I found that the seller had another synthetic opal bead up with a "buy it now" price of 69.00 (plus the 18.00 shipping). Sadly, that' just not in my price range. I mean if I'm going to put nearly 100.00 in a bead, I'd feel more comfortable getting a brand name and seeing it in person. It's a shame though because I do really like this bead. Maybe if I keep my eye on the seller, it'll go down in price over time. One can hope.