# DAS or Shine Art?



## YourLogoGear (Jul 5, 2011)

Hi,
I'm a fairly new in the rhinestone business (have been in screen printing, embroidery, etc. for much longer). 

We purchased the DAS system recently and are happy for the most part, but starting to see that their rhinestones are priced higher than other companies such as Shine Art. 

If you have experience with both companies, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the quality vs price of the rhinestones from each. 

Also, if there are other domestic companies we should look at for bulk rhinestone purchases, that would be helpful to know as well. I know there are a lot of suppliers out there, but would like to know your opinions of who offers the best product/value .

Thanks in advance!


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## BML Builder (Jul 8, 2008)

I would definitely buy from ShineArt rather than DAS. The prices are a lot better at ShineArt and they are really good quality stones. If you are going to purchase in bulk, I haven't found a better price than at ShineArt. And there quality is as good or better than most any other place in the US.


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## BlingItOn (May 29, 2008)

I have to agree. I have purchased from many different suppliers in the US and Shine Art has the best prices without sacrificing quality or customer service.


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## hbapparel (Jan 16, 2012)

Shine Art hands down.


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## YourLogoGear (Jul 5, 2011)

Thanks for the feedback! I'll place an order with them today.


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## YourLogoGear (Jul 5, 2011)

Sorry - one more question. I just got my price lists from Shine Art and don't understand the difference between "Rhinestone(A) Hotfix" and "New-Rhinestone Hotfix". The names are different than on their website where the descriptions are. Can anyone shed some light on this?


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## hbapparel (Jan 16, 2012)

I don't remember the difference. I always call and ask. I think it is pg 12? You want to order from. Call and ask


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## YourLogoGear (Jul 5, 2011)

hbapparel said:


> I don't remember the difference. I always call and ask. I think it is pg 12? You want to order from. Call and ask


Thanks. They said the "Korean quality stone will be on page 6-7" (which is "Rhinestone(A) Hotfix") but I'm waiting on clarification from them on how the "New Rhinestone Hotfix" is different.


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## YourLogoGear (Jul 5, 2011)

In case anyone runs across this thread later, I wanted to provide an answer to the open question above.

From Shine Art
"The Rhinestone A is our Korean quality low lead and the New Rhinestone is our Economy Low lead rhinestone.

So the better quality is the Korean.

On the website the Korean quality will be under Rhinestone, and the New Rhinestone will be under Economy Low Lead."


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## leapoffaith (Nov 8, 2009)

I'll put my two cents in here, although it looks like you've decided.

I ordered rhinestones from DAS from the start. Then heard about Shine Art and put in an order from them. I ordered a few different colored stones and one batch had quite a few defective stones. I hadn't experienced that with DAS, so went back to them a couple of years ago. Have had no problems until this last batch I ordered from DAS and there were defective stones in that, too. So maybe you just get a bad batch every once in a while and it can happen at Shine Art or DAS? Shine Art's prices are better, but if you need a small amount of a color that you don't think you'll need again, you can order small amounts from DAS, but not Shine Art. And I used to always order enough ($150) from DAS that I got free shipping, but they've discontinued that option, so.......good and bad about both, I guess.


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## ifusion (Jun 3, 2011)

Just to be fair to shineart, they offer at least 4 different levels of hot fix stones:

Premium Pellosa
Regular Pellosa
Korean
Low Lead
Chinese/Economy
etc....


For pellosa, I think the bag comes in 200gr for ss10 stones, but if you can get smaller quantities if you pay the $5.00 split charge per bag.

All the other ss10 stones come in 500gr bags and again can be split for a $5.00 fee per bag.

I mainly buy from shineart, but have bought from other companies in the past. I've found that even if I compare to the premium pellosa price to any other stone out there, I'm still saving 50-75% to the other companies stones.

The rhinestone industry is crazy. It seems that these places operate off a 15x-20x markup from stuff they bring in overseas. Shineart is the only company I've found in the USA with reasonable prices.


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## YourLogoGear (Jul 5, 2011)

leapoffaith said:


> I'll put my two cents in here, although it looks like you've decided.
> 
> I ordered rhinestones from DAS from the start. Then heard about Shine Art and put in an order from them. I ordered a few different colored stones and one batch had quite a few defective stones. I hadn't experienced that with DAS, so went back to them a couple of years ago. Have had no problems until this last batch I ordered from DAS and there were defective stones in that, too. So maybe you just get a bad batch every once in a while and it can happen at Shine Art or DAS? Shine Art's prices are better, but if you need a small amount of a color that you don't think you'll need again, you can order small amounts from DAS, but not Shine Art. And I used to always order enough ($150) from DAS that I got free shipping, but they've discontinued that option, so.......good and bad about both, I guess.


Thanks. I haven't decided yet actually. I just figured I'd order the smallest amount Shineart sells to test them against my DAS inventory. Based on user comments (including yours) though, it does seem like they are a pretty close comparison to each other as far as quality goes.


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## Sassysport (Aug 28, 2013)

Some love ShineArt I get that, their Premium Pellosa stones are absolutely beautiful and those prices cannot be beat unless you import your own stones BUT they do not stick to everything. A normal cotton t-shirt yes I had success but on blended fabrics, they can be picked off. I had horrible results using them on a performance wear fabric that was cotton/lycra blend. Tested over 4 different suppliers stones on same fabric, no issues. The glue on the back of the Premium Pellosa stones is different even by looking at it, you can see it is a clear shiny glob of glue. Now with that said, I have also used their Grade A low lead Korean stones and they stuck just fine to everything I tested, even that special fabric. Flip both stones over and again, the glue is different. I even took my sample to ShineArt because I live in the area and they blamed it on the fabric and told me to use a different fabric. That wasn't an option so like I said, I tested other stones and had zero issues.


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