Glass Ornaments

[Kevin Clark2227]

I'm trying to get a jump on the Christmas season, although it's now July so I'm not really pouncing very much on it. But anyway, does anyone know of a good wholesale supplier of glass and crystal ornaments? I prefer the flat kind not the balls. I know I can get them for Laserbits, but looking for a different supplier.

[Dan Hintz]

Get them from China... dirt cheap (especially when compared with places like LaserBits). You have 6 months to get them shipped, which is more than adequate.

[Kevin Clark2227]

Get them from China... dirt cheap (especially when compared with places like LaserBits). You have 6 months to get them shipped, which is more than adequate.
Do you have a website or company name?

[Kev Williams]

Try Alibaba.com

[Mike Null]

Our new Advertiser, Johnson Plastics has them on page 118. http://www.johnsonplastics.com/2014_engraving_catalog.html#118_Laserable_Gifts

[Kevin Clark2227]

I just looked at Johnson Plastics, a lot better price. I have never looked at or dealt with Alibaba (don't know a whole lot about them) but I will look and see what I find

[Kevin Clark2227]

I just looked at Johnson Plastics, a lot better price. I have never looked at or dealt with Alibaba (don't know a whole lot about them) but I will look and see what I find
Thru alibaba, I have gotten a few quotes back. The way that I am reading them, the cost is anywhere for .20/piece to $1 per. Anyone that has any experience in purchasing thru alibaba, is there any advice that you can give, questions to ask or things to look for or watch out for?

[Bill George]

Shipping from China can be expensive. I paid $26.50 to ship a circuit board from Hong Kong to Iowa via DHL air, shipped on Monday delivered on Wednesday, same week.

[Bill Stearns]

All -
Can I be the only one thinking - lets keep what business of ours we can within the good old USA! ? No argument: tougher 'n tougher to do, nowadays - but, still. Might even enhance your ornament business by promoting "Made in USA". ? you think? I'll but-out 'n back to work ...

Bill

[Mike Null]

Bill

Please share the contact info for a US glass ornament company.

[Scott Shepherd]

All the glass ornaments I've ever been exposed to were hit and miss. They all came from China at some point, and they all vary wildly in sizes. I made fixtures for things like triangle ornaments, only to find out the next batch had a different angles on the "triangle".

I've seen 2 1/2" diameter discs vary 1/8" in diameter. That makes them very hard to make fixtures for and keep lined up.

[Bill Stearns]

Please share the contact info for a US glass ornament company.
MIKE -
Your point is well taken, of course - does seem it's tough, if not impossible, to find home-made products anymore. I didn't mean to lead this thread into a discussion of the matter. Me - I haven't offered Christmas/Holiday ornaments - but, plan to look 'em up in Johnson's catalog. (thanks for mentioning it.) Might be something for me to consider adding, uh? Is there good business to be had with 'em? Plus, Johnson is a terrific company and I'd like to be doing more business with 'em than I do.

Later - Bill

[Dan Hintz]

All -
Can I be the only one thinking - lets keep what business of ours we can within the good old USA! ? No argument: tougher 'n tougher to do, nowadays - but, still. Might even enhance your ornament business by promoting "Made in USA". ? you think? I'll but-out 'n back to work ...

Bill

Since I know the end-product is manufactured in China anyway, I see zero reason to pay someone else to be my middleman (and make a fat profit off of it, to boot), unless they are providing me with some form of value-added service (e.g., they'll take back damaged product, offer individual wrapping, etc.) One could easily make the argument that it's more eco-friendly to order direct from China in such cases as there is less shipping, less paperwork, etc.

[Kevin Clark2227]

Since I know the end-product is manufactured in China anyway, I see zero reason to pay someone else to be my middleman (and make a fat profit off of it, to boot), unless they are providing me with some form of value-added service (e.g., they'll take back damaged product, offer individual wrapping, etc.) One could easily make the argument that it's more eco-friendly to order direct from China in such cases as there is less shipping, less paperwork, etc.

AMEN!!!

I would be happy to buy american if the glass was made in America. However it is not so I am trying to keep my costs down which in turn keeps my customers cost down. Just like anything that is brass, will typically (95%) be made in India. The other 5% in Pakistan. Glass seems to be now different.

[Bill Cunningham]

I bring skidloads of glassware in from china . my first order was through the alibaba escrow and it worked out fine. The company I deal with now will accept PayPal payments which is much better for me.

