1. WHAT IS YOUR JEWELRY SUPPLY RETURN POLICY?
   
2. DO I NEED A RESALE PERMIT TO BUY WHOLESALE JEWELRY FROM SILVERSOURCE?
   
3. WHAT IS YOUR MINIMUM WHOLESALE STERLING SILVER CHAIN ORDER?
   
4. DO YOU SELL ON CREDIT TERMS OR C.O.D.?
   
5. DO YOU DROPSHIP?
   
6. WHAT KINDS OF PAYMENT CAN YOU ACCEPT FOR WHOLESALE SILVER PURCHASES?
   
7. IS IT SAFE TO USE MY CREDIT CARD ON YOUR WEBSITE?
   
8. WHY DOESN'T YOUR SITE HAVE ANY OF THOSE REASSURING 'HACKER SAFE' OR BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU (BBB) SEALS?
   
9. HOW DO YOU SHIP WHOLESALE SILVER CHAIN ORDERS AND WHAT IS THE SHIPPING COST?
   
10. CAN I REQUEST ANY UPS SPECIAL DELIVERY INSTRUCTIONS?
    
11. DO YOU SHIP WHOLESALE SILVER CHAINS OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES?
    
12. HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO RECEIVE MY WHOLESALE SILVER JEWELRY?
    

1. WHAT IS YOUR JEWELRY SUPPLY RETURN POLICY?

If you receive a factory-defective jewelry supply item, you may return it for a full refund, credit or exchange. All other returns, including refused or undeliverable shipments, are subject to a 10 percent restocking fee.

Refunds are paid by SilverSource company check ONLY. Please call for a return authorization number (RA#) and shipping instructions prior to return.

PLEASE NOTE: you must obtain the RA# within 10 days of merchandise receipt in order to make any returns. Each package must have the RA# clearly printed on the outside of the box or shipping label. Returns will not be honored if merchandise is altered in any manner.

Silver wholesale assortments must be returned in full as originally shipped. Partial (or "cherry-picked") assortments or any returns that do not conform to this return policy will not be accepted.

Unless defective, we cannot accept returns on pierced earrings as there are serious sanitary issues and disease transmission concerns associated with returned body jewelry.

Shipping charges should be prepaid unless arranged otherwise in advance. Shipping charges can only be refunded in the case of a manufacturing defect or erroneously shipped wholesale jewelry product. All sales are final after 10 days.

2. DO I NEED A RESALE PERMIT TO BUY WHOLESALE JEWELRY FROM SILVERSOURCE?

SilverSource sells wholesale sterling silver chains in bulk. Although there is no required minimum quantity per style, guage or length, the minimum total wholesale silver chain order is US$100 (before shipping).

SilverSource is different from most other wholesalers: we do not screen against new customers, and no special buyer qualification is required to buy our wholesale jewelry. As long as the total amount of your wholesale sterling silver jewelry purchase is $100 or more, we can accept your order. No other buying qualification is required, so if you wish, you may pool your office, friends and family to reach our wholesale sterling silver jewelry minimum. It could be the start of a retail jewelry business of your own!

Please note: CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS ONLY must provide a California resale number to buy wholesale sterling silver jewelry without state sales tax (currently 9.25%).

All bulk jewelry supply sales outside California are tax-free -- no resale permit or tax ID is necessary for interstate wholesale sterling silver jewelry orders.

California State law requires all orders shipped to California addresses be charged sales tax UNLESS the buyer provides a valid California state resale permit number at the time of purchase. Resale permits are easy to get, and free of charge. Simply contact the California State Board of Equalization by phone Toll Free at 800-400-7115 or click here

3. WHAT IS YOUR MINIMUM WHOLESALE STERLING SILVER CHAIN ORDER?

Our minimum order for wholesale silver chains is US $100.00 (before shipping) for every purchase. Our accountant has informed us that because our markups are so low, we would actually lose money on orders below the minimum, given stock cost, rent, phones, advertising, wesbite hosting, labor and other overhead expenses.

