The ‘hoops’ Stuller makes people jump through is often appreciated by
legitimate jewelery retailers. What’s the point of wholesale if
anyone can get it. Isn’t that what Tripps does? Although I would
argue there is no way their prices are wholesale. Don’t get me wrong,
I like tripps, just not for gold.
Craig
www.creativecutgems.com
the last couples of days i see about getting an account with Stuller.
Yes it is hard, we try tp protect you and the industry. we alot of
people and the policy in any company is always changing. you can get
a metals and tools account only. the goverment with the patroit act
needs you to fill forms. I Will say it again if you are having any
trouble e-mail me,or call i will Promise anything but i will try to
get the correct answer or the right Person to speak to, about the
accounts.
Richard
I don’t have a Stuller account, nor do I have the direct need to use
them. As you just posted maybe I am not serious in what I am doing,
correct?. In Toronto alone there are about 8 (eight) tool suppliers.
Plus another extra large tool supplier in Montreal, Quebec called
"Noble Tools". Of these, there are four tools shops all within a 10
minute walking distance of each other…Shipping is still not an
issue with many of them too…I personally don’t like to totally
depend upon one tool house.
For my students, I request a 10% discount on all of my needed tools,
if not, I just go elsewhere for them…
Gerry Lewy!
I asked for help and have received 3 emails from different people
and each asked for different criteria for opening an account. One
wants a W-9 form the other a copy of drivers liscense and passport
another copy of tax sales license.
So it comes down to Stuller departmental problem it’s own customer
service people what accounts they have and requirements, etc
I just want to buy metals and tools and findings not finished
jewelry so the hoops are not necessary. The identification is by law
necessary I don’t mind proving I am me and citizen of US.
I just don’t like that Stuller comes accrossed as confused. I also
don’t like that the is different in each e-mail.
Teri
Silver & Cameo Heritage Jewelry
www.corneliusspick.com
I feel sorry for those whose having trouble getting an open account
with Stuller, but the industry has to look out for itself or before
long we will have every Tom, Dick and Harry buying from Stuller and
every other supplier. Lets keep the garage/at home non tax paying
people out of being able to buy at the same price that we that pay
rent, insurance, overhead, etc do, until they make a true commitment
to the industry. Try to open an account in some other industry and
get supplies, it’s almost impossible unless you have a license or a
retail or wholesale operation set up and are doing business. The home
based hobbyist are just taking business from those of us who are
trying to make our living at it and doing it a a lesser price because
they have no overhead. To bad for them, but Good luck to those
honestly trying and are having trouble. Don’t give up.
The problem is this… You all say you want new people in the trade
and when someone is damned serious about it and scraping all they
have together to damn well learn silversmithing from scratch and
making jewelry and starving til they get enough stock to go to the
first show and open the storefront they meaning ME do not need an
officious pompous ass telling them it is them not Stuller. Maybe it
is Stuller maybe it is people like you there. All I know is that
most people I have had contact with in this trade have been wonderful
and thankfully very generous with their knowledge and time.
So right I am not a ‘professional’ I don’t buy precalibrated stones
and plop them into pre-made settings and buy ready made jewelry and
make 400k a year but by damn I AM A JEWELER. and if this is Whining
then too bad at least I got that lump off my chest.
Teri Davis
Cornelius’s Pick
Silver & Cameo Heritage Jewelry
www.corneliusspick.com
In reading this thread in combination with the Ain’t No Biz thread,
I find it astonishing that Stuller can afford to turn away business.
I also find it astonishing that people would want to do business with
a company that makes it so difficult to do business with them.
And the folks who say that hobbyist-level “garage jewelers” steal
business from those who have “legitimate business-grade overhead” by
getting price breaks similar to what Stuller offers them, astonish me
also. How in the world can that hobbyist in the garage begin to
compete with the resources available to those jewelers who have all
of that overhead? Along with that overhead comes volume, marketing,
advertising, exposure - all of which give the professional jeweler a
huge advantage. Compared to what - a bigger margin on the price of a
single piece of jewelry that the garage jeweler can make in the same
time it takes a professional jeweler to make - how many? - while
simultaneously having the means to find the customers to sell to,
and the inventory available for add-on sales? I’m sorry, this just
does not compute. (Quotation marks are mine.)
Can anybody make a convincing argument that having a Stuller account
is the one thing a jeweler must have in order to be successful? Why
give one company that much power?
