[Jewelry making - Article 00811] - [Orchid] Wholesale to the trade question

[Karen Goeller]

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    Fellow Orchidians, I'm lucky enough to live near both Philadelphia
    and NYC, which have robust "jeweler's rows" and have a question. 
    Many of the very intriguing suppliers post big "wholesale only"  and
    "wholesale to the trade" signs, thereby discouraging retail and
    casual buyers from their shops.  As my jewelry designing has been
    growing, I'm now getting more interested in buying matched sets of
    stones, specialty items, etc., that either aren't available from
    retailers, or that would be priced in a way that could drive up my
    prices and/or drive down my margin to an insupportable point. 

    My question is actually pretty simple -- how do you "break the
    barrier" of entry to these wholesalers to the trade?  What
    documentation do they expect?  Do they work only by appointment? 
    How significant is the price differential, typically, between
    wholesale to the trade and retail? 

    Also, for anyone in the Philadelphia area, are there any places
    you'd especially recommend for buying stones (low-end matched stones
    to start with, like turquoise, malachite, garnet, etc.)?  (I like to
    see them in person, rather than buy online for now, since I'm still
    pretty new at this.  I'd particularly like to feel comfortable that
    I'm going to someone with an excellent reputation where I'm not
    going to get taken advantage of. 

Thanks!
Karen Goeller
kgoeller AT nolimitations.com

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