January 17-23, 2005
In This Installment:
** New Items
** Coming Soon
** Stone Fun Facts
** News & Stuff
** Fortnightly Sale
** Insider's Sale
** Last Week's Top Sellers
New Items
New Chips
I am rapidly approaching the 200-mark on Chip types. I didn't even
realize they MADE chip beads in this many stones.
Variscite
An interesting and VERY rare green stone with a rough gray matrix.
Limited numbers available, and unfortunately they are rather expensive. If
you want to make inexpensive jewelry, try a different green stone, but if you
are a collector (like me!), you'll HAVE to get yourself a bag of these!
Frosted Quartz
Your run-of-the-mill Clear Quartz with a frosted finish. You'd never
guess it, but I've been looking for these for MONTHS!
Frosted Rose Quartz
See above, but in Rose Quartz instead of clear.
Jet
Jet is fossilized coal. It's perfectly black, and really lightweight,
so you can make serious earrings with this and nobody will complain. Pair
it with similarly lightweight Amber and you'll have a necklace that you can
barely feel!
Kyanite
An odd choice for a chip. Kyanite is really brittle, so these
wouldn't stand up to tumbling and polishing. We have 'em rough. They
are in their natural crystalline state, which is thin and flaky.
Absolutely beautiful blue-green color, like a really light Apatite.
Fascinating stone. Buy a bag just to look at them!
Coming Soon
New Beads:
Opaque Citrine Chip, Kunzite Chip, Frosted Quartz Round, Citrine Round,
Citrine Tube, Black Onyx Rondell, Golden Oyster Stick, Hessonite Heishi
Ocarinas (clay flutes)
"Fortune Cookie" Silk Purses
Solid Perfume in Soapstone Jars
Spring Bracelets
Large Fan Collars
More Faceted Beads
New Marbles: Picasso, Rutilated Quartz, Ametrine
Gemstone Small AND Mini Eggs in assorted stones
Cable Chokers with Heart and Point Pendants
Stone Fun Facts
Picasso Marble
** While this stone is also sometimes called Picasso Jasper, it is not
truly a Jasper. It is a Marble--a metamorphosed limestone rock. In
prehistoric times, hot magma (lava) spread over limestone flats, seeping into
the tiny fissures caused by heat and pressure. The magma cooled in these
cracks, to bring us the dark streaks in light rock that is Picasso Marble.
** While this stone is fairly new in the jewelry field (it is mainly used
in building and sculpture), Zuni artisans have been using it to make fetish
carvings for years.
** Picasso Marble is thought to assist in all areas of
transformation. It is helpful when you need to renew a lost friendship,
and it aids in banishing artistic blocks. It is thought to be an excellent
stone for all creative endeavors, as it brings out hidden talents and
skills.
** This stone is believed to be helpful in weight loss, promoting
self-discipline and respect.
** Crystal healers use Picasso Marble to enable total recall of
dreams.
** The stone got its name because some people thought it resembled the wild
patterns of a Picasso painting. (Personally, I think it looks more like a
Jackson Pollack than a Picasso, but I wasn't in charge when it was named.)
** Personal satisfaction alert!
Picasso Marble is mined in only one place in the world, and that is
Utah!
Please see other Stone Fun Facts
here:
News and Stuff
eBay Fee Hikes and the Future (or Lack Thereof) of My
Store
If you are an eBay store seller, chances are you
have by now heard of their upcoming fee hike. While it used to cost $10 a
month for an eBay store, with final value fees of 5.25%, this February they are
going to raise it to $16 per month for the basic store, with final value fees of
8%. This will add $200-400 a year in fees for me, over and above the fees
I am currently paying. I cannot afford this increase, so I am 99% certain
I will be closing my eBay store in February.
I will continue to be an eBay seller, and will try
some "choice" Dutch auctions, offering 100 (or so) different stone types in
every Chip Beads auction, for buyers to choose after they win. (And
similar auctions for pendants and other items.) Each auction and each sale
will be aggressively designed to direct traffic to my online store (where I have
a set monthly fee but NO listing fees or final value fees).
I suspect I will be losing some business because
of this. I love my Sunday sales when an auction winner discovers my eBay
store and adds on to her order, sometimes by the dozens. I get several of
these add-on sales every weekend, and they are wonderful. I understand
that a lot of people shop on eBay and nowhere else, so I fear I will no longer
get many of these sales, and that's sad. I hope, however, that I will be
able to come up with ideas to continue to succeed and even thrive without an
eBay store. I am a creative person, so I should be able to put my noggin
to this task and come up with some workable ideas.
Meanwhile, even though I will be giving up some
inevitable sales, I will also be giving up a LOT of work. Whereas my
online store consists of printing out the invoice and shipping the product, each
eBay transaction must be logged in my computer (in "Awaiting Payment" and then
"Paid" folders--one for each user), I must communicate extensively with buyers,
walk them through payment, hand-write the invoice (a HUGE time-consumer), send
the package, then leave feedback (another great time-consumer, though I do
manage to leave feedback for every single transaction I am involved in).
eBay easily takes up 20 or more hours of my time every week (good for an outside
job, but NOT good when you are trying to be a home schooling stay-at-home mom
who just wants to make a little money online!), and by closing my eBay store I
will be cutting most of those hours, leaving me with a LOT more time to expand
my business and take care of my home. Be aware that my online
store will continue to stay open; it is just the eBay store that I will
close.
If there are any other eBay store owners out
there, I'd be interested to hear your opinions on the coming fee hikes--how you
plan to carry on, if you have any interesting ideas for staying afloat, or if
you plan to just pack it all in. Let me know your thoughts!
I will have updates on this as the time draws
nearer.
Fortnightly Sale
3 For 2 Silk Purses
This week, when you buy any two Chinese Silk Purses, I will include a third
purse absolutely FREE. You may earn up to ten free purses. The free
purse(s) will be my choice of color and size.
Or go to Ephemerala Online:
3 For 2 Silk Purses Offer is good through January 23,
2005.
Penny Sale
Every two weeks, I hide a new special offer somewhere on my online
site. This listing will offer a certain product for ONE CENT, with any
purchase of $10.00 or more. The item and its location will change every
two weeks, so be sure to look often. Simply go to my online store site:
and browse until you find the hidden listing. Add it to your cart,
along with the rest of your $10+ order, and it will be included for just a
penny. Happy Hunting!
(Recent keen-eyed customers got a GEMSTONE CABOCHON for a penny. What
will you be able to get this week?)
Insider's Special
Three Extra Faceted Gems in Grab
Bags
This week, all of my extra-special customers will get the opportunity to
get three extra Faceted Gemstones when you buy the 10-piece
collection. Each bag will now have 13 gemstones instead of the usual
10. All I ask is that you send an e-mail to make a little note of your
subscriber status, so that I will know to include the extra three gems.
Buy as many bags as you like; there is no limit. REMEMBER: When you buy
ten (10) or more bags, I will include a genuine faceted DIAMOND free!
Three Extra Gems Offer is good through January 23,
2005.
Last Week's Top Sellers
(You know you want to be just like everyone
else!)
1. Mini Gem Chips
2. Opal Chip Beads
3. Turquoise Chips Beads
4. Amethyst Rondell Beads
5. Tiger Eye Chip Beads
6. Chevron Amethyst Chip Beads
7. Apatite Chip Beads
8. Red Chalcedony Chip Beads
9. Muscovite Quartzite Chip Beads
10. Labradorite Cube Beads
That's it for this issue. Talk to you
again in a week.
--Suzanne Dallapè
eBay User ID:
ephemerala
Visit my online stores:
Please pass my store site to anyone you think might be
interested!
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583
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