4. DO YOU SELL ON CREDIT TERMS OR C.O.D.?

SilverSource policy is that all purchases are paid in full via Checkout at time of sale. Credit terms such as "30-day-net" are not available.

5. DO YOU DROPSHIP?

SilverSource does not dropship, nor do we have an affiliate sales program. Our customers buy merchandise first, then sell actual items directly from stock at hand.

Why?

There are many reasons:

SilverSource sells handmade artisanal goods imported from all over the earth. These wholesale jewelry designs arrive on on unpredictable schedules, and can sell out on an intra-day basis. Demand is constant and strong, while supply can sometimes encounter bottlenecks. Because of production times, as well as delays due to shipping and international customs processing, it is often a challenge to consistently keep the same styles and sizes in stock at all times. If your business plan is to take individual retail orders in advance from pictures, and then fill those orders from the SilverSource website later, it could be a frustrating experience, because items can sell out quickly, and we can only promise in-stock inventory right at the time you place your wholesale order.

Jewelry shopping, especially for silver jewelry with its low retail price-point, tends to work best as a direct tactile experience – an immmediate impulse purchase from jewelry physically at hand.

You should also be aware that drop-shipping and affiliate sales can be somewhat of a scam, in the sense that you as a merchant will likely pay far more than you should for the products you resell. Prima facie, any sales price which covers processing labor and freight for only a single relatively low-priced item, but which still allows for any significant, worthwhile profit for both you and the originating wholesaler, is almost assuredly a contradiction in terms, and not likely a feasible reality in a highly competitive marketplace.

At best, prices from wholesalers who dropship will likely be around 2 to 5 or more times higher than prices at SilverSource.com. Therefore if it looks to good to be true, it probably is. Drop shipping and affiliate sales are similar to predatory lending, or rent-to-own products. Dishonest providers prey upon those who want to start their own businesses, and victimize those who don't have sufficient capital to purchase inventory. In such scenarios, be assured that the dropshipper will get the lion's share, with an astronomical markup over cost. You, on the other hand, will do all the labor but harvest only crumbs.

That said, dropshipping does work for some businesses, usually on very expensive items for which a small percentage commission can still amount to something. Keep in mind that whatever the product, there must be significant enough room in the markup. These conditions are rare, and hard to acheive: it requires high demand coupled with short supply, as well as some kind of proprietary lock on the product such as a patent or exclusive licensing agreement. Such a scenario is pretty much nonexistent anywhere and at any level within the entire jewelry industry, from platinum and diamond luxury goods at the high end, down to base metal costume jewelry at the low end of the trade.

6. WHAT KINDS OF PAYMENT CAN YOU ACCEPT FOR WHOLESALE SILVER PURCHASES?

We accept payment by VISA, MasterCard and Discover cards onsite. If you do not have one of these cards, it's easy to get a simple ATM/debit card from most any bank, free with a checking account. Most have a VISA or MasterCard debit logo on them, and will work just fine to make payments on SilverSource.com.

Payments may be made safely online at checkout via our secure server. All data are encrypted using the latest 254-bit encryption technology, and transmission is extremely secure. Please note that consumer credit card agreements generally limit maximum customer liability at around $50 maximum in case of fraud or a lost or stolen card (check with your issuer for details), provided the customer properly reports same within a reasonable period of time.

In addition, all online merchants must go through extensive screening qualification before they are allowed to accept credit card payments and all charge activity is very closely monitored by the loss prevention department at all major banks. Billions of dollars in online credit card payments are safely processed each day. Be assured that you can safely use your credit card for jewelry supply orders in full confidence and security.

On rare occasions, exceptions can be made for payment by cash instrument (money order or cashier's check) postal-mailed IN ADVANCE ONLY. If approved, payment must be received before your silver wholesale order can be processed and shipped. Please contact us if you absolutely must pay by this method.

