Emerald is my birthstone, and I plan to treat myself for my birthday with an emerald pendant or ring. I was looking on the HSN app and saw a very pretty emerald, set in sterling silver, so the price was very reasonable. It was advertised as Columbian emerald but was very pale green, not like the other Columbian emeralds I own. I scrolled down through the information to find out if there was any color treatment on it, which is very common for emeralds, and it didn't mention color treatment. But then I saw the origin: Thailand. Columbia emeralds from Thailand? It's not only jade that has a reputation for not being what it is advertised as, it's many kinds of gemstones these days. I often write about trusting the seller if you want to make sure you are getting the real thing. I thought I did trust HSN, but I will not be purchasing any gemstone jewelry from HSN, losing my trust. April 25

My girlfriend, who is a neighbor, and is home with hospice care is close to the end of her life, sleeping and not responding any longer. It's been very sad for me these past few weeks, and for our other friends. I gave her a hug a few days ago, and she was still wearing her "black" deep deep green Chinese jade bangle. She was in remission from her cancer for several months the end of last year, and we went on a cruise together. She always got ill, catching a virus or bacteria, on cruises, so as we boarded the bus to take us to the ship, I put the black jade bangle on her wrist to help protect her. And we were all surprised she stayed healthy, and in fact had a great deal of energy until the cancer returned in March. She loved that jade bangle, and felt the healing, cleansing energy in it, and it still comforts her in her final days. She never took it off. I'm glad I could give her something that had helpful energy for her. When you see a jade that really appeals to you, it's the kind of jade you should get and wear because you can't put a value on that kind of power. April 23

I had a request to give some tips on "making an offer". A customer made an offer of $100 on a $750 jade bangle and didn't know why it wasn't accepted. So here are some of the factors that go in to pricing, and consideration of offers. Firstly is the actual price of the jade itself. This includes getting if from China to Florida, either by a personal shopping trip to China, or the shipping. The "cost" of shipping includes loss of damage, mostly caused by US customs when they inspect the parcel because they aren't careful, cut the smaller carefully wrapped pieces in the shipping box open and then don't repack, and yes, they steal some of the items. Then there's the cost of getting each piece professionally photographed, the image sized and placed on the web pages, added to the shopping cart and linked all-together for purchasing online. Each bangle is one of a kind, and it takes about an hour of work for each piece. There is also the cost of web hosting and shopping cart management. It also costs me to accept credit cards, the fee the credit card company charges to accept your payment, and they charge the same percentage to refund a credit card, which is why there is a 20% restocking fee for refunds, or a minimum of $50 for the cost of the credit card acceptance and to get it back on the web site. There is also a charge from the credit card company for converting foreign currency, a recently added fee for accepting cards that offer rewards, a higher fee for accepting American Express cards, a monthly gateway fee AND a fee for contracting with a company to be PCI compliant (safe to take your credit card online). As a business, I also pay taxes on all sales, including Florida state tax for sales to Florida residents. Those are all the expenses that are usual and regular, and don't include damage, loss and fraud by customers. So to sum it up, a "reasonable" offer for a jade bangle with the item numbers BB, BC, and JBB is 10-20% of the stated price. Our prices are not artificially marked up so we can "bargain" or have a sale three times a week! The costs of the product and selling the product can be up to $75% of the listing price, and this business has to offer me enough financial satisfaction to continue doing it. If an offer is on the higher side, and the customer is a "regular", I am more likely to accept the offer than I am from someone who has never purchased from YYJ. So an offer of $100 for a $750 is not going to be accepted. But I have often surprised "regular" customers by accepting what is close to my actual cost, because I value and cherish my repeat and long time customers. April 21

We are going to be traveling and out of the country most of May, and Mother's Day is in May, so if you are thinking of making a special purchase, you have until May 10 when we will close the "store" until later in May. This next week will offer special gifts for Mother's Day as the Daily Specials. Last week was "jade bangle week" with special prices on jade bangle bracelets. If you didn't see the jade bangle you were hoping to see at a discount price, this weekend will be "make an offer" weekend, on jade bangles item ##BB, JBB and TI, price $550+. You may get a counter-offer, but all offers will be considered. If the offer is accepted, you will receive a coupon to use, good for 24 hours. "Make an offer" begins tomorrow, but blog readers can start NOW by using this form, click here. I do "offers" rarely, but Mother's Day is a very special occasion, and there is nothing like a high quality jade bangle as a special gift of jade that can be passed down through generations. April 20

