Earring Backs Won't Stay On?

Do you have post earrings with backs like these? Have they gotten so loose they won't stay on?

You can actually fix loose earring backs with a simple pinch on both sides of the earring back. Be gentle so you don't bend it, but just squeeze each side of the earring back and the two tabs will come together. Those two tabs are what hold the back to the post, and when they're loose they've just bent outward a little too much.

Also, if you don't get them centered when you put them on, the tabs won't be able to grip the post and your backs will fall off. Just make sure there's no wiggle when you put your earring back on.

Have a safe and wonderful Christmas!

We're heading home from a Christmas Eve dinner and I think of how blessed we are. I hope you're just as blessed, and that your Christmas is the most beautiful and joyous time!

Merry Christmas!

Like my new look?

Just in time for Christmas, a present for me! In order to display all our jewelry with no product limits, we switched shopping carts today. You'll soon see the Scrabble pendants up again, and you might notice a new section: Birthstone Collection.

I put it together pretty quickly but as far as I can tell everything's working. Please let me know if you come across any problems!

Melamine in U.S. Baby Formula?

As if we don't have enough to worry about, now there's another toxic chemical in formula we trust to nourish our babies. The three named in the article are Good Start, Enfamil Lipil with Iron, and Similac, the brand we use.

I never wanted to switch to formula, but news like this is just so frustrating. We count on the FDA to keep us safe. In a world where money is God, how do we keep our babies safe and healthy? When did it become more important than our fellow man? Nevermind our children, so long as corporate pockets keep filling up.

Cholestasis Mommies - What Meds Do You Take?

Ok, this may be old news but I just discovered this and if you've ever been diagnosed with Cholestasis, you've gotta read it too. This article talks about Cholestasis and the medications that can cause it.

The reason I started researching Cholestasis again is that I've recently started having symptoms again, but I'm definitely not pregnant. I'm taking penicillin for an abscessed tooth. Turns out, penicillin can cause it. So basically I'm damaging my liver in order to fix my tooth.

Well, as I'm reading this article, it turns out Zantac can cause Cholestasis. THIS IS HUGE. I had horrible heartburn when I was pregnant with Logan so I was on Zantac from my first trimester. I was supposed to have a C-section because inducing didn't work and my numbers were high - we had to get him out. Then, inexplicably, my bilirubin levels went down and the risk was very minimal in the last couple weeks of my pregnancy. As it happens, I stopped having heartburn around week 39 and quit taking Zantac.

Here's the list from that article on Cholestasis of drugs that may cause it:

* allopurinol (Zyloprim)

* amitriptyline (Elavil)

* azathioprine (Imuran)

* benoxaprofen (Oraflex)

* capotril (Capoten)

* carbamazepine (Tegretol)

* cimetidine (Tagamet)

* hydralazine hydrochloride (Apresoline Hydrochloride)

* imipramine (Tofranil)

* penicillin

* quinidine sulfate (Quinidex)

* ranitidine (Zantac)

* sulfonamides (Apo-Sulfatrim, sulfamethoxazole)

* sulindac (Clinoril, Saldac)

If you're taking any of those and have been diagnosed with Cholestasis, get in touch with your doctor to explore different treatment options, especially if you're pregnant. If you've ever been through Cholestasis of pregnancy, you know the terror and stress of knowing the risks to your baby when you have this condition. You may also know that you have up to a 70% chance of getting Cholestasis with subsequent pregnancies. What if all of that is just a simple drug reaction and could be completely avoided? You can bet I won't be taking Zantac next time around.

Blue Lace Agate

Blue Lace Agate is a rich and luxurious stone, with delicate bands of blue and white that create a striking appeal.

Typically found in Brazil, South Africa and Uruguay, Blue Lace Agate has a hardness of 7 on the MOHS scale, which means it is a fairly hard stone.

Blue Lace Agate is equally beautiful in either a raw or tumbled form and depending on the cut and size, can be worn well with a pair of jeans or a formal gown.

Since Agate is the Ayurvedic birthstone for May and the mystical birthstone for September, Blue Lace Agate jewelry can make a great gift for someone born in those months.

Read about the healing properties of Blue Lace Agate.

Our First Home Party

We threw our first home party last night, and it was lots of fun! It was 2 hours away in Spokane, so we didn't get home til after midnight, but it was well worth the travel.