Linda
Yes, all, it is difficult to get a Stuller account. When I bought my
now deceased trade shop, it was largely by virtue of the prior
owner’s (and my prior employer) relationship that I was able to get
my account, which I have been careful to keep active in the years
since. Having done years of trade repair work, it became obvious to
me that Stuller was both a blessing and a demon. A blessing for the
large inventory of EVERYTHING, readily available, quickly delivered.
Rarely do I need to look elsewhere for the stuff I use in day to day
repairs. I can be sure of quality and fair pricing, and am anxious to
try out some of the new metals when my current ‘reinventing myself’
phase is completed this summer. The demon side came in when every one
of my trade customers could by the same parts at the same prices I
could. They no longer needed me for anything but labor. I had long
been able to keep my labor prices down by using profit (low, but
nonetheless profit) to augment the overall picture. Now they would
buy their own parts, send them along, and expect me to NOT raise my
labor costs to compensate. Foolish thinking on my part, perhaps, but
it still managed to sink that ship.
My feeling on the difficulty getting an account? Keep it up, guys.
Just imagine if every retail customer got wise to the fact that they
could go to the Stuller web site and buy those mountings for the same
price we could. Never mind the difficulties of trying to work with
stones that don’t fit right and stuff. Those bargain hunting
customers have little respect for our expertise, or at least place
little monetary value on it.
Rio, on the other hand, sells to everyone. How do I buy from them at
retail costs and have room to mark it up. Fewer and fewer customers
fall into that wonderful category of ignorance that let us have
‘blind items’ in the past. More and more know exactly what stuff
costs. Lets keep a few wholesale only suppliers so that we can
continue to get materials at wholesale and make a living.
The home based hobbyist are just taking business from those of us who are trying to make our living at it and doing it a a lesser price because they have no overhead. To bad for them, but Good luck to those honestly trying and are having trouble. Don't give up.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t work this way. Wishing that the home-based
business will disappear will not make it so. Business is
competitive. If there are those out there that have figured out how
to operate effectively and bring home more pay by not having a high
overhead, then good for them…bad for you. If they truly are taking
business away from “legitimate” businesses…like yourself…it’s
time for you to dust off your business plan and mark it up with the
red pen.
People will not change for you. If it’s not going well, you have to
find a way to change yourself.
Kim Starbard
Hello,
Several years ago, we lost a mounting sale to a hairdresser with a
Stuller account. After we called Stuller and raised cain with them,
they revoked her account. That is why Stuller makes people jump
through hoops to prove they are a legitimate jewelry business, not
just someone with a tax ID number. The independant jeweler is
Stuller’s bread & butter. Their willingness to protect our position
as a “dealer” of their products is a benefit to us. We don’t have to
worry about the hairdresser (or whomever down the street or on the
net) selling the same product for 10% over cost. Yes, it may be more
difficult to open a full account from Stuller, but I for one
appreciate it.
James S. Cantrell CMBJ
Hi,
This is an interesting thread. I recently received my Arizona
business license and opened a store on the internet. If I provide the
a copy of the license and the URL to my “shop”, do you suppose I could
get an account with them?
I also have credit cards, etc.
I would appreciate some insight on this.
Thanks to all on this fantastic list/resource,
Laura
Laura H. Hastings
Eclectica Jewelry
Tucson, Arizona
http://www.rubylane.com/shops/eclectica
Nicely said, Richard Hart:
... there is not one professional jeweler or repair person who does not have an account with Stuller.
Because of their huge inventory, the overnight Fed Ex for $8, the
service, the knowledge of the people who take orders, the incredible
customer service, I can not live without them.
They have gone the extra mile time and time again. There has never
anything other than friendly and courtious service 100 % of the
time."
I quite agree. I’m a much smaller fish (right now - just wait
though) than you are, yet Stuller still treats me as a valued
customer.
Judy in Kansas
I find it astonishing that Stuller can afford to turn away business. I also find it astonishing that people would want to do business with a company that makes it so difficult to do business with them
Let’s try this one more time. Stuller is a company that sells
wholesale supplies and their customers either have jewelry stores, do
wholesale repairs, do custom for retail or wholesale, or do
manufacturing for retail or wholesale.
They are ethical in that they protect their wholesale client base by
their policy, and when wholesalers now sell direct to the public and
compete with retailers, Stuller should be applauded not attacked.
I believe every jewelry store in the U.S. that makes, repairs or
does custom has an account with Stuller, and Stuller probably is the
largest gem and findings company is the U.S.