When I was sorting through the jade bangle bracelets I got out of storage, I found some small ones, my size, 52-54mm and I set them aside "for me". But...I can't tell you how many jade bangles I "set aside for me" and how few of the small ones are on the web site! You would think after almost 13 years of selling jade I wouldn't get so attached to some of the jade bangles, and there are some that are not even my size that I just cannot sell, I have to keep. My rationalizing is that when I get arthritis in my hands, I will need a larger jade bangle, so I better have some ready and waiting for that time. And that's another reason most of the "new" jade bangles I list are more expensive: because they are the best qualities that I have been hoarding and keeping for myself. If you have been waiting to buy your first jade bangle bracelet, now that I am listing these best quality ones is also the best time for you to get a beautiful high quality jade bangle that you will always cherish. April 18

We've been having problems with our internet and Century Link can't seem to get the problem resolved. Now it's a temporary fix, but it looks like a disaster in waiting. So if you don't get your emails answered, or confirmations on orders, or see "old" web pages with products that might be sold, please be patient and I will take care of business as soon as Century Link takes care of us. April 16

This was a "clean up" weekend, which led to getting a "new" box of jade bangle bracelets out of storage. I'm sure many of you would love to help me when I open the box, take each jade bangle out of its wrapper. There are notes where the jade was purchased and where I got them checked for natural color with the certifaction notes for the lot that was tested in China. And it brought back a lot of memories of buying them. I got a lot of "deals" when I purchased these, and with the cost of jadeite having increased so much, I am going to offer these at lower than retail prices. AND this week list one each day as a Daily Special with an extremely low price, for one day. Sorry you didn't get to dig through the box with me but I hope you get one of these at the Daily Special price. April 15

If you are a blog reader, you are probably a jade lover, and I have a special opportunity for you. If you have been drooling over the high-end jade bangles, you have the opportunity to make an offer on jade bangles regular price $1200+, on both YYJ or JBB web sites. This offer is exclusively for blog readers and for a limited time. To make an offer, click here and use this form. YYJ bangles do not have large mark-up prices, so you may receive a counter offer. If you reside in USA, and you would like to pay by money order or cashier's check, please note in the comments box because if I do not have to absorb the cost of accepting the credit card payment, your offer will be more appealing to me. If you live outside USA and would like this "appealing" advantage, you can pay by Western Union. Payments by money order, cashier checks and Western Union require trust by both of us, but blog readers understand I am an honorable jade seller, in the "old" Chinese traditions. April 14

A jade loving friend in Singapore responded to the previous blog. She wrote that buying jade in Singapore is actually very much like buying jade in USA. You can purchase in a jade shop, or at an open market stall, like a flea market in USA. The prices for the jade shops are market value, like on YYJ, and at the open markets usually less than $200. Chinese nationals usually sell at the open markets, and she says they are honest with the grade of jade they sell, but the problem is that there are cracks and damages on most of the jades. The sellers try to explain that these cracks are the natural inclusions in the jade stone, but that they are really damage. In USA, the "jade" at open markets is usually fake or C grade jade, and the Chinatown shops have all grades of jade, but the honesty about the grade is lacking. And in the Chinatown shops, I have also noticed that the jade bangles have much damage, which appears to be from not storing and displaying them safely. I have seen them on shelves and being displayed under bright lights, and perhaps 90% have a crack or chip that is the result of damage. And jade should never be displayed and stored in bright lights. In good jade shops in China, the lights over the jade are turned on only when a customer is looking, then turned off right away afterwards. The lights dry out and damage the jade stone, making it more brittle, and therefore more easily damaged. So we jade loving women have to be careful where we buy our jade bangles. I store all of our jade in dark storage that has high humidity to keep it like it was when it was still in the jade mine. So the jade bangle you get from YYJ will have its beauty and be in "good shape". It might have small natural lines and inclusions in the jade stone, but a crack will be clearly stated in the description, and deeply discounted in the clearance section. Which is like what you would expect to find in a Singapore open market: genuine, natural jade with a little damage. April 13

