[Jewelry making - Article 00040] - Re: [Orchid] A Jewelry Buyer's Guide

[Daniel R. Spirer]

========[ Invite a Friend - http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm  ]========


>      To keep it in perspective, I also was office manager for a
>     well-known colored stone dealer in Los Angeles. Once we sent a $5
>     garnet  ON MEMO to a Zales store. It didn't sell, and when it was
>     returned, the stone paper had the "price" on it.  They had been
>     asking $75 for it." 

    I would not usually defend the chains under most conditions, however
    let's look at this situation.  First of all a salesperson gets a
    request for an inexpensive garnet.  Perhaps they spent a half hour of
    their time talking to the customer to get them to the point of asking
    to see the stone.  Then they have to research where to get the stone.
     Let's assume that they have a good listing of who carries what and
    it only takes them a few minutes.  Then they have to make a long
    distance call to get the stone.  The stone is shipped to them and
    they pay for the shipping (most dealers bill for shipping regardless
    of whether you take the stone or not).  Someone at the store has to
    log in the stone when it comes in and get it sorted to the right
    order. Then the salesperson has to call the customer and spend more
    time with them showing them the stone and attempting to sell it. 
    Perhaps they were lucky and actually made a sale of another stone
    that they got from a different source.  They still then have to spend
    the time logging the stone out, packing it up and shipping it back. 
    So let's look at the real costs of selling that one stone. 

	One hour of salesman's time:  $12.00  (this doesn't include taxes paid on
	the salary either)
	Two shipping charges:           $10.00  (if they ship through the mail )
	Time spent logging in, shipping back etc.:  $6.00
	Cost of phone call:                 $1.00
	Cost of stone:                        $5.00

	Total cost                              $34.00

    Now take into account all of their normal operating expenses,
    including rent, insurance, mall fees, cleaners, electricity,
    advertising, etc. 

    The odds are that IF they had sold the stone for $75.00 they
    wouldn't have made a penny on the sale.  They probably would have
    made any money they did make on the setting they put it into. 

    Of course this is the reason why most jewelers use sliding markups
    on their goods, starting with much higher ones on small items (like
    $5.00 garnets) and much smaller ones on larger items (like $5000.00
    garnets). 

Daniel R. Spirer, GG
Spirer Somes Jewelers
1794 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA 02140
617-491-6000
spirersomes AT earthlink.net
www.spirersomes.com

____________________________________________________________________
T h e   O r c h i d   L i s t
Open Electronic Forum for Jewelry Manufacturing Methods and Procedures
____________________________________________________________________
Orchid FAQ:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/faq.htm
Orchid Archives:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive
Orchid Galleries:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/gallery.htm
Invite a Friend:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm
____________________________________________________________________
Tips From The Jeweler's Bench - Article Archive
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/tip_sear.htm
The Jeweler's Selected Bibliography List
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/jewelry-books
Buy Orchid Jewelry:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/shop
____________________________________________________________________
-Unsubscribe:
-Email: orchid-request AT ganoksin.com Body=unsubscribe subject=blank
____________________________________________________________________