I suppose there were about 30 guests in three hours. We had three tables full of jewelry, which of course I forgot to photo. We're trying to move some older pieces and make room for our big move so we had a large amount of jewelry at half off. Everyone shopped there for the most part, but we still ended up doing about twice what we've been getting at craft shows. Interesting that we would make so much more with so much less traffic.

I was a little nervous about being on the spot but it was fine. No one expected me to make a presentation or do anything other than what I'm happy doing - selling jewelry.

If you've never done a home jewelry part for your jewelry business, I encourage you to try one! Ask friends and family to get together and bring friends. It's really very easy and fun.

Are Craft Shows Your Best Venue?

As I'm sitting here at another craft show, one of about a dozen jewelers in a total of about 20 vendors, I wonder if perhaps my work my be better appreciated (purchased) in a different type of venue.

This is our first year selling at craft shows, and I've been surprised at the results. We have yet to do better at a craft show than we did at a farmer's market.

In fact, just now I've averaged our craft shows and so far we've gotten only about $135/day. I know the economy is down and all of that, but for our half-day markets we've been averaging $200/day. One major difference at our markets is the notable lack of other jewelry vendors. We are the only ones at that particular market.

We all know having a glut of jewelers at a show creates a lot of competition, but I also believe it devalues jewelry as a whole. "If there are 10 people selling jewelry here it must be easy to make. Why should I have to pay much for jewelry?"

We'll continue to compile data to decide which is best, but perhaps craft shows aren't the best venue for us and our jewelry.

How about you? Do you do better somewhere else or do you have much success at craft shows?

The True Costs Per Bead

This is just a quick post to get you thinking.

I was shopping at Rings-N-Things the other day and bought 1 mass (about 1400 beads) of Czech glass beads on sale for $9. They were loose-packed in a single Ziploc bag with a tag on the outside.

Today, I received an order from Fire Mountain with the same quantity of a different color for $14.42. Sure, they cost more, but they were a particular color I wanted.

Here's where I started being bothered.



See that big wad of plastic? That's how much it took to get me my mass of Czech beads. There were 12 strands to make up one mass. Each strand was wrapped in its own plastic 3.5" x 6" bag, stapled to other bags, inside one huge bag, and each had tags on the outside.

So while the cost per bead in actual money terms was quite a bit higher, the cost to our environment was staggeringly high compared to what it could have been.

The over-use of plastic packaging with our beads is something that really bothers me.

I also ordered crimp beads. They come in 25 packs, and I ordered about 20. For 25 beads that fit on my pinky fingernail, the packaging was about as much as these Czech beads.

Fire Mountain, I'm ashamed of you and your irresponsible attitude when it comes to packaging your products. I hope you read this and consider the negative impact you're having on our environment.

November Events in Colville

Hi all! For you local readers, I thought I'd post what's going on this month. We're pretty packed with shows, so it should be easy for you to find one you can attend. We have about 300 pieces ready to go, with about a dozen new ones being unveiled this weekend.

November 7-8
Arden Community Hall in Arden. Hours are 9a-4p. Look for us on the stage!

November 12
The Riverpoint University District Holiday Faire in Spokane.
Student Academic Center Lobby 600 N Riverpoint Blvd. Hours are 12p-6p.

November 15
Parkview Assisted Living show in Colville. Hours are not set, but I believe it will be 9-4 or so.

November 22
Ag Center at the Fairgrounds in Colville. Hours are 9a-5p.

The last weekend in November is up for grabs - we'll either be in Chewelah or Kettle Falls.

Wire Guardians Are Sexy!

Ok, that may be an exaggeration...but just a slight one. Have you seen them? These things are great not only for protecting your wire, but for creating a finished look. I don't know about you, but it bugs the crap out of me to see that wire sticking out around my clasp. It just doesn't look very professional. Wire guardians are a great solution, and they're available in sterling or plated. At RnT, they come out to about $.03 each for the silver plated, which is darned reasonable for how great they look.

They're also quite small. I was worried they might not fit into my smaller clasps, but they should fit into most clasps and jump rings with ease. Another benefit is that they'll keep your loop sizes uniform, adding a more professional look that way, too.