The reason for this is they have the largest selection of findings
and gems that I can order Monday through Thursday by 5pm and get the
order by 11am the next day.
I can order a ring, the melee, the center stone or earring findings
and the stones that go in them, all at one supplier. They will match
stones. They have excellent customer service.
As I said in another post, and I stand by what I wrote the first
time, if you are a professional jeweler (as in serving retail
customers) or do repair, you have an account with Stuller.
When some guy comes in my store a few days before some occasion and
needs something right away, I can count on Stuller having what I want
and getting it in time to put it together and make the sale, make a
customer, and I have done this hundreds of times.
This gives me an edge to give the customer the ring, pendant,
earrings ect. they choose, the stone they choose in the size and
quality they can afford, and this is something mall stores and chain
stores might not or cannot do.
At this particular time, in the current retail environment and these
economic times, if you are an independent jeweler, if you do not
have a niche, you will be going bye-bye. If you do not do custom or
repair you will be sitting there staring at your merchandise, people
will come in and ask for something that you do not have, and if you
cannot manipulate them into buying something they had not planned on
purchasing, you will lose a sale.
And that’s just my opinion, and 20 years of retail experience. I am
not the smartest person, but I am still in business.
Richard Hart
I just wanted to say that my studio is in NYC and have an amazing
resources right at my doorstep in the diamond district, but
sometimes Stuller has exactly what I need. And, I can get it the next
day - takes less energy than shopping around 47th St. Recently, I
opened an account with a signed W-9, Tax ID, receipts and a resale
certificate. It was opened in less than a week, the people that I
emailed were very nice and I got all the catalogues immediately.
I am only speaking for myself here, I will just never put all of my
"eggs in one basket". This refers to casters, tool suppliers, model
makers, wax carvers and polishers, just to name a few. To deal with
one SINGLE supplier of all the necessary items for diamond setting,
this is totally ridiculous. If I dealt with only one supplier for
all, and if they found out I have no store-office or repair shop
plus not having any I.D. I could be booted out of their office. Who
would I go to now? Excuse me, there is danger afoot. I pay all the
necessary taxes Provincial and G.S.T. taxes, no one really cares up
here in Toronto where I park my bench. Just as long as I pay up
front, or within a 30 period. Yes, Stuller is up here, but they are
not on my list as a supplier. I can view more items to peruse than
their office. I don’t suppose anyone has heard of Lacy or TJW here?
But they are further ahead in their actual stock than looking
through catalogues. I must feel, touch, compare prices and then
decide which item is better for me.
Case in point, I once bought through a catalogue, but it came to me
as a wrong item, days were lost. I just gotta see up front which tool
is the correct setting tool. If I may be infuriating some folks on
Orchid, these are just my firm convictions on tool buying, based upon
many years as being a good buyer and setter.
I stated on a previous post, there are ONLY 8 suppliers in this big
city. No one is better than all, but the selection is far greater!
Gerry Lewy!
Linda,
Why give one company that much power?
Actually it isn’t just that one company. Many wholesale companies
restrict who they work with and with good reason. The fact that
legitimate jewelers have a higher overhead does not mean that they
necessarily have as much of an advantage as you think. And hobbyists
(and relatives, and friends and friends of friends) simply should not
be allowed to purchase the same items one or two pieces at a time as
a professional. The attitude that wholesalers should sell to just
about anyone is one of the primary reasons diamond markups fell so
much in the last 15 years. Diamond dealers routinely sell to people
they know are not in the trade at wholesale (or actually slightly
above it) and it has had a tremendous impact on the ability for
jewelers to make a decent profit on the diamonds they do sell. Add to
this the fact that regular jewelers do have higher costs and
suddenly it becomes much more unfair to wholesale to people who
aren’t really going to resell anything.
Let’s say you’ve decided that over the years you’re going to put a TV
set in every room in your house. You’re going to use the sets
yourself. You may end up giving one to your kids one of them, and
you have a really good friend who has landed on hard times so you’re
going to buy an extra one for her too. Does all of this mean you
should be able to buy the sets at the cost that most of the dealers
do??? Of course not. You’d never go in and demand they sell the sets
to you wholesale. Or when it comes to components, let’s say you want
to do your own speaker set up for each TV, that you are going to
personalize by drawing pictures on them (or say adding beads to
them) and that one of your friends sees the (rather silly looking)
speaker sets and says Hey make one of those for me. Does that mean
that a speaker wholesaler should sell to you directly??? Why is it ok
for this to happen in the jewelry trade but not any other?
