05/01/2025
📣 Why Is There a 20% Surcharge Today?
And Why Our Prices Are Going Up in Steps
Starting May 1st, we’ve had to implement a 20% tariff surcharge (before sales tax) on all purchases. This is the first of several small, step-wise increases we may need to make in response to new U.S. tariffs on international imports—especially from China, which is where nearly all of our inventory originates.
We’ve kept our prices steady for years, despite rising costs since 2020. But now? We’ve reached a point where we simply cannot absorb the increases and continue to operate.
🧭 Why Our Beads Have Always Come from China — and Why That’s Changing
Here’s something a lot of people don’t realize: most of the world’s gemstone beads are made in China. That’s not political—it’s just how the bead industry works.
The factories, tools, labor, and industry knowledge are concentrated in China. Even the biggest U.S. bead suppliers source from there.
But China doesn’t just make beads—it’s also the distribution hub for the entire South and Southeast Asian bead supply chain. Products made in India, Thailand, Indonesia, Nepal, and Vietnam are often shipped through China, where they’re consolidated, packed, and exported.
That setup allowed me to work with a small handful of trusted Chinese suppliers, who could pull together inventory from across the region. It meant lower costs, fewer shipping headaches, and a better selection for you.
⚠️ What Changed?
Now that system has been hit with devastating tariffs. The same exact items I’ve carried for years now have a 145% import tariff applied to them—and that’s before they even make it through customs.
That means a product that used to cost $10 now costs $24.50, even before we add shipping, customs brokerage fees, insurance, and other importing costs. These aren’t luxury markups—they’re unavoidable government-imposed charges on nearly everything we carry.
🔄 Why Not Just Switch Suppliers? Believe Me—I’ve Looked.
I’ve investigated working directly with producers in many of the countries I carry products from—India, Brazil, Thailand, Nepal, and more.
But the idea that I can “just order from somewhere else” ignores the realities of global trade. Replacing China’s central role would mean juggling 30 to 40 individual suppliers, each with their own shipping costs, timelines, and risks.
Managing that fragmented supply chain would raise my costs and drain my resources so severely that the end result would be the same:
Raise prices significantly, or shut down.
💬 This Isn’t a Political Statement. It’s Survival.
We’ve absorbed as much as we can. We’re only adding surcharges and raising prices now because we have to—not because we want to, and certainly not to increase profit.
If these tariffs are ever lifted, we’ll lower our prices accordingly. That’s always been our promise.
💛 If You’ve Been Part of This Community—Thank You.
There’s a reason we’re the last independently owned and operated bead store in Nashville, and that reason is you.
If you’ve ever shopped here, shared your creativity, or supported this little bead shop, you’re the reason we’re still standing.
💎 We’re still here.
🎨 We’re still creating.
💪 And I’m still fighting to bring you the best selection I can, at the best prices possible—for as long as I can.
Thank you for sticking with us.
