Ying Yu Jade
March 2007 Blog
Play
a Jade Game-Win YYJ $$$ - Click Here
This contests ends April 1
I've been trying to find a manufacturer in China to make the long magnetic necklace/bracelets with jade. It's risky doing business with unknown people in China and next month I will tell you a horror story of a friend who bought Chinese things on eBay and has been targeted by Chinese hackers. But that's just one of the problems. I wrote earlier this month about getting erotic art instead of jade bangles from an "unknown" supplier. I've been searching for someone who can make these for several months, and the end result also must be reasonably priced. I wear the "chakra pearls" magnetic strand as a necklace most of the time and have been wearing it frequently to help me lose a few pounds I gained over winter. Stimulating the acupuncture points on the area the necklace sets seems to control my craving for sweets and tendency to snack during the day. I discovered Reddi Wip makes a chocolate flavor that has only 15 calories per two tablespoon "shot", and it has 1 gram of fat which gives the stomach a sense of satisfaction, and I've been adding a shot to the top of a cup of coffee in the morning and skipping the snack I had been eating with it. There's a couple of acupuncture points that balance weight and appetite, and if I can explain how to find them, I'll include that information in one of the monthly newsletters. March 31, 2007
The weather in Kissimmee is glorious today, and I went to the pool for awhile this afternoon (with my business phone, of course!) and while I was floating on a noodle and talking with friends, to my horror I realized my jade bangle was out of the water, on top of the noodle, in the sun! So this is a good time to remind you to keep your jade out of direct sun. If it's getting warm from the sun, it may be getting damaged, too. Keep in mind that heat is a color enhancing treatment for jade and jadeite, so your color might change. But worse, your jadeite will become brittle in the sun. Jade loves water. In the jade markets, the sellers who keep their jade in glass cases always have a container of water in the case with the jade. If you wear you jade all the time, your jade benefits if you bathe while you're wearing it. One of my "jade sister" friends, who is a gemologist, often keeps her jades in water and bathes them in water regularly. I was lucky I didn't damage my bangle today, and immediately stuck my wrist in the water, then when I got home infused it with healing qi energy. March 30, 2007
Thanks for your feedback regarding shipping charges. Everyone who responded wanted to continue to get items fast and told me YYJ shipping charges were lower than other companies they purchase from. I really appreciate your responses. I've been shipping items/orders over $700 by UPS, usually second day air service, and with insurance and the pick up charge, I don't even cover the expense with the current shipping charge. My husband tells me I'm too conscientious, but I pride myself and getting your order to you as quickly as possible. I try to treat my customers the way I would want to be treated. I always welcome your feedback and suggestions. March 29, 2007
I received notification from the postage company I use about the rate changes for the USPS mail that will increase in May. The cost for priority mail, which is how I usually ship with, is going up from $4.05 to $4.60. I didn't raise the shipping prices for Ying Yu Jade when the last rate increase went into effect. I did raise the shipping charges for Calm Spirit, because those products are often heavier and required extra postage. I'm deciding whether I should increase the shipping charge or use first class shipping which costs less, but then I would have to purchase shipping material which would add the to price of the first class or parcel post shipping. I think customers like to get their items as soon as possible, and would prefer a speedier method of shipping. If you have thoughts about this issue, I welcome your input. Click the feedback box and send me your comments! March 28, 2007
I
saw the Olympic medals that will be awarded when Beijing hosts the summer Olympics
in 2008.
