Don't use glue
. Sorry, I prefer studs too. Jeremy has a glue he likes from iShor (another international purchase for you, you poor thing!). I believe it comes out in teeny drops. Are you using a pearl tweezer? Other than that, just being careful is what I do. I stick the peg and cup into the glue tube hold, squeeze some glue up to cover the peg, pull the peg and cup out of the tube and stick on the pearl. Then I put the post in between the leaves of a table and put a book on the earring to weight them until they set.