I am a bead dealer working out of the southeast.  We sell at both bead shows throughout the country and online at www.cherrytreebeads.com.  We try our best to offer the same prices at shows as we do online.  Our main goal at shows is to make contacts with new and existing customers and to work toward follow-on orders from our website.  Our primary customers are bead stores and jewelry designers.  We feel it is important to offer both consistent prices and quality of our beads.

An exception to the consistent prices comes when we make a special purchase for a large show.  This is the case for our large shows such as Tucson, Bead and Button, and Beadfest.  We will try to have several show specials that we may not be able to repeat online.

As far as your worries about getting a better deal on the last day of the show versus the first day, this is usually not going to happen.  Most established dealers have many shows a year and do not want to liquidate their stock because they will need it for the next show.  It takes about 10-12 weeks from the time of an order to the receiving of the goods because of the production time and time in transit for sea freight.  One exception to this is Tucson, where many factories from China will travel over with a container of goods and try to sell the total booth.  Deals can be made toward the end of the show if you are willing to purchase in very large quantities ($50,000+).

In summary, I believe it is well worth your time to visit at least one major show each year.  I have been ordering from the same factories in China for over 5 years but still travel to Hong Kong and China several times each year to see the latest products and look for great closeout deals.

 Hope to see you at a show soon!

 I want to comment on one thing NPJ said earlier:

Having been to a lot of shows in the past, I will say that this is the first year that I felt that the prices were much higher.  Disappointing so say the least.

We can all expect to see increased prices for  gemstones out of China. When we were there in March most stone cutters said they had to raise wages twice last year. A few told us recently that they've given raises this year and no longer can require as much over time without paying double or triple time wages. The increased  cost of petrol,  kerosene (used in cutting) and electric power also contributes to increased prices. The US Dollar  dropped  more than 10% against the Chinese RMB over the last few years. Our dollars buy less goods in Asia.

Importers like RIngs & Things and other vendors are paying more to get the goods from Asia to the US. 

All these factors mean we'll see higher prices as vendors restock.

 I agree, Roxy.

Much as I hate to pay more and therefore raise prices I can't argue with the idea of higher wages for Chinese workers at the cutting factories. Or, for better equipment, ventilation or other safety improvements.

Some cutters are offering lower qualitites for last year's prices but at Rings & Things we've opted for the same or higher quality and we'll pay a higher price.

That is what I have done as well. Stayed with the better quality even if it costs a bit more.

 I am glad to see what is happening overseas in the factories.

Szarka

Hi Cindy, re your request for favorite bead websites, here are some I love:

schoolofbeadwork.com - reasonable beads, and great kits, still at reasonable prices.  This is the website for the goddess-like Carol Wilcox Wells, and the up-and-coming Melanie Potter.

justletmebead.com Laura McCabe's website. (it's  more a showcase of the artist's work, but she has a link to her Ebay site which has great hard to find Swarovski).  She also has some great Toho beads, but they are pricy.

beadseast.com -Ann Benson's website.  Good beads and kits, although the kits are manically scientific about the no. of beads given, so if you are prone to anxiety about seeing an ever depleting pile of beads when there's still a lot of project left, it may be best to just buy the patterns.

Lindarichmond.com - great beads, kits and very nice customer service.

cynthiarutledge.com - the great artist, her kits and patterns.

Shiana.com - great silver, fine silver, vermeil, etc.  Check this one out, you do a good deed also by offering and it's reasonable.

 Hope this helps