[Jewelry making - Article 00562] - Re: [Orchid] The Blue Book for repair prices?

[diamondeddy2]

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    For the last year aprox. I have been integrating Blue Book pricing
    strategy into my business, along with a 'point of sale' program
    called "POSITIVE", that is a POS system that isnt specific for the
    jewelry business. Both products have been the best money spent on
    management/operations in my store's 18 years of business. We are a
    small 'mom & pop' type operation, with only my wife and myself. We
    do an extensive repair business, and a moderate amount of custom
    work. There are aprox. 5 stores in our town (population 45,000) that
    also have bench jewelers of varying levels of experience-2 with
    lasers (I use a PUK 111), and another 5 or so chain stores. So there
    is  plenty of competition in every facet of what we offer. 

    e have a very loyal following, and have always been known as the
    place that can do what others won't touch. Our pricing ranged
    anywhere from low to high(for our market area), depending on the
    specific service or product, but I am relatively fast, and produce
    quality work in most catagories, so I have always managed to make
    very respectable money, even without advertising at all for over 10
    years. The biggest problem with our type of operation is that one
    can only make your hands turn so much per day, which limits you
    severely from additional growth/profitability. 

    Our system of take-in, parts ordering, tracking, and job pickup has
    always been manual, and has been revamped many times to handle the
    ever increasing volume over the years, but we had reached a point
    where manual was simply not feasible anymore. At the same time, I
    really don't want to hire employees due to government compliance
    issues,i.e. taxes, workmans comp.,etc....Been there, done that, and
    ain't going back! We started with purchasing the "Blue Book" system,
    reading thru, and then acquiring our POS system. The  Blue book and
    POSITIVE systems have integrated perfectly so far.As we instituted
    this combo we have incrementally raised our pricing in nearly all 
    catagories, and will have to say that I have seen no resistance
    whatsoever from our customers. Currently we are at , or near, the
    bluebook pricing in all categories. In fact, my job volume is
    continueing to increase, and I have begun eliminating certain
    services so that I can focus on the more profitable, and enjoyable
    categories. Afterall, I don't want to work 24/7, even if it is all
    profitable. 

    I realize that every community won't have the same demographics as
    mine, but I would still recommend the Blue Book system to any and all
    who want to make more money at their trade. At least look at it, and
    use parts of it to start, till you see the results. Incidentally, I
    have no formal education beyond high school, so its not like I have
    an amazing marketing/business degree, or arts education that sets me
    apart from the others. The only thing that bothers me about the whole
    thing, is the many, many thousands of dollars that I could have made
    over the years and instead, simply worked myself into the ground and
    gave my skills away. Now the tables will turn to my advantage. 

Ed in Kokomo

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