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Step 1
Plan to buy wholesale beads online at more than one store. Although some large stores seem to sell all the beads you could need, they don't always have the best prices for each bead. One bead store may sell glass beads at a great price and turquoise beads cheap, another may sell freshwater pearls cheap. The wholesale prices of beads varies from store to store. It's typical for jewelry makers to buy from ten or more different suppliers of wholesale beads online.
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Step 2
Store up your bead buying to a few times a year rather than buy a few strands of beads every month or so. Then, buy beads in large quantities. Generally you must place a minimum order of some sort to get wholesale prices. To buy wholesale beads online, you may need to buy a certain number of bead strands of the same bead, or place a minimum order of $100.
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Step 3
Check the store's return policy before you buy. Don't hesitate return seriously defective beads or unsatisfactory bead strands, making sure the store policy allows returns. With any large bead order, you will receive some duds. Don't just shrug it off - you're paying for the beads, wholesale prices or not! Send them back and tell the store the reason for your dissatisfaction. Wait a reasonable amount of time for the return (usually, a couple of weeks) and then check your credit card account to make sure you were credited back the cost.
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Step 4
Register an account at the store so you can track your order. Enter your business name, address, email address, phone number, and credit card information--or, if you're paying using PayPal, such as with an auction on eBay, you can avoid giving the vendor your credit card number directly. Verify that the order went through correctly by checking the email receipt you received. If there are any problems or questions, contact the wholesaler.
