[Jewelry making - Article 00244] - Re: [Orchid] Keeping trade secrets

[Amery]

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Lisa & all....

    Hmmm... this is a good question. 

    I do and I don't. Does that make sense? 

    I share a lot of sources with a lot of people. I have shared a lot
    of sources with the forum--when I could, you guys are mostly far
    beyond me! 

    In fact, I just received a thank you note from another jewelry
    design team thanking me for being open and generous with my sources
    and helping them get in to and plan a recently successful trade show.
    They are friends of mine and I trust them to act in a responsible
    manner when dealing with my sources. We in fact talk a lot about how
    some people are not open with their sources. I respect that as well,
    people have their reasons for sharing/ not sharing. 

    When I do trade shows, Cal Gift in particular, we get a lot of
    designers snooping around the show. Every time I do that show I get
    numerous designers asking me where I get my stones, who does my
    beading, who does my casting. I do not share information at the
    shows, I do not think it's the proper venue for sharing. I have paid
    my $$ to have my booth, I have worked incredibly hard to design, and
    set up my booth. I did not put time and effort into doing a trade
    show to give out information to anyone who asks for it. My focus is
    to sell my product to retailers, and I feel it's unprofessional for
    a "visitor" to ask for information at that venue. At the beginning I
    did, but then felt like it was a one-way street and stopped. Seems a
    little bitchy of me, but I got tired of being pumped for info.
    Sharing is one thing, I began to feel that this wasn't sharing it
    was only giving.... 

    However, in our down-time, I do share sources, with other vendors
    that are forthcoming with their information as well. Other vendors
    are very tight-lipped. Once again, their choice, but it is a two-way
    street. 

    Sharing sources has come back to bite me in the ass on one than more
    occasion, especially with casters and other labor. Stone dealers, no
    problem... they are pretty much open to the public in downtown Los
    Angeles. But, a lot of the casters and setters work on word of
    mouth. The smaller guys are hesitant to open their triple bolted
    security gates to strangers without introductions, even youngish
    women. Trust me, I've tried! 

    Casters and setters are the sources I get asked about the most as
    you can't find them at a bead or gem show! I use mostly small
    casters/ setters in downtown Los Angeles, so small that they don't
    even ship, you have to show up in person to pick up your work. And
    there are usually only 2-3 people working in the shop, very small
    operations. In the past, I was very open with sharing these casters
    with others, especially friends that were just starting out. Here are
    some problems that have arisen: 

    1) The designer that I recommended was inexperienced with wax
    carving and was submitting waxes that were very difficult to cast.
    The designer would argue or get mad with the caster and accuse the
    caster of ruining their waxes. This would get back to me from both
    the designer and the caster and they would try to put me in the
    middle to help resolve the argument. Very awkward situation. 

    2) A designer friend cast a 14K ring- about 1 oz of gold, asked for
    the stones to be pave set and when she picked up the ring refused to
    pay for the casting and the setting because she claimed it was not
    pave. It was in fact, pave. She wanted something different- flush
    set, I think. But she was dead set that the setting she wanted was
    pave and was very angry that they didn't do what she wanted. 

    3) A designer was unhappy with the work, turn-around time or
    something else the caster did/did not do correctly, ran up a bill
    and then wouldn't pay. 

    4) A designer gave out the source to a friend of hers that has no
    clue how to make jewelry and this lady proceeded to try and start
    her own knock-off jewelry business using my sources, bringing
    pictures from magazines in and having the jeweler/caster/setter copy
    the items from the magazine with small variations. Once again getting
    pissed off that they "did not listen to her" and weren't doing their
    job properly because they gave her what she asked for. She had no
    experience with technical terms. She threatened to report him and
    his staff to the authorities (I don't think they were all working
    legally in the states) because she claimed she was loosing money on
    this sale as the piece has already been sold to one of her "clients"
    (aka friends) and they wouldn't redo it for free. 

    5) A designer ordered a huge order before Christmas, asked to have
    it rushed and never picked it up. The caster had some problems with
    her before so he was making her leave a deposit when she ordered. The
    original check bounced and the credit card he had on file was
    rejected. 

    These experiences (over a 5 year period) were enough to make me not
    give out these sources to anyone who asks. I am very cautious now.
    Every single one of these problems ended up back in my lap..... The
    caster: "Could you call her and tell her to pay me?" On my next
    visit: "Have you talked to her yet, she hasn't paid me" On the next
    visit: "I've left 10 messages and she won't call me back, can you
    try and talk to her?" 

    The designer: "He messed up my original piece I'm never using him
    again and I'm not paying him for anything that I owe him in the past
    because I have to redo the piece" In this case the flask blew- a very
    unfortunate accident.... 

    And on and on and on...I have had to listen to people whine,
    complain, and blame me for recommending someone that they had a bad
    experience with, or someone who wouldn't pay or for someone's friend
    that I don't even know- all because I introduced someone in the
    past. As if I am responsible for the actions of others. Well, I was
    beginning to suspect that I kinda was. By recommending designers to
    use my sources that are normally found by word of mouth I was
    vouching for them. The casters/bench workers felt as if I was saying
    "This is an upstanding person who has experience and knows what
    they're doing. They will be a pleasure to work with, I give them my
    stamp of approval" And when things don't work out, it ends up being a
    bad reflection on me. 

    I even have one caster who said to me, "Do not introduce me to
    anyone who has not been working with a caster for at least five
    years. I am not interested in working with inexperienced people
    anymore". 

    So, this is why I don't share these sources. But can you blame me? 

    I will share Sierra-Pacific casting up in Northern Cal. They are a
    larger company, mail service and less personal than these guys I
    deal with down here. I don't think they will hold anything against me
    if someone acts unprofessional. Also, I don't visit with them twice a
    week when I'm picking up/dropping off waxes/castings and share
    coffee and cookies, like I do with my guys down here. I don't think
    I'll get an earful over tea with Sierra Pacific if someone acts out! 

    Lisa, I don't think you were expecting this much of a rant when you
    posted this question, did you? I didn't when I started writing!

 
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