Wire guardians are really easy to install, too. One look at this photo will tell you all you need to know about adding them to your beaded jewelry.
(Image from Beadalon)

Even if you've used french wire before, I think you'll find the wire guardians are an improvement. The fact that they're solid makes me feel like they'll hold up better. French wire seems so flimsy to me, and you have to cut it and mess with it too much. Like I said before, the uniform loops go a long way to a more professional look too.

Have you used the wire guardians before? What is your impression of them?

Staying Focused

{Cameras ..//


Originally uploaded by Only u™

I'm definitely having trouble in that department. I'm kind of burned out on writing and don't want to take the time since there's so much else going on, but I want to write too! Typical me. I think I'm ditching the weekly reviews. They're too long-winded and boring to read and don't really offer anything helpful to you, my dear readers. Not to mention...sales SUCK right now! ;)



So, where was I? Oh, right. Staying focused. When you first venture into any type of business, including a jewelry home business, there are so many things to do that it can be extremely difficult keeping your focus on one thing at a time. If you're going to be successful, however, that's exactly what you need to do - work on one thing at a time.

That doesn't mean you should only work on one project at a time - marketing, designing, etc. It just means you need a clear-cut path to accomplish your goals so you don't get lost on sidetracks.

Here's what I mean:

I wake up with the intention of writing an article for the blog. While having my coffee, I peruse the Etsy forums where someone mentions how great X marketing website is. I decide to check it out. Looks good, so I create an account and spend the next hour getting it all set up. Once I'm finished with that, it's time to go play with the baby, work on the house and get the rest of the day in order. Come bedtime, I lay there thinking of all the nothing I accomplished and finally remember I wanted to blog!

This is a pattern that can easily repeat itself day after day if I allow it. I can't write a schedule. It's too constraining and I instantly rebel. But I can keep it in my head that I plan to do X and X today, and not allow myself to get sidetracked into oblivion.

How do you keep your focus with the myriad things you have to accomplish as a small business owner?

Gemstone Reference Book

I'm finally getting busy enough to have a day planner, and once I decided I needed one, there was nothing to do but drop everything to run to Spokane and find the perfect one. My attention span ran out after we hit up the 2nd store, but I think I found one I'll be happy with. More importantly, however, is the awesome book I landed!

I was looking for an all-inclusive guide to gemstones. We get asked constantly where a particular stone is from, and most of the time I don't have the answer. Something tells me "The ground, of course." is not going to win over many customers. I also wanted a small book that we can pack around with us everywhere we show, and I wanted it to have healing crystal information, how to identify stones and ideally, a way to search by color. Amazingly enough, we found one single book that has all of this, and it's perfect! I think every jeweler who uses gemstones in their work should keep a copy of this on hand at shows and anywhere they sell:


Crystals by Jennie Harding


You can't see it in the photo, but the pages are color-coded, so you can open up sections sorted by color. There's an index in the back too, but what's really amazing is how much info is packed into each section. When you look at a particular stone, it's got a couple paragraphs of history and general information, and then another page with a photo and a table that has origin, description, healing crystal use, hardness, and rarity. Basically, it answers every question we've ever been asked about a particular stone.

There's also a section in the back with a table where you can look up specific ailments, either physical or psychological, and find the appropriate healing crystals. Best of all, it's only about 4"x8", so it'll fit in a purse or wherever. Too cool!

I'm really glad we took the time to look around, because this book is just ideal for what we had in mind, and no longer will I have to mumble through a non-answer about stones I'm not sure of. One thing though - it covers right around 100 stones, so it does leave something to be desired in terms of quantity. It seems to cover most of the common ones, however, and even some I hadn't heard of.

What are some books/resources you can't live without in your jewelry business? Are there some you take with you everywhere you go?

Back from the craft show - it was great!

We had a blast at the SHMC Craft Show last week. Sales were definitely slow, for everyone it seemed. But lots of people were out and about looking so we got lots of (good) feedback which always helps.

We had so much fun visiting with other vendors though! We traded for some great items that I planned to photo and show you, but I haven't had time to write so I'm writing in the car again as we head BACK to Spokane for shopping.

Anyway, here's one I can show you: Primm N Proper Baby. They were right across from us, tempting me with Meghan's beautiful diapers. We bought one and I LOVE IT!! We've been having trouble getting Logan's thunder thighs to fit in his Haute Pocket diapers, but this Primm n Proper diaper fits so awesome! It's got a bigger taper through the thigh and it fit him so perfectly. If I can find a way to unload my Haute Pockets I might buy a bunch of these ones since they fit so well.