They are gold and JADE for honor. The circle of jade will be a different
color for first, second and third place medals. China has been destroying much
of their culture to make way for new and modern China to show off in 2008. Most
of the hutongs are gone, except for the tourist hutongs, and instead of lovely
Chinese architecture, modern buildings and hotels have been built. People go to
China to see CHINA, not a to see another modern city, and now some officials are
beginning to see the value of keeping their culture to preserve. Congratulations
to the Olympic planning committee who decided to use jade as part of the Olympic
medals. March 27, 2007
One of our neighors was unable to use their tickets for the Madama Butterfly opera, and we bought them and were able to experience one of my favorite operas yesterday. I used my entire tissue supply during the first act. It is very emotionally moving, the orchestra was good, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. I don't see many women in the Orlando area wearing jade bangle bracelets, so I thought it might be possible to see someone wearing one at this opera. Jade and pearls are cherished and traditional for Japanese women. I wore my "Vietnamese" very slender jade bangle and Mikimoto pearls, both reserved for special occasions. But I didn't see anyone else with a jade bangle, or anyone wearing good pearls, either. I think pearls and jade are perfect to wear together. I designed some very good quality pearl and jade necklaces and had them made up for me at the Hongshao pearl market in Beijing. I picked out the pearls and jades, and the jewelers made them into necklaces. I also purchased some very nice China Seas pearls for "everyday" in a large enough quantity to make the affordable. The energy of a jade bangle on the wrist and pearls at the neck feels wonderful. And they are both so classic and look wonderful, for the opera, or every day. March 26, 2007
The price of jade has increased very quickly in the past two years. I am paying almost five times as much as I paid in 2001. Part of the reason is that more people are interested in jade, and Chinese sellers are not "giving it away" like they did a few years ago. Another reason is the US government has hounded China to make their yuan more competitive. The rate of exchange was 1 USD:8.26 RMB for many years, now the US dollar buys less. President Bush spoke to the Chinese people during his trip there earlier this year, telling them that their big problems is that Chinese people save too much money, and should spend more. The Chinese people are some of the world's best "savers". I guess Pres. Bush wants them to be in debt up to our eyeballs like we are. I admire their ability to save money and it has inspired me considerably. But is certainly is a big problem for me to pay so much more for the jade I buy. Someone sent me an email asking why I raised some of the prices of the jade pieces. It was right after I received an invoice, and saw that some of the jadeite bangle bracelets were very much underpriced, so I raised the prices slightly to reflect the value of the jade. There is a Chinese saying: "diamonds and gold have price, but jade has no price". Diamonds and gold have an international standard for price based in karat and carat size and weight, but jade is not valued and priced that way. The prices are based on a variety of factors, and that's an article for the Ying Yu Jade resource center. March 24, 2007
I spent most of yesterday going through my inventory to decide what I need to order from my supplier. This order will be for Chinese jade, including bangle bracelets, gua sha tools, rollers, jade pillows, tea pots, pendants and bead bracelets. I also want to buy the magnetic acupuncture cups for Calm Spirit, as they seem to be simple to use and quite effective for treating pain and illness. There are so many alternative practitioners because I sell a lot of gua sha tools and rollers. When I learned gua sha in China, my doctor-teacher used a buffalo horn tool. When he went with me to the jade market and we found jade gua sha tools, he bought one to try, and now uses the jade exclusively. Jade energy is compatible with body qi, and energy practitioners prefer to use natural health tools. Buffalo horn is natural also, but I am opposed to using health tools that are made from animal and cause animals to suffer, especially when jade is readily available. I am a Reiki Master and certified qi healer, and I am always happy to infuse your jade purchase with qi energy before I mail it to you. I hold them and infuse the qi during my evening meditation. There is never a charge for this. As you wear your jade, your own qi will fill it, and the jade's qi will benefit you. The qi from the jade is the ancient reason Chinese people started wearing jade. March 23, 2007
My bangle looks much better today, the colors are brighter and it looks prettier. Jade really does like to be worn, and in daylight. I wear it when I shower, and water keeps it clean. Jade doesn't like to be dry, either. I haven't worn jade in the desert, a dry and hot climate, but will be interesting to see what my jade does when we go to Nevada and Arizona this summer. March 21, 2007
I
wrote in the Calm Spirit/Ying Yu Jade March
Newsletter that if you wear jade for health, now is the time to wear the "emerging
spring" color, or a bright or spring green with lots of white color for you
jade. I took my own advice and changed my