Another email today from a woman in Singapore commenting that the prices on JadeBangleBracelets are very different from the prices in Singapore and Hong Kong. And requesting photos of the jade on darker backgrounds. Which leads me to assume that she has not been seeing natural and genuine quality jade. As mentioned in previous blog, natural color jade really doesn't look good on a dark background, and won't photography because the darkness sucks up all the light from the jadeite stone. So she has probably seen lower prices because of the kind of "jade" she has been looking at. And Asian countries are closer to the source of where the jade is carved so of course they don't have the markup that we do for the cost of the trip to China, the cost of internet to have an online store, and the cost of accepting credit card payments. Which is why I'm always surprised at the large number of customers we have in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and other Asian countries. Those customers truly understand jade, and recognize the quality of the jade we sell, and have even commented that the prices we offer are lower than what they can get in Asia. Amazing! April 10

A friend sent me a link to Mikimoto pearls, an article about Mikimoto pearl designer adding icy jade and their famous pearls to make spectacular earrings. Mikimoto pearls are probably the best pearls you can own. But guess what: there are fake Mikimoto pearls being sold! And you need a certificate to identify the genuine Mikimoto pearls from the fakes, and those certificates can also be faked. There's even auctions for genuine Mikimoto boxes, just the boxes alone, on ebay. It's not just high quality jadeite that is being sold as fake, or color treated selling as A grade. I own a strand of genuine Mikimoto pearls purchased in 1970 in Japan. If I wanted to purchase some now, I would be a fool to try to get them on ebay. I would go to a Mikimoto store and hope I was getting the real thing. A store that has knowledgeble staff, and believable information to share probably will sell you the real thing. That's why I have been blogging for 8 years, sharing information about jade and jadeite for 12 years, because YYJ is a reputable seller of genuine jade. And we hope that helps build your trust. April 5

This is related to the blog below, and regards jade being difficult to photograph. Sometimes I get requests from women who would like to see a photo of some of the jade on a black background. I've tried using black and dark backgrounds for some of the photos, but natural color jade doesn't photograph well on black. The natural translucence of jade is too "yin" for a dark "yang" background and it sucks out the natural color and details. In fact, that's how I discovered that B and C grade jadeite actually does look better when it's photographed on black. But not A grade. I was looking at another jade web site recently and all their photos had black backgrounds which made the greens look very green, almost unnaturally green and there was no way this seller could be selling natural A grade jadeite for the low prices on the jade bangles. The green on the jade bangles didn't look like veins, it looked like splotches, perhaps the resin or polymer color treatment. When natural jade is photographed on a light or white background in natural daylight, you can see the veins, and "flower" pattern of the jadestone, so you know it's natural. But you can't tell that on black backgrounds. Yes, black makes the jade look more brilliant in color, but you may be either disappointed when you see the "real thing" or if the color is accurate, that another indication the color may be resin or polymer color treatment. And that's something I discovered by accident and experimenting for a customer request. April 4

It was very difficult getting good photos of the new black jade pendants listed over the weekend. Natural black jade is really a deep deep green color and when you hold it to a light, you can see slight green. On first look, they appear true black, and that's how they photograph. This kind of jade has become rare and expensive and we were lucky to get some. Keep in mind the actual thing will be much nicer than the photo, and much more detailed, showing off the carving. Everyone should own at least one piece of black jade, either jade bangle or pendant, because black jade is the ulitmate protector jade. Black jade protects agains environmental hazard, as well as spiritual and emotional toxins. It's a must have item if you travel. I always keep a black jade bangle in my handbag. When I'm out shopping and I am leaving the store, I get it out of my purse and handle it to remove any germs, bacteria, virus I might have picked up in the store. I also sometimes put it on my non-dominant wrist, where I don't wear a bangle, when I'm driving, traveling, flying for the protective qi energies. We will be traveling a lot this summer and I am going to make up one of the black jade pendants into a "purse charm" that I can clip on my handbag or carry-on. I have one now with green jade: a Guan Yin peace and compassion pendant, a lucky Chinese coin and a few jade beads. I get many comments on it, and enjoy having it close by. April 3

Ying Yu Jade customers and blog readers are not fools. They are wise and education about jade. Keep reading the blogs and resource pages to learn more so you will never be fooled by purchase fake jade on the April Fool's Day or any day!

The Calm Spirit / Ying Yu Jade complete April newsletter is available online now, click here. This month features Chinese medicine wellness information for April regarding balance of body, mind and spirit. There is information about what kind of jade to wear this month if you wear jade for your health, and more.April 1

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