[Jewelry making - Article 00133] - Re: [Orchid] Should prices be visible?

[Marty Hykin]

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Interesting discussion, this one.

    When I see no price visible I am always reminded of Sir Thomas
    Lipton's reply when someone asked him about the cost of one of his
    famous, huge racing yachts. 

    He said (or words to this effect) "If you have to ask the price then
    you can't afford one!" What a witty fellow, eh? And perfectly
    comfortable in his supercilious stance. 

    Therefore, when I see no price visible I say to myself, "Obviously,
    since I must ask the price, I can't afford that." That is not always
    be true in the literal sense, but I resent being put in the position
    where I must feel I am being set up for an implied put-down a la Sir
    Thomas. I, or any customer, can make up our own minds whether to
    express further interest in a piece after we've assessed its
    affordability in the privacy of our own minds. 

    Some retailers apparently feel this concealed-price tactic is a way
    of assessing a customer's budget limitations, perhaps by watching
    customer's reaction as the news is delivered. I think not. Let the
    customer do that work for you ( in privacy) and you won't have to
    act rudely, as though your time is far too valuable to waste upon
    those few of us out here who carry less in our jeans than Sir Thomas.
    Besides, if your time is too valuable to waste on looky-loos, how
    come you have time to answer questions like "How much is that one?"
    followed by "What about that other one?" ad infinitum. That could
    take aLL AFTERNOON. 

    The other aspect that seems to be mixed up in this discussion is
    whether or not revealing prices opens up the can of worms known as
    haggling. That is an entirely separate issue and if you don't want
    to do it then you don't do it - but certainly that question can't
    even be addressed until the potential customer has a starting point,
    namely the price. So why delay putting that out front? By the way I
    asked my wife how she feels about hidden prices and i quote her "It
    makes me crazy!!! I won't even bother with a store like that!" 

That's my 2 cents.
Marty in Victoria
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