jade bangle today. It's rounded inside and slender, different from the flat
inside and wide cuff style I had been wearing for the last couple of months. I
don't think it's very pretty, and when I put it as my "daily
bangle" in the Photo
Album pages, I wrote about A quality jadeite, and what that means, so if you
are interested in learning more about jade, A quality jadeite and a caution about
jade certificates, click here to
read more. March 20, 2007
I spent my blogging time today making a feedback form, "earth to Kathleen". You can click it to leave feedback without going to your email. If you encounter a glitch, please let me know at yingyujade@yingyujade.com, and I'll try again. I really do want to hear you comments, suggestions, and what's on your mind. Thanks! March 19, 2007
One of my customers ordered a "glass" jadeite disk pendant, and after I sent the notification of shipping, he sent me an email that he had been to China last month to adopt a child, and purchased a jade disk to carry with him all the time because it was like having a piece of China with him. I like to hear from my customers, it's the best part of having this business. I'm working on making a feedback form so you can easily submit comments. I admire parents who go to China to adopt children. It's a very emotional and challenging process. The Chinese adoptions services want parents to understand the Chinese culture, so there is some travel throughout China, then they get the child, then spend some time with adjusting to their new child. The White Swan Hotel in Guanghzou is where most parents end their China trip, and prepare to go back to their country with their Chinese child. We ended out business trip in Guangzhou last year, at the White Swan Hotel, and had the opportunity to meet and talk with several new parents. There are a lot of shops near the hotel for purchasing Chinese culture items, and things specifically interesting to parents. Some moms even buy the the chongsam traditional Chinese dress and wear them. However most Western women don't look very good in those dresses because the dresses are very fitted, and fitted for smaller Chinese women. But it's fun to wear one. You can read about our visit to Guangzhou here. March 18, 2007
I appreciate customers letting me know what they would like to see for the Daily Special. I don't have a "standard" mark up for resale, and try to offer a variety of quality and prices. Some of the less expensive jadeite bangles are actually better quality than some of the more expensive ones. If I had them carved from rough for me, I can usually offer a much cheaper price because they have gone through "fewer hands" and markups before I receive them. Sometimes I just get lucky and make a great deal on bangles, and sometimes I get a sample that I can offer at a low price. I can make a daily special discount easier on a smooth burmese jadeite bangle bracelet than I can on the carved jadeite or natural Chinese jade bangles, because I don't mark up the Chinese jade much, and carved bangles are more difficult and expensive to get, and I don't mark them up as much either. So I do want to hear from customers which bangle they would like to see as the "special". March 15, 2007
I sold out most of the jade in the clearance section, and have started receiving questions about when I would add more items, so today is the day to add them. However, I don't have very many clearance bangles, only three jadeite bangles to add, which is good news for me. The clearance jade are pieces I receive in my shipments that have been damaged during the shipment, or had tiny flaws that my buyer didn't see. I check each piece of jade under a strong light when I get them, then again when I take the photo and list each piece. Any jade with a scratch, crack, nick or other flaw goes to clearance. I often wear the cracked bangles, and have never had a cracked on break. In fact, I often sell the cracked ones right off my wrist, especially when I travel. It started when I was in a restroom at a plaza on a toll road, a woman raved over my bangle and I sold it to her. So now when I travel by car, I wear bangles I don't feel attached to, and have sold them mostly in the restrooms, but also in some restaurants. I would never think of buying something from a woman I didn't know in a restroom on the turnpike, but life is endlessly interesting, and there are all kinds of people in the world. I like to wear black tee shirts when I go on a road trip because they don't wrinkle and show food spills from eating in the car, and they show off jade bangles really well! Anyway, my supplier does an excellent job of packing my jade purchases, so I've had very little damage over the past couple of years, which is less loss for me, but fewer clearance bangles for customers. So if you want a good deal on a less than perfect jade or jadeite bangle, now is the time to buy from the clearance section because at this time, I don't have any more! March 14, 2007
