FAQS

Jewelex.com

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS)

Can I go to any page number I want without going through the whole catalog from the beginning?
Absolutely! This method will take you right to any page you designate. If you look at your browser at the top of the page, it will show you what page you are on. For example, if you are on page 10, it will say
http://www.jewelex.com/vbeads10.html.
Substitute any number for the "10", press the enter key on your computer, and it will take you directly to that page. EXAMPLE: you are on page 10, you want to go to page 45. Replace the 10 with the number 45 and hit the enter key, off you go to page 45!
The number at the end of the description on all vintage glass beads is the page it is on. Also true for Swarovski Vintage Products. However bear in mind that if an item is sold out and subsequently removed from the site then you will not be able to locate it anymore.
How is it that you have so many vintage beads and how many do you have?
How we got all the beads etc..
Although we never actually counted them, a good estimate was fifty million when the site started in 1998. How many now? Who knows? !!
Do you print a catalog?
No, we do not inasmuch as our supplies are limited it would make no sense to print a catalog. Many of our items sell out within days of posting to the internet. Any catalog we printed would be hopelessly useless before we even mailed it. The internet IS our catalog, and it changes daily.
How Does the Search Engine Work?
The search Engine works on descriptions, by putting in a minimal description it should find all beads that come close. IF you put in an exact description and it is not the exact description we used in the data, nothing will be found. ex: You enter "Big Blue bead with yellow dots" but our description was "18mm Blue Bead with yellow dots" then it will not find it. We strongly suggest you minimize your description, in this case "Blue" would be enough to find every blue bead we have, "Blue bead with yellow" would find that particular bead but "18mm Bead" would not because you left out the word "Blue". To find by description the exact bead, it would have to be entered exactly as we entered it. Exactly and inasmuch as you would probably not remember what that is it is best to minimize your description in the Google powered search engine at the top of most of the pages. (We are working on getting it on all of the pages).
My credit card was charged some time ago but I have still not received my order. Is it lost?
Credit cards are charged the moment you place the order!. When you submitted the order you were notified of this policy and in submitting it you agreed to abide by it. The reason we do this is that we sell rare and limited supply products. Suppose someone places an order for 30 items, we pick it out and pack it and then find out, when we go to charge the card, that the card is no good. We have not only wasted our time and resources, but it is often the case that the last lot for a rare item was packed and the next person to order it in a valid order cannot get it because it is in the re-stocking area due to the invalid order. Therefore, unless an order is paid for, we do not consider it an order. Hence we charge the card at the moment of inception. This includes PayPal payments. Foreign Customers Please Note! We are advised that our credit card company clearing houses require an additional two weeks to verify credit card payments made on foreign accounts (with the exception of Canada, Japan, and the UK). We are required to wait for further approval of these charges from first time buyers before we can ship to foreign countries. On your subsequent orders it would be wise to use the same credit card to avoid this two week delay. At this time, Paypal does not have this requirement so if you are in a hurry we would suggest you use Paypal OR contact us for information as to how to make a wire transfer of funds to our bank.
What does the number stand for following the descriptions on the checkout form?
The number refers to the page that the particular bead can be found on.
How do you arrive at the postage fees?
Postage and Handling fees are a % of your order placed anywhere in the world. There is a minimum charge on small orders and a maximum on large orders. All orders are shipped insured.
Is there a charge for cancelling an order?
If you have to cancel an order that was placed with a credit card you have until 5PM EST of the same day you placed the order without penalty. If you placed the order AFTER 5PM then you have until 4:45 of the NEXT DAY to cancel it without penalty. After that there is a charge of 15% of the total order, including p/h/i, for Visa or Mastercard orders and 20% for American Express orders. The reason for that is that we must pay the credit card fees when you place the order (see above) and again when we have to refund them, as well as fees to the cart managing company that processes the order for us. Cancellation fees must be paid by way of a postal money order in the USA and an International money order for foreign funds. It would be unfair to expect us to absorb these losses inasmuch as it is not our fault that you chose to cancel. The same conditions apply proportionately whether it is a partial cancellation or a full one. You may also opt for a store credit in which case there would be no penalty. If you choose to cancel contact us at once for further instructions. ALL orders are time stamped EST time and that is the one we use in determining when the order was placed.
