[Jewelry making - Article 00130] - Re: [Orchid] Friendly atmosphere in a jewelry store?

[Susan]

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>     Does anyone have any better ideas? (I really like David's idea of
>     creating a "menu" of prices and leaving the menu on top of the
>     showcase!) 

    OK, so I don't have a jewelry store, I sell beads through the
    Internet. However, I also do the occasional trade show. 

    As a customer, I absolutely hate it when I can't find the price for
    items on my own.  So, since I try to run my business in the way I'd
    like to be treated by other businesses, I decided to label each and
    every string of beads. 

    Also, being a computer geek in my former life, I wanted to make it
    as easy and high tech as possible.  Here's what I did. 

    I bought a thermal printer (about $700) and some of those barbell
    labels that have the fold-over flap in the middle to protect the
    labeled object from getting the gummy on it.  Oh, yes, I also had to
    buy the software (about $100) to create the labels.  All this was
    done with the advice and especially cooperative help I got over the
    phone from the folks at American Barcode (no affiliation, just a
    satisfied customer.)  Now, I can crank out those labels by the
    hundred in seconds.  They have the part number and a barcode (for
    inventory) on one side and the price (for humans) on the other side. 
    I did find out that the barcode on these labels is too small for my
    barcode scanner, so now I need to get a new scanner that has higher
    resolution or maybe a barcode wand.  Yes, you still have to fold
    over the flaps and affix the labels, but this goes pretty quickly
    after you've done a few hundred.  (They do make these labels without
    the flaps, which makes applying them faster, but then you get gummy
    on your items.)  So, this solution looks very professional, is extra
    easy to do, a big boon to doing physical inventory, and was only
    somewhat expensive.  I highly recommend it - especially if you have a
    retail store where impression is everything. 

    My observation is that the jewelry trade, and this includes bead
    vendors, tends to avoid high tech solutions.  I suppose it's because
    technology is both costly and intimidating to the uninitiated.  It's
    one of those boundaries that people put upon themselves - only in the
    mind.  This particular solution was really quite easy to set up, so
    if you need a labeling solution, go for it.  It works great! 

Susan
Sun Country Gems
www.suncountrygems.com

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