7. IS IT SAFE TO USE MY CREDIT CARD ON YOUR WEBSITE?

Credit card fraud is real. Much of popular fear about credit card fraud, however, is based on misinformation and speculation about the conditions under which it occurs, and the nature of cardholder liability. A falsified charge on your card can be made by anyone who has your numbers: it can occur where you charge in person at a physical location, online or offline. If, for example, you bought a meal in person at a local restaurant, and a corrupt employee of that restaurant decided to steal your card number, he could attempt to make a fraudulent purchase on your account. The point of theft - online or offline - is the human being you have entrusted with your data, and the security and privacy procedures followed at that particular business.

Now, it is very important to realize that credit card charge information whether originating in an offline or online purchase is all transmitted online just by same by the business-- and by your bank--via the exact same Internet channels that billions of dollars in transactions are safely transmitted every day. These transmission channels are extremely secure and virtually unbreachable. Data properly transmitted along these channels is virtually impenetrable. Again: the risk of breach is at the merchant level and with the merchant's employees, not in the data transmission itself. Your determinant of risk is the company's security procedures and reputation, and the honesty or dishonesty of the people who work there, at the human level -- regardless of whether you are shopping online, or in person at a physical location. The software mechanism itself is extremely secure.

SilverSource uses state of the art 258-bit encryption via secure socket layer transmission. The man who designed our site security developed security software for Xerox corporation, as the boss over a team of 300 employee programmers. In 11 years of business processing thousands of credit card transactions over the Internet, totalling millions of dollars, we have not had a single case of fraud occur. Not even one. Our reputation in the trade, and a history of honest transactions going back well over a decade, are absolutely spotless.

Lastly, you should check with your credit card issuer regarding your maximum liability in case of fraud. In almost all cases it will not exceeds US$50 if the loss is reported promptly. The cardholder always comes first and is fully protected, and in fact it is usually the merchant who must absorb any loss due to fraud. That is why merchants such as SilverSource have so many fraud protection and verfication procedures in place; the system is structured such that the burden of fraud falls upon the merchant, not the card issuer bank, and not upon you - the credit card holder.

8. WHY DOESN'T YOUR SITE HAVE ANY OF THOSE REASSURING 'HACKER SAFE' OR BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU (BBB) SEALS?

The dirty secret about these seals us that they are strictly for sale. They are not truly impartial nor merit-based, and approval standards are minimal. Seal display program subscriptions are actively hawked to website owners by aggressive cold-calling salespeople. Sites which do not pay these companies annual fees ranging between several hundred to as much as well over one thousand dollars are not allowed to display the seals. Although such seals may seem to carry some kind of significant meaning or weight, for the most part they are virtually meaningless.

In webmaster circles, no website is ever truly 'hacker safe', and no security specialist other than an amateur would be so presumptuous as to declare it. SilverSource site security is state of the art and always evolving. Our longstanding reputation in the wholesale jewelry trade is spotless, backed by a long history of extraordinarily clean statistics for well over a decade. In our opinion it is unnecessary to pay anyone for a useless seal, which provides a false sense of assurance only to those who are easily assured. We believe our money is far better spent on perfecting customer service, constant vigilance and refinement of actual site security, and uncompromising conformation to the latest state of the art Internet security technology as it evolves.

9. HOW DO YOU SHIP WHOLESALE SILVER CHAIN ORDERS AND WHAT IS THE SHIPPING COST?

PLEASE NOTE: Most United States domestic orders are filled and shipped within 2 business days, Monday-Friday. UPS does not ship on weekends. This means that an order placed Friday could possibly ship on Tuesday of the following week. The shipping rate you choose determines shipping time from the date the order is filled and shipped, not from the date of initial order placement.

UPS does not guarantee delivery times for Ground service (their lowest rate). Usually UPS Ground shipments arrive between 3-7 days from when they were sent, depending mainly upon the desination's distance from SilverSoruce's offices in southern California. If you need your merchandise more quickly, 3-Day-Select service is a good alternative. It doesn't cost much more, and delivery is guaranteed within 3 business days of sending, or UPS will refund your shipping cost.

