Nice vintage beads can turn up in surprising places. If you have the time to hunt in backwater 'markets', you can make good discoveries on a budget.

There are some very attractive beads coming out of Indonesia these days at reasonable prices, if you want contemporary glass.

Biddulph
keep your options open and your scope wide- just looking in markets and charity shops you can learn a lot more than dealers who may not be specifically interested in beads, and in such conditions whatever catches your eye that costs little may then turn out to be desirable and possibly valuable so look regularly -dont ask for beads by name that are known to have a high value... after purchasing you can do more research.
in London UK where i live i just take some chances and often end up with extraordinary items of interest...there are antique, ethnic and craft fairs where you can handle items before buying.
my most recent collector's book shows many many beads of all materials and ages in my own collection- almost all discovered at low prices .
(send me a private message if you want more details)-

Depending on what you are looking for, there are some great beads at cheap prices on the internet. You need to have a bit of knowledge to make sure you are not getting scammed, but if you start small, the risk is small.

You should check out the internet listings of people that are forum members and others that have a good reputation. I for one have been listing good quality Colonial era trade beads and ancient beads from all over on eBay and have been lucky to get my $4.95 opening bid. The market seems very slow right now for most beads, especially those out of the ordinary or any that aren't dzi, pumtek, coral or amber.

Be patient and don't give up. The hunt and challenge is a big part of the fun. (The group of 10 beads shown below recently sold for the $4.95 opening bid)

Happy collecting...

The market seems to be soft now for collectible beads other than the materials Jan mentioned. Searching ebay daily for key word searches of your choosing, and selecting the newest listed, will help you keep an eye on things. The BCN classifieds page is a great place to go for reliable sellers. And you can contact any one of the people posting there or here on the discussion board privately simply by clicking on "private". (Reminder for everyone to log in to check for your private messages every day or so)...Every now and then I delete items that have been on the classifieds that have been up for over a month. And occasionally I delete links to ebay lists and etsy lists hoping that folks will post a fresh listing. The classifieds are a very under-utilized feature of our forum that I always wished would have taken off. I've had success buying and selling there; others have had too.

And as others have pointed out, keep searching! When you come upon a basket full of baggies of beads and odds and ends at an antique fair, look at every one. All the way to the bottom. When you encounter a display case full, look at every shelf. Even start with the bottom, shelf! No stone unturned.

Example: at a flea market last month, I stopped at a rather sparce table. From a distance it didn't look very promising. But there were a few lonely baggies on that table...I bought a 5.00 baggie. In it were...
1) a strand of Native American traded (the type commonly found in N. Ca)
Venetian glass white beads and green heart beads, 4-5mm, 23 inches.
These are seen at Native American shows for 50.00 or so per strand
2) A Mexican low-grade silver bracelet - comparable seen for 60.00 on
Etsy recently
3) A pair of earrings with 6 Mexican horse milagros (Milagros can be
bought in bead stores for 2.00 per piece
Not that I will seek the same prices on what I list above for any of those items, but I feel it was a very well-spent 5.00! The NA traded Venetians will stay in my pile! And it was fun. The seller even knew what she had, was pleased that I knew what I had found, and she was just thinning out. I was grateful for the score and will try not to wonder what was in her pile at the beginning of the morning! :)

Personally, I would try to concentrate on identifying the best. By extreme example, prepare to pay two hundred per bead, instead of one dollar each for two hundred ordinary beads!

For self confidence, most of us must experience lesser beads first. Or, we may simply enjoy working with strands of cheap beads for necklace designs.

But if you find you require pinnacles of artistry and fine craftsmanship in beads, hunt for auctions or advanced collectors who may be willing to part with good examples.

With patience and persistence, you can find collectible beads in street markets. But if you want the top, you may need to save your money to deal at the top.

When I go to outdoor markets in search of pinnacles, I become so bored that I find myself buying things simply because they seem to be a good price. Eventually disillusioned; I wish I could get half of my money back. If you buy the best, you will probably be able to recover at least half of your money much more easily. If you have good taste, you may even be able to profit. And, I have known wealthy dealers with bad taste who eventually acquired good taste through reward conditioning.

Above all, the process needs to be fun. Otherwise, don't do it.

Thanks for all the great advice. I'll keep on searching and hoping !