Rings & Things - Wholesale Supplier of Jewelry-Making Findings and Beads for Professional Craftspeople
Wholesale Jewelry-Making Supplies for Professional Craftspeople
1 (800) 366-2156

Drop Shipping Beads and Other Jewelry Supplies

  1. Does Rings & Things drop ship?
  2. What kinds of companies drop ship?
  3. Why don't you drop ship?
  4. Will you ever drop ship?
  5. I paid a lot of money for a book that says you drop ship. What should I do?

Do you drop ship?

Rings & Things does not normally drop ship. Drop shipping is not something that works well for our type of goods, for a few reasons. (See below.)

What kinds of companies drop ship?

Companies that drop ship generally sell large, heavy, expensive things like kilns. These are very practical to drop ship for two reasons.
  1. With large heavy items, you can save a lot of money by just shipping the item once. If it costs $50 to have an item shipped to you, and $50 to ship the item to the end customer, then it makes sense to just ship it once: from the manufacturer to the end consumer, bypassing the step of shipping it to you. That saves either you, or the end consumer, $50... and a $50 difference in price can make someone buy it elsewhere.
  2. Also, mail order companies generally don't want a big stock of $500-$1,500 kilns or other expensive items in their warehouse. It ties up both money and floor space that could be invested in smaller, quicker-turning items.
There is generally no repackaging for electrical appliances such as this. Everyone knows who makes it — it's clearly marked on the item — warranty, etc.

Why Rings & Things doesn't drop ship:

  1. Re-packaging Expenses:
    • We package our beads and findings for professional crafters, rather than for retail consumers. Our packaging has our logo, stock number, and other ordering information on it to make it easy for our customers to re-order the goods they need when they're close to running out.
    • You would probably want smaller quantities per package (such as one to six pairs of ear wires, not the 72 pairs that we have already packaged), and you would probably want colorful packaging with your re-order information instead of ours. We would need to charge you for both the labor and supplies required for any re-packaging.
  2. Additional Shipping and Handling Expenses:
    • We have certain fixed costs that are incurred with every order: It costs a certain amount to enter the order into our computer system, pull/pick the item(s), double-check it, package it for shipping, print a shipping label, and send it out the door.
      Because of this, we have a $4 service charge on orders under $50. This is not a problem for our average customer (whose average order size is $75-$150), but this could present a problem for small drop-shipped orders.
    • Standard UPS Ground shipping is $4-$6. Shipping is charged on all orders. You can choose from a wide variety of shipping methods.

Will you ever drop ship?

Possibly, under the right circumstances....
There are some situations where drop shipping could work out well for both you and Rings & Things.

For example, if you came up with a great idea for an awesome "beaded widget necklace kit", and tapped into an ideal market niche for it, but didn't have the time, space or manpower to actually put together the kit or ship it... we could put together the kit and ship it for you.

It would take a while to determine the exact price for something like this, because it would depend on a great many factors: Not only the beads and jewelry supplies themselves, but also the packaging, which includes the boxes, baskets and/or bags, and also labels (individual and shipping), how-to's, and other things that should maybe be commercially printed.

You might also want to have someone draw up a legal form of some kind, and have us sign it, stating that the kit is your intellectual property etc.

It sounds like a lot of work, but if you have a really great idea, it could be worth researching!

I paid a lot of money for a book that says you drop ship. What should I do?

If you purchased a book that specifically says we drop ship, you might want to try to get your money back. I've heard of two such books/booklets, but I haven't seen exactly how the books, or the ads for the books, are worded. It's fairly likely they are complete scams. At best, the authors are merely guilty of laziness and lack of research. Either way, you should complain to the place you bought it from.

If you believe that you have been intentionally misled by a publication that listed us a drop shipper, you should probably file a formal complaint of some kind. (Also, before purchasing anything either online or locally, it is a good idea to see if a company is a member of the Better Business Bureau or a similar organization.)

If a company is not a BBB member, filing a complaint with the BBB doesn't do much good. I think that filing a complaint with the FTC might help get a company out of business, so they don't scam anyone else. You can at least threaten, and see if that gets you your money back! You should be able to search the FTC site to find an official complaint form.

Comments or suggestions

If you have any comments or suggestions about Rings & Things and drop shipping, please e-mail Polly Nobbs-LaRue.


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