Good question. Paula Bidwell, I enjoyed reading your articles, so much of it rang true with my own teachings.

I have been using crystals in my life for over 30 years and have incorporated them into my jewelry in the past 10. I am a firm believer that everything on this planet has a purpose. Gemstones have been used for centuries for talismans and healing along with herbs and other things. To me they speak and its up to us whether we choose to listen to what they have to say. Healing is about becoming one with your body, mind, spirit and heart. As far as whether the Amethyst ring is helping calm you or not. Some of the other things Amethyst is good for is concentration, for my migraines and when your self esteem needs a little boost. Each person is different and what works for one person does not necessarily work for all. A good example is a really good stone for grounding is Hematite. For me, I can not wear it, it does not ground me but does the total opposite. I get extremely jittery if I wear Hematite for more than 10 minutes. I’m a certified Reiki Master and also Crystal Healing. So I do use all kinds of gemstones on a daily basis and have tremendous results on myself and my clients.

Blessings
Darla
P.S.
I am glad I found your site, you ask some very good questions.

Paypal does charge a small fee like 3%, but when your just starting out or your sales online are very small, Paypal is the way to go. If you go the traditional Merchant account, that gets spendy. You have monthly fees plus transaction fees, and some even have fees for when you do not meet their monthly minimum in sales.

Another avenue when your just starting is arts and craft fairs.

As to your comment about some of these sites you feel are way over priced. Alot of that is for their overhead costs, space rental, utilities, things like that and some of them hire employees to make their jewelry for them.

I personally do not increase my prices for the holidays. If my suppliers give me a additional discount, than I pass that on to my customers. It keeps my customers happy and coming back to me and sending me referrals.

Some helpful advice for newbies. Keep a inventory of what you purchase. Easy way to do it, is make a spread sheet in excel and list the type of bead, where you bought, how much you paid and don’t forget to figure in the cost of shipping to you, etc.. Count how many beads you have on the strand than divide it by your cost and include in the spreadsheet. That way when you make something, it is easier to figure out how much supplies costs. Good luck and Blessings to you

Darla

I am a Native American Indigenous Healer trained on the reservation. There are so many facets to healing that are based in science, wisdom and knowledge. Yet, I find that most people mimic each other in their beliefs or repeat what they’ve read. Neither is a good method to base healing on.

As an Indian I was taught to examine, test and prove all information. This took many years and much guidance from my teachers. There is a basis for healing with stones, crystal, etc. In case there’s an interest, I’ve written several articles about Native ceremony, healing, sacred objects, etc. They’re on my website at: http://www.NativeTalismanArt.com.

Thanks again for the breath of fresh air!
Warmest wishes,
Paula

Why do people like diamonds? Because they sparkle. What is “sparkle”? Fire and brilliance. Therefore what you are saying is that some fire and brilliance is good, but too much is bad? Who determines what too much is? So if Moissanite displays a “disco-ball effect” then the Diamond Nexus CZ and Diamonds display a “minor disco-ball effect”. So you want a “disco-ball effect” just not too much disco. Correct? Kind of sounds absurd when described like that. The truth is, its just a negative way to spin the most beautiful aspect of Moissanite and the very reason Moissanite is so popular: its the most fiery and brilliant stone on earth!

Steer clear of Diamond Nexus Labs. It was started by a convicted criminal, Gary LaCourt. The guy served time in prison for attempting to defraud his creditors, and now that he has been released, he is continuing to defraud people by selling an ordinary CZ as a created diamond.

If you’ll take a look around our little site here, one of our biggest conversations was about Diamond Nexus Labs-a place that spent a lot of time talking about synthetic (man made, but still technically a diamond) diamonds, but what they sold were ’simulated diamonds.’ After reading ALL of their fine print, it was discovered that what they sold was very high grade zirconia.

Now, say you have a diamond necklace, and Diamond Nexus Labs sells a very close looking replica of it. Would you wear the real one, or would you purchase the copy? Very often, people will get a piece of jewelry, and then they will purchase a cheaper version that appears similar in every way, except is a fraction of the price, and THAT will be the piece that gets worn more often. In a case like that, what’s the purpose of getting the original expensive piece ? THAT, really, is the question. Can pearls be replicated in the same way, so they REALLY look ‘real?’ (I’m not talking about freshwater vs. pearl farms-they both produce authentic pearls) If so, is there a similar draw to buy and wear the ‘fakes’ while the real ones stay home?

So who benefits the most from paying for their placement? I think both parties benefit from paid ads. I know your going to ask how so I will say that the name of the game is garnering a click so the top paying sites will tent to have relevant ads and some sort of offer (a good deal). So the merchant increases their odds for a potential sale and the customer gets a good deal. The same principals apply to brick and mortar stores, the ones that advertise tend to do better than competitors that don’t.

I can understand why a more esoteric site like Sohogem would pay to get top billing. The likelihood probably is that they aren’t as well known, and going this route would probably be the fastest to give them guaranteed visibility.

But why Blue Nile? In that same search, Blue Nile came up on the first page even without the advertising.

With WorldJewels and their claims of up to 75% off, does paying lend them more credibility than, say, ‘Bob’s Diamonds-75% off anytime, all the time!’? If they are paying for placement, does that influence people to think they are more reliable?

The paid sites in this search are all very different from one another. Given all things being equal, which site would you most likely visit? More importantly, what would get you to purchase from an unfamiliar site, regardless of whether they paid for their position (aside from the obvious things like making sure it was a secure site, etc.)?

In this search, who benefits the most from paying for their placement? How do those sites affect your likelihood to buy from them?