone have any experience with them?
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I used to make beaded jewelry and sell it, about 4-7 years ago. Back then, silver was very affordable. These days, it's at its highest prices in decades. That being said, this type of jewelry is still highly overpriced.
I looked at the Sabika catalog and saw the 5-chain necklace (on page 4) that retails for $98. If I bought my supplies wholesale and in bulk (which, when I had a business license, I did), I could have made that same necklace for about $20 (2003-2006). Each length of chain (I'm guessing 16-20 inches each) would have averaged $4 each, and $3-4 for a five strand, jeweled clasp. Up that total to about $35 now (2010), because the cost of metals has increased. THAT would take about five minutes to put together, because it's just attaching chains.
The choker on page 6 is just a bunch of beads connected by pins. You stick a pin through the bead hole, wrap a loop, then wrap another loop on the other size (you may have to cut the pin to size first) to connect. That necklace would take about 15-20 minutes and about $10 in supplies. Yet it retails for $79. Those single drop earrings retailing for $39 takes one loop worth of work on each side (about 5 minutes total), and the supplies (components) would be about $4 total.
In my opinion, you can find a local bead worker (google or visit local craft fairs) and get similar quality stuff at half the price. Beaders usually work on a smaller profit margin than retail, because they have to price their items to sell quickly.
