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.
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