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Spirit Ying Yu Jade |
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Kathleen |
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February 2012 Blog |
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I've been trying to "sneak" a trial of purchasing the free item on Leap Year Day. This is new, I haven't done it before. They way it's supposed to work is when you find it and click the "free", it takes you to the item that shows no charge and no shipping and you check out as usual. But it looks like you have to put in your credit card info as if you were making a regular purchase. Some customers tell me they have trouble checking out with their credit card, so I hope that doesn't happen to you if you find it. I can't use a "form" for you to give your shipping information, because it needs to be in the automated cart system to be removed from inventory. We will try it, see how it goes. There's a saying, "no good deed goes unpunished", and the last thing I want to happen is someone get angry because getting the free thing doesn't work for them. So send me an email right away if you find it and have a problem completing the "purchase".By the way, while I do believe no good deed goes unpunished, I do the good deed anyway, and accept what happens. It's Dao. February 28 February is the shortest month of the year, but it's been a long and dreary month for most of us. I've had emails about sickness, disaster, rotten weather. And this February is Leap Year, adding one more day to miserable February. So let's have some fun with a Leap Year Hunt. On February 29 at 8 AM when the Daily Special is uploaded (eastern standard time) there will also be an item on the we site that is FREE including free shipping. If you are the first person to find that item and check out with it, it is yours. FREE. It won't be in the Daily Special, but it won't be moved from it's regular "spot" on the website, either. It will have the price and FREE written next to it. If I say any more about it, I might inadvertently give a clue, so that's all I will write about it today. I haven't got anything free for a long time, not to mention this is a free jade thing, so I hope you cheer up, get excited, and join the fun. The item and the winner will be announced on the Daily Special page on March 1. And I might break down and give a clue tomorrow, so check the blog. February 27 Customers often send me an email after they receive their jade orders raving about how much they love their new purchase and how much prettier than the photo it is. Photos just can't show all the beauty of the jade stone, the real thing will always be nicer. And then they often ask how I can bear to sell some of these beauties and wondering if it is a difficult thing to do. Yes, it is. I always want to keep them but I sure can't wear all sizes, and I this is a business, not my personal jade bangle shopping! So they get sold. I guess that's why the jade bangles that I will be listing now and in the future are the best quality. It's because they are my favorites, difficult to part with, and I stuck them in a box "for later". Now is that "later". But I did think about how it's painful to sell my favorite jade bangles. So I took a good portion of my favorites off the JadeBangleBracelets.com web set and am moving them to Ying Yu Jade. I have been getting offers from people for the JBB web site which I have had up for sale for several months, but none of the offers has been from jade lovers. The offers have been from men who want a successful jade bangle business and think they don't have to work hard to have that successful business. So I am keeping my favorites for YYJ. And since the price of jadeite has increased so much recently, I think the value of what is on the JBB is still a very good value. I'd even sell it to a jade guy in Hong Kong! I personally would rather buy a jade bangle from a woman who wears jade bangles, and understands about the "face of wearing jade" but I think JBB will be purchased by a man. But he's not getting my "favorites"....you are! February 26 I received an email from a jade-lover who told me she was having a lot of pain in her hand, and she decided to hold a lao pit old mine jadeite bangle that's a little too big for her to wear. And her pain went away. She also noticed that when she wore two jade bangles together, they seemed to feed off each others qi energy and both looked better. In northeast China, I would see jade pillow covers, jade mattress covers, jade blankets being sold in shops because people like to sleep on jade, and finds it gives them better health, better sleep, pain relieve, longevitiy. I sleep on a jade pillow cover and was able to stop treatment for TMJ several years ago. The energy description written on some of the jade items isn't a gimmick, it's an energetic description for the many people who wear and use jade as medicine. I always put a black jade bangle in my handbag when I travel, and when I'm on a plane or a potentially "germy" area, I put it on for protection. Jade has been used in the field of Chinese medicine for centuries, and it has not side effects, expept perhaps JAD! February 24 The final purchase I made of jadeite bangle bracelets from China before the embargo were after my last buying trip. I got a great deal on a few hundred jadeite bangles, not the best quality fine grained old mine jadeite, but a good qaulity, and higher than regular commercial grade. That's what I've been selling since 2009 and the kinds of jade bangles in the "bargain" section of JadeBangleBracelets web site. My associate in Shenzhen purchased them, and got fabulous prices because of the large number. But I have reached the end of those, and have only one more