I won't be posting much on the website through the next couple of months because we're booked pretty solid with craft shows. I'll try to update here when I can though.

Goosey Goosey Gander

So we bought a CD of nursery rhymes the other day to keep him occupied in the car. Aside from the fact that I now have one song or another stuck in my head nonstop, they're kind of cute!

A lot of the songs have been hit with the politically correct bug, though, so Ring Around The Rosie now says "Achoo achoo, we all fall down" instead of "Ashes ashes, we all fall down".

Ok, I get it. We're all touchy-feely and our parents were awful and we need coddling dammit! Whatever. But on that same CD, and this one is stuck in my head so I just had to write about it, there's Goosey Goosey Gander:

Goosey, goosey, gander,
Whither dost thou wander?
Upstairs and downstairs
And in my lady's chamber.

There I met an old man
Who wouldn't say his prayers;
I took him by the left leg,
And threw him down the stairs.

????

To their credit, the producers fixed threw - it's now sent.

So I'm just curious why that's OK when Rockabye Baby's last line changed from "down will come baby, cradle and all" to "into my arms comes baby and all".

And just to go off on another tangent, Rock-a-bye Baby is a HORRIBLE song! I'd sing it to Logan and add something about parachutes and soft landings because even singing it made me feel bad. My favorite version is this, created by me during a particularly rough time with reflux:

Rock-a-bye Logan in the rocking chair
When he screams, I want to pull out my hair
When he sleeps, I don't know what to do
But sit around feeling lonely and blue (and by that I meant because I miss him, no hidden meanings there!)

There. I feel better. You've probably got that anti-climactic feeling people get when they spend time reading a blog post only to find it was about as unsatisfying as blog posts can get. Real meat next time. Sure.

Market Yourself, Not Just Your Products

Jewelry is an extremely competitive market. Buyers have so many choices in price, design and store, it's hard to get them to not only shop with you, but stay with you.

In the handcrafted jewelry market, what sets us apart from big box retailers is ourselves. Buyers who choose to buy handmade do so in part because of the interpersonal connection they get with the designer. Because of this, it's important to have a bit of transparency in your business.

No, I don't mean you have to tell your prospective buyers what you eat for breakfast or how much you dislike the free credit report commercials. I mean you should market yourself as a human, as one person with flaws and imperfections just like everyone else. Be personal with your buyers, to a certain degree.

It is possible to strike a balance between being open and sharing too much. For many of us who choose to sell online, sharing anything personal is quite difficult and certainly uncomfortable. I promise you, you can talk on a personal level without having to share things that aren't comfortable for you.

About Page
Do you have an About page on your website? Have you filled in your Profile in your Etsy shop? If not, you should. You don't have to talk about where you live, or any other uncomfy personal details. You should, however, make it seem like there's a real person behind the jewelry. Here's our Etsy profile:

"Hi there! We're Rob, Megan and Logan, the brilliant masterminds behind Touch of Avalon. Well, maybe that's a stretch, but we do enjoy making jewelry and all the fun things that go along with it.

Logan doesn't actually contribute much, being an infant, but he's a great motivator to get the rest of us doing things!

Since August of 2008, we've been selling jewelry full time here at Etsy, at local markets, and on our website, http://www.touchofavalon.com.

I, Megan, do much of the gemstone jewelry, while Rob spends a lot of time making Scrabble tile pendants. We take our inspiration from the beauty in the nature around us and love to spend time outdoors, playing with our furless and furry babies.

I blog about our experiences trying to make a living selling jewelry at http://www.megankutchman.com. If I think of something interesting to say about the rest of our lives, which isn't often, I blog about it at http://touchofavalon.blogspot.com.

We love to hear from you, so if you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful day!"

It's personal, without being too personal. It's not a perfect profile, and every time I re-read it I see things I'd like to change, but it does get the point across that we're friendly, personal, and human.

If you haven't put anything in your About page or Profile, now's the time to write something, even if it's a small blurb. Your about page is one of the few opportunities you have to connect with your buyers and give them that little extra nudge they need to decide to buy from you.

How about it? Have you already written an About page? Do you feel like it's helped you connect with your buyers?

Posting at the drive through

I don't know which is cooler - the fact that I just bought Wii Fit or that I'm writing to tell you this while I'm in line at the drive through, in the car.

