Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Supply and Demand

Last week I put out a querie about suppliers on the Etsy Chainmailler's guild yahoo group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chainmaillersguild/) - what I wanted to know was, who were people buyingtheir materials from with good luck.

I have ordered from 2 outlets - The Ring Lord (http://theringlord.com/) and Metal Designz (http://www.metaldesignz.com/). I have to say, side by side, Metal Designz is a superior quality product.

When looking at Bright Aluminum stock, there's just no comparison. Metal Designz is far brighter and shinier than TLR. TLR's price point is lower, but I feel that for jewelry quality materials, I'd rather go with Metal Designz. The only thing I don't buy from MD is Anodized Aluminum rings in colors - they don't cut them in house, and only offer machine cut. I prefer everything I use for jewelry to be saw cut, and The Ring Lord offers all his anodized aluminum in saw cut. The color saturation and the color quality is very good with TLR, and I don't have any complaints with their anodized rings.

**Note - I was told that you can put TLR BA stock in a sock with some Dawn dish soap and run it under the faucet to get the coating off and shine them up. Call me a lazy bones, but I want my rings to come to me user ready right out of the package.

I have interacted with customer service from Metal Designz on a number of occasions, and have been completely satisfied. I was even having an issue with a weave and Shelley was kind enough to talk me through it on the phone. That's superiour customer service from where I sit.

Although I was in sales, I worked in a manufacturing facility and had a keen sense of production planning. The thing about ordering from Metal Designz or TLR is they are both in Canada, so you won't get your materials in 1 or 2 days unless you pay through the nose. Because I am able to sit down and look at my show schedule and have an idea of what my needs are in advance, using an international supplier has not hurt my ability to continue production. It just takes careful planning. Generally, with Metal Designz, I wait 7 days from when I pay an invoice to when I get a delivery, and I ship with the Fed Ex Ground International option, which tacks on about 14 bucks per order. Incidentally, if you decide to forego the Fed Ex, and only do Canada Post, you will wait quite a while for your supplies, 2+ weeks at least.

I spoke with Blue Buddah last week and while I might use them in a real bind, their prices were almost 200% more than what I'm paying now, given that they sell by the piece, and I buy by the ounce. I asked them to weigh 1000 18g 5/16 rings for me, and it came out to 2 ounces or so. I get those for about 2.15 an ounce, and they wanted 15.00 for them. I don't know how I could keep a handle on my profit margin if I were using them as my only suppliers. People say they have superior customer service and their quality is very high - I just don't think I could justify that price unless the rings walked, talked and weaved themselves.

And a note about Metal Designz customer service. I put in an order on-line on a Monday Night, and before Shelley and Joe went to the hospital as Shelley was going into labor, they filled my order and shipped before I had even paid the invoice. Though the business relationship was solid prior, that act alone told me that these were the people I wanted to do business with.

Anyway, I thought I'd pass on my research to the masses. Feel free to comment, I'm always interested in finding good sources for jewelry beads, findings and chain maille jumprings/supplies.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Fabulous Women!

No, I am not a man hater lol, but I need to give notice to the fabulous women that are in my life, some of which I know personally and many whom I've never met.

I've encountered very helpful and friendly women in the Etsy chatrooms, who are supportive and sharing of their roadmaps for success on Etsy. As I've just opened my store, I've been a sponge for input and know-how. I can't say enough for the people, like Heathen's Heart (HeathensHearth.etsy.com) and NotSoShabbyChic (NotSoShabbyChic.etsy.com) who have been willing to give me pointers and offer advice so that I can be successful. To you and the countless others who have been willing to share, I can't thank you enough!

MT, you are the best too hon. I'm doing a lot of the same things that we did when we did BSAH, albeit this time I'm actually going to do the things that made you successful :).

Now for something completely differant....

I got this rub recipe from someone I used to work with, and it's fabulous for Pulled Pork, pulled beaf and pulled chicken:

Grab an item you can use for a measure(cup, tablespoon, bottle cap, Buick). It's an 8/1.5/1/1 ratio rub. Also good for ribs.

8 items light brown sugar, tightly packed
1.5 items kosher salt
1 item chili powder
1/5 item ground black pepper
1/5 item cayenne pepper
1/5 item Old Bay Seasoning
1/5 item rubbed thyme
1/5 item onion powder

Some people might add a sixth and put in jalapeno Powder.

Rub and let sit for 24 hours. When I do pork shoulder or chuck roast, I go 90 minutes per pound at 200 degrees. You could also slow cook in a crock pot. Enjoy!

Sunday, May 3, 2009

10% and Free Shipping

Hi all, until Midnight on Monday, May 11th, everything in my shop is 10% off with Free US shipping. If you see something you'd like in a different color, convo me. If you have something in mind you'd like to talk about having me design, convo me.

I look forward to hearing from you!