box remaining. While I still have a large inventory in storage, they are the "best of the rest", the jadeite bangles I started hoarding in 2002 and have skyrocketed in price as they are almost impossible to get today, meaning that natural color, the green veins, and the fine grain jadeite simply isn't available even to Chinese people. The Daily Special BB2571 is an example. Although all of the jade was sold to me as A grade and natural color, as tested in China, some of it may not be because much of the color testing is actually opinion of the readings on the testing, and not a factual numberical value of the testing. But these old mine jadeites that I've been hoarding is the kind of jade I trekked up to inland jade carvers and watched them carve from the rough, then bought directly from them. So I know it's natural A grade, exactly as it was mined. I still have some pretty lower priced jade bangles that I will sell til they are gone, but now we are getting into the serious stuff, the best quality of all the jadeite available. And still priced lower than they sell at retail price in China, if they had them available. But they didn't hoard like I did! February 21 I thought I was doing good with keeping up with the prices of jadeite, making sure my prices were slightly below what they retail for in China. But I received an email from a man in Hong Kong whose family has had a jade business since 1980 and he was stunned at the low prices on Ying Yu Jade jadeite bangles and pendants. He wrote that because of the civil war in Burma, money value is unpredictable, worthless, but jadeite has value so they invest in jadeite, the more green the more value. That means there is lower availability in mainland China and the prices have skyrocketed. He advised me that I should price my jades 10-50 times more than what they are, or take them off the web site and hold them as the value increases, or bring them all to Hong Kong to sell and make a fortune. How intriguing! I have been writing for years that jade is an investment, could be a part of your financial portfolio. I don't sell jade to customers in China, I have to cancel their orders and they beg me to ship jade to China, and now I know a big reason why. I've been "hoarding" the jadeite since 2000, because I saw prices rising each time I went to China, and I still have a big inventory in storage. As a result of this discussion with my Hong Kong jade expert, I will take a look at what's on the web sites and make decisions about removing them for "later", or increasing prices. If you see jade with the words "lao pit", "old mine jadeite" in the description, and it has green veins, or good green color, those are targeted for the decision process. Investing in jade? Get it now! Our jade is already in the USA and purchased before the Lantos law and embargo, so you don't risk having your jade confiscated if it gets targeted for inspection in US customs. And maybe all that really pretty, green "jade" you see from Chinese sellers at cheap prices come from those "glass jade bangle making machines" that they keep trying to sell me. February 20 There's a PBS television show "Land of the Dragon" about China, and it's contemporary and more accurate than many of the shows about China. Tonight's topic was Chinese medicine. If I had a health problem that wasn't being medically managed satisfactorily by my doctor, I would either go to a Chinese doctor locally, or take a trip to China where the treatment is actually much better than Western Chinese medicine treatment. I always included my annual medical check up and treatment in my China shopping trips. The show tonight had examples of medical tools from centuries ago, and I actually saw some jade "needles", which are one of our popular products on YYJ. Gua sha was not shown because it's not really a part of Chinese medicine as it is considered a home remedy, like aspirin or cold medicine in Western culture. If you are interested in China, check out "Land of the Dragon" on your local PBS channel. Fascinating. February 16 Didn't get what you want for Valentine's day? Love yourself. Take $10 off jade bangle bracelets regular price $165+ with coupon code LOVE10 today. Good on Ying Yu Jade and JadeBangleBracelets.com web sites.Good jade makes YOU feel good! February 15 Happy Valentine's Day, dear readers. Use coupon code LOVE5 today to take $5 off your order of regular price merchandise $50+. February 14 Almost every day I receive an email from people cruising the internet looking for good jade bangles, asking if the jade we sell is "real" jade. Some are novices, some have been had bad experiences, all are cautious. I hope that by reading the blog, looking through the resource and information pages, blog readers have learned enough about jade to make good choices, especially for the jade bangle bracelets. Some jadeite is very easy to determine, like the newly listed BB2567. On this one, you see veins, variation of color, and the colors appear "true". We take the photos in natural daylight with the light behind, which is why you sometimes see a glare in the photo. With the light behind, you can see the "stone", often the "flowery" appearance of the stone that shows the natural grains of the jade. That's what you look for. Jade is difficult to photograph to get it to show off at its best, but you can be sure the "real thing" will be more pretty than the photo. Natural jade and jadeite looks nicer the longer you wear it, and looks better as it is worn because of your qi. There's a lot of mis-information on jade on the internet, but the information I provide is based on years of personal experience. February 13 A jade friend sent an email with a dilemma. One of her friends at work has been wearing a jade bangle, and it seems