Anyway, last year I lost about 8 lbs with Wii sports in 2 weeks but got bored. When we heard Fit was coming out we wanted to go right out and get it but it's SPENDY! After tax, we paid almost $100, and it takes regular batteries. I suppose it's worth it if we keep it up and actually get in shape.

The drive here is almost 2 hours, and I was playing WoW on the way - how friggin' cool is that?! Now, if only I could cure the blinding sunlight glare on my computer screen.

Sacred Heart Gift Show 10/16-17 No Shipping

Just wanted to let you know we're heading to the gift show at Sacred Heart hospital in Spokane! Hours are 7:30a-4p on Thursday and Friday. There are about 30 vendors attending so there should be a ton of awesome handcrafted Christmas gifts!

If you do go, look for us in the Mother Joseph room near the cafeteria.

Orders placed tomorrow through Friday will ship the following Monday, but we will be online to check stock against what we're selling, so inventory should be accurate. I just want you to know there's a small chance something you order has already sold at the show and hasn't been updated on the website yet.

Including Sales Tax In The Price: The True Costs

dollar sign

Originally uploaded by mysavingstips

A LOT of sellers talk about including sales tax in the price of their products, or rather, "eating" the sales tax instead of charging it to their customers. While this is surely more convenient than making change, it is illegal in some states, but more importantly it can really add up. At the end of the quarter, it may turn out that you're really paying a high fee for that convenience.

We've been including sales tax in the price for the past year and a half, but after this last quarter decided we needed to make some change(s) (Too cheesy? I get carried away sometimes, ha!). It's a lot more critical how much money goes back out now that we're trying to make a living at it.

I'm really feeling that couple hundred dollar check right now, and it could have been a lot easier to bear if I'd collected it on top of the price. What we've been doing, in essence, is giving our customers a discount. I charge tax on Etsy, and on our website, so my craft show customers are saving a buck by going to the shows. This hinders my chances to get them to shop on the website because it's more costly for them.

While right now you may not be sending a lot of sales tax in, take a look at these numbers to see how much it could end up costing you as your business grows. I'm using our local tax rate of 7.6% which is probably low compared to most of you.

If Sales Are	Sales Tax Is
$500	$38
$1,000	$76
$5,000	$380
$10,000	$760

During the craft show season, it's not unlikely to make a few thousand in sales in one quarter. Take a look at the tax on $5,000. That's a month of food for many people, and by not collecting it on top of your retail price, that's like taking food right out of your mouth. Multiply that by a year, and you have a good start on a family vacation, right out the window because it wasn't collected on top of the retail price.

If you're planning to make the move to selling jewelry full time, that number can really make a big difference in your cash flow.

Worried that your customers will be bothered? They won't. Including sales tax in the price is the exception, not the rule, and most customers won't think twice about paying sales tax.

If you haven't been collecting it, it's really easy to get started and you really won't end up spending that much more time counting out change. For $20, you can get a locking cash box from Walmart to hold all your coin and paper money. Grab a calculator and you'll find it only takes another 20-30 seconds or so to count out the change.

So how about you? Do you include sales tax in the price? Collect it in addition? What's the main reason you decided on one over the other?

Just in - new beads

Just in - new beads, originally uploaded by touch_of_avalon.

Can't wait to play with these! Just received them and best of all, they're fair trade!

From left to right, we've got black onyx, moukaite, poppy jasper, peruvian blue opal, banded onyx and black gold amazonite.

Just wait to see what they transform into!

Easy Ways To Transport Jewelry To Shows

Ugh. With all the things to work out before a show, one of the most frustrating tasks we've encountered is finding easy ways to transport jewelry to shows. In the past year and half, we've tried all sorts of ways to transport our jewelry, and had to change it up to accommodate our ever-increasing inventory. I hope some of our experiences can help you come up with a way that works for you.

Portable File Box and Dowels


This is an inexpensive and very effective way to transport jewelry. For about $15-$20, you can have a portable Rubbermaid file box with dowels to hang jewelry pieces on. This doesn't work so well for earrings, but it's great for probably 100 pieces or so of bracelets and necklaces.

We bought a multi-pack of wooden dowels from Walmart and notched out each end to fit over the existing metal hangers in the file box. The hangers are for hanging file folders, but they adapt perfectly to a wooden dowel.