We ship via UPS Next-Day Air, 2-Day Air, 3-Day Select or Ground service. We may ship international orders via U.S. Postal Service registered post or another courier, depending upon the destination country.

Shipping cost varies according to service type, weight and destination zone. You'll get an accurate shipping quote at the time of Checkout.

10. CAN I REQUEST ANY UPS SPECIAL DELIVERY INSTRUCTIONS?

UPS won't allow specification of any special dropoff conditions (ie: "Leave on Porch") and we have no control over UPS drop-off policy from here. All of our wholesale jewelry shipments are insured, and your local driver is personally responsible and liable for the insured value if the package is lost or stolen. It's his call whether or not to leave a parcel without a signature. The best bet is to try making some arrangement with your local UPS driver if possible.

11. DO YOU SHIP WHOLESALE SILVER CHAINS OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES?

International bulk jewelry supply orders ship within one week, instead of the usual 2 business days for domestic jewelry supply orders. This allows for the complex extra paperwork required by foreign Customs, as well as paid employee time required to wait in line and process shipping documents in person at the US Postal Service.

Please note we charge one averaged shipping fee (currently US$23) for all foreign destinations. This is a flat rate regardless of order total. Given the labor involved to process international silver wholesale orders, we actually lose money on all foreign shipping. This is true even in cases where the postage shown on your package may be lower than the shipping fee you were charged when you placed your order.

Most countries only allow bulk jewelry supply shipments shipped via Letter Rate post, and this is the only rate we use. Please note: although Letter Rate is a First Class rate, packages can sometimes take a long time to arrive, so please plan your orders accordingly. It is not possible to send foreign jewelry parcels by Express Mail, Priority Mail, UPS, FedEx or any method other than Letter Rate. For more information on US Postal Service Letter Rate and registered mail service, please visit http://www.usps.com

All foreign bulk jewelry supply parcels are sent Registered Mail for optimum security. Insurance is not available for international jewelry supply shipments. Registered mail is extremely secure: parcels are sent inside locked bags and each person who handles it along the way must sign to document receipt.

Although in 11 years of using registered mail for foreign wholesale silver parcels we have only had one loss (shipping loose gems to Indonesia, a notorious kleptocracy - and during a revolution too!) no common international carrier will guarantee the secure arrival of bulk jewelry shipments. ALL INTERNATIONAL WHOLESALE JEWELRY ORDERS ARE SHIPPED SOLELY AT BUYER'S RISK.

In the following countries, for unknown reasons, postal regulations simply do not allow importation of jewelry. However, in almost all of these countries it is nonetheless entirely legal to import bulk jewelry via a non-postal freight carrier. If you can find a way to get it there, we'll be delighted to ship our silver wholesale bulk jewelry to you:

Argentina
Costa Rica
French Polynesia, incl. Tahiti
Panama
Poland
Reunion
Seychelles

All Duties and Taxes are the responsibility of the customer. These charges will be collected at delivery, and refusal of the package does not limit liability for these charges. Unfortunately we cannot export wholesale silver jewelry declared with lower than actual values to circumvent duties and/or taxes. Please contact your local customs office to get an estimate of these charges.

12. HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO RECEIVE MY WHOLESALE SILVER JEWELRY?

Most domestic USA wholesale jewelry orders ship within 2 business (ie: Monday-Friday) days. Please note that although we are almost always able to fill and ship within this two day window, no guaranteed fill/ship time is expressed or implied. Our orders are highly customized and labor-intensive, although we sell for low prices with low overhead. It is highly recommended that you plan ahead and order well in advance of your retail shows. Shipping time is determined by the level of UPS shipping you choose. UPS does not guarantee delivery times for Ground shipments, and they do not deliver on Saturdays or Sundays. Ground service usually arrives within 3-7 days. UPS does, however, guarantee delivery times for Next Day Air, 2nd Day Air, and 3-Day-Select services. Again, please note that these delivery times are fom the date we ship, not from the date on which you place your order; please allow up to 2 extra days for order processing.