Hunting Wholesale Jewelry Shows?

POSTED BY Tammy Powley, 23 October 2007

If you are serious about the jewelry biz, then wholesale is the only way to go when purchasing all the supplies you need to make your jewelry creations. Luckily, when I first started selling jewelry back in the late 90s, I stumbled upon a wonderful wholesale resource, and I've been a fan ever since of the G&LW Shows, aka Gem and Lapidary Wholesalers Inc.

While I will say that these shows every year seem to have more and more finished jewelry than jewelry components, you'll still find plenty of goods to make your jewelry such as gemstone and crystal beads, findings, wire, chain, tools, equipment, and displays. It's also a great way to hook up with wholesalers that you may want to do business with outside of the show later in the year. Many have web sites and catalogs these days. For example, that's how I discovered CGM Findings.

You can find a monthly show schedule included on the G&LW web site. Granted, they aren't all over the U.S., but they do come to 11 different states, so chances are pretty good you'll find one at least semi-close to you. If you plan to go, you'll need to have proof that you can purchase wholesale, such as a tax ID certificate. They require that you preregister usually as well. Then once you are "in," you'll receive a brochure when the shows come to your area.

In Florida, they have about three a year. I can't go to all of them because I would put myself in the poor house, but I try to go about once a year and load up. I would suggest having at least a few hundred dollars to spend at the bare minimum. And, you may want to leave the credit card at home if you don't have a lot of self-control! There is so much great jewelry stuff at these shows, it can be very difficult to resist temptation.