I really liked this method of transporting jewelry, because it was so compact and convenient. Like I said, we outgrew it so it's just been sitting here idly.

A couple of things to note about this method: First, it only holds necklaces about 18" or less. If your necklaces are longer, they will drag on the bottom. A layer of fabric will take care of that problem though - they'll drag but you don't have to worry about them getting scratched. Second, watch the weight you put on each dowel, or buy larger dowels. I could fill up a dowel with bracelets no problem, but many of my necklaces are chunky, heavy things, and too many of those can break the dowel. Also, as with any method of carrying them hanging, they'll sway and bump against the sides of the file box as you drive, so you might want to put something around the inside to pad them when you're traveling. One last thing (ok, 4 things to note then!), if you display your pieces unclasped, this can be a real hassle because you have to clasp them to transport them. Believe me, it adds a TON of time to have to mess with opening and closing all your pieces when you're setting up and taking down.

Total Cost: Under $20

Pegboard
We talked about how we'd been displaying necklaces on pegboard at the markets. Since we already had it, we used a few more pegs to transport all the bracelets too. Not only is pegboard a great way to display depending on your setup, but it's also a good way to transport jewelry to shows.



Again, watch for the swaying when you drive. You might try wrapping a blanket around the board to help keep things in place. Otherwise, you'd need to lay something underneath each row of necklaces, which can be time-consuming. This method doesn't travel quite as well, because you have to have some leeway in how you pack your car to accommodate a board that either needs to stand up straight or lay down flat. Kind of a hassle but at least everything's hanging up securely. If you're displaying on it, half the setup is already done by having your display pieces already attached.

We used both pegs (you can buy some pretty ones at hardware stores, but we used metal) and hemp twine to tie the necklaces to the board. Overall, I would say this is not the ideal way to transport jewelry, but it's a workable solution.

Total Cost: About $20 for one board and some pegs

Boxes
This method, though doable, is probably the least effective way to transport jewelry. It'll do in a pinch and is about the cheapest way to get things done. We already had some rectangular boxes that measured 14"x4"x4". These work great for one row of bracelets wide so you can just stack them on top of each other. Necklaces can be laid out lengthwise in a long row.

One of the biggest complaints I have about using boxes to transport jewelry is that it can really damage the hang tags. We didn't have trouble with the jewelry being damaged, but the hang tags can get all bent up this way, and the jewelry isn't stabilized in the box so it can slide around. Throw some packing paper on top of it all though, and you'll have a pretty safe method to transport jewelry.

One idea I had for using boxes that I didn't ever try was to take an empty or almost empty paper towel roll and hook the bracelets around it. You could put padding all around it and they would stay pretty safe and secure since they're hooked around something soft.

Total Cost: Free or Under $5

Jewelry Trays
After using the above 3 methods for some time, we switched recently to jewelry trays. Though costly, this is by far the best way we have found to transport jewelry to shows. Jewelry trays have an added bonus of being extra displays too. We make sales from the stuff we have stored, just by pulling out a jewelry tray to show customers.

Jewelry trays are stackable and can be either plastic or wood. If you're using them primarily for storage and transport, there's not much sense in paying the extra money for wood. The plastic ones look fine to me for display too.

When you buy jewelry trays, they don't have a lining, and since they're smooth on the bottom you'll run into issues with jewelry sliding willy-nilly as you travel. You have several choices, however. First, go to a discount store like Walmart and buy sticky-back felt. You can cut it to size and stick it to the bottom of your trays. This is the most economical way and you can pick and choose your colors.

Second, you can buy velvet inserts that are just one flat piece of velvet. When I was pricing them, I found them in the range of about $1.25 to $3 each. Since they're not sticky, they can be pulled out to get cleaned up a bit so I favor them over sticky felt.

Third, there are tons of different inserts you can buy that are shaped to fit bracelets, necklaces, beads and more. They're just a little bit more expensive than plain velvet pads, but there are so many choices you can really pick and choose a layout that works for you.

I chose the velvet pads, because the shaped inserts don't really fit everything. For example, the bracelet inserts are not quite long (wide) enough for real bracelets. This is due to the size constraints of the jewelry trays, but it forces you to squish up your bracelet to make it fit. Also, I'd rather lay my jewelry out on the trays how I want it, and if I want to put a set together instead of just bracelets or just necklaces, I can do that on a velvet pad. A flat velvet pad allows me to change my mind all the time (have you noticed how I do that...constantly?) and I'm not stuck with just one layout.