that all of a sudden there was a very dull area on it. They immediately got out the Pledge and sprayed some on, polished with a soft cloth, did it a few times and it started to look slightly better, but the dull area remains. She wears her jade bangle all the time, including swimming, bathing. And that shouldn't cause a dull spot. What probably happened is that when the jade bangle was made, part of it didn't get well polished. After carving and polishing, prior to the final polishing, the jade is dipped in wax which fills the surface with wax, then the final polish is shiny. But if it's not polished well on the stone itself, after the waxing wears off, the area where it wasn't polished well will show up. She could get the stone polished if she knows someone who can do it. (I don't) I suggested either melting some good quality candle wax, applying it and then polishing. Or putting some clear shiny nail polish on it, and then polishing with wax. It won't solve the underlying problem, but it will make it look better. If you have other ideas, I'd love to hear them. February 10 I really like the Daily Special jadeite bangle. It is endlessly interesting because of all the tiny imbedded darker green veins on lighter green overall color. When you look at this jade bangle, you can see just by what you know about jade reading this blog and other facts about jade that it is all natural color. There is no way a color treated jadeite looks like this! When you wear your natural color jade, it gets your body qi into it and the colors look prettier as you wear it. Natural color jade does not change color when you wear it, but it gets "brighter" from your body qi And this jade will look even better because of all those imbedded veins. Did you ever take a jade bangle out of a drawer after not wearing it for awhile and wonder if it's really the same one you had worn, because it looks so dull? That's because jade needs to be worn to look so great with body energy. So I priced this one lower than the $888 value it should be, because it needs to be on a wrist, not in a box waiting to get sold. And at the Daily Special price, it's a great deal. February 8 It seems like YYJ business went from Christmas, to Chinese New Year, and now into Valentine's day orders, and I feel like I'm getting behind in everything. Yesterday a customer I was working with to help her choose a special jade bangle bracelet contacted me because I told her to think about some options before we left on our (cut short) trip, and I had completely forget about what we were doing, didn't know why I had some jade bangles sitting on my desk, and even put them away. I truly want to offer personalized customer service, and feel terrible about this incidence. But I have this feeling there are also some other customers I have left and neglected. So please let me know! Vacations are very important to take. We all need time to rest our brains, indulge in relaxation and fun activities, andI when our vacation was cut in half, I didn't get what I needed. I treated myself by choosing one of the jade bangles in my inventory for myself, to make up for the lost vacation, but I still need to take some time off for good mental health, so if you need anything special, let me know this week, because after Valentine's day, I am going to take some days off. And if you need a vacation, take one! February 5 Yesterday I wrote about women who looked at my girlfriend's jade bead bracelets wanted some, too. When it's warm and I am wearing short sleeves, my jade bangle really stands out on my wrist. I haven't been wearing my wedding rings for several months since I got bit by a fire ant on my ring finger, right where a ring goes, and every time I put the ring on, it flares up again. So that one bangle on my arm is the best advertising, but it looks so elegant and pretty, no matter what I wear. And when I travel, I often put a black jade bangle on my right wrist, and maybe even an additional jade bangle for the energy. I have sold these right off my wrists to women who want them, and will practically break bones in their hands getting my small jade bangles on their wrists. The "look" of a jade bangle is so special and the natural-ness of the jade stone just shows off. There is no doubt that these jade bangles are all A grade and natural color.February 2 We returned early from our vacation today. The resort was not as advertised, the rooms low quality, food not very good either. The beach was not usable because of the high winds and blowing sand, and the pool was cold. It rained. It wasn't warm. And the weather was beautiful in central Florida, so the eight of us agreed yesterday that we would go home today, even if we couldn't get a refund for our all-inclusive vacation. The flight left Montego Bay early, we got home by noon, and are going to "finish up" the next few days vacationing at our own pool where we live. I had given a girlfriend we traveled with a pair of jade bead bracelets for her birthday last week, and wore two myself, and so many women at the resort asked where we got them because they loved how they look, and "go" with everything. I was wearing mine with my jade bangle. So it is a no-brainer to offer these as the Daily Special, I gave them my card and told the women who loved them that they would be on sale through Thursday. So get yours while they are still available! The
Calm Spirit / Ying Yu Jade complete February ry newsletter is available
online now, click here. This month features Chinese medicine wellness
information for February 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. February 1 |
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Contact Kathleen yingyujade @ yingyujade.com |
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