One of my customers asked if I had a bangle in a larger size than the one listed, and as I was looking through my inventory, I found a jadeite bangle that had fallen behind a storage cabinet, and when I opened the wrapping on it, was delighted to see it was a "glass" jade, which is a very high quality. It's a little too big for me at 57mm, but I probably set it aside to try to wear anyway because I don't have one like that in my size. I listed it today at about a third the price that it would retail for in China because it needs to find a home and get worn, not just sit in my inventory. It's listed here. I often have what retailers call a "forbidden love affair with the merchandise", which means I want to keep too many things for myself. If I sell my favorites, I hope they go to a good home. A few months ago, a customer bought a really pretty good quality jade bangle, then a week later bought a similar one, then a week later bought another one that was almost the same size, style and color. Then a few days later, she asked me if I would give her a discount, or a free fourth bangle because she was obsessed with searching for a perfect jade bangle for her, and she ordered a size so small for her that she could get them on with great effort but didn't have the patience to try to get them off, so she was breaking them with a hammer while they were on her arm. I suppose I should be happy to make the sales, but it made me feel sick that she was purposely breaking the bangles. I buy only jade that I would wear, and really like what I purchase, so it's disturbing to hear of someone deliberately breaking bangles. I always hope they go to a good home. March 13, 2007
Last week I received a shipment of five boxes from my regular supplier in China, and have been sorting out the items with the invoice to determine how much to charge. I also received the UPS bill, and add that into the cost of the goods to determine the price. My supplier give me a very clear invoice, which is amazing because he has limited English language and uses software to translate my emails. The biggest problem with this shipment was the weight, because I ordered jade rollers, teacups, and flutes along with bangles which made the shipment very heavy. This is my first time for selling jade flutes. I sent my supplier a photo of a jade flute from ebay and asked him if I could get 10 made, and he asked if I wanted marble or stone like in the ebay item, so that's when I learned the "jade" flutes on ebay were not jade, and I want to sell real jade flutes. The cost per flute was twice as much as for a jade bangle, and the weight is considerably more, and there's a lot more jade in the flute than in a bangle. I also had special silk boxes made for each one which are heavy, so I determined that $125 would be a fair price. The flutes were wrapped with some really cute Chinese paper which I left in the box, so when you buy one you can enjoy looking at something you probably wouldn't normally see in this country. I finally got them listed for sale, and within two days I started receiving emails from potential buyers about the "outrageously high price" for them because they saw them for less than $10 on ebay and coming directly from China. I politely respond that the ones I sell on Ying Yu Jade are genuine jade, without saying something negative about what's being sold on ebay. I know I lose some sales by being honest about what I sell, and only selling genuine jade, but that's the way I live my life. I try to make sure my customers really get what they pay for, and not fake jade. When I buy jade things in China, I am often directed to the cheap "fake jades" because Chinese sellers have learned that Americans usually don't know the difference, and they smile and believe they are doing me a favor by encouraging me to sell fake jades so I, too, can make higher profits based on cheating people. If you buy jade on Ying Yu Jade, I promise you will always get what you pay for, and you will never get fake jade. March 12, 2007
Sunday afternoons are generally devoted to getting both Calm Spirit and Ying Yu Jade web sites updated for the week. I make sure my inventories are adequate, and I have everything that's listed. I sometimes offer weekly specials on Ying Yu Jade, and every Monday through Friday I list a daily special. I try to get all the photos updated. Most jade sellers who sell jade that is genuine have items that are each one-of-a-kind and it's not the kind of merchandise shopping cart systems were designed for, because it is very time consuming to put an item in the system. I take an individual photo of each item, then edit the photos so they are accurate, then put the item in the web site pages. I write a description for the item, then go to the separate "shopping cart" program and add the product, add the description, add key words, price, and inventory. Then I need to find where it is in the shopping cart program so I can link the shopping cart page with the "order" on the products description on the web pages. Then upload the web page to the server and make sure it looks like it's supposed to, and the link works correctly. When a customer purchases an item, I remove the photo and decription from web pages, and from shopping cart, and it's "gone" completely. That's the reason I charge a re-stocking fee if a customer ordered the wrong size or wants to return an item. It's very time consuming to get each product listed, so the restocking fee is absolutely necessary.
I also updated the "photo album" and added two pieces of jewelry from my collection, processed several orders, and still need to get tomorrow's daily special ready. And it took me a couple of hours to make these web pages for the blog. I also have questions from customers today, asking about which jade bangle bracelets will be the best for them. Interacting with customers is a favorite activity for me. I made a quick, healthy and good meal for dinner with noodles and vegetables and you can read my recipe here. March 11, 2007
contact:calmspirit@calmspirit.net