Since they're stackable, you can put them in just about any type of box or container. You can even buy a velcro strap that wraps around a stack of them and has a handle to transport, so you could use jewelry trays by themselves to transport jewelry to shows.

As I write this, Nile is having a sale on standard size jewelry trays for only $.94 each. Shipping is $8.95 for the U.S., so this is by far the cheapest place we've found to get the trays. We ordered several and they shipped within 2 days. They also have inserts and the velvet pads start at $1.38 each.

Total Cost: Starts at $.94 per tray plus shipping

Jewelry Salesman's Case(Insert triumphant glory music here)



Now on to the granddaddy of them all...the Jewelry Salesman's Case. Now that we have a few hundred pieces to transport, we decided to upgrade. This thing is awesome. It's the best thing since sliced bread, and it's worth every penny. There are two of this style, one that holds 12 trays and one that holds 24 trays. They both roll and have combination locks, as well as key locks.

Not only can it hold all of our jewelry and then some, it's hard so things are protected, and it locks so nothing wanders away when we're not watching it. It also looks very professional, which can go a long way when you're approaching retail shops to sell your jewelry wholesale.

The bugger is heavy though, even empty! It's made of aluminum, but it's still bulky. If you were to load it to the gills with 24 loaded trays, it would be very difficult to pick up. It does roll though, so for the most part it's easy to move.

The Jewelry Salesman's Case has two mesh pockets inside the door that close partially with velcro. We store business cards, computer cables, marketing brochures and extras like safety pins and pens there. We've also put our cash box in there and the credit card machine, so as long as we have that case, we can make sales.

The added bonus for us is that we can put our earring racks in there too. We have two smallish earring racks and they sit right on top of the trays, so ALL of our jewelry is protected and easy to transport.

Nile also has both styles of these, as well as some other case options. By the way, I'm not affiliated with Nile but they seem to have the best prices for everything.

Total Cost: $40-$55 depending on case style, not including trays


Most of these ways to transport jewelry to shows can be adapted easily to suit your circumstances. You can mix and match the ideas, too. For example, you could use dowels and cut notches in the tops of cardboard boxes to hang jewelry like it hangs in the file box. You can also buy trays and place them in a cardboard box. I bet an inventive person could even figure out how to use a dowel system in the salesman's case.

With a little creativity and some supplies around your house, you can come up with many easy ways to transport jewelry at little or no cost.

He said "momom" first

Ha! Everyone told us he's supposed to say dada first, but it's all about momomomomom.

He also shakes his head when I say "No-no-no". This is such a fun age!



Here's that vacuum-cuddling picture I mentioned.

You bad little spam button, you

After talking with tech support for email and the website, it turns out all email from my website was blocked as spam. This is because I sent out my first ever newsletter the other day, to people who had to enter their email address and click Subscribe to be added to the list. Apparently one or more of those people clicked that handy little Spam button in their email and blocked my entire site.

Now, I absolutely believe spam is a problem that needs to be dealt with. I also want to believe most people have no idea what that spam button really does. I've hit the spam button before just to get rid of something because it's easier to see than delete. Once I learned that it actually sends a report to the email provider that it's spam, I made sure I only used it when it really was spam.

At this point, I think I won't send out newsletters. Even though people only get on my newsletter list by saying they want to, I can't take the risk of all of my website's email getting blocked because someone forgot they subscribed or didn't feel like moving their mouse all the way up to the delete button.

I know I sound angry, but it is so extremely frustrating to work so hard to be an honest business, only to have your best efforts defeated by something so simple as a spam button.

I'll try to update here more frequently instead of working on a newsletter.

Is ProPay Really The Cheapest Way To Accept Credit Cards?

ProPay, for those of you not familiar, is a merchant account intended for people like us - crafters, market and craft show sellers. Instead of paying a monthly fee for a merchant account, you pay an annual fee ranging from $34.95 to $299.95 depending on your volume and transaction fees.

It has long been heralded as the best solution for those of us who sell at craft shows and in markets because it's inexpensive and requires no commitment.

