Fire Mountain?

I dislike FMG for many reasons. Quality is definitely one of them.

If you want a good "bang" I highly recommend Monsterslayer.com. They're great to deal with, have excellent prices, and a good website. Halsteadbead.com is great, too, but they're wholesale only and require a $100 minimum order. I've gotten good results with CGMfindings.com as well, but their paper catalog gives me a headache. (You can order a catalog off their website, if you're feeling brave.)

KarenS

Thanks Karen! Going to go check these sites out now. I think I'll be passing on Halsteadbead.com for now. Most of my purchases are under $30 at a time for now. Maybe someday . . .

Doing my first craft/flea market type of thing next weekend. It's a little local festival near my mom. Tables are only $10, so that should give you some idea of what the market will be. I've never tried to sell my stuff before but these people pretty much all know my mom, so they'll be nice, lol. At least that's what I'm telling myself so I'm not so nervous. Anyway, they are 10 hours away from where I live, so it's not like I have to face them every day, LOL.

Cindy -- in addition to the ones Karen mentioned -- all good sources -- Shipwreck beads is a good one. And, check out ebay and justbeads! You can get smaller quantities there but watch that the shipping costs don't put you over budget.

Becki

Thanks, Becki! Bookmarking that one too.

CGM also has a $100 minimum order.

Georgia

I noticed that. I've bookmarked it for future reference, though.

Cindy, I do not buy from Fire Mountain due to the lack of quality others have mentioned. I can recommend Beads of Bali to you.Website:

They have a $10.00 minimum order, great prices and do not require a wholesale license. The only issue I've ever had with them is when they measure their toggle clasps, these toggles have a small link chains attached, maybe 2 or 3 links, these links are included in the measurement, so if they say the loop measures 15mm, it's more like

12mm. They also take returns. Their add a bead bangle bracelets are great!!

Patti

It seems that someone needs to stand up in defense of Fire Mountain. I have ordered lots and lots of stuff from them and so far been nothing but pleased with their incredible fast delivery, huge selection and excellent prices. I primarily work in sterling and gold filled, so I cannot vouch for the quality of all of their base metal findings, however, those that I have ordered I have not been disappointed with.

The disappointments I have had from ordering from them is that it is hard sometimes to get a very accurate sense of the scale of the pieces when you browse online. However, the photos in their catalog are shown at actual size, which I find very helpful in locating exactly the size and shape I am looking for.

Their prices for quantity purchases are commendable, and I have yet to locate a supplier of Swarovski Crystals that matches either their selection or their consistantly low prices.

Laura

C> Do you buy from Fire Mountain a lot? I bought some lobster claw clasps

Laura -- Glad you were pleased with the quality of what you received. They have a history of bad business practices, which I won't go into because we have talked it to death in the past. I will never buy from them.

Becki

I have only purchased display items and storage items from them.. and have been very happy. I don't purchase other items because I can get them other places at better prices so I can't comment on the quality of their beads, stones, and findings

Try riogrande.com for good quality findings and beads. You'll need to order a catalogue.

hi i have been buying fromFire Mountain Gems for over 20 years, and have been happy with both quailty of product and customer service. i mostly get gemstone beads, czech glass/crystal/ cabs and faceted cz's for my wire crochet,(also the tiny gauges of ss and 14Kgf wire) and freeform wire wrap designs. they were the first catalogue i found, and have used them ever since.

being disabled, it was really hard to search out shops, or to wait around for gemshoes to hit where i lived, so catalogues worked. later found the online area and that was really fun, almost instant gratification there.

i do know i would not still be shopping from a place that i didn't have confidence in. besides, they also feature a missing child in each of their catalogues. when chris and stuart found out i worked in the missing child field, i was asked to write a letter home from our ridgeback karat gold, to his mom and daddy, sassy and PC. we had just had a happy ending, so it was the perfect time. they put it in the catalogue, with a pic and info on a child, and have ever since. it has been at least 10 years i guess.

cause i, when i could, did do shows, and would bring my catalogues with me for prices for special orders. you see lots of kids at those shows, you never know.

pat

C> Do you buy from Fire Mountain a lot? I bought some lobster claw clasps

hi i have been buying fromFire Mountain Gems for over 20 years, and have been happy with both quailty of product and customer service. i mostly get gemstone beads, czech glass/crystal/ cabs and faceted cz's for my wire crochet,(also the tiny gauges of ss and 14Kgf wire) and freeform wire wrap designs. they were the first catalogue i found, and have used them ever since.

being disabled, it was really hard to search out shops, or to wait around for gemshows to hit where i lived, so catalogues worked. later found the online area and that was really fun, almost instant gratification there.

i do know i would not still be shopping from a place that i didn't have confidence in. besides, they also feature a missing child in each of their catalogues. when chris and stuart found out i worked in the missing child field, i was asked to write a letter home from our ridgeback karat gold, to his mom and daddy, sassy and PC. we had just had a happy ending, so it was the perfect time. they put it in the catalogue, with a pic and info on a child, and have ever since. it has been at least 10 years i guess.

cause i, when i could, did do shows, and would bring my catalogues with me for prices for special orders. you see lots of kids at those shows, you never know.

pat

C> Do you buy from Fire Mountain a lot? I bought some lobster claw clasps

Could somebody point out the threads where you talked about this? I am curious about how they are unethical. I've had trouble with them in the past but not that kind. I had an issue with a bead being completely different from one order to the next and went round and round about it, turns out nobody you can talk to on the phone can physically go look at a bead.

Ingrid, go to Google (newsgroups) Search and look for FMG ethics threads in the subject matter on this NG -- not necessarily the subject line. It's been discussed many times over the years, but not for a while, so keep the dates pretty open in your search. You'll see a lot of views

-- pro, c> Could somebody point out the threads where you talked about this? I am

Did you do the craft mart? How did it go?

Tina