With bad judgement -or taste-
If you have enough time and money, buying for resale is a quick way to learn; you'll learn faster from reward conditioning and rejection.

With good judgement -or taste-
Even if you can resell your beads at a good profit, you must make a professional effort to reach a willing buyer. And once again, this will take time and money.

If you're starting out with the intention of collecting beads for profit, forget it. This is not a business; it is an expensive hobby. But, if you start young and are good at it, you may eventually find yourself with an incredible pile of beautiful beads.

If you can not afford to keep the best beads you find, you can minimally benefit by acquiring a wonderful education and experiences to think about in your old age. I have learned much about geography and anthropology through having survived as an on again, off again, full time/part time bead dealer for more than forty years.

So my purchase advice is: Buy it because you love it. And if you look at your collection carefully -and continue to ask questions concerning connoisseurship- the beads themselves will teach you what you need to know.

So we did become bead dealers -- and I think it's wonderful. But we're certainly not going to become rich off of it!

That said, I think that necklace is fairly priced. We would probably sell it for more in our retail store, but not be a lot more. Carved stone beads like those are lovely to look at -- and extremely impressive -- but not particularly valuable. The cloisonne beads are also relatively common. The term "Jade" means many things to many people -- this is not the type of high quality jade that commands a significant premium.

Good luck!

Abe @ Beadstore.com

I don't sell beads for a living, just as a "hobby seller" when I have spares. But I've noticed that selling finished jewelry is a completely different venture from selling beads. Bead buyers do not want to pay for a necklace design - so you have to reach a totally different audience when selling finished pieces like this one. So although you will see finished pieces on this forum, the focus is on the beads. You may want to find some jewelry forums to explore the different focus needed when selling jewelry.

I have occasionally sold a finished necklace but have not recouped even the cost of the antique beads in it - the buyers were not collectors and had no idea about the rarity or value of the individual beads, let alone the time spent composing a unique design.

ok well I thought this might be a good place to learn more about the beads I DO AND HAVE BEEN COLLECTING FOR OVER 15 YEARS. Not only for resale at all, in fact I never sold a bead in my life until about 2 years ago, & even though I may have interest in selling some of the beads I have or in buying to resale if I find a good deal hardly means I am an aspiring bead dealer. You guys seem to make assumptions about me and it isn't fair because you don't know me at all. Anyway,.. I can see I wont be accepted here you guys might think of making this a private forum since it seems to be a social click. As for me I can take a hint and I wont bother you again..

If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, I would be happy to meet with you for a few minutes after a Northern California Bead Society meeting to discuss the nuances of pricing Chinese beads.

It must be challenging for collectors who began collecting after the 80's to try to distinguish old from new. The Chinese are masters at replication and I feel you may need to sit with someone in person who wants to help you learn to sort out Chinese beads -if that is what you are trying to do.

Perhaps the difficulty, as I see it, is asking for an appraisal. I feel pricing from a picture in a public forum is to be avoided at all costs.

from the replies I read there is absolutely no one assuming anything about you, they have all responded in a helpful way and the way you are responding is rude and uncalled for, maybe you are just so antisocial that you should look in the mirror

It looked like you were asking for advice specifically about this one necklace, whether to buy it for re-sale, and whether the price was fair. So a couple of us posted our advice - which you can take or leave. No one knows a lot about you or your interests at this point, but as you hang around BCN more and more, everyone will gradually get to know you better. So yes, you are joining an group that has been ongoing for 15 years, and that means many participants know each other quite well. That does not mean new people are unwelcome, and it is ungracious of you to imply that, when people are spending time composing thoughtful answers to your questions.

I have a question for you now - what kind of response did you expect?

The information you want--can you flip the necklace and make money on it--is not the purpose of this board; although Abe at the Beadstore did answer your question in detail. To further clarify, this forum is largely about collectible beads rather than jewelry composed of beads that are not highly collectible. (Price and collectibility are often related.) Back to your necklace, I suggest skimming eBay for comparable necklaces and their selling prices; see the completed and sold listings under the advanced search option.