In return for paying only one small annual fee, you can expect to pay higher transaction processing fees. ProPay also charges to transfer your funds to a bank account, with charges ranging from $.10 to $.35 per transfer.

We recently signed up for our second merchant account through another merchant account provider. I used them before when I had an internet retail business and was very happy with the service. That, coupled with recent credit issues, made us decide to try them again since we had the advantage of a past relationship with them. While the service has been sub-par this time around, the rates are not.

Even still, I was so disgusted by the mistakes we encountered and the trouble we had signing up that I decided to take a second look at ProPay. On the surface, ProPay seems to be less expensive and it's definitely a little more versatile. Dig a little deeper into the actual costs of processing a transaction, however, and ProPay may not be as good a deal as it sounds.

For a couple thousand a year in sales, ProPay is bound to be less expensive than pretty much any other merchant account. When you start looking at close to $20k/year ($1700/month or so), those transaction fees will really start to hurt.

Let's compare the merchant account Rob and I signed up for with ProPay's Premium merchant account. The Premium account allows us to accept Visa, MC, Discover and AMEX, plus phone in or key orders online. This is the same as our current merchant account.

	Our Current Merchant Account	ProPay Premium Merchant Account
Annual Fee:	$240	$59.95
Transaction Fees:	1.75% + $.25	3.25% + $.35
Transfer Fees:	None	$.30
Paper Statement Fees:	None	$10
Refund Card Fees:	None	$.35

It looks better to go with ProPay, doesn't it? Especially looking at the whopping $240 in fees for a year with our current account. That, by the way, breaks down into $10/mo for the merchant account and $10/mo for the gateway at 12 months. If you don't want to process transactions through a virtual terminal and instead plan to use a physical swipe terminal, you can omit the $10 gateway fee.

For the purposes of our comparison, we also planned to use the USB card reader ProPay offers. It costs $99 to buy and after 2008, $5/mo to use. The HUGE benefit is that it can be used anytime, anywhere, and doesn't need power or internet to operate. Through our current account, we paid $55 for a USB reader, but ours must be used in conjunction with internet access, so it's somewhat limited in use. ProPay's reader can be used online too for real-time transactions, but it doesn't have to be. In either case, we have internet so we can update stock on the website as things sell at shows and would primarily be using internet for real-time transactions with whichever account we used.

Neither comes with printing capabilities, so we purchased a $30 deskjet printer to print receipts anywhere. We drag along a car battery to power the laptop and printer which is kind of a hassle. That's where the ProPay reader would be tremendously convenient because you don't need anything to run it. No matter how you accept cards though, you need a receipt for both you and the customer. That can be as simple as pen and paper.

So, here's where ProPay can really start costing more money than a traditional merchant account. The following comparison assumes an average sale of $50 and compares ProPay and our own merchant account at different sales volumes:



Once you hit $10k in annual sales volume, ProPay is about the same price for transaction fees and the annual fee. For our comparison, don't forget the $99 for the USB reader. I included the $5/mo fee for the card reader in the annual fee. Most importantly, though, don't forget the cost to transfer money to your account and the cost to refund (a fairly rare occurrence) a credit card. Also, a $50 average sale is probably on the high end for us, which means if we have lower average sales, we'll also have more transactions to reach $10k in sales. That equates to more in per-transaction fees.

All that said, if you're just starting out and don't anticipate high volume, ProPay is definitely an ideal way to begin taking credit cards. And even with $20k in sales, the difference per year is really not that much. If you're consistently making more than $10k per year ($833/mo), a traditional merchant account will suit you better.

For me, the two factors that really tip the scales in favor of ProPay are the USB reader that can be used anywhere, and the fact that even though in the long run it may cost more, you don't really spend money with ProPay unless you're making money. For most small businesses, cash flow is the biggest issue and in that area, ProPay has really hit the nail on the head. The fact that it costs substantially less in operating fees seems to make up for the fact that you pay more in processing fees.

There's also something about paying monthly versus annually that gives the impression ProPay is a better deal. You pay ProPay one annual fee and you're done with it. With our merchant account, we can cancel anytime since we set it up as a seasonal account, but I'd rather pay ProPay once and know I'll always be able to take cards, not just when I'm paying for it.

So, in the end, it's a matter of sales volume and convenience. The choice to go with ProPay over a traditional merchant account is a personal one, but the numbers prove there really isn't a severe advantage to choosing one over the other.