Pandora and Imitations

[MinnieLove]

Budget Boarders - this is a budget question.....I got a Pandora bracelet for my bday. I have three beads and not a lot of extra cash. I would love more beads but no funds. Does anyone buy knock offs and from where. Have you bought any that are especially good or bad?

It would probably take me a couple years if I waited to buy real beads to get 1/2 a bracelet.

 

[bluecat158]

I've had luck with Kohl's - just avoid anything with crystals embedded in it (I bought one with my birthstone in it - tiny ones all the way around the charm - and half of them are gone; bought in December). There's lots of sellers on ebay that have good charms too. I prefer silver to gold, so I always search "sterling silver pandora" and there's lots of results. They also sell some at AC Moore, I have a couple from ther but they're only a couple months old. They're still holding up pretty well. Also if you're going for imitation Pandora, avoid the glass ones - the silver or gold part that protects the glass from the bracelet comes off pretty easily on some. Doesn't hurt the charm, it just doesn't look great when it starts coming apart and the silver plating flakes off

 

[RitaE]

My Pandora bracelet is only about 1/4 full and I actually kind of like it that way. I like to theme it by color and not fill it up - like 5 or 6 blue beads separated by the silver spacers.


I have a knock-off anklet that I wear in the summer and I put the fake beads on it. Overstock has some decent ones.

 

[Bren's Mom]

ACMoore has decent looking knockoffs, and they're CHEAP!

I got great glass beads to help fill out my bracelet on Amazon. As I get more 'real' beads I'll start removing the glass ones. I think I paid $7.99 for 50 of them, free shipping. I took the ones I wanted and then passed the bag around to mom, sister, friends. They're not all perfect, some are downright ugly, but out of the 50 we got plenty of lovely usable ones.

This is the seller I used, it looks like they've gone up a little.

http://www.amazon.com/Bundle-Monste...VU/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1297973293&sr=8-14

 

[luvmy3]

I got dd a couple of cute sterling silver ones from Kohls, they were on sale 50-60% off. They fit her Pandora necklace just fine.
Kay Jeweler's has a line of beads called Charmed Memories, but I think their prices are pretty much the same as Pandora's.

 

[tallygirl]

I have a Chamilia bracelet. I have one Kohl's bead that fits and looks nice but some spacers I bought did not fit over the end to slide on the bracelet. I recently found out that Brighton had similar beads, very nice looking and priced from $5 to $22. They have a Cinderella type carriage that I really wanted but it is quite a bit larger than most of the other beads. You can look on their website for stores in your area. But not all stores carry the beads. Belks in my area carries Brighton jewelry but not the beads. Anyway, I really like their beads (and the jewelry!)

 

[3boymthr]

EBAY!

They have some really beautiful beads for really cheap. Search for Murano Glass and you will find a bunch with single piece sterling silver cores for 99 cents plus a couple of dollars in shipping charges.

You can also find some all sterling or sterling with cz or sterling with crystal beads for not too much money and the quality is pretty good.

BUT don't buy it unless they say it's sterling silver. I bought some that weren't listed as sterling and they arrived and were plastic pieces o' S#@&.

Also check Charms and Jewelry dot com. They have this one sterling silver bead that's genuine Chamilia that's only $12.40 - everywhere else lists this bead for $35. To find it go to Chamilia Beads choose sterling silver and sort by price low to high. They also have some disney charms for under $30.

 

[8esther8]

italiancharmbeads.com. My Pandora bracelet is almost full and they have some very nice ones. There is no tax, and shipping is quite cheap. Many are around $12.

 

[disney1990]

I got some of my beads from Hallmark.

 

[luvthemouse71]

ACMoore has decent looking knockoffs, and they're CHEAP!

I got great glass beads to help fill out my bracelet on Amazon. As I get more 'real' beads I'll start removing the glass ones. I think I paid $7.99 for 50 of them, free shipping. I took the ones I wanted and then passed the bag around to mom, sister, friends. They're not all perfect, some are downright ugly, but out of the 50 we got plenty of lovely usable ones.

This is the seller I used, it looks like they've gone up a little.

http://www.amazon.com/Bundle-Monste...VU/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1297973293&sr=8-14

That's what I bought..and many are fine. My glass beads are mostly knockoffs.

There's a local place near me that comes to my hospital and sells beads. I second the Kohls suggestion as well.

 

[Pumbaa_]

i second ebay, there are some gorgeous beads there. Love the prices! also, look for hte leather necklaces too. nice to mix and match

you can get a fully loaded pandora-like bracelot for btw 10-15

I have a hard time with the thought of how much money is spent on a fully loaded pandora

but again, to each their own

 

[crisi]

JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts in the bead section and bead stores as well.

Mines a Chamilia though, and its a little like knockoff "designer" purses. A glance tells me which beads I bought for $50 and which I bought $7.50 for a card of 5 (JoAnns) or $7 each (Bead Store). However, until my husband had filled it with beads, that was a good way to do it.

And yes, by the time its loaded, the bracelet is expensive. But its been a bead for my birthday, one for Valentines, two for Christmas, another for Mother's Day for about a year and a half - and its full already. I don't even take out my alternate cheap beads any more.

 

[jt8595]

dazzlebeads.com is by far the best deal I have found. They offer sample packs of either glass beads or spacers for a very low price or you can order them each separately for cents each. I have ordered from them twice and now have a nicely full bracelet for very little money. The order came quickly, too!