Daniel R. Spirer, G.G.
Daniel R. Spirer Jewelers, LLC
1780 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140
617-234-4392
@Daniel_R_Spirer
In response to Charolette and her difficulty getting a Stullar
account. I’m sorry that you have had to go through the experience of
losing a child. Its something I don’t think I could manage without
special Grace from above. I can identify with the whole issue of
cancer and the mental effect it has on you and your family. Its
taken me several years to get my head on straight and I won’t say I’m
completely 100% but I do have a different perspective that I
wouldn’t have without going through it.
As far as a Stullar account is concerned I do have the basic one but
need to make a small change on my old Tax I.D. plus provide some
required invoices, as per their request. I don’t mind doing this now
but it was a bit of a surprise at first, after having worked as a
jeweler since 1979. I guess I was insulted a little also since I had
purchased in the past and didn’t understand why I couldn’t just
continue. In addition, the timing of it caused me to lose a sale that
I needed during a lean transition in my business. Lesson
learned…for the rest of you, don’t stop ordering or have
anything unexpected affect your business or you may have to go back
and re-establish all of your contacts over again, often at some
inconveinient time when the electric bill is due!!! I guess thats
life and it beats the alternative!
charles
Regarding the “Can’t get a Stullar account” question and some of the
comments surrounding that issue. First let me say, I understand
Stullars position and I can live with it.
I am however reacting to some of the comments regarding at
home/garage jewelers or those that havn’t made a “true committment”.
I think there are plenty of “at home” jewelers who are legitimately
in business and are paying their taxes. Many of these folks actually
depend on their work to feed their families and have made
considerable investment in tools, equipment, training and
uncompensated time making others look good. Often these individuals
helped build other businesses by providing quality wholesale bench
work. Many of them have grown tired of nagging retailers and
uncertain futures and are trying to “move to the next level” as
someone recently stated. The fact that they do not have a traditional
brick and mortar retail space ( yet) doesn’t mean they are not in
business, or that they don’t have overhead. There are many fine
craftsmen who have gone over to the (dark side) and set up internet
based retail stores. There are also those that do the various craft
shows and art fairs. These people are just as involved in their
trade and many work harder, for less money, than do some of the rest
of us. As most of you know the traditional ways of doing business are
changing. Furthermore,there is often a trade off in not having a
storefront that some don’t seem to realize and that is, it is harder
to get enough customers to trust someone working from a home based
business. This is especially so for a jewelry business. While the
small time craftsman can often compete on price it doesn’t mean that
he is making a killing or even affecting other retailers that much.
Another point often overlooked is that many a small timer often
graduates to a traditional storefront after he has worked years and
saved up enough to get started. While there are some examples of
"fly by night jewelers" out there, I don’t think its fair to put home
based business people in the same catagory. I’m sure some of you
didn’t have a silver spoon in your mouth when you were born and many
had to struggle for years to get started. I know there are alot of
you out there that by hard work and sacrifice and in spite of various
setbacks or other life issues have managed to carve out a niche for
yourselves in the industry. Don’t think for a second however that
you’ve managed this all on your own. Give the little guy a break we
have all been there at least once.
As far as Stullar in concerned they are doing what they feel is
correct and thats their business. Either work with their criteria for
purchasing or find someone else to buy from.
There, now I 've had my rant! Hopefully it causes some of you to see
things from another point of view. Its tough out there and we are all
trying to make a living. -charles
Hello, everyone,
Well, it was as easy as pie! I was just approved for a Stuller
account within the hour of submitting all my “evidence” via email of
my being a legitimate business. Not so hard after all!
Good luck and thanks again for being such a wonderful resource!
Laura
Laura H. Hastings
Eclectica Jewelry
Tucson, Arizona
USA
http://www.rubylane.com/shops/eclectica
Hmmm…Barely looked into a Stuller account a couple of years ago. I
didn’t follow through because I was too busy making new work. Guess
I will try again just to see what all of the noise, bitchin,‘
comlainin’ and defendin’ is about. Although I am a
jeweler,wholesaler mainly and this is my only income for the last 15
or so years, I do not have a retail storefront. Is that a
requirement? Stuller didn’t mention that. I will keep everyone
posted…lol.
Lisa, (metals and tools seem cool, so what else do they have that I
might want?) Topanga, CA USA