[Michael Reilly]

aliexpress.com is easier than alibaba... same company but it's listings for specific product at a set price and they hold the money until you confirm delivery. alibaba tends to bring lots of "we can do that" whatever it is... and they rarely accept paypal or credit cards which means they want wire transfer or western union which is a pain as well as risky. It's a good resource, but it's much harder to deal with. aliexpress is more like buying from Ebay.

[Dan Hintz]

aliexpress.com is easier than alibaba... same company but it's listings for specific product at a set price and they hold the money until you confirm delivery. alibaba tends to bring lots of "we can do that" whatever it is... and they rarely accept paypal or credit cards which means they want wire transfer or western union which is a pain as well as risky. It's a good resource, but it's much harder to deal with. aliexpress is more like buying from Ebay.

One downside to both is you have to make absolutely sure what you're ordering is what you expect it to be. For example, search on "fiber laser" and you'll get back a slew of machines... half of which are CO2, not fiber... but they use "fiber" all over the ad. "Glass" ornaments may actually be acrylic, etc.

[Bill George]

So after you engrave these small items, what do they retail for??

[Michael Reilly]

Yes, but that's true of Alibaba just as much. I ordered some edge light stands for 1/4" acrylic. They were silver, I asked for them to be black anodized, he said it would be X amount extra. I agreed, sent the wire transfer. What I received was spray painted black, not anodized. They also had European power supplies, not US. And while I didn't ask or specify, it turned out the LEDs were the big thru-hole kind on narrow circuit board hot glued in rather than the ribbon kind. So not at all what I was expecting. Luckily it was only $300. But that's what I mean when I say they will say they can do anything. I'm sure with the nearby factories, they do have the ability to subcontract whatever they need, but whether they do or not, is an unknown. In this case, I explained what I wanted, he said "like this?" and sent a picture of what I wanted, except I wanted black anodized. He said no problem. But didn't deliver that and didn't respond to my followup email. And since it was wire transfer, they already had the money.

Shipping is also apparently a mess. I wanted a swatch book from a company that makes paper backed silk for bookbinding. They said no problem, just pay shipping. I'd been bitten (or so I thought) on a previous one where I gave my UPS account and they sent it express and it cost me $150 shipping for a sample. So I contacted UPS and asked what the options were, for a 2kg package with my samples, my choices were like $135 and $150. WTF? I didn't need it in a hurry. I get that they can't drive it from there, but still. There is EMS which is usually a fraction of the cost, so I looked into creating an account. But it wasn't at all clear that I could, it basically interfaces with the postal service. So I asked the company with the samples about it, and they quoted me something more reasonable like $30 shipping, but since I couldn't provide an account, I'd need to send the money wire transfer to western union. Well, wire transfers cost me money (or at least they used to, maybe my bank doesn't charge now, but I still have to go there and do it all in person) and western union just screams fraud (and also isn't cheap) even though they surely have legitimate uses. And on top of all of this, I figured if I can't get the swatch book here cheaply and wouldn't likely ever be ordering a pallet of fabric, that even if I liked the product, it would be cost prohibitive to get it here. So I just dropped the idea even though I've never found a basic non-moire patterned paper backed silk from my usual suppliers here.

[Bill George]

I have shipped very little from overseas, what I have found is UPS is a rip off. DHL Air from China was the cheapest and fastest.

[Kevin Clark2227]

aliexpress doesn't carry the product that I am looking for.


I bring skidloads of glassware in from china . my first order was through the alibaba escrow and it worked out fine. The company I deal with now will accept PayPal payments which is much better for me.
Who do you deal with? I am trying to get some round glass ornaments. What should my target price be?

[Mary Geitz]

How many do you need? I get them from craft stores on sale. There are 6-8 in a box and you can get it for $1.50-3.00. They're good quality and I'm not stuck with a bunch of inventory. I make a run when I need them. Hobby Lobby usually has the best price when they're on sale.

[Ruben Salcedo]

HERE (http://www.prismcrystal.com/search.php?mode=search&page=1) is another place that sales crystal and glass ornaments, the glass ornaments

[Bill George]

Not a valid link, and if you do figure it out its certainly not a low cost source.