What is the delivery time I can expect.
Generally our shipping time runs a few days to a week, how long it takes to get to you will depend upon where you live. We also offer "Rush" service for an additional fee which guarantees one or two day delivery to your door.
What does RUSH service entitle me to?
RUSH service means your order will be put at the front of the line and filled before all others (except other Rush orders). This is usually overnight and the package is shipped Express Overnight delivery (Mainland USA only). Foreign can still opt for Rush Delivery but we cannot say how long it will actually take to get there, although it will be less time than normal by virtue of the fact that it will go out the next day.
Why do you limit the quantity of any one style of beads I can order?
Simply because unlike dealers in common goods, our goods are rare and in limited supply. Irreplaceable. We do not want any one person to be able to "corner the market" on our products. We have turned down dozens of offers from other dealers to buy us out of certain items, we do not want anyone to "backdoor" and be able to secure them that way. Hence the limitations. If you really need more of any one bead to complete a project just let us know and we will "bend" the rule.
Do you ever offer discounts?
From time to time, at no special intervals, we offer discounts and special beads to members of the mailing list. In order to access these specials, a member must enter a code on the checkout page. This code is not made available to any but members of the mailing list, "outsiders" will never know it is there. Discounts can be substantial and special bead and other offerings are not available on the regular website. The ONLY WAY to avail yourself of these deals is to be on the mailing list BEFORE they are sent out. Also, the codes may not be shared with anyone else, if your name is not on the list you cannot use the code, even if your friend tells you what it is. Needless to say, but I will say it anyway, invalid email addresses will be eliminated from the list. So if you change your email, be sure to re-register on the mailing list. YOU must do this yourself, we cannot do it for you as you will get a confirmation at your email address which you must then use to verify that you did indeed join the list. This is all part of the anti-spam efforts of the internet at large. So please cooperate. There are two versions of the mailing list, one is the one you sign up for but have not yet purchased from us, and the other is the one that is made up of people who have purchased from us.
I got a letter about getting a discount, I sent in an order, but I did not get the discount. What happened?
What happened was that you failed to follow the instructions in the letter. Whenever we offer block discounts, which are discounts on an entire category on our website, we issue a coupon in the letter and it is up to you to enter that coupon on the checkout page. Several times in the letter you will be cautioned to do just that, and also cautioned that if you fail to do it you will neither get the discount nor can it be rectified later*. We only offer block discounts to people who are on our mailing list, not to the general public at large. By entering that coupon we know you got the letter and the system knows to make the discount automatically. With a mailing list in the tens of thousands there is no way we can check the list to see if you are on it; we do not ask a lot of you to just enter a coupon in the spot marked "coupon" and click the update button. *We cannot fix it for you if you did it wrong or did not do it because there would be bank fees involved that we would have to pay out, we would also have to update over thirty different bookkeeping files for each item you ordered, and we would have to do that by hand.....just too much to ask us to do for something that was not even our fault! So if you didn't do it right or failed to do it at all then that is why you did not get the discount. A computer system is only as good as the information put into it..if you fail to put in the information properly then it does not work as planned.
What is your return policy?
Dealing with a limited supply product has it's own pitfalls and problems. In our business, there is no such thing as a backorder!. You can read our full policy here: Terms of Sale and Refunds. Your order will be shipped complete or in the case that we have sold out of an item and we cannot fill the order a store credit will be issued automatically.
How Do I Use a store Credit?
Click Here For Instructions to Use a Store Credit (or a Gift Certificate).

How Do I Use a Coupon?
Click Here For Instructions to Use a Coupon

How Do I Get a Coupon?
Coupons are issued only to members of our mailing list .