[Kevin Clark2227]

Well I just paid for 2 sample ornaments and gift boxes to be sent to me. The person I talked to today seemed to be very knowledgable and pretty much quoted me the product and specs right of the bat. After asking a few questions and emailing sample pics to me instantly as we were online chatting everything came together and we agreed on a design and price. If samples come out good, I will be ordering 1,000 round crystal ornaments with a beveled edging to create a rim plus the gift boxes of the color and interior of my choosing with imprinted name and logo along with shipping (which is ouch, high) is about $1 a piece. Right now I feel pretty good about it.

[Ruben Salcedo]

It does open fine in my end, here is another LINK (http://www.prismcrystal.com/Gifts-Promotion/?page=6), I'm not sure what you consider low cost, but their prices in the glass ornaments are 2.10, a month or two before Christmas they usually have a sale with 20% discount.

[Kevin Clark2227]

I contacted the company thru the link but they said they couldn't come close to what I would be paying directly from China.

[Kevin Clark2227]

For those of you who have ordered thru alibaba, did you do paypal or escrow? I don't know a lot about using Escrow. I used paypal for my sample to ship but not sure about the actual order.

[Kevin Clark2227]

Another question, for those of you who have dealt with crystal ornaments, what is the general thickness? I am finding from these suppliers that the crystal is much thicker that what I was expecting 8 - 10mm thick (between 1/4 - 3/8" thick). Does that sound right or should I stick with a thinner glass?

Also has anyone ever ordered the crystal glass ornaments from LaserBits like this: KCH 025 - Crystal Ornament - Round Facet?
I called LaserBits and asked if the was k5 crystal or k9 crystal but they couldn't tell me. Their site says 1/4" thick but from my understanding real k9 crystal can't be that thin. K9 Glass can be that thin and thinner. At least that is my understanding.

[Bill Cunningham]

If they use PayPal, use that. You will at least have some protection. I used the alibba escrow for my first order, but now the glass company I ordered from signed up w/PayPal I would choose that over wire transfer any day.. That way I use my my credit card and collect air miles too

[Kevin Clark2227]

UPDATE
I am getting my ordering finalized with samples coming in. Question, I have seen some glass lasered with the image "suspended" within the glass. How is that done and what thickness does the material have to be?

[Michael Reilly]

My understanding is that you have to use a YAG or Fiber laser, and decent quality crystal glass. You focus such that the focal point is inside the glass and that's where it makes a mark. You work layer by layer, bottom up, making a series of marks that come out to be a 3D image. It's basically engraving slices. I've never done it as I don't have access to YAG equipment, but that's my understanding of the process.

[David Somers]

Michael,

I may be wrong, but I think the unit that does this actually has 2 laser beams working to do it. The machine aims both lasers so that they cross inside the material. Each beam by itself does not have enough oomph to change the material, but where they cross it does and it creates a tiny bubble. The machine moves on to the next point and does it again and builds the image that way. Or at least that was the last description of the technology that I saw.

Seemed like the comments I remembered about it were that it was cool stuff, but the cost of the machine and the time needed to make an image AND doing it commercially were tough.

Seemed like that was a year or so ago that I saw that. It may have developed more since then and become more cost effective?

Dave

[James & Zelma Litzmann]

I get my ornaments from Prism Crystal. Prices range from $2.10 to $6.00, I order the ones that are the least expensive and my customers love them. I have ordered some of the $6 ones and still have them, don't really care for them too much. And yes these are from China also, wish we could by USA, we definitely would if we could.

[Michael Reilly]

I believe that is another method... perhaps the first one, but I think it can be done with one beam now. Here is where I read about it:

http://www.bathsheba.com/crystal/process/

[Kevin Clark2227]

What I am looking at doing is not 3D. It is 2D with the image and/or text in the middle. Some call it 2.5D

[David Somers]

Kevin,

Look on the Epi web site. I believe they still have some examples of the technique. The one I am thinking of was to make a 2.5 d version of the letter E. Seemed like there was another as well. I think the example was on glass, possibly acrylic.

Dave

[David Somers]

Michael,

Cool! At least from the results in his samples that looks like a big improvement. Pretty intriguing stuff. Wonder what it actually costs. Something tells me it would be tough to make a living from that, but who knows. Pet rocks did it for someone. This might too. And this is cooler!! <grin>

Thanks for sharing the link!! I have saved it and will paw through it more carefully later!

Dave

[Bill Cunningham]

Shipping from China can be expensive. I paid $26.50 to ship a circuit board from Hong Kong to Iowa via DHL air, shipped on Monday delivered on Wednesday, same week.That's actually pretty cheap! I've paid twice that for